BitFenix Flo Headset Review

Performance

Thankfully, wearing the BitFenix Flo for a couple of hours we didn't suffer from the dreaded ear-ache that can rear its ugly head with poor supra-aural headsets, although switching between the Flo and Asus Vulcan ANC made it pretty clear that bigger, softer headsets like the latter offer far more in terms of comfort. That said, the closed-back design and firm but not overbearing grip meant you feel fairly immersed in whatever you're listening to.


Sound quality-wise, there isn't much to write home about but despite our early fears, the Flo actually fared quite well, particularly at higher volumes where there was little if any distortion. The 40mm drivers offered a lively, punchy sound with a modest amount of bass too and overall, music was fairly well-rounded and you didn't feel like you were missing anything in games.


However, switching between it and other headsets revealed quite weak mid-range and high-end, with cymbals and the like lacking quite a bit of detail - in busy scenes they'd just collapse into a short hiss rather than anything more full-bodied. We dial in more life with an equaliser either - the general experience was mostly far better than most sub-£30 headsets we've tried but these shortcomings will be immediately evident to anyone who has sampled the likes of the Qpad QH-90 or Asus Vulcan ANC.

We had no complaints with the microphone, though, which was easily as good as that of any other non-noise-cancelling headset we've tried recently and the boom was particularly flexible, making it easy to fine-tune the distance from your mouth so not to deafen your clan mates.

Conclusion

The Flo is very compact, solid-feeling and offers a well-rounded audio experience that's just about level with what you'd expect at this price. However, there are a couple of niggles as we mentioned above that will mean audiophiles on a £50 or less budget will certainly want to consider other headsets too.

Looking back over the models we've looked at in the last year or so, the Ozone Rage ST stood out as being a potential deal-breaker for the Flo, as it's much cheaper, offers equal sound quality, the same size drivers and frequency response while also being a little more comfortable as well as offering more adjustment.

That said, the Flo is well made with a steel frame and perfect for moonlighting as a compact travel headset with the bonus of a removable mic boom and additional cables for use with your smartphone or tablet. As such it's more of a jack of all trades than a master of gaming or music.