Cooler Master CH331 USB Gaming Headset Review – Fits, doesn’t wobble, but has a lot room for improvement

1 - Einführung und Unboxing 2 - Technische Daten und Features 3 - Tragekomfort, Mikrofon- und Sound-Check 4 - Galerie und Fazit

With the CH331, COOLER MASTER positions another inexpensive headset in the very competitive budget range. The 45€ device is sent into the ring with decent workmanship and essential features. We want to find out in the test whether it is simply cheap or actually worth the price.

Headsets in the €50 range are a dime a dozen, and in times where even big manufacturers can’t really afford to throw total misfires on the market anymore, these devices practically all strike the same note. If you don’t expect too much (you get what you pay for!), the workmanship is almost always halfway okay and some sound comes out as well. But even with a low margin, there is not much room to shine with any unique selling points, even if the manufacturers all want to sell it that way. I hope that the introduction isn’t taken too pessimistically, but you simply have to approach such tests with this expectation, otherwise a review is pre-programmed and that should really only be the case with a total waste of resources.

Unboxing

The outer packaging is in Cooler Master’s current bright neon retro colors.

The headset itself is held by a molded plastic insert. A bit annoying is the additional fixation, which makes unpacking a bit fiddly.

At first glance, the look and feel make a good impression.

The wired remote control has the most important functions on board, but it is not illuminated, which means that the volume and mute buttons can sometimes get mixed up in the dark. Curious: The remote control gets a bit warm during operation – not alarmingly hot, but I’ve never had anything like that before.

The detachable flexible microphone did not make an outstanding impression at first. The first time I put it in shape, it sounded like the whole component was breaking into 1000 pieces. Should but probably so, because the second bending the noise is no longer present!

Also in the box is this useless “instruction manual”, which I will also link as a PDF on the next page. Too bad about the color.

The design with the metal brackets has proven itself and is now taken up by almost every manufacturer in at least one model. In principle, there is nothing wrong with this and Cooler Master has also implemented this in the CH331 in a cost-effective but stable way.

The detent for the adjustable bracket is very fine and adjustable in a total of 9 steps.

The closed ear pads are made of extremely soft PU leather.

Nothing presses: The pads are not only soft, but also nice and thick.

If the pads are ever worn out, they can be replaced without any problems.

Now that the screws were exposed, we could take a look at or behind the driver. The 50mm model with transparent membrane has a very simple design. All plastic, the drive rather slim, but neatly soldered.

Besides the microphone jack, there is only the RGB illumination around the closed case.

The sound chip is hidden in the cable remote and it is the well-known CMedia CM108B, which can be found in practically every second budget headset. However, I have never noticed that the chip gets a bit warm during operation.