Corsair HS55 Wireless Core Review – No cable, no RGB and no real highlights

1 - Introduction and technical data 2 - Look, feel and wearing comfort 3 - Teardown: Ear pads, speaker and inner design 4 - Test setup, measurements and analysis 5 - Soundcheck, subjective sound analysis and conclusion

Surf and turf as an edible combination of fish and meat on a plate is definitely a kind of culinary highlight, if the chef is any good. But what happens when a product is neither fish nor meat, but costs almost as much as a premium menu? You’ll have to think very carefully about who the recently introduced Corsair HS55 is really suitable for and whether it even justifies the financial value. Positive: You can move around freely with this wireless headset and optionally connect via wireless dongle or Bluetooth, you don’t glow like a crazed Christmas tree on steroids due to the lack of RGB, and what isn’t attached doesn’t eat up useless power. However, it costs almost 130 Euros on Amazon, which is as much as a really good headset with a cable. Or else the delicious food. The plausibility then quickly becomes tight.

Important preliminary remark

To emphasize it in advance: I will of course substantiate my subjective experiences with real, objective measurements, because if I criticize or praise something, then one must be able to substantiate it. Otherwise, there will always be an aftertaste of laying on hands or kicking. Therefore, this part will also be the main content of this test, although the teardown is also part of it, of course. And so I can’t really agree with the opinion of some (also) international reviewers about this product, and I have to clearly contradict some of the conclusions at this point. But more on that in detail in a moment, and it’s going to be fun, I promise.

The appearance of the new headset is still unsuspicious, because even if you also notice the cost-cutting pressure on every square inch, it is still quite timeless and classically designed. The lack of RGB lanterns is a real advantage and not a flaw so I’m rather benevolent up to this point. Just another wireless headset? Yes and no, because the price of just under 130 Euros is a real burden for the emotionless evaluation of the headset. And so begins the renewed search for the usual reasons to buy.

Packaging and scope of delivery

The molded recycled cardboard insert contains the headset, wireless dongle and USB-C charging cable. That’s it, because you have to work out the rest online and download it, if you haven’t installed the iCUE software yet (which I’ll leave out today due to the eternal redundancy). For reassurance: it also works completely without and simply also “out-of-the-box”, only those who want to use the equalizer and like to store profiles, have to.

More can and need not be written about it, because minimalism can also be sexy. And for reasons of sustainability, it’s better to leave out all the clutter that no one needs. We do get some lightness here though with a 266 gram takeoff weight, good thing. The rest of the technical data and the overview of the most important things including operation and wiring can be found in the PDF below, which I have shortened a bit for you online.