Patriot Viper V370 Stereo Gaming Headset Review

A Closer Look and Performance

The headset looks pretty fantastic, and first impressions do go a long way. The matte black design stands out, or more precisely it doesn’t… Many affordable models still focus on that awful glossy plastic, but you’ll find none of that here, phew!

The headset looks pretty chunky too, without looking or feeling overbearing or too heavy. In fact, it’s pretty light overall. However, the headband design and ear cups are pretty strong. I wouldn’t go throwing it at the wall anytime soon, but it’ll withstand a few tough knocks and bumps at the hands of a careless gamer.

The headset has a closed back design, even though it looks like it has a breathable mesh on the back, that’s purely a textured bit of plastic. The enclosed design helps tighten up the bass but also blocks out a lot of ambient noise too, allowing you to game in peace. That works both ways too; it locks the sound in, so you’re less likely to annoy you SO while gaming.

Comfortable Design

It’s comfortable too, helped in no small part by the lightweight design. However, there’s loads of thick foam padding in the headband also, which helps efficiently distribute the weight. Of course, the choice of two ear cup pad styles helps a lot too.

There aren’t many controls built into the headset, but the basics are taken care of. The first switch with the drum picture enabled the rumble driver, while the dial controls the master volume. The interesting one is the rumble driver, it makes the headset vibrate with the bass frequencies. I don’t like it, at least not always. With music, it’s like wearing a vibrator on your head, it’s bizarre. However, when you’re playing games like Battlefield or TitanFall 2, it’s freaking awesome. It’s like extra force feedback when you’re under attack, and it’s pretty fun for immersion.

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!

The rumble feature does help fatten up the bass too, which is cool. Personally, I think it works better at low volumes, so when you’ve got the headset on quiet and listening to music, it helps deliver a fatter sound without vibrating much to feel silly, so I suggest experimenting with different media and see what works best for you.

The overall sound of the headset is pretty decent. For something in this price range, I think the clarity and sheer loudness it’s capable of is pretty commendable. Sure, it’s not as refined as some of the headset I’m often praising, but at less than half the price of most of our review headsets, it’s still a strong contender.

RGB!

The fold-down microphone is nice and discreet, and you don’t notice it at all when it’s folded away. However, flip it down, and it’s ready to rock. It’s nothing special, just a standard headphone mic in all honesty, but it works well enough for screaming at your teammates when they let you down. Finally, the LED lighting is pretty cool, not too overstated, just a U shaped band on each ear cup. You can customise the colour in the software, and it’s just a nice bonus feature you wouldn’t expect in this price range.