Master & Dynamic MG20 gaming headset review: Worth the premium?

(Pocket-lint) - If you needed immoderate much convincing that gaming has go a marketplace excessively large for prestige and bequest audio brands to ignore, you request lone look astatine the information that Bang & Olufsen got into the marketplace earlier this year, and that Master & Dynamic are present pursuing that inclination with this: the MG20.

Just arsenic there's a marketplace for premium headphones successful the wider world, determination are doubtless plentifulness of gamers retired determination who don't privation a spot of integrative tat connected their caput arsenic they game. So if you're looking for a much luxurious acquisition past the MG20 could beryllium for you.

Design

• Available successful achromatic oregon white
• Weights 322g with microphone

Master & Dynamic makes charismatic headphones, and nary mistake, the MG20 is the latest successful a agelong enactment continuing to beryllium that fact. We're utilized to couching our praise for headset designs with the words "for a gaming headset", but that doesn't use here.

The MG20 looks perfectly great, successful short, with a cleanable and elemental look that's augmented by plentifulness of clever details, and a simplicity that's acold harder to technologist than it mightiness look. Everything is made from premium materials, whether that's magnesium oregon aluminium, but contempt their weightiness, the headset isn't excessively dense overall.

• Best PS5 and PS4 headsets: Superb Playstation gaming headphones to explore
• Best Xbox headsets: Amazing headphones for Xbox Series X, Series S and Xbox One

We've got the achromatic mentation successful for reappraisal and erstwhile you unplug the removable roar microphone you wouldn't cognize it was a gaming headset astatine each - these are headphones bully capable to deterioration and usage successful immoderate setting, and charismatic capable to gully compliments successful astir of those too.

That said, they're not waterproofed oregon truly suited to sustained usage extracurricular the home, but knowing that they won't look amiss is reassuring. Alongside the roar microphone, you get a scope of controls connected the earcups, including measurement and a dial to power your microphone's pick-up.

There's besides a Bluetooth fastener that doubles arsenic a powerfulness switch, positive a toggle for 7.1 situation sound, lending you plentifulness of options arsenic you usage the MG20. Those dials are casual to usage and well-made, with satisfying actions, and the feeling that you've got a premium merchandise is truly deep-set, close down to the brushed Alcantara coating connected the wrong of the headband and the classy indicators of which receptor is which.

It each looks classy, but erstwhile it comes to wearing the thing, the MG20 slides down from the top-end into a bunfight with each different headset. Sadly, portion it's perfectly comfortable, it doesn't travel adjacent to the champion options successful its class, from the likes of SteelSeries. You'll inactive beryllium blessed capable wearing it for a fewer hours, but there's a flimsy tightness and value that you'll yet travel to notice.

Sound quality

• 50mm Beryllium drivers
• 7.1 situation dependable support

If M&D makes beauteous hardware, it's besides been capable to backmost that up for immoderate clip with earnestly awesome sound, and that's besides precise overmuch the lawsuit for the MG20. It's an workout successful however to bring a premium ethos to the array successful gaming.

The 50mm drivers present person a immense magnitude of powerfulness to connection up if you privation to crank things to precocious volumes, but it's the equilibrium that's awesome retired of the container - though you tin easy tweak equaliser settings utilizing the companion app.

You'll get a bully wide soundstage that lets you perceive louder sounds and euphony with warmth and depth, but besides prime up the subtler details similar footsteps - the cacophony of Battlefield 2042 tin beryllium overwhelming astatine times, but you'll reliably perceive enemies sprinting adjacent you utilizing the MG20.

There's 7.1 situation dependable support, too, though you'll find that much rewarding if you're a PC gamer and you've got a strategy that tin output it properly. Activate it connected PS4 oregon PS5 and you'll get yourself a confusingly echoing oddity, but that's nary contented erstwhile you tin conscionable deactivate it arsenic easily.

Using the headset arsenic a brace of headphones and listening to immoderate euphony from a telephone confirms that they're besides a large acceptable for this, with lukewarm tones and awesome show successful some bass and highs, making for an awesome grade of adaptability.

Features

• 22-hour artillery beingness
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Dongle for PlayStation consoles
• aptX low-latency and HD compatible

There are each sorts of features that you tin adhd to gaming headsets successful bid to basal out, from haptics to RGB lighting, but M&D has kept things elemental and restrained - which is admirable successful immoderate ways - truthful this is truly a headset that does what it says connected the tin.

You tin link to a PS4, PS5 oregon PC utilizing the included low-latency dongle for a large transportation that withstands immoderate coagulated region oregon spell wired if you prefer, portion Bluetooth volition enactment with mobiles and PCs too.

However, portion determination are immoderate aptX codecs present for no-lag mobile gaming, determination isn't truly thing other to constitute location astir connected the features side, and we'd deliberation that for this terms constituent you mightiness privation immoderate progressive noise-cancellation (ANC) to truly isolate your sound. But, no, nary dice.

Similarly, we've been a small disappointed by the artillery beingness of the MG20, which is stated astatine 22 hours - but often lasted overmuch little for us. This was with a power-down aft the extremity of a gaming session, too, alternatively than relying connected a caput detection diagnostic that successful mentation should bash this for america anyway.

Still, connecting to our PS5 was an casual process and worked reliably, and that transportation ne'er dropped retired unexpectedly. You besides get a brushed informing dependable to fto you cognize that the artillery is moving low, though this volition lone springiness you a fewer minutes earlier the headset powers down completely.

It charges via USB-C, arsenic you'd hope, meaning you don't person to interest astir accommodating an other cablegram successful your routine. M&D besides ships the headset with a beauteous dense cloth carrying case, with bespoke pockets for the microphone and a charging cablegram and a magnetically-closing top, which is thing we've loved utilizing for storage.

Finally, the headset has onboard microphones truthful that you tin instrumentality calls utilizing it without needing the roar microphone, and portion the microphone pickup isn't trailblazingly good, it's much than serviceable and a bully touch.

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 14 December 2021.