1MORE Spearhead VR gaming headphone

1MORE is an audio company that’s best known for their excellent 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones but the company is beginning to branch off into creating over ear and gaming headsets. Case in point: The 1MORE Spearhead VR is the company’s first gaming headset and it’s an impressive first attempt. The Spearhead VR features customizable RGB with different effects as well as DSP settings to simulate a surround sound setup. 

During our testing, we were impressed with the 1MORE’s great sound but came away disappointed by its little quirks. They’re by no means deal breakers but they’re something to be aware of if you’re considering the 1MORE Spearhead VR as your main PC headphone.

Design

The 1MORE Spearhead VR features your typical gamer-oriented design, which means there are more glowing LEDs than an airport. The 1MORE logo, ear cup rings and superfluous mic “lightsaber” all illuminate and can be controlled in software. Beyond changing the color, you can set the Spearhead VR to breathe or mimic a heartbeat. 

The headphone boasts a steel headband but a majority of the headphone is made of plastic. This is a bit disappointing as we were blown away by the all-metal construction of 1MORE’s excellent Triple and Quad Driver in-ear headphones. 

The use of plastics also means we get annoying microphics - mechanical sounds like taps, creaks and cable noise are all transmitted through the headphone. Simply moving your head will result in hearing the cable scrape against your shirt. Tapping on the ear cups also creates a hollow sound that reverberates in the acoustic chamber for several seconds. This is absolutely maddening if small extraneous sounds bother you. 

Controls for the 1MORE Spearhead VR can be found on the right earcup with a slider to toggle th noise cancelling mic on and off, as well as a volume wheel that can also change the amount of bass on the fly by depressing and rotating the wheel. In terms of connectivity, the Spearhead VR connects to your PC via a microUSB cable but 1MORE includes a nice 3.5mm cable so you can use the headphones with other devices on the go. 

Performance

With all EQ and DSP turned off, the 1MORE Spearhead VR offer balanced, spacious sound: Bass is tight and controlled, and highs ever so slightly rolled off, and mids are solid with the bass only bleeding into the mids if you crank up the bass EQ or DSP. In short, these headphones will serve those looking for a headphone that is good for both gaming and music. 

However, annoyingly, there’s a soft but still audible hiss from the headset when no music is playing, which isn’t a big deal but will drive audiophiles bonkers.

Turn all of the various 3D effect on, the sound quality gets noticeably more artificial sounding. Namely, the software tries to create a sense of space around your head but resolution takes a dive. You’ll hear enemy footsteps just fine but you’ll want to disable the virtual surround sound DSP settings when listening to music, which you can do inside the app. What we’d like to see 1MORE do is create shortcuts so that gamers can quickly switch sound profiles with a keyboard shortcut instead of having to launch the app and toggle presets. 

Comfort - which is extremely important for gaming headphones - is just average. The quick-adjusting headband is nice but there’s slightly more clamping pressure that we would have liked. Additionally, our ears started getting steamy during extended gaming sessions even though the Spearhead VR features perforated ear pads. 

One highlight of the 1MORE Spearhead VR is its noise cancelling microphones, which made our voice communications come across loud and clear in multiplayer games and calls. 

Verdict

The 1MORE Spearhead VR are an impressive first attempt by the company at crafting a gaming headset that also excels at music. Sound quality is a highlight as the Spearhead VR are more than capable of performing dual duty as music and gaming headphones. However, be sure to turn off any of the fancy virtual surround settings if you want to listen to your tunes without messing up the balance of the original recording.

While the sound quality impressed us, build quality could use some work. The headphones boast a steel headband and metal ear cup pivots but the rest of the headphone is made of plastic that creaks and groans when flexed. The problem is made worse by the annoying microphonics, which means you’ll hear a lot of cable noise when the microUSB cable slides across your clothing. 

Against the competition, the 1MORE Spearhead VR are an undeniable value at $150 (about £106, AU$189) for all of its features. Gamers on a budget should check out the Kingston HyperX Cloud while audiophiles with bigger wallets should check out the V-MODA Crossfade Wireless 2, which accepts an optional mic for gaming. Alternatively, hardcore gamers who don’t care about music will want to check out the brutal-looking ASUS ROG Centurion 7.1 headset.

• These are the best gaming headsets in 2018