Edifier G5 Max – The Rapid Review
Gaming headsets are a funny thing. Spend too little and compromises quickly become obvious. Spend a fortune, and you may end up wondering whether the extra money bought you anything meaningful. The Edifier G5 Max falls in the middle price range. At £159.99, it’s not exactly cheap, but it offers 53mm drivers, THX Spatial Audio+, several wireless options, and an impressive 305-hour battery life. The question is whether any of that translates into a genuinely good gaming headset.
A Gaming Headset That Looks Like One
There is no hiding what the G5 Max is. This is very much a gaming headset, and personally, I don’t mind that.
Despite its gaming appearance, it doesn’t feel excessively bulky once it’s on your head. At around 305g, it is relatively light, and Edifier has done a good job of distributing that weight. The large earcups give your ears plenty of room, while the padding on the cups and headband makes the G5 Max comfortable enough for a long evening of gaming.
The protein leather ear cushions are soft, although they aren’t particularly breathable. After a lengthy session, especially in warmer weather, things can get a little warm around the ears. Build quality is generally good. It doesn’t have the luxurious feel of the most expensive headsets I’ve used, but equally, nothing immediately makes it feel cheap.
The Sound Is the Star
Thankfully, Edifier hasn’t focused on specifications at the expense of what matters most. The G5 Max sounds very good.
Inside are large 53mm titanium-coated drivers that produce a spacious, detailed sound that works particularly well for games. There’s enough bass to give explosions and gunfire real weight without everything turning into a muddy mess. Dialogue stays easy to pick out, and smaller environmental details don’t get swallowed up when things get busy.
That separation is important. A gaming headset can have mountains of bass and still be terrible for gaming if everything blends together. The G5 Max avoids that problem. Directional audio is another strong point. Footsteps, gunfire and environmental sounds are easy to place, which is particularly useful in shooters where hearing something a fraction earlier can make a genuine difference.
Edifier also includes THX Spatial Audio+, offering virtual 7.1.4 surround sound on supported Windows 11 games. I wouldn’t leave it on for everything, but with the right game, it can add a convincing sense of space and height. The standard stereo performance is already good enough that the G5 Max doesn’t need spatial audio to impress.
Not Just for Gaming
One pleasant surprise is how capable the G5 Max is away from games. Gaming headsets aren’t always great music headphones. They’re often aggressively tuned toward bass and treble, which works brilliantly when something is exploding but less so when you’re trying to enjoy an album.
The G5 Max is more versatile. Its Hi-Res credentials aren’t simply an excuse to put another logo on the box. Music has good clarity and separation, with enough detail to make the headset perfectly enjoyable for everyday listening. I still wouldn’t buy it solely as a pair of audiophile headphones, but that’s missing the point. This is primarily a gaming headset that happens to handle music rather well.
Up to 305 Hours. Yes, Really.
Edifier claims up to 305 hours of Bluetooth playback from the 2000mAh battery. Even if your real-world usage doesn’t quite reach Edifier’s maximum, battery anxiety isn’t much of an issue here. For most people, that means charging occasionally rather than after every few gaming sessions.
It’s one of those specifications that initially sounds excessive, but it quickly becomes something you appreciate. I’ve used plenty of wireless headsets where hearing the low-battery warning halfway through a gaming session is almost inevitable. With the G5 Max, charging becomes something you barely need to think about. For anyone who hates constantly plugging in wireless peripherals, this could be one of the headset’s biggest selling points.
Plenty of Ways to Connect
The G5 Max isn’t tied to one device either. For gaming, the dedicated 2.4GHz wireless connection is the obvious choice. Latency is extremely low, and audio remains nicely synchronised with what’s happening on screen. Bluetooth 6.0 supports phones, tablets, and other compatible devices, with SBC and LHDC 5.0 support.
This makes the G5 Max much more useful as an everyday headset. You can use it for gaming at your desk and then switch over to another device without needing a completely separate pair of headphones. One omission worth mentioning is simultaneous Bluetooth and game audio. Some competing gaming headsets allow you to stay connected to your phone while listening to game audio, and that’s something I’d have liked to see here.
Software and Customisation
There’s also a decent amount of customisation available. Using Edifier ConneX on mobile or HECATE’s Windows software, you can alter the EQ and experiment with settings including Bass Boost and Vocal Clarity. You can also control THX Spatial Audio and other gaming-focused options through the desktop software.
I’m always pleased when manufacturers allow users to adjust a headset rather than deciding there is one “correct” sound profile for everybody. You don’t need to spend half an hour fiddling with an EQ before the G5 Max sounds good, but the option is there if you enjoy tweaking things. Mac users should be aware that the full HECATE desktop software is Windows-focused, so they don’t get quite the same experience.
Mediocre Microphones
Unfortunately, one area of the G5 Max isn’t quite as convincing. It has built-in microphones alongside a detachable boom mic, with environmental and AI noise cancellation designed to reduce unwanted background noise. It’s perfectly usable for Discord, multiplayer chat and the occasional call, but voices can lack the natural clarity I’d expect from a headset at this price. If you’re primarily playing single-player games, it won’t matter. If you spend every evening chatting with friends or plan to use the G5 Max for streaming, keep that in mind.
Verdict
The Edifier G5 Max nails the most important features. It sounds great, feels comfortable, has strong connectivity, and the battery life is almost unbelievable. The 53mm drivers deliver detailed, spacious audio that’s perfect for gaming and also enjoyable for music. THX Spatial Audio+ is a nice extra, but the headset doesn’t rely on it, and Edifier’s software lets you adjust the sound to your liking.
There are some downsides. The ear cushions can get warm, it lacks simultaneous Bluetooth and game audio, and the microphone is just okay compared to the rest of the headset. At £159.99, it’s worth pointing out these flaws. Even with these issues, the G5 Max still stands out. If you care more about sound quality and battery life than the microphone, there’s a lot to like.
Rapid Reviews Rating
4 out of 5
4
Check out this product on the Edifier website.
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