Logitech G535 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Headphones Review

The Logitech G535 look similar to other headphones in the LIGHTSPEED lineup with rectangular ear cups and a mostly black plastic frame. Like the Logitech G733 LIGHTSPEED Wireless, they have a ski-band headband design with a reversible fabric strap. One side of the strap is mostly blue, and the other side is mostly purple. Other than that, the headphones are black. If you're looking for something a little more eye-catching, consider the 'Black/Blue' variant, which has blue earpads.

The Logitech G535 have a comfortable fit. They're fairly light, the ski-band headband design distributes weight well, and the ear cups don't clamp onto your ears too tightly. You can also adjust the hinges to help accommodate larger heads. However, the ear cups have a limited range of motion, and the headphones themselves are a bit big, so they may not fit you well if you have a small head. In addition, the headband strap has a limited range of adjustment, as there are only two settings that you can use to tweak its height.

The Logitech G535 have sub-par controls. They're very simple in design and lack both call- and music-related controls. That said, the controls they do have are easy to use. There's an on/off button, an infinite volume wheel that beeps once you've reached max volume, and a boom mic that mutes when you flip it upwards. However, there isn't any feedback to let you know when you reach the minimum volume, and the wheel is very sensitive, so you can accidentally change the volume if you brush your hand against it.

These headphones aren't very portable, which is normal for gaming headphones, especially over-ears. Unfortunately, although they don't weigh too much, they have a bulky design and can't fold or swivel to reduce their footprint. You also need to bring their wireless USB dongle with you to use them.

The Logitech G535 have a decent build quality. They're mostly made of lightweight plastic with a cloth headband strap and a silicone-like flexible mic. While they feel like they should survive a couple of accidental drops without taking too much damage, the middle of the headband and the yokes seem like weak build points.

The Logitech G535 are reasonably stable. They shouldn't move around while you're gaming at your desk or couch. However, since they're not meant for physical activity, even small head shakes can make the headphones move around your head. That said, their wireless design eliminates the chance of the audio cable snagging on something and pulling them off of your head.

• Logitech G535 LIGHTSPEED Wireless headset
• Wireless USB dongle
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Logitech sticker
• User documentations

These headphones have a fairly neutral and well-balanced sound profile. Although they lack a bit of the low-bass that makes effects like explosions sound rumbly and immersive, they have a touch of extra boom in the mid- and upper-bass that helps emphasize sound effects like footsteps. Their well-balanced mid- and high-mid range ensures vocals and lead instruments are clear and present, if a little thin. Finally, their treble is mostly well-balanced, but a couple of dips in the low- and mid-treble can rob vocals of their articulation and presence and make S and T sounds a little dull and lispy. Still, these cans are a good choice for consuming media with dialogue and cinematic soundtracks.

There have been reports that these headphones don't get very loud. We also experienced issues getting our unit to reach 100dB, which we haven't experienced with other Logitech headphones. That said, listening to audio at even 90dB for more than short periods is dangerous and can cause hearing loss.

We've also had reports of these headphones occasionally making a high-pitched whining sound. The first thing to do is try uninstalling and then reinstalling all relevant software and firmware for these headphones, ensuring you get the most recent versions. Failing that, some users have had success temporarily stopping the whine by setting the volume button to rest between clicks.

The Logitech G535 have alright frequency response consistency. Their audio delivery depends on the fit, seal, and positioning of the headphones on your head. If you have thick hair or wear glasses that prevent you from forming a good seal with the headphones, you may notice a small drop in bass. Similarly, these headphones can sound harsh in the upper mid-range if you don't spend time ensuring a good fit with each wear.

The bass accuracy is great. The low-bass is underemphasized, so the rumble of sound effects like explosions lack thump. On the other hand, the mid- and high-bass are a touch overemphasized. As a result, mixes have a bit of extra punch and body without becoming muddy or overwhelming lead vocals too much. Effects like footsteps feel immersive.

The Logitech G535 have excellent mid-range accuracy that is generally well-balanced across the range. There's a dip from the low-mids up into the mid-mids that makes mixes sound a bit thin (although the boost in the mid- and high-bass compensates for this a little). The rest of the mid-range is very accurate, though. So while vocals and lead instruments might lack a little body, they will still sound present and detailed.

These headphones have very good treble accuracy that's fairly flat across the range and doesn't sound harsh or painful. On the other hand, there's a dip in the low-treble that causes vocals and lead instruments to lose a little articulation and can make speech a bit trickier to understand. Another dip in the mid-treble dulls sibilants and cymbals a little.

The Logitech G535 LIGHTSPEED's peaks and dips performance is good, meaning they generally follow their own sound profile well. There is a small dip in the low-bass that robs kick drums of punch, but a large peak, centered in the mid-bass but extending across the entire bass region, adds body and punch to mixes. A dip in the low-mids can leave vocals and lead instruments sounding a little thin. The right driver has a peak that starts in the high-mid and extends up into the low-treble which makes speech sound a little harsh and also imbalanced in the stereo field. Finally, a peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants like S and T sounds a bit piercing.

The Logitech headphones we've tested have generally shown good quality control, which is an important part of driver matching. Well-matched drivers allow you to locate objects like voices properly in the stereo field. It's important to note that imaging varies between units, but the imaging performance of the unit we tested is great. The group delay falls below the audibility threshold, so low frequencies reach your ears at almost the same time as higher frequencies, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in amplitude, which helps balance the stereo image. However, there's some mismatch present in phase and frequency response. A small peak in the phase response's mid-range noticeably skews sounds like voices a little to the left.

These headphones have an okay passive soundstage. Although they have a closed-back design, their passive soundstage still seems somewhat open, natural, and wide. While not as immersive and speaker-like as high-quality open-back headphones, these cans still produce a sound that feels like it's coming from speakers in a room around you, rather than inside your head.

These headphones are compatible with Window Sonic Spatial Audio, PS5's Tempest 3D AudioTech, and Dolby Atmos. However, you need a license to use Dolby Atmos.

Their weighted harmonic distortion performance is very good. Although there's a small peak in the low-treble, it can be hard to hear with real-life content, even with the headphones' volume cranked up. That said, the rest of the frequency response falls within acceptable limits, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Logitech G535 LIGHTSPEED Wireless. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

These headphones have poor noise isolation. While they have a 'Noise Removal' toggle in their companion software, it's unclear what this feature does as there isn't a difference in noise isolation when this feature is on or off. Without ANC, they rely on their closed-back design to passively block out background noise. Unfortunately, they block out almost no bass- or mid-range noise. As a result, they don't isolate you from any of the low rumble of a bus engine, and they do a poor job reducing ambient chatter. On the upside, they can cut down the high-pitched hum of an A/C unit.

These headphones struggle to cut down any noise you might encounter in everyday scenarios. They're bad at attenuating the roar of airplane engines as well as the sound of office chit-chat. They're slightly better at blocking out the sounds of a busy street, but loud sounds like car honks will still find their way into your audio.

The leakage performance is sub-par. Leakage is mostly concentrated between the mid to treble range, so it sounds somewhat full-bodied. As a result, if you're listening to audio at high volumes, others around you can hear it, even in noisier environments like an office.

The Logitech G535's boom mic has a reasonable recording quality. There's a high shelf in the response, which means your voice lacks airiness and can sound a little closed off. The mic also has a roll-off from the low-mids down through the entire bass region, so your voice sounds a little thin and lacking body. Still, it captures the region from the mid-mids to the low-treble well, so your voice will still sound detailed, natural, and clear to whoever's on the other end.

The boom mic's noise-handling performance is decent. People will still be able to understand you in moderately noisy environments. The mic does a very good job separating your voice from background sounds like the rumble of a subway engine and the chatter of passengers. Even when there's loud noise like traffic from an open window, your voice will still sound clear to whoever you're talking to.

It's worth noting that these headphones have a 'Noise Removal' toggle in their companion software, but it's unclear what this feature does. There isn't a difference in noise handling when this feature is on or off.

These headphones have an excellent battery performance. They're advertised to last 33 hours continuously, and we measured just a bit over this in our tests at 35.3 hours. That said, battery life varies based on usage. They also have an adjustable auto-off timer to help conserve battery life when you're not using them. While you can still receive audio while charging using their included USB-A to USB-C cable, they don't have an AUX port, so you can't use them passively.

These headphones are compatible with the Logitech G HUB software. This software works on both Windows and macOS, although the macOS version doesn't have EQ presets or the 10-band EQ. That said, if you're using the Windows version, you can access bass and treble adjustments and a 10-band graphic EQ with different presets, and you can even create your own presets. You can also adjust the sidetone level and mic level. There's also a 'Noise Removal' toggle, but in our tests, it didn't make a difference to either noise isolation or noise handling when on or off. It's worth noting that when you install the Logitech G HUB software on a PC, the headphones' output volume drops a little, but this doesn't affect the sound in any other way. However, there have been user reports of other problems when trying to use the G HUB software. These have included but aren't limited to startup issues, freezing, and connection issues with some devices. Even though we didn't encounter these sorts of issues with this software, if you'd like to share your experiences, please let us know in the comments.

These headphones come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to recharge them. However, they lack an AUX port and don't support an analog connection.

The Logitech G535's wireless connection with the USB dongle is great. Latency levels are sufficiently low for gaming and streaming video without lip-sync issues, although this may differ across devices. The connection becomes somewhat unstable beyond approximately 57 feet, which should still be adequate for the majority of use cases.

The Logitech G535 are fully compatible with PCs via their wireless USB dongle, which provides both audio and mic support.

You can connect these headphones with your PS4 or PS5 by using their wireless USB dongle for full audio and mic compatibility.

These headphones come with a wireless USB-A dongle that connects your device to the headphones, providing full audio and mic compatibility with PCs and consoles like the PlayStation.