Throwing the Fusion Wireless on and off my head between bouts of Fortnite solidified how surprisingly sturdy and well-built they felt. Despite not looking like the most premium headset out there, I can attest to its resilience. I’d only question how well the outer faces of those ear cups will fair after being repeatedly shoved in a bag, assuming you’re one to travel and game regularly. I tested FUSION out on a range of different titles; DOOM, Fortnite, Final Fantasy X, Call of Duty, and even used it for some music and Netflix. The headset’s 50mm drivers do an outstanding job at delivering (stereo) sound, which when grouped with the cups’ noise isolated design, makes for some remarkable achievements. Each and every audio cue from whatever media you’re enjoying, comes through crisp and comes through loud. The only niggling complaint that I have is that the headset can take a minute to warm up, so to speak. I witnessed audio cues that I’ve never witnessed before whilst playing games that I’ve played countless times beforehand. I’ll not bore you with the specs because in truth, I don’t fully understand them. I’ve always judged through firsthand use rather than what’s written on paper. My judgement here, if not already clear, is that FUSION is absolutely worth its price, and then some. The headset is must have. Not only does it put you in the game with deeper bass and crisp highs, but its microphone is brilliant too.

The ROG Fusion II 500 has all the essential attributes that constitute a top-class gaming headset: great audio performance, usable surround-sound, a clever microphone setup that offers really good noise cancellation, comfort, and build quality. As far as those aspects are concerned, it’s good enough to compete with more expensive headsets, which is something of an accolade. The 7.1 mode also works with music, and with certain genres this again adds a nice effect. So it won’t replace a physical 7.1 setup, but it’s definitely worth gaming with the mode switched on.As for compatibility, with the bundled USB-C cable, 3.5mm cable and USB-C to USB-A adapter, the Fusion II 500 is said to work with practically anything – be it a PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, or Nintendo Switch. Connecting the headset to either my PC or Series X was a doddle, and it worked absolutely fine. Sound and Mic Quality

At least the Asus ROG Strix Fusion 700 features Bluetooth for connecting to smartphones, tablets and games consoles. It’s nice to have the option to use the Asus ROG Strix 700 wirelessly, and the built-in 900mAh battery should last around eight hours if you use the RGB lighting, rising to 17 hours with the lighting turned off. Living without its flashing LEDs is a minor imposition, though, given that the ROG Fusion II 500 does the important jobs required of any gaming headset so well. It has plenty of tech under the hood which leads to a great sound: crisp, clear, and precise, yet with plenty of bass and punch. It leans more towards a neutral, realistic sound than some gaming headsets which can over-emphasize the bass in an attempt to sound dynamic. In contrast, the ROG Fusion II 500 just sounds effortlessly dynamic. Not only does it genuinely deliver on the promise of low latency and reliable wireless connectivity, but it boasts rich, powerful sound from its large tuned Essence drivers. The plug-and-play experience for PC and PlayStation owners is also appreciated, while nice design touches, excellent comfort and exceptional battery life help to make the Strix Fusion Wireless a dependable choice. Verdict It features some sharp audio courtesy of its 50mm drivers, hi-res audio support and it looks pretty good, too.

There’s a decent amount of padding sitting around the ear cups and a small leatherette strip on the headband. All of this, combined with the 310g weight, makes the Fusion II a comfortable headset to wear for long periods, and allows the unit to offer up some brilliant passive noise isolation, too. Despite this, Asus large 50mm tuned Essence drivers still deliver great stereo audio to your ears. Side by side, I’d wager most users would struggle to tell in blind testing whether they were listing to gameplay over a wired or wireless connection. Plus, the distinct separation means you can still use the Fusion Wireless in competitive gaming conditions. Asus even throws in a second set of ‘hybrid’ ear cups that feature a mix of both leatherette and mesh in their design. In my experience, these offer a similar level of passive noise suppression compared to the standard ear cups that come fitted to the Fusion Wireless out-the-box, but they also help minimise heat (and by association sweat) build-up too.

Considering the price Asus is asking for the ROG Strix Fusion 700, it needs to offer seriously impressive audio quality – and on paper it certainly looks like Asus has put a lot of thought and effort into making sure this headset sounds good.

Cross-platform, with caveats

The boom microphone is flexible too, and detaches completely should you need it to. The ear cups offer stereo sound with noise-isolating technology, giving you all the solitude that you need on the fly. In regards to the material used, the FUSION is made up of hard plastics and soft fabric, and in truth, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it. I wouldn’t say this lightly, but the comfort that FUSION provides is high up there with the best of the best, especially the best of its price range. It’s a light weight set, but it doesn’t at all comprise its quality. As for gaming, which is most likely what you'd be buying this headset for, the ROG Strix Fusion 700 performs very well, with the audio detail in particular impressing us in the range of titles we played while wearing it. Again, though, the bass isn’t that prominent, which means you’re not getting the skull-shaking impacts you sometimes get with gaming headsets. With the Fusion II, however, it makes a pronounced difference. Your sense of placement is certainly heightened, making it far easier to pinpoint exactly where your enemies are hiding in CS:GO, for instance. As for musical performance, turning on the surround sound allowed for that thumping bass to come through, although it presented with sufficient nuance to neither override or drown out the still-balanced mids and highs. You’ll notice also that there isn’t a pronounced and detachable boom mic on the Fusion II 500, unlike a lot of other gaming headsets. That’s because the functionality sits inside the headset, with Asus using what it calls ‘AI Beamforming Microphones’ that feature some intriguing AI noise-cancelling tech.

It doesn’t quite feel like sounds are coming from behind you or around you, so we wouldn’t say that the 7.1 mode will give you any competitive advantage when playing games, as you won’t be able to pinpoint where footsteps or gunfire are coming from, other than from your left or right. As for its construction, the Fusion II 500 is pretty well made, although in contrast to other headsets, it can feel a little bit plastic. Perhaps the inclusion of some more metal would have helped to make the Fusion II 500 feel more premium. Nevertheless, the plastic used is hard-wearing and smooth to the touch, and feels decent overall.

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Recent years have seen a trend towards gaming headsets becoming more minimalistic in their design, and the Asus ROG Fusion II 500 epitomises that. There’s no doubt it’s a great-looking headset, presenting a nice blend of smooth curves and sharp edges on the ear cups.