PowerColor Alphyn AH10 review

The Alphyn lineup is PowerColor's first foray into the gaming headset market, having only specced into graphics cards until now. With the Alphyn AH10, the company hops out of the proverbial frying pan, into the highly competitive fire of wireless gaming headsets. At the $100 mark, this headset will have to do something particularly swanky to get noticed, and yet its stripped-back nature has it clawing for attention all the harder. Though there are some redeeming features to note for a certain kind of gamer.

Looking at the Alphyn AH10 I'm transported back to the early '90s when I discovered my dad's old aux headset. Times have changed, and home audio has come a long way since, but it's nice to see the aesthetic is alive and well. With curled wires strung between the ear cups and headband, and a black metal mesh adorning each ear cup, there's a real sense of nostalgia in the design. It also does away with modern greebles like ear cup rotation, though it allows for a little (if crunchy sounding) movement.

The size, too, harkens back to the days of technology taking up far too much space. The ear cups prevent me from leaning back into my gaming chair's side-cushioned headrest. The pleather headband, attached to the ear cups via brushed metal struts that slide in and out to adjust, is wide and well-padded. So I can wear the Alphyn AH10 for long periods without it digging into my cranium.

The PowerColor logo is embossed in large, shiny letters across a wide, textured pleather strip on top the headband, and all is neatly stitched together with a retro styling that rivals the Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro. Of course, there's a vast gulf between the two in terms of sound quality, but professional audio headsets often reach the $300 mark, while you can nab the AH10 for a third of that price. And for a gaming headset aiming for the mid- to low-range market, it performs admirably. Particularly where gaming is concerned.

At the top of our list of best audiophile headphones for gaming, the MMX 330 Pro touts a balanced yet powerful sound profile against the Alphyn AH10's warm but inconsistent tones. With bass handling that favours middling frequencies and unbalanced presets (we'll get into those in a moment), I'm not entirely convinced by its sonic prowess. Still, it's well tuned for subtlety with little harshness at either end of the sound spectrum. If you play games that support DTS spatial audio you'll get to enjoy a wider and sharper soundstage, and latency is all but undetectable in gaming mode, which is a real boon for the Alphyn AH10.

It can be hard to get the AH10 volume lined up right since the headset volume is linked to that of my Windows device. The sound isolation on the ear cups isn't the best, I'm often left pining for greater oomph in gaming mode to help block out the outside world. Cycling through the sound profiles with the on-ear buttons, Theatre mode almost blows my ears off without warning, though is definitely the clearest soundscape.

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I haven't been overly impressed with the PowerColor Keystone software. Its super minimal UI lets you turn on DTS, switch through the few preset sound profiles, or add up to three custom ones. But there's little else the software is good for. No custom button macros, no noise gate or controls of any kind for the mic. I understand this is the company's first dive into the headset landscape, but to not even include a battery indicator is a little upsetting.

Listen to the microphone test below:

The lack of noise gate for the mic means you'll be reliant on other programs to catch and cancel background noise, though the bi-directional mic is good and clear. It does a great job of handling plosives and sibilants, and apart from the fact that pressing the mute button also mutes any audio coming through the ear cups (causing you to miss a chunk of your conversation) the mic is actually one of my favorite features. I'm a big fan of retractable microphones on a headset, as opposed to flip mics or plug in aux mics. The only catch here is, there's never much need to retract it. It doesn't sit flush like that of the snazzy but expensive Arctis Nova Pro, but there's a secure little grove for it to nestle into.

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With no Bluetooth capability and ear cups the size of monster truck tyres, the Alphyn AH10 isn't the kind of wireless gaming headset you take outside with you. The multi platform compatibility means you can use it with whatever console you have—even the Switch 2 via the included 3.5 mm jack should that be your bag—but the range is so short you'll probably end up leaving it on your desk rather than walking around the house with it. Hopping off to make a cup of tea, the Alphyn AH10 cuts out after about eight paces having only a thin drywall to contest with, and proceeds to spam "connected" and "disconnected" in quick succession in my ear until I move back into range.

And if the large ear cups weren't enough, the USB Type-C dongle is far larger than necessary and has forced me to sacrifice another USB port for the privilege, which isn't a good look.

The Alphyn AH10 hits most of the basics for wireless audio without issue, with top-tier comfort for a non-floating headband and great battery life, but sadly its bulkiness, short wireless range, and the omission of Bluetooth undermine the wireless nature. The number of frustrations and limitations in using it make me question whether the designers were clued in on the price point.

If comfort and wireless capability are top of your list, you can do a lot better for less with something like the Turtle Beach Stealth 500, which charges up in a fraction of the time and won't break the bank. If audio quality is your main concern, you could always spend a little extra for something like the Corsair HS80. In a world where you can easily get impressive audio quality in a wireless package for less than $100, there's nothing really helping the Alphyn AH10 stand out.