The Asus ROG Fusion II 500 gaming headset is a mid to high-end effort wire headphone and is as appropriate for any platform you want to hook it up to, including current and previous generation consoles, PC, tablets, and smartphones.
Asus, with its Republic Of Games (ROG) sub-brand, is one of the most well-known companies in PC gaming, producing everything from power supplies, motherboards, and displays to mouse and keyboards. It has just begun to include gaming headphones in its range, acquiring a good albeit unspectacular reputation.
What will you see here?
Price and availability
The Asus ROG Fusion II 500 headset is now selling for $179.99. You could also investigate the finest PC gaming headsets at that budget, as there may be something to your liking. If you want to save money, look into the best cheap gaming headsets.
Design
Despite this, the ROG Fusion II 500 makes a wonderful first impression. It manages to be both light and sturdy. However, an important requirement for any gaming headset is that it will at some time, toss about the room in frustration. Cheaper headsets sometimes attain that robustness by the use of harsh, unattractive plastics. However, the ROG Fusion provides a good tactile impression, with fake leather on the headband and solid, strong plastics elsewhere.
The headset emphasizes Asus’s PC gaming heritage with one noticeable feature. In addition, large LED stripes on each earcup. We can also program it to light up in a number of creative ways using Asus’s Armoury Crate program. To be honest, that’s rather gimmicky you can’t see the LEDs when you’re wearing the headset. Therefore, its cross-platform boasts, that the ROG Fusion II is designed to be used with a PC.
You cannot download Armoury Crate to any of the consoles. In order for the LEDs to operate, you must connect the second lead in addition to the 3.5mm headphone port. Therefore, a USB-C to USB-C cable with a USB-C to USB-A converter. You can connect it to one of your console’s USB ports, and the LEDs will brighten up, but you’ll have to sit dangerously close to your console, and it all seems a little meaningless
In terms of actual use, its configurations are simple to adjust based on the type of play session you’re having: clicking the main volume knob inward the left earcup turns to surround audio on and off, and there’s a mic mute switch that’s easy to find, and the right earcup has a knob that adjusts the balance between in-game audio and chats. However, to use that when playing on a console, you should flip a switch above.
Audio of Asus ROG Fusion II
Living without its flashing LEDs is a small inconvenience, given how wonderfully the ROG Fusion II 500 performs the essential functions of any wired headset. It features a lot of technology under the hood, which results in a superb sound. Asus ROG Fusion II gives a crisp, clear, and accurate sound with a lot of bass and punch. It features a more balanced, realistic sound than certain gaming headphones, which often overemphasize the bass in order to seem more dynamic. The ROG Fusion II 500, on the other hand, sounds easily vibrant.
This sound is supported by a slew of technological tricks, including four Digital-Analogue Converters (DACs), each allocated to a different frequency range, and watertight driver chambers. However, the intricacies are unimportant. All that matters is that Asus’ engineers’ efforts have paid off in terms of audio quality.
It also has a superb simulated 7.1 surround-sound implementation that feels precise and accurate. It was excellent enough to offer enough prior directional information for approaching aliens in Rainbow Six Extraction, and it was regularly useful in Elden Ring.
Microphone quality
Your will teammates will love the ROG Fusion II 500’s unique but effective built-in mic configuration playing games like Rainbow Six Extraction. It lacks a microphone boom and instead employs two concealed “beamforming” microphones. They focus on the wearer’s lips, as well as AI-based noise reduction. It provided clear voice chat and therefore should be able to do so even in highly noisy locations. However, it clearly thrived in somewhat noisy conditions, such as a shared home lounge with music playing.
The comfort of Asus ROG Fusion II
The Asus ROG Fusion II 500 headset is also quite comfy. This is owing in part to its lightweight, but also to the tenderness of its leather finish. It includes a second set of ear cushions that, unlike the conventional ones, are constructed of hybrid materials. It isn’t made of leather and is engineered to be breathable, especially for playing lengthy MMORPG sessions. We discovered that even with the normal ear cushions, there were no comfort difficulties when using the headset. Asus markets ROG Fusion II as being great for individuals who typically play first-person shooters and MMOs.
However, there is one snag in the works, which isn’t the headset’s fault but is something that affects all gaming headphones that claim to be platform-agnostic. Microsoft has lowered the power output from the 3.5mm connection on its controllers with the Series X and Series S consoles, making the ROG Fusion II 500 uncomfortably quiet. The issue was readily solved by clipping an Xbox audio adapter into the Series X controller and adding some pre-amplification. If you don’t want to spend the money on an extra piece of equipment and primarily use a Series X or Series S, you’d be well off with a headset made particularly for those consoles.
However, it has the sensation of a PC gaming headphone which we can also connect to consoles rather than a true cross-platform one. Asus’ effort, via its Armoury Crate app, is to give you tight control over all of its goods in one location. However, it makes complete sense if you usually play on PCs, but much less so if you mainly play on consoles. We heartily suggest the headset for PC gamers, and it works flawlessly on all consoles except the Xbox Series X and S. It’s a terrific headset, but it’s not quite as cross-platform as Asus claims.
Conclusion
ASUS Headset ROG Fusion II 500 is a very remarkable gaming headset that excels at the essentials. However, it sounds fantastic, has a premium feel, and ranks well in terms of surround sound and voice quality. Ideal for competitive FPS gaming as well as MMOs and is practically lightweight. However, it is best compatible with a PC setup and will require an additional headset adapter for your controller.
