Logitech G522 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Gaming Headset
design
The first thing you notice when you pick up the Logitech G522 LIGHTSPEED is the weight, or rather the lack of it. At 290g, it’s strikingly light in your hand, and that translates directly to how it feels on your head. It’s easy to forget you’re actually wearing it after a few minutes. Logitech has gone with a ski-band strap design here, with a rigid plastic arch floating above a fabric strap that carries most of the load. The ear cushions are soft, breathable, and large enough to sit around your ears rather than on them.
That all adds up to comfort being pretty good, though I wouldn’t call it exceptional. During testing I found the G522 prone to a little sliding around on top of my head if I moved around, never quite feeling as secure as I’d like. The suspension band only has two adjustment positions, which doesn’t help matters. If you’ve got a head shape that happens to match what Logitech designed for, you’ll be fine. If not, you might find yourself shuffling and readjusting more than you’d want to.
Build quality is closer to functional rather than premium, though at this price point that’s to be expected. You’re offered a choice of black with a accents or the white with teal accents variant I’m testing here. It’s all plastic, which keeps the weight down but doesn’t exactly scream high-end. That said, it certainly doesn’t feel cheap and it’s more than sturdy enough. The physical controls are sensible and again functional in design and execution. There’s nothing too fancy, just a power slider, volume wheel, mute button, and Bluetooth toggle. They’re tactile, they’re easy to find by touch, and they do their job without fuss.
Then there’s the RGB, it’s a gaming headset after all. You’ll find eight customisable zones across the Logitech G522‘s ear cups, all controllable through the G HUB app. Here’s my issue with RGB on headphones: it’s behind my eyes. I can’t see it, so what’s the point. For streamers on face cam it might add something to the aesthetic, particularly if you can sync it to your notifications, but for everyone else I’d suggest turning it off and enjoying the extra battery life instead.
performance
I took a slightly different route to testing the Logitech G522 LIGHTSPEED, opting to use it solely as a streaming headset rather than sitting in critical listening mode. That meant I was talking away over the top at all times, though this is a use case I can see being pretty enticing for the G522. I’m no audiophile at the best of times so I’m happy to defer to sharper ears than mine on the audio specifics, but what I can say is that nothing jumped out during use. Across general gaming and media use at my PC I found they sounded pretty neutral, no real gremlins but nothing remarkable either. The underlying audio quality is certainly strong though, mids are solid in a relatively warm overall tone, but the bass is more polite than punchy.
If you’re a little more audio-minded and want to squeeze more out of what the G522 can do, the Logitech G HUB app offers a 10-band EQ and a library of community presets. There’s always something to be gained by dialling in to your own use, so it’s worth playing around.
Where the G522 LIGHTSPEED seriously impressed me is with its microphone. This is the star of the show and it propels this headset into an entirely different area of gear in my eyes. Logitech has equipped it with a full-bandwidth 48kHz/16-bit detachable boom mic with Blue VO!CE processing, and the results are honestly ridiculous.
I tested the Logitech G522 while sim racing on Twitch, and my viewers didn’t notice an obvious drop-off in quality from my normal standalone XLR microphone setup. Given their reputation for thin, almost old-school radio audio, for a headset mic to hold its own against dedicated kit in a live streaming environment is impressive. It makes the Logitech G522 a genuine content creator option if you’re chasing a combo package rather than ultimate audio quality in each department. The microphone itself isn’t particularly malleable or positionable, it’ll sit where it wants to sit and won’t be told otherwise. I wasn’t sure about this at first but it didn’t seem overly sensitive to exact positioning.
Connectivity is comprehensive and reliable. You get LIGHTSPEED 2.4GHz wireless via the included USB-A dongle, Bluetooth 5.3 for mobile devices, and USB-C wired if you run out of battery or just prefer a cable. It works with PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. Xbox users, unfortunately, are out of luck. Battery life is quoted at up to 60-70 hours with RGB off, dropping to around 30-40 hours with the lights on. In practice that means you’re not going to be charging this thing very often, which is always welcome.
summed up
At its price, the Logitech G522 LIGHTSPEED isn’t trying to be the best-sounding headset in the market. Yet somehow Logitech has stuck a microphone in this mid-range option that’s so good, it tops the field for streamers in headsets I’ve tested.
If you’re a content creator, or even simply someone who spends a lot of time in voice chat, the microphone quality of the G522 alone makes it well worth considering. It’s good enough to replace a standalone mic for even established streamer’s broadcasts, which is more than most other gaming headsets can claim. Pair that with comfortable lightweight construction, solid battery life, and flexible connectivity, and you’ve got a headset that earns its place on your desk.
