Closer Examination, Build Quality and Comfort

In terms of design, build quality, and comfort, the CORSAIR HS60 HAPTIC is nearly identical to the CORSAIR HS50/HS60/HS70 Wireless 7.1 (reviewed here), which is a good thing as those two left little to be desired.


Several parts of this headset grabbed my attention right out of the box, starting with ear cups covered in a primarily white camo pattern. Had CORSAIR asked me beforehand, I would have strongly advised them to go with a subtler design. However, after seeing their white camo implementation in person, I have to say I'm completely sold on it—it looks cool without being annoyingly flashy.


The ear cups are made out of sturdy plastic and feel very nice when handled. The center of each ear cup is covered in a metal mesh that makes it seem like the HS60 HAPTIC is built around an open-back design, which isn't the case. Like with most other gaming headsets on the market, the ear cups are completely sealed, so you don't have to worry about the sound of your games, movies, or music leaking out. The passive noise isolation isn't as strong as with some other closed-back headsets—good news if you don't like your headphones with a very tight seal against your head.


The ear cups are connected by a metal headband reinforced with aluminium. The hangers are also made out of metal. The CORSAIR HS60 HAPTIC looks and feels like a premium product, which it should considering it's $130.


The outer headband is decorated with a fresh and subtle-looking CORSAIR logo. Its inner side is decently padded and quite wide, which helps with weight distribution and overall wearing comfort. Weighing in at 420 g, this is a fairly heavy gaming headset, but you never really feel it as such. Both sides of the headband are covered in pleather.


The ear pads are filled with memory foam and covered in pleather. They completely surround my largeish ears and don't clamp the sides of my head too firmly. The ear pads cannot be removed or replaced.


The ear cups are suspended from a pair of hangers, which gives them a certain degree of movement. This is yet another feature that helps with wearing comfort, making the HS60 HAPTIC perfectly usable for longer gaming sessions.


The height of the headset can be adjusted by sliding the ear cups up and down its metal frame. CORSAIR didn't forget to mark the height on each side, though the markings are very hard to see without a direct light source. In practice, you'll have to face the headset towards your monitor and angle it in a way that will have the light from your screen highlight these markings.


The left ear cup contains a digital volume knob and a microphone mute button. The volume knob can be pressed as a button. By doing so, you'll cycle between various audio presets configured within the iCUE software. A female voice will notify you about a preset change, but the lady won't name the preset, not even if a default one (Pure Direct, Movie Theater, FPS Competition, and Clear Chat), instead calling them "one", "two", "three" and so on. Meaning, you had better remember which one is which or you'll get lost quickly. If the microphone mute button is held for a couple of seconds instead of just pressed, it will activate or deactivate the microphone monitoring function CORSAIR calls "Mic Feedback". It's a nice feature that reproduces the sounds picked up by the microphone inside the headphones with no perceivable delay. If closed-back headphones leave you with a feeling of pressure in your head or you tend to talk louder than needed because of the inability to hear your own voice, microphone monitoring will be of great help. It basically simulates the feeling of using an open-back pair of headphones, where you can hear your voice normally. It's great that CORSAIR made microphone monitoring so easy to toggle on and off because you definitely won't want to use it when listening to music since any sound sources surrounding you would interfere with the experience.


The left ear cup also has a plug for the detachable unidirectional microphone. It's designed such that it's impossible to turn the microphone the wrong way.


The right earcup has a dial that adjusts the strength of the haptic bass technology. This dial has a "starting" and "finishing" position, but there's no way to accurately determine if you're at, say, 20% or 60%, so you have to adjust it by feel. This is somewhat annoying as you'll find yourself enjoying your current haptic bass setting with the inability to dial it in as nicely the next time you want to use it. An additional on-off button would have been a nice solution because we wouldn't have to fiddle with the haptic bass dial after finding a position we're completely satisfied with.


The microphone arm consists of a series of metal rings, which makes it easily bendable and ensures it stays in exactly the position it was adjusted to. The capsule can be protected with a windscreen, which makes it look more professional, too.