Closer Examination, Build Quality and Comfort

The Creative SXFI Gamer headset is based on an inoffensive, neutral design. With the built-in RGB lighting system off, no part of it draws attention. With a push of a button, all of that instantly changes; with the RGB effects on, the SXFI Gamer instantly transforms into a fully fledged gaming headset aesthetically. Creative successfully married two opposite worlds and made this headset attractive to hardcore gamers, but also those who want to use it for Zoom and Teams meetings without looking like a clown. The headset combines a metal, pleather-covered frame with plastic ear cups. It feels quite sturdy, is decently flexible, and shows no signs of creaking, regardless of how you use or manipulate it.


The headband is completely covered in pleather. On its outer side, you'll find a discretely etched Creative logo. There's nothing to be found on the inner side of the headband, not even extra padding, which is somewhat surprising. I had absolutely no issues with the comfort of the SXFI Gamer—it caused no pain or excessive pressure on my head, but some users seem to have that issue, so if your head is on the sensitive side, be aware of the lack of headband padding.


The "height" of the headset can be adjusted by sliding the ear cups up and down the metal frame. There are twelve distinct steps on both sides, which is enough to provide a good fit regardless of head size. The steps are marked on the headband. While the enumeration isn't particularly easy to see under certain lighting conditions, you can simply angle the headset as a workaround.


The RGB lighting system consists of two RGB LED rings on each ear cup. You can assign any desired static color to these rings. The chosen color is applied to all of them—there's no way to address them individually. There are no RGB effects to speak of other than a basic color cycle Creative dubbed "Rainbow Pulse". A button on the left ear cup has to be used to switch between the static color, Rainbow Pulse, and RGB off lighting modes.


The ear cups are marked with a large "L" or "R" to denote the corresponding channel. The ear cushions are filled with a thick layer of dense memory foam, which makes them very soft and comfortable to wear. Combined with its well-adjusted clamping force, the Creative SXFI Gamer is very comfortable to wear for even extended periods of time. One potential issue is heat accumulation—after a while, the pleather-covered ear cushions do get warm, which could be a problem during the summer months if your room isn't air-conditioned.


The ear cushions can easily be taken off with a simple twist motion, and replaced if necessary. The process is extremely intuitive and takes no longer than two seconds. Removable ear cushions are a welcome addition because they greatly increase the longevity of the headset.


The controls are on the left ear cup. First, we have the textured SXFI button, which cycles through three modes: "regular" Super X-Fi on, Super X-Fi Battle Mode on, and Super X-Fi off. The mode you've switched to is announced by a female voice, in the headphones. Below that button is a nice volume dial for digital volume control, with a smooth, infinite rotation in both directions.


Next, we have the microphone mute button, again accompanied by a female voice notification. The microphone capsule is equipped with a red LED that's either permanently on, telling us that the microphone is operational, or blinking, which means the microphone is muted. At times, I found this LED annoying and distracting; unfortunately, there's no way to permanently turn it off. Perhaps an idea for a future software update, Creative?


The Creative SXFI Gamer has two ports: USB-C (digital) and Line-In (analogue). The USB-C port should be used whenever possible—for PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and mobile device connectivity. The 3.5-mm analogue port makes using the Creative SXFI Gamer on Xbox and mobile devices with a 3.5-mm audio port possible, or connecting it to a higher quality sound source, such as an external headphone DAC/amp. If you go down the analogue route, do keep in mind that you're giving up on a lot of its features, such as Super X-Fi, onboard volume control, and microphone mute functionality, as well as RGB effects. All these are completely dependent on the USB interface.


The hole for the microphone is shaped such that the microphone capsule is naturally oriented towards your mouth.


The metal arm of the CommanderMic microphone is easily bendable and perfectly stable in whatever position you bend it to. The massive capsule has an integrated pop filter, which explains why a separate foam pop filter isn't supplied in the box—there's simply no need for it.


Creative supplies a 1.85-meter USB-C cable. They claim it's a custom-designed, Kevlar-reinforced copper cable wrapped in an aluminium and copper shield for durability, and nylon braid as the last layer for maximum flexibility. The cable feels very sturdy, there's no question about that, but it's also quite noisy. Whenever you touch it with your hands or have it rub against your clothes or furniture, your ears will be "treated" to annoying rubbing noise. As far as electrical/signal noise goes, the cable is dead silent. For most users, this will be a non-issue, but if you for some reason tend to move a lot while gaming, the noise produced by this cable could become frustrating. If that's your situation, simply buy a different USB-C cable. Creative didn't implement a deeply recessed port, so any standard USB-C cable will fit perfectly.


Creative supplies the SXFI Gamer headset with a USB-C to USB Type-A adapter, so you won't run into any problems connecting it to any device with a USB port.