Introduction

Fractal Design is one of those brands that I find very easy to like. They're best known for their excellent PC cases, plus, every time they've decided to expand beyond that in recent years, they've introduced a meaningful and high-quality product that clearly wasn't designed and released "just because." I'm primarily referring to the Refine gaming chair, which I had the pleasure of using for a couple of months, and now the Scape – their newly released gaming headset, and the first such product in Fractal's portfolio. Right off the bat, it's refreshing to see a gaming headset that's not the seven-hundredth reiteration of the same base design, but something innovative and genuinely fresh. You could argue that Fractal's "non-core" products come with a hefty price tag, and the Scape is no exception at $200. However, the company has clearly made a conscious decision not to compete in the lower brackets of the gaming peripheral market—at least for now—so there's not much we can do about that.



Somewhat oddly, the Scape gaming headset fits perfectly with the Refine chair; they share the same clean design language and even use some of the same materials, such as the fabric covering the Scape's ear cushions and inner headband, as well as the soft-touch finish on the ear cups and headband. This is a wireless headset that offers both 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. It features a pair of custom-tuned speaker drivers, a detachable, pivotable microphone, and a docking station that charges the headset when not in use and doubles as a compact stand. It also includes a fairly elaborate set of physical controls, allowing users to control playback, switch audio sources, mute the microphone, and even cycle between custom sound profiles. These can be created via a web-based configuration tool rather than a clunky, potentially resource-heavy software driver.

Specifications

• Drivers: Dynamic (neodymium magnet, size not specified)
• Impedance: Not specified
• Sensitivity: Not specified
• Frequency Response (specified by the manufacturer): 20–20,000 Hz
• Design: Closed-back, over-ear
• Microphone: Unidirectional (detachable) + omnidirectional (built-in)
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz, 24-bit/96 kHz), Bluetooth 5.3, USB
• Supplied cables: 1.2 m USB-C to USB Type-A
• Colors: Black, white
• Platform support: PC, Mac, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, Android/iOS
• Weight: 338 g