Closer Examination, Build Quality and Comfort

The gray exterior of the MSI Immerse GH50 looks a bit plasticky, but that initial impression changes once you've taken it out of the box. Its plastic parts feel very smooth and robust, and they don't creak at all, or crack. The inner headband is made out of metal.


You won't hear any creaking even when flexing the Immerse GH50 in unusual ways. In fact, MSI is confident enough in the build quality to make it foldable. This and the detachable microphone make it easier to carry around in the supplied cloth carrying pouch, for example. That said, the headset itself isn't very compact and doesn't offer anything other than USB connectivity, so most users probably won't move it out of their gaming dens. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the build quality of the MSI Immerse GH50, as well as its ability to survive a table-height fall onto the floor, which I didn't test intentionally.


The ear cup design is interesting. MSI combines an inner matte black plastic "shield" with a glossy black plastic area surrounding it. The edges of this "shield" and its engraved dragon logo are RGB backlit. Whichever color you choose, it will reflect off the glossy inner edges of ear cups for a nice visual effect. While I still think RGB lighting systems on headsets are completely pointless, and that dragon logo is a bit in your face, the Immerse GH50 does end up looking nice in the dark. The RGB lighting system can be deactivated, but you can only do so in the Dragon Center software driver. The ability to deactivate it on the headset itself would have been nice.


Comfort-wise, the MSI Immerse GH50 leaves nothing to be desired. The pleather-covered inner headband is decently padded. The oval ear cushions are exceptionally soft and surround the ears completely. I was able to wear this headset for multiple hours at a time without even the slightest hint of discomfort. It will make your ears sweat during the hotter summer days, especially if your room lacks air conditioning, but that is the case with every headset with pleather ear cushions. The ear cushions can't be removed, which makes replacing them impossible.


The left and right channel are clearly marked inside each ear cushion.


The height of the headset can be adjusted by sliding the ear cups up and down the inner metal headband. Range of movement isn't very wide, but I didn't have any issues fitting it on my largeish head.


The 3.5-millimeter microphone connector is on the left ear cup. It's slightly sunken in, just enough to prevent the microphone from moving when plugged in.


The microphone arm is covered in a thick layer of rubber. When bent, it stays in place firmly.


You'll find a fairly large in-line remote control some 60 centimeters down the braided cable. On its front is a switch and two buttons—one toggles 7.1 surround sound on/off while the other mutes the microphone. The aforementioned switch activates and deactivates the "Enhanced Bass" feature, which causes the ear cups to vibrate whenever low frequencies are played. I'll discuss this feature in more detail in the sound-quality section of this review. Finally, a simple analogue volume dial has been put on the right side of the remote control. The remote control has no clothes clip, but it wouldn't be of much use even if it did since it's positioned unusually far down the cable, which would have it sit somewhere below your pelvis.