Closer Examination

Being pleasantly surprised by the build quality is somewhat of a reoccurring theme for me when it comes to Rosewill's new Nebula gaming headset lineup. When you spend $20 on a gaming headset, you don't expect much more than for it to stay in one piece and work after you plug it in. The Nebula GX10 goes way beyond that. It combines metal and plastic, with every plastic surface being extremely smooth to where it feels finely rubberized. Thanks to that, the Nebula GX10 isn't only decent to look at, but also completely comparable to headsets you might find in the $50 price bracket in terms of construction quality.


The height of the ear cups is adjusted by moving them upward and downward along a pair of blue metal rails. Do note that the exposed parts of the cable, those that connects the left and right speakers, are braided and well protected against potential damage, which is definitely not something you'd expect to see on a $20 gaming headset.


Both the inner part of the headband and the ear cushions are filled with memory foam and covered in pleather. That makes them soft, adjustable to anyone's head regardless of size and quite comfortable. The ear cushions themselves are fairly large - their inner diameter is 55 mm - so you can count on them to completely surround your ears instead of just resting on them.


If and when the ear cushions wear out, you'll have no trouble replacing them. Just about any pair of round aftermarket 95-mm ear cushions will have no trouble fitting the Nebula GX10.


As I already mentioned, one of the most distinctive features of this headset is the built-in lighting system. It's powered through an additional USB plug you'll find dangling from the cable, next to a pair of 3.5-mm audio plugs. The color of it is blue, and it's very bright and punchy, so if that fits into the color scheme of your setup and you see a point in having a glowing headset, I can confidently say that you'll like what Rosewill did with the Nebula GX10. No other color is available, nor can you turn the lighting system off by using the in-line remote. If you don't want it to glow, simply don't plug in the USB cable that's powering it. The headset will continue to work normally regardless of whether the USB cable is plugged in or not.


The microphone isn't detachable, but it can be pivoted upward when you don't want to have it close to your face. Actually, it's attached to a joint that allows it to be rotated by a grand total of 270°, which means it can even be pointed backwards. I'm baffled by the purpose of this.


The middle part of the microphone's arm is rubberized, and it can be bent closer to the mouth. Don't be afraid to apply a bit of force - that's the only way you'll get it to actually stay in the position you bend it to. Gently pulling it won't be enough since it will simply return to its default position.


The in-line remote controls consist of a switch to turn the microphone on and off and a volume dial. I have no idea why it had to be as large as it is since it contains nothing but those two controls. But hey, at least they do their job properly.


This is the Y-adapter you'll use if you want to turn two 3.5-mm 3-pole (TRS) plugs into a single 4-pole (TRRS) plug to connect the Nebula GX10 to a laptop, console gamepad, or mobile device.