The Microsoft Xbox 360 headset is what you will need to communicate with other players on the Xbox 360 system, you can use it either for private chats with your friends but if you are on an online game you can communicate with people in the game with you.

Look & Feel
The Xbox 360 headset is in keeping with the rest of the Xbox 360 styling so will fit right in with the rest of your Xbox 360 peripherals. The headband is a dark grey, is adjustable so it will fit on a variety of head sizes and ends in a cushioned pad to rest against the side of your head. The next part with the cushioned earpiece is finished in the Xbox 360 white and has the Xbox 360 logo on the side, just to let you know what you use it with, in case you have forgotten! The microphone portion of the headset is also Xbox 360 white and has an adjustable cord so you can position it in a place that works best for you. The microphone is covered in the grey cushioned padding identical to that of the earpiece. The headset unfortunately is not wireless and has quite a lengthy cord which finishes in a control unit and plug which will only fit into your Xbox 360 controller. The headset is also very light, but doesn't feel like it has been made solidly so watch out, the cheap plastic will do you no favours and it may snap easily as I found out when I accidently sat on one.

Features
To use the headset for voice chats you will have to plug it into the bottom of your Xbox 360 controller, you will then notice the control unit which is quite good and offers great features like being instantly able to mute your microphone, really handy if someone comes into the room and starts talking to you as you probably won't want the rest of your online friends listening in! As well as that you get a handy volume control slider which you simply turn in the direction you want to make the noise louder or quieter, in my experience I find the Xbox 360 headset is a little quiet and forces me to turn down my TV or enable the voices to come out of my TV as well which basically defeats the point of a headset as a microphone would be more handy. The sound quality is also rather poor as you only have a single speaker, so obviously it is going to be monaural sound. Also as the sound has to travel over the internet you get distortions from that, it also strangely distorts people's voices so people you know sound rather weird over Xbox live! If you connect your 360 controller to your PC, and don't have a dedicated PC microphone or headset you will be pleased to know that you can use it as you would expect, but the poor sound quality still remains an issue so I wouldn't recommend you buy one for your PC over a regular PC headset.

Price & Conclusion
The Xbox 360 headset comes in the box with every Xbox 360 Premium system, so if you treat it as a freebee I suppose it is quite good. It offers easy access to the Xbox 360 voice communications system has a handy control unit offering instant access to some handy features and you can plug it in your PC and use it as a PC headset. The disadvantages are many; it feels cheap, is easily broken, has poor sound quality, distorts voices and is wired. You can remedy at least one of these issues with the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset, which costs rather more. The headset will cost you around 10-15 from game stores and you may find a better deal if you shop around online. If you just want a basic headset for your 360 and are not to fussed about quality, the Xbox 360 headset will do a reasonable job.

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