Ear Force W3

Personally I enjoy playing games with the sound turned on full blast. I love getting immersed into the game by hearing all of the distinctive sounds, but when I want to play late at night this proves to be an issue. One option is to turn the sound down almost to where it is void of anything other than hearing your breathing and buttons clicking, but that really is not way the game should be played. The other option is turning it up then getting in trouble because you have woken up your parents, spouse, or children sleeping in the other room. Finally gamers have another option thanks to Turtle Beach and their newest set of wireless headphones entitled Ear Force W3 for the Nintendo Wii.

When I first opened up the package I saw the headphones, infrared base, and several cables. The best thing about this packaging as it is very easy to figure out what goes where, especially if you are not very “tech savy.” The installation involves plugging in the infrared base to the audio of the Wii. This is very easy because the jacks are dual entry, so you can plug in your headphones and still be able to use your stereo system during the day to play games. The bottom line is that you can have this packaged opened and the product operational in five to ten minutes flat.

I reviewed the Ear Force X2 last year, and I must say that the comfort of the Ear Force W3 is a huge improvement. This product use an over-the-ear design that really compliments the gameplay of the Wii, since many of the games use lots of movement. The material is really lightweight and comfortable. I played for extended periods of time without any discomfort to my head or ears.

The sound quality on these headphones is really good if you have a nice connection established to the base. If there is something that obstructs the view the quality will degrade. Another issue that these headphones have is that you will still get the occasional popping and static hissing noise these headphones. While it is not that bad and not that constant, it still is an annoyance.

The main problem with this product is that it is still using infrared technology. If many of you don’t know, this means that in order to get the best sound and clarify, there needs to be a direct line of sight for the headphones to the base. This presented a major problem for me as it kept interfering with my Wii-mote. Even in the instructions Turtle Beach included, they mention this and give a fix, but adjusting the Wii-motes sensitivity settings. I did this but still it was never just right, or works the way it does without using the headphones.

The price for the Turtle Beach Ear Force W3 is $59.95

Pros:
Getting to play at night without disturbing anyone is a real plus. Another advantage of this headphone set is that the lightweight material makes it easy to play for couple of hours without any real discomfort. Also you can use these headphones for other gaming systems, mp3 players, and more.

Cons:
The lack of a crystal clear signal really hurts this product, but that is not the biggest problem with the device. The thing that really hurts this device is that it is an extreme pain to setup and it interferes with the Wii-motes. This should have been really found during the QA of this product.

Verdict: 5.4
The Turtle Beach Ear Force W3 for the Nintendo Wii is a good product, but the issues surrounding it really make it impossible for practical use. If the developers used a Bluetooth connection many of the problems with this device could be non-existent.