Lately, the mid-range gaming headset market feels like a heated battleground with brands touting “pro-grade drivers,” “ultra-low latency,” and “Spatial audio,”. Having tested a number of sub-$300 contenders, I honestly wasn’t expecting much when Logitech launched the G522 LIGHTSPEED at $299 but after two weeks using it for gaming and work across multiple devices, I am pleasantly surprised.
From the moment I unboxed the G522, its featherlight 290-gram, white frame impressed me. A rigid plastic arch floats above your head while a fabric “ski” strap with a nice teal color carries the majority of the weight. Dual-layer memory-foam ear cushions breathe well around glasses arms, never pinching or warming up. In short, the G522 is surprisingly comfortable rivaling the similarly priced Asus ROG Pelta that I loved. Notably, the Pelta is 309g making the G522’s balance of security and lightness a clear win for comfort seekers.
Inside each cup lie Logitech’s Pro-G 40 mm drivers in self-contained acoustic chambers designed to sharpen mids and highs. While they aren’t the excellent Graphene drivers found in the Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed, the G522 still delivers a punchy, detailed sound. Footsteps in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 crackle with pinpoint accuracy, and each Doom demon roar feels punchy once you dial in bass via Logitech G Hub.
Bass is polite by default but never hollow—tailor it to your taste, and you’ll feel Diablo IV’s thunderbolts shake your jaw. While the Pelta’s 50 mm titanium-plated drivers deliver a weightier rumble out of the box, the G522’s EQ flexibility yields a more balanced response across esports shooters and story-driven RPGs alike.
Connectivity is the G522’s secret weapon. A three-way switch cycles through LIGHTSPEED 2.4 GHz wireless for ultra-low PC latency, Bluetooth 5.0 for quick pairing on my MacBook Pro, and USB-C wired mode with audio passthrough. I’d hop from a Teams call to a no-lag Cyberpunk 2077 session without re-pairing or missing a beat. The range covers my desk-to-kitchen sprint, and while media controls vanish in Bluetooth mode—a minor annoyance the Pelta avoids with on-cup buttons—the transition remains slick, never jarring my flow. Sadly, it’s not simultaneous connection so you can’t be gaming while connected to your phone for streaming tunes or taking calls.
Logitech’s detachable boom mic also surprises. It captures at 48 kHz/16-bit and leverages Blue VO!CE noise reduction to tame background hum. Even without any of the software tweaks, it captured my voice with a warm, natural tone devoid of any compression or tinniness. A red LED on the boom flags mute status so I never unintentionally broadcast my internal monologue.
Even the Dynamic LIGHTSYNC RGB lighting impresses. Eight customizable zones stretch across the earcups, offering 16.8 million hues and dozens of effects—from static glow and color wave to game-reactive pulses that flicker with in-game audio cues or performance metrics. This is a headset designed to show off on stream and I have to say, it nails the look. It doesn’t just look cool on stream; it adds a layer of immersion you won’t find on most sub-$300 headsets, and while it does shave some battery life when cranked to full brightness, the visual payoff is worth it for streamers and enthusiasts alike.
Battery life is equally noteworthy with up to 90 hours with lighting off, and in mixed use—Diablo IV raids, Netflix on macOS, quick refuels between matches—I rarely dipped below 60 hours. Stick with Lightspeed connection and RGB rainbow vomit and you’ll still get about 40 hours which is hard to complain about by any means. A 15-minute USB-C top-up grants hours of play, so your caffeine break won’t kill momentum. All controls—power, volume wheel, mute, and mode dial—sit on the left earcup, keeping adjustments simple and intuitive.
No headset is perfect. The G522’s plastic frame, while comfy, lacks the ruggedness of metal-reinforced rivals, so I’d treat it gently in a bag. Its headband doesn’t have a great range of adjustability so it might be hit or miss for you. And importantly, like many of its ilk, the G522 doesn’t work with Xbox Series X|S; only PlayStation 4/ 5.
So should you get the Logitech G522 LIGHTSPEED? It certainly earns its spot at the top of sub-$300 gaming headsets with HyperX Cloud III Wireless and the Corsair Void 2 Wireless. Its comfort outclasses many, its Pro-G drivers deliver punchy, clean sound, its battery life is great and it’s undoubtedly the best looking of the bunch.
But, aside from the stunning RGB, there’s very little to distinguish the G522 from any number of great headsets at this price range. While the Asus ROG Pelta edges ahead with built-in virtual surround on consoles, the G522’s seamless Mac-to-PC switching, razor-sharp audio, broadcast-grade mic, and stunning LIGHTSYNC RGB gives it an ever so slight edge over the Asus offering.
Logitech Australia kindly provided the G522 Lightspeed to PowerUp for the purpose of this review.
