When the LucidSound LS15 headset was announced, I was extremely excited. The LS35X, LS41, LS50X, etc. have all been great headsets but at a higher price point. I was interested in learning what sacrifices LucidSound would have made to get it under $100, but I’m struggling to find much. The LS15 keeps a lot of what I like about the higher end models, including sound quality and usability. The mic quality is somehow improved over some other models, and comfort is still excellent.
The LS15P model works extremely well on PlayStation and surprisingly well on PC. It’s nice to have a good wireless headset on PC that doesn’t require extra software/bloat on your PC. The LS15P features dual audio support thanks to the included dongle which means your PC can have game sound on one output, and Discord chat on the other. This lets you utilize the game to chat mix feature on PC to have full control over your sound volume levels.
The LS15X is the Xbox variant which naturally works incredibly well on Xbox, and like the LS15P also works on PC. The LS15X shows up as an Xbox Headset on Windows which doesn’t necessarily give you the same dual-output option as the LS15P does on PC, but it has to function this way in order to give you game to chat mix capability on your Xbox console.
The LS15 features a passive Aux input that works on anything with a headphone jack, a 15 hour battery life, 3 EQ presets, a detachable mic, and more. The memory foam ear cups look simple but are large and extremely comfortable. I had no problem getting a good, natural seal around my ear which allowed the LS15 to flex it’s smooth sound prowess. No crazy bright or sharp highs, and no boomy bass that over powers the rest of the sound mix. This is just a very clean, smooth, and LOUD sound output. In fact, it’s the loudest measured output I’ve heard on a wireless headset in this price range.
Compared to the PlayStation Pulse headset, the LS15P is a bit softer in the high frequencies and lacks game to chat mix on console. That’s a Sony decision though, as the Pulse headset is the only model that supports game to chat mix control on the headset. The Pulse lags behind the LS15P in every other category including comfort, ergonomics, and mic quality. With that being said, if losing the game to chat mix on PlayStation isn’t a deal breaker, the LS15P is definitely a better headset.
On Xbox, the Xbox Wireless Headset has the opposite issue of Sony’s Pulse. The Xbox Wireless Headset is extremely comfortable, with a rich feature set (Bluetooth) and comparable controls to the LucidSound LS15X (a layout choice I love). What plagues the Xbox Wireless Headset is the sound quality. Out of the box, it’s tuned so poorly, with overpowering bass, it becomes very difficult to hear important details of the game. It just doesn’t sound natural at all. You can aggressively reduce bass thanks to the provided Xbox app, but the driver tuning still lacks the clarity and flatness that the LS15X has. Because the Xbox Wireless Headset uses direct-pairing, some may/will experience audio connection issues from time to time. The LS15X uses an included wireless dongle, completely eliminating the built in direct-pair connection issues and performs flawlessly. If yo do not need Bluetooth, the LS15X is an easy choice to me.
At the end of the day it’s up to you if this is the right headset or not. I can tell you if friends and family ask me for the best wireless headset at $100 for their console, the L15 headset from LucidSound will be my first recommendation.
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