Showcase
Here, we'll take a closer look at the headset, and pick apart some of its 'bigger' features. For the record, I mean 'bigger' very literally!
The Phontum has some very nice heft to it, using an all metal construction and soft plastics where they count. It's a small detail, but I really like the 'Phontum' plaque placed on the outside of the headband, where it meets the metal frame that connects the ear cups to the rest of the unit. This little feature adds a nice level of quality to an already good looking unit.
Cougar's signature orange is kept to bare minimum, to the extent where it is only used on the headband's padding. It is so understated, in fact, that I felt entirely ok with using the headset in cafes without feeling a bit 'try hard'!
Without a doubt, however, the Phontum's standout feature are the two outsized ear cups. These are extremely comfortable, and are made of a very soft - although synthetic - material that never once annoyed me or necessitated me having to take a small break. This deserves commendation, as I tend to find comfort is often a sacrifice made on headsets that target the lower end of the audio market. Not so here.
On putting on the headset, impressions are again good. They sit on the head well (and I have a relatively large one, at that), with even pressure all around. More on this briefly. I was initially concerned about the thin headband padding, but it turned out to be a non-issue. I should briefly mention that the ear cups are not exactly designed with 'cooling' in mind, and my ears did get warm after not too long in a 24C ambient environment. As far as I am aware, the only cups available at the moment are the solid types, with no option available for mesh or a more breathable design. That aside (and spoiler alert), the headset is very comfortable, and extended gaming sessions are entirely possible without any measure of discomfort.
I would, however, caution that for those of us with bigger heads, adjustment of the unit is a little tricky. Letting the headset sit on your head without any adjustment led eventually to some fatigue underneath and atop my ears. I wasn't - by any means - painful, but it was notable. With a little fine-tuning, however, I was able to find a happy medium. However, I would also re-iterate the above word 'eventually.' The annoyance took a while to settle in, and - to be entirely honest - I was too content in listening to their performance to be truly irked. Even taking that into account, I eventually found my peace with this unit, and happily wore it for sessions post review. They even have pride of place beside my regular Hyper X Cloud 2's.
The two 53mm drivers are perhaps the Phontum's swansong. They deliver simply excellent sound quality for 54.99, and I was genuinely impressed. I could detect almost no loudness induced distortion anywhere in the audible range (with volume at 100%), and this had only one exception. In fact, my tolerance for volume always gave out before the quality did. This unit gets plenty loud, for those wanting to actually 'crank it up.' The delivered sound remained clear and sharp, as a very brief overall summary. There is - again - no EQ control offered by the software, this must be managed by your soundcard or whatever suite you happen to be using. Naturally, the out of the box experience wasn't 100% perfect, but this took very little work in an EQ.
