The Philips TAG5106 headset from the 5000 series is from Philips. The generous people at Philips sent us the Philips TAG5106 headset for review. The TAG5106 headset has been designed to elevate the sound of games. This all-new-premium gaming headset has high sound performance and advanced wireless technologies for the best comfort for gamers. This headset is constructed from lightweight material to give ideal comfort to gamers. The TAG5106 headset sells at the price of €85.99.
The packaging for this headset is very slick and professional. The box is relatively big with many contents inside. The box; of this headset comes with a greatly enlarged image of the headset on the front. Some of the main features are written at the front, which includes: Design Award 2022, DTS Headphone, LED Lighting and wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. All the other specifications of the headset; are written on the back of the box. Underneath the box, there is more information on the headset as well. The box; includes the following items: a gaming headset, a USB dongle (USB wireless adapter), a detachable microphone, a 3.5mm audio cable, a USB charging cable, a Quick start guide, and a warranty booklet.
As for the design of the TAG5106, we find the design to be very; quite interesting, with its simplicity to it. The headset does not have much of a colour palette; it’s mainly black with half slits of silver on the ear. The colour of the headset is nice because it’s something that does not stand out as much, which allows for greater use rather than just in a gaming setup. This headset is pretty comfortable, but when kept on for too long can become irritating to the ear. As this is a wireless headset, rather than having padding under the top of the headband, there is a slightly padded stretchable band that cups the head nicely. The design of the ear part has a thin line between the black and silver halves where the LED light is. The LED light has three different colours you can choose from: red, green and blue. There is also a breathing option for the LED lights, which cycles through all three; of the colours. The specifications for this headset are the following: Frequency response is 20 – 20,000 Hz, DTS Headphone:X 2.0 surround sound, sensitivity is 101 dB, maximum power input is 20 mW, speaker diameter is 50 mm, impedance is 32 Ohm, and 2.4 G and Bluetooth 5.2 dual wireless system.
This headset has a really good sound quality to it. A range of games was played to see how well the sound comes across with a variety of tunes and noises. We played games like High on Life, Valorant, Fortnite, Slime Rancher 2 and a couple of others. For the heavy FPS type of games like High on Life, Valorant and Fortnite, there was really good precision to the sound of the shots and was clear as well as loud. The sound passes from ear to ear as the earpads cup well around the ear. This allows for the sound to travel well. The sound is extremely clear with no delay. For FPS games specifically, a great chaotic atmosphere is created from the accurate loud gunshots to the discreet and quiet footsteps of the enemy team. For casual gaming, the sound is very pleasant. The sound comes across as so welcoming and nice to the ears for the very casual games.
This headset comes with a volume scroll on the left ear. The volume scroll is extremely convenient when playing. Something a bit annoying is the volume scroll can interfere with the volume on your laptop. Changing the volume directly from the laptop can sometimes mess with the overall volume change on the headset itself. The good thing about the volume control on this headset is that every sound at a low volume is still very clear. The volume being put at a relatively high setting creates a noise-cancelling effect which muffles out; sound from the outside.
The headset is also supported by software that can be downloaded from the Philips support website. Trying to find the application was difficult as well. The application is called Precision Center, and from there, once the headset is connected to the laptop, the DTS software is downloaded. The installation process takes a while, and on top of that, it installs another software. In all honesty, this seems like much of a hassle for an enhancement, especially when the headset on its own is very good.
As for the hub of the software, it’s very easy to work with. There are four options that you can choose from with sub-options as well. Surround Sound Mode; comes with three options which include; sports, games and entertainment. Another option is Enhanced Stereo Preference which comes with four options off, front, wide and traditional. Then there is also a bass enhancement and a dialogue enhancement. We messed around with the different settings to see if there was much of an enhancement to the sound. We did not end up finding much of a difference in the sound quality; it mainly seemed like the volume was louder than usual. We would not recommend delving into the enhancement app because even without the enhancement app, the headset has great sound for any type of use.
This headset comes with a detachable unidirectional mic. The mic can be adjusted very slightly back and forth. There is not much adjustability you can do to it compared to a bendable mic. The headset has a button on the left ear that you can press to mute yourself and press it again to unmute yourself. This is very convenient, as mute keybinds are always necessary for gaming. The mute button is directly on the headset makes this a lot easier to access. The overall quality of the mic is really good, as there is clarity to the voice and no noticeable delay. The voice; picked up from this mic is very clean and crisp. What we like about this mic is that the mic does not pick up on sound from far away. And another thing is that when breathing, the mic does not pick that up either, which is good as it can irritate people listening to you.
This headset is compatible with PC/Mac/Playstation/Xbox/Switch/Mobile; it’s pretty much compatible with everything, and now it is designed to be a gaming headset, but this headset can be used as a headset for pretty much anything. The Bluetooth and wireless duality allow for the headset to be used; as a headset, you can go out with to listen to music. Now we use this headset for more than just gaming, like listening to music, watching Netflix/youtube, and calling friends. Because of the good; cupping of the earpads, the sound is enclosed, which is; great for watching movies or shows. Not just that but; listening to music is also so good because you can hear the melody and different instruments with stunning sounds to them. This headset can be used for hours on end but has slight discomfort to it after a couple of hours. Though these headsets can be used for pretty much anything, you can go out with them as well!
To charge the headset, you use the USB charging cable and plug it into the headset directly to charge. The headset takes about 7 hours; to completely charge. There is a light indicator on the headset that is red, and when the light turns off, it indicates the headset is completely charged. After the headset is completely charged, you can connect your headset in three different ways. The first way is to use the headset through the 3.5mm cable. This makes the headset wired, but we find that the sound is a lot more amped through the wired connection. The wired connection can be connected to the phone, PC, Mac, and switch. The second way to connect your headset is through the USB dongle. Just turn on the headset, and there will be a ping noise that; will indicate connecting to the device. The USB dongle also has a light indication that goes from blinking white to solid white when connected. The third way to connect the headset is. We ran a test to see how long the headset’s battery life lasts, and the headset lasts 41 hours and 48 minutes in total without any charging in; between. Now keeping; the LED light on at all times or turning it off can change the total charge of the headset to be low or higher. The battery life on this headset is extremely good, and the charging can be left overnight, so it’s prepared in the morning.
The wireless connectivity distance for the headset is pretty decent, which means; that you cannot, for instance, walk more than 12.5 feet away from your laptop without the headset disconnecting. For Bluetooth connectivity, the disconnection distance is a bit more than the wireless connectivity and goes up to about 20 feet.
What this means is it’s not best to walk around the house with this headset in while listening to music or calling your friends. The headset is mainly just for you to sit in front of your laptop or console and play with it.
Many people may know of the company Nacon, and recently they released; a wireless gaming headset of their own. So, let’s compare the RIG 800 Pro gaming headset, which sells for €199.99 compared, to the Philips TAG5106 headset, which sells for €85.99.
When comparing the mic, both mics are pretty good. Both headsets have very similar mic quality, except the RIG 800 Pro picks up a lot more sound and has a mic control feature on them. As for the style of the microphones, the RIG 800 Pro has a bendable mic boom, whereas the; TAG5106 headset has a detachable unidirectional mic. The mic for the RIG 800 Pro personally is preferred more as there is more adjustability to it than the mic on the TAG510 headset. But what is good about the TAG5106 is that you can just remove the mic when not needed.
Both of these headsets are wireless, but the TAG5106 has a greater compatibility range due to its three ways of connection. The battery life on the TAG5106 is roughly 42 hours, but it can go up to about 45 hours if not using the LED lights. The battery life on the RIG 800 Pro headset is about 30 hours. This also means that the battery life is much better on the TAG5106 headset.
When comparing the sound quality between the TAG5106 and the RIG 800 Pro, there is a major price difference, but the sound is fairly good on both headsets. Through some comparison tests, we would say that both the headsets sound very similar, and both create a noise-cancellation atmosphere. The RIG 800 Pro does have an equaliser that can be messed around with and the Dolby Atmos feature, but even without those; features, the two headsets have equally good sound quality to them. Both headsets have clear bass; melodic sound to them, as well as are very tuneful.
As for the overall comfort of both headsets, the RIG 800 Pro is more comfortable than the Philips TAG5106. The padding on the TAG5106 and RIG 800 Pro is very similar in feeling, but the TAG5106 is a little bit tougher than the RIG 800 Pro. The TAG5106 headset is also made with a different type of material compared to the RIG 800 Pro. There is a bit more weight to the TAG5106 than the RIG 800 Pro. RIG 800 Pro is more comfortable and lightweight than the TAG5106. Also, the RIG 800 Pro has some; sort of adjustability, whereas the TAG5106 has zero adjustability to it.
Even with the major; price difference, the TAG5106, for its; cheaper price, has features that are worth it. The reason there is a jump of €100 is that the RIG 800 Pro has a charging station to it and has compatibility with Dolby Atmos. Even with the TAG5106 not having those; specific features, it offers better features for a less-expensive price. For quality and compatibility, it is truly worth buying.
With the headset, we believe; that everything to it is pretty good except for there not being any form of adjustability. If some sort of adjustability to the headset was added, it; may make them a lot more comfortable to keep on for hours on end; without feeling discomfort. Another thing would be to change the mic to an actual bendable one rather than having a unidirectional one if it is already detachable. Other than these two suggestions, the overall headset is well-designed.
The Phillips TAG5106 gaming headset has a simple build with an enticing sound that can create an atmosphere from the comfort of your ears. The range of compatibility and connection allows you to use the headset on multiple devices and to use them for more than just gaming. With its compatibility with Dolby Atmos, the more stunning and customizable sound is presented to you with great ease. This gaming headset has a detachable mic and LED lights that add more character to the simple design. For the price of; €85.99, these headsets are truly worth it as they can create great immersive gaming, watching, and listening experiences like no other. If you want an effective, comfortable wireless headset with appreciable sound quality, then definitely go check out the TAG5106 Gaming Headset!
Overall: 8.5/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
