Nyko SpeakerCom
Added September 16th, 2004 by Barnolde
I hadn’t heard of this neat little product until I saw an ad for it in Xbox Nation. I was looking for a headset replacement at the time, because, like many people I know, the original Xbox Live headset breaks easily. While I hadn’t been playing on XBL much, mainly due to my headset breaking, because I (get this) picked it, and it literally fell apart in my hands. So whenever I wanted to play Xbox Live, I had to delicately manage a taped up headset. It worked, but that headset was never really comfortable in the first place. I remember pressure points in my head from wearing that headset during a five hour Counter-Strike match, it didn’t go well with the already painful eye strain. So the official headset wasn’t too great and no third party headsets stood out, but I wasn’t in a rush to pick up a replacement headset, mainly due to their high prices, so you can probably imagine my delight when the Nyko SpeakerCom came into the picture.After dealing with needless complicated directions, I gave up and just put the thing over my XBL communicator, which is actually how easy the setup is. To talk, all you need to do is push one of the two buttons on either side, they both do the same, it just depends on your preference. One of the greatest thing about it, is that it doesn’t need batteries to work. Once I had this big green thing sticking out of my controller, I decided to hop on ESPN NFL 2K5 to test it. At first, I encountered some problems and I heard that I sounded garbled and illegible. When I was about to give up, I put the controller on my lap and talked, and that’s when I was told that I sounded crystal clear. It turns out that a simple, yet ingenious decision Nyko made, has made my arms forever grateful. The SpeakerCom sounds the best when it’s rested in your lap, which is where most gamers are comfortable holding the controller, as they don’t have to exert any extra force to hold it in the air. The thing is easy to use and it sounds great, but my main (and only) problem is with the way you talk, you have to push and hold a button to talk, and while that doesn’t sound too bad, it cuts off whoever you’re talking to, similar to a walkie-talkie. One of the most impressive things about it, is how incredibly LOUD it is, make sure you have your communicator set in the middle, because it really amplifies the volume. This thing is great, especially if you’re talking to a family member or something and want the rest of the people in the room to hear. While the volume does indeed project, the SpeakerCom does a great job of not capturing unwanted noise as the speakers inside it are focused towards you.
Overall, the Nyko SpeakerCom is an excellent headset replacement, it functions very well, even with lots of background noise, it’s loud so that you can hear your fellow gamers, it doesn’t hurt your ears, and the best part is that it’s cheap! Retailing for only $20, this thing is a steal. The worst parts about your product is the pushing and holding of a button to talk and also having it cut off other players. The color matches the translucent green controllers and Halo console as well. I’m sure there’s many people sick of expensive, fragile, uncomfortable headsets, and the SpeakerCom addresses all those issues, and it addresses them well. Since getting this thing, I don't plan on going back to my headset. I would've given this a 5/5 easily, had it not been for the push and hold to talk, and when you do, it cuts off whoever else is talking. Pushing the button became too much of a hassle, and sometimes my finger would slip off, and it became annoying to miss out on conversations. Overall though, the only problem is the main problem, but once you get used to it, it's not so bad, and I still recommend this product for anyone looking for a headset replacement.
There are no comments to display.
