The Roccat Syn Pro Air proves that outstanding sound quality is still the most crucial component in a gaming headset at the end of the day. At the same time, even a great-sounding headset, like as the Syn Pro Air, is difficult to recommend when the fit, features, and software functioning all fall short.

There's no doubting that the Roccat Syn Pro Air sounds fantastic in games, music, and multimedia, or that it has a wonderful microphone, or that its USB-C connectivity makes it easy to connect to a PS5, portable Switch, or mobile phone.

Roccat Syn Air Pro Wireless Gaming Headset

Despite this, I did not always enjoy my time with the Roccat Syn Pro Air. Because the defective software doesn't allow for much customization, you'll be stuck with loud, frequent, and annoying notification tones. It's difficult to get a proper fit, and even when you do, the Syn Pro Air is a tight fit. It does not switch off on its own, nor does it stay connected to Windows in a consistent manner, nor does it allow you to utilise the volume slider on consoles. It's a pricey headset at $150, but it gives far less than rival versions at the same price.

The Roccat Syn Pro Air's primary flaw is that a lot of it feels half-hearted, which is odd since Roccat has previously produced some excellent gaming headsets. Read our entire Roccat Syn Pro Air review to see if this erratic peripheral is worth your time.


Review of the Roccat Syn Pro Air: Design

When switched off, the Roccat Syn Pro Air is a rather unobtrusive gaming headset. It comes with a black plastic chassis, big fabric earcups, and a detachable microphone. The earcups have some lovely RGB honeycomb designs when you switch the headset on, but you won't see them while you're playing, so they might not make much of a difference in practise.

A power button, a USB-C charging connector, and a slider for adjusting mic sidetone may all be found on the right earcup. A volume dial is located on the left earcup. That is all there is to it. The Syn Pro Air can't be connected to 3.5 mm audio jacks, and the dials can't be reprogrammed to regulate additional sound quality like game/chat mix. The controls are a little scant at first, but they do the job.

The Roccat Syn Pro Air is unique in that it includes a USB-A wireless dongle as well as a USB-C adapter. This means it will fit into any laptop, desktop, PS4 or PS5 with ease. It's also one of the few wireless gaming headphones that works with the Nintendo Switch in both portable and docked modes.


Review of the Roccat Syn Pro Air: Comfort

The Roccat Syn Pro Air is a close-fitting shoe. I was eager to take it off after only a few minutes of wearing it. Adjusting the peripheral doesn't help much with this problem. This is partly due to the fact that your adjustment window is quite small, and partly due to the difficulty of the adjustment procedure itself. Instead of a steel or elastic band, the Syn Pro Air uses up-and-down moving rods on the headband. They don't stay in place very well, and they aren't numbered, so reverting to their default state is a time-consuming operation.

The earcups themselves are comfortable and, at the very least, do not press down too hard. I used the Syn Pro Air for a week at work and never had any discomfort, even when wearing them over my spectacles. However, I found myself wearing them less and less over time, preferring to go without music rather than cope with the strain.


Review of the Roccat Syn Pro Air: Performance

The sound quality of the Roccat Syn Pro Air is one area where it excels. I put the device through its paces with Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, Doom Eternal, Baldur's Gate III, and Final Fantasy XIV, and was pleasantly surprised by the audio quality. Gunshots, speech, and music are all rendered well by the headset. Whether I was listening to New World villagers obey my directions to build additional dwellings or blasting down demons on a post-apocalyptic Earth, I felt completely engrossed.

Movies, television, and music all sounded great. The Syn Pro Air produced rich, nuanced sound that blended bass and treble, as well as vocals and instruments, whether I was listening to Old Crow Medicine Show or Bach. The over-the-top speech in a Dragon Ball Z episode, as well as the more delicate performances in a clip from O Brother, Where Art Thou?, came through crisp and clear.

I put the Syn Pro Air to the test with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Switch, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on PS5, and Tales of Crestoria on Android. The audio was loud and clear across the board, while the volume control on the Syn Pro Air didn't work with either the Switch or the PS5. This meant that every time I wanted to change the console volume, I had to go through a succession of tiresome menus. Most other wireless headphones don't need you to do so, and I'm not sure why the Syn Pro Air does.


Features of the Roccat Syn Pro Air

While I have no concerns regarding the sound quality or adaptability of the Roccat Syn Pro Air, the Roccat Neon software leaves a lot to be desired. The Syn Pro Air utilises a programme named Neon, which is currently in development, unlike other Roccat gadgets, which operate on the standard Roccat Swarm software. It's a pity that the Syn Pro Air can't be used with Swarm because there's still a lot Neon can't accomplish.

First and first, Neon is quite difficult to set up. It informed me I needed to download an update for the Syn Pro Air after I downloaded it, before claiming that the headset was already up to current. After restarting the software, it informed me that another update was required, at which point it froze. I never heard anything again about upgrading the software or the firmware when I resumed the application, which left me perplexed about the whole procedure.


The main problem, however, is that Neon doesn't do anything. You can switch on and off 3D audio and change certain equalisation settings, but you can't create unique profiles for games or other apps. The excessively loud, unpleasant notification tones that play numerous times when you start up and shut down the smartphone are unadjustable. The mic sidetone, which is controlled by the physical dial, cannot be changed. You can't even set a timer for the Syn Pro Air to switch off after a period of inactivity, so it'll keep running until you turn it off or the batteries run out. (Roccat says the gadget may last up to 24 hours on a single charge, but with the lights switched on, I got significantly less.)

However, leaving the Roccat Syn Pro Air on has its own set of issues. The Neon software just stops detecting the headset after a time. That means you can't modify the programme settings, control the volume, or utilise the microphone. The Neon software will report that there are no devices attached even after you restart the headset. You'll just have to manually turn the Syn Pro Air off whenever you leave your PC for a few minutes, which might be inconvenient. I contacted with a Roccat representative, who informed me that the firm is aware of the problems and is trying to resolve them.