tl;dr: There are inexpensive and really nice. Get a pair for yourself.
From time to time I have been known to play an online video game or two. I decided it was time for a proper VoIP headset for gaming and making Skype calls. I was looking for something that had long term wearability, complete ear coverage, inline volume and mute buttons, and an adjustable mic. It turns out you can spend a lot of money on a headset if you want to. That’s not really my style for a first time purchase so I set out to find a reasonably priced model that met all my criteria. A few weeks earlier at work we purchased a Microsoft LifeChat headset for a project we were working on. We kind of happened into it since we were in a hurry to get a headset and that was the best looking option staples had on the shelf. I checked with my friend who was using it and she was pleased so I did a little more research. The Amazon reviews were acceptable but not outstanding, newegg’s reviews were a little better. Since the price was about 1/3 of other available headsets I decided to take the plunge. Here is a picture of the whole setup.
Wearability
I give these 4/5. I have worn them for up to several hours only having discomfort one time I can remember.
Ear Coverage
I think 5/5 here. They cover the whole ear and block out outside noise well, but not to the point I can’t hear important things going on around me.
Inline Buttons
3/5. All the required buttons are present and work out of the box. The mute button (#1) works great. The volume buttons (#2) are a little slow to react, but I find that common on USB keyboard volume buttons as well. Then there is the live call button. It starts an app on the computer when you press it. I would be happier if they had left this off. As a bonus feature, there is a mute indicator light (#3) that turns on when the mute is pressed.
Adjustable Mic
5/5. Works well and you can move it out of the way when you just want to use the headphones.
Summary
I have been really happy with these since they arrived. They were no trouble to setup and have been very reliable. Since this is my first set of USB headphones I was not sure if there would be any issues switching between them and the normal speakers on the computer. This has proven to be seamless. I would certainly recommend these to a friend.