AceZone A-Spire Wireless Gaming Headset — Review

In the audiophile space, the Machiavellian hustlers of the industry smother their launches with buzz phrases galore to win consumers over. The recent standout, ANC, aka active noise-cancelling, gets thrown around but only a select few actually walk the talk of delivering the likes of feedforward, feedback and hybrid. While the royal rumble ensues around whose headsets can best block out a world littered with cacophony and commotion on constant rotation, in steps AceZone, a new player from an uncommon background – gaming.

With most gamers being obsessed over mice, keyboards and monitors boasting the fastest response times and refresh rates, few account for the need for absolute concentration and isolation – what gamers hear. Those few, a select pool of esports professionals and engineers, have quietly been working on the A-Spire Wireless, a gaming headset that can, quite literally, put the world on mute.

Relatively unknown to the general public but famed among the esports faithful, AceZone’s headsets have been the de-facto audio brand of choice at almost every top-tier esports tournament for almost five years and counting. Though its hardware is currently not as ubiquitous or abundant as a pair of Sony wireless headphones or Apple Airpods Max, they’re planning to change that with this entry. It’s the company’s first foray into the mass market, aimed at retaining the essential audio features of its existing high-end professional gaming headsets, at a fraction of the cost.

Make no mistake though – while the A-Spire can be used as a pair of wireless headphones to listen to music on your phone, it’s a gaming headset first and true to its understated core, these headphones come in an unassuming black study hard-shell carrying case. Unzipping it reveals the headset neatly folded in one half slightly larger than the size of your hand, and the usual set of wires and its wireless dongle in a Velcro-sealed pouch in the other.

It’s a shame that, unlike its name, the A-Spire Wireless’ design isn’t the most inspiring. It resembles an entry-level pair of pilot headsets, especially with its prominent but undetachable boom microphone that can be swung up and away from your mouth when not in use and that’s it, though we’ll go more on why it has to stay connected to the headset later. A non-issue for a pro gamer, but a little disappointing for those wanting their premium ANC audio headset to look less “call centre”.

If you are already in the market for the A-Spire Wireless though, there’s a good chance that you care a lot more about how it sounds rather than how it looks. Thankfully, they do a pretty darn good job on the audio front.

With regards to passive noise-cancelling, A-Spire’s strong – but not pressing – clamping force ensures a tight seal for most ear types and sizes. Additionally, the interchangeable noise leatherette ear muffs are thick enough such that you won’t find the helixes of your ears grazing the inner drivers. However, at 270g, they aren’t the lightest and most comfortable, but are still good for a few hours of gaming, and they won’t fall off when you jolt to your feet reacting to your teammate’s clutch. 

A slight knock would be that the earpads aren’t the most breathable, which we foresee might lead to musty ears, especially in warmer and more humid environments. Adding salt to the wound, it’s direct bad news for those with crippling myopia, they aren’t comfortable at all when worn with eyewear on.

That aside, the great thing about the A-Spire Wireless is that it is both extremely plug-and-play and versatile. There’s a whole catalogue of ways you can connect the headset: its wireless USB-C dongle for PC, MacOS, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, Bluetooth for your mobile devices, and both USB-C and AUX wired connectivity for everything else. All methods are extremely reliable, with no perceptible lag worth noting.

Where this unit stands out is how AceZone boasts that users can pick up more in-game audio with the A-Spire Wireless than other headsets, and it’s evident that there has been extensive tinkering at their offices on its 40mm driver that makes even the tiniest of audio details stand out. With extremely well-designed audio planes, distant footsteps are distinguishable amid a symphony of grenades and gunfire on first-person shooters. We were able to pick out reloads and power-ups being channelled, even on muddier games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. It’s this calibration to specific games and genres, including the likes of Counter-Strike 2 and Apex Legends, that aid enhanced audio pick-ups. We just wished it covered more specific big-name e-sports titles such as League of Legends, Fortnite and more.

Additionally, it was easy to be immersed in the sounds and epic soundtrack of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which is great for some single-player action. However, we did wish that the company adopted a volume wheel instead of buttons, to allow for more precision controls of how amplified we want our games to be, especially during those louder, more chaotic sequences. 

Done gaming with your mates and want to use them on the go? Bluetooth connectivity is seamless too. With a click of a button, you’ll hear the indubitable voice of an AI-generated male voice telling you that they’ve done the dance with the Bluetooth gods, and touched base with your smartphone.

On the A-Spire Wireless soundscapes sound wider with highs, mids, and lows more distinguishable – and you’ll soon find yourself lost in the soundscape of your favourite tunes, getting transported to the hip-hop streets of Pennsylvania with the sludgy synths, explosive drum hits, and fun hype-you–up confident lyrics on Joey Valance & Brae’s 2023 album, “NO HANDS”. It feels like Charli XCX’s right beside you when she’s going on about her underwear on “Guess”. 

Adding to the already impressive passive noise-cancelling and audio performance is some of the best ANC we’ve tested in a headset for both gaming and on-the-go. AceZone didn’t shy away from this in its marketing, and it lives up to the hype. When cranked to the max of -20dB, you won’t hear a thing: the wailing baby on a red-eye flight, your folks barging into your room while you’re in a tense 1v1 situation, even reducing the full brunt of a 97dB journey from Mayflower to Lentor (the loudest noise level recorded on Singapore’s trains), to a mere hum.

It also probably means you wouldn’t be able to hear if there’s a double-decker bus spinning out of control bearing down on you as you face imminent death – which is as awe-inspiring as it is straight-up frightening. 

ANC is turned on by default, and you can adjust the ANC transparency (the amount of outside sounds allowed in) to the decibel. Fret not, full transparency also doesn’t sound too artificial and processed. If you’re unhappy with the audio mixes, you can go full mad scientist and EQ your music to fine-tune your listening experience. 

All of this customisation can be done via the AceZone app, which allows you to pick and choose from a myriad of equaliser presets, and adjust the noise-cancelling aggressiveness of the ANC. There are also modes that you can toggle to tweak the ANC performance of the A-Spire Wireless, but the changes are negligible to users who aren’t audiophiles, which will apply to the vast majority. There are a mix of new terms to understand though and a handy feature to have would be information icons next to each of the features that describe them aptly, so that you don’t have to act like you know what “sidetone” actually means in front of your friends when showing off.

Going back and forth with the level of customisation and ways you can use the A-Spire Wireless, it hasn’t seemed to place a strain on its battery life. AceZone says that these will last you up to an estimated 35 hours of wireless use (via the USB-C wireless dongle or Bluetooth) with the full ANC activated.

Lastly, the microphone works like a charm. Even with a vacuum cleaner going off in the same room or when taking a FaceTime call from your grandmother beside a bustling street, the fighter jet technology its microphone employs makes certain that your callouts and instructions are heard loud and clear, as our teammates can attest.

AceZone has never been a headphone brand for the faint of heart. Its steep price of S$430 translates, with the A-Spire Wireless doing a great job of bringing that competitive experience to the masses. It strips away some of its ultimate premium features in its more expensive esports industry-standard iterations for what’s important: superb sound, unrivalled ANC, solid battery life, and great connectivity.

Yong Le

Everything changed when his parents bought him a PlayStation 2 for Christmas. Since then, he’s been hooked on all things esports, video games, and music. If he’s not livestreaming his shenanigans, he’s probably out taking mirror-selfies with his friends, vigorously debating over the Internet’s Meme of the Year.