Tt eSports Isurus In-Ear Headphone Review

Tt eSports are the gaming peripheral arm of popular cooling solution brand, ThermalTake. Their assault on the gaming scene has paid dividends and their products are becoming more and more popular by the day. While there are many great headsets on the market already, we were interested in seeing just how the Tt eSports Isurus in ear headphones compared to other brands on the market.

Having already reviewed the Astro Gaming offering in this sector, Tt eSports had a lot to live up to compete with their North American rivals, especially in a scene that is already a heavy supporter of all things Astro.

The Isurus headphones come in two different colours, white or black. The box is presented well, and accompanying your headphones is a smart little leather carry case. A nice touch to the whole package. You'll also find the usual contents, including instructions and a female to 2x 3.55mm jack to give you PC and laptop compatibility.

Straight out of the box the headphones look quite different to your typical in ears. The headphones have been designed to cater for all shapes of ears, rather than simply being something you stab into your ear. The idea is ensure the product is comfortable for all users, but do they deliver?

Both Michael 'Emo' Kent and I had a pair of headphones, so we were able to deliver double the scrutiny, sharing ideas of what we thought worked and didn't work with the headphones. Looks wise, we both agreed they delivered. There was some difference of opinion though, with Mike preferring my black pair and oddly, me preferring his white pair. Obviously the standard user would have a choice of which colour they would prefer when buying the headphones.

The Isurus also features a cable that requires you to put the right headphone round the back of your neck. Handy for keeping the whole thing in place. Again, personally I prefer cables of equal length while Mike preferred the round the neck version. A trivial dispute. The clip on the wire is very handy for positioning the microphone and holding the headphones in place while walking or running. The microphone itself is very subtle and does not include a volume control. I've never really understood the volume control option. I'm not sure if this is just me but I always have the volume on full on the headphone controls, and choose to control the master volume of my output device on the device itself, rendering any inbuilt volume control in the headset completely pointless.

When it came to performance, to test just how good the Isurus headphones were, I put them through a number of different tests. Firstly, I listen to a lot of music during the day, so I figured a lengthy music marathon would allow me to test both quality and comfort. The headphones don't feel like they're full in your ear, but still rest comfortably inside your ear when you first put them in. It's a strange feeling but something you quickly get used to. I found that they delivered well for music. The bass particularly was a plus point of these little in ears, and there were few complaints from my in this section.

Despite being billed as suitable for any type of ear, I found that after a long session of listening, unlike my regular headphones the Isurus headphones did make my ears ache a little bit. It wasn't so much the bit I inserted into my ear, but rather the part that rests within my outer ear that caused the discomfort over time. Mike disagreed though and didn't really have any complaints in this area. Unfortunately the headphones are not as suited to the shape of my ear.

To test just how well the headphones rested in my ear over time, I decided to take the headphones with me for a run. The results of this were far more impressive than I had anticipated, with the headphones staying firmly in my ear for 20 minutes of exercise. This actually surpassed my expectations, and delivered above what my regular in ear headphones were to. While walking with my normal pair of in-ear headphones I find myself having to push them back into my ear every couple of minutes or so. The sound quality was maintained throughout the duration of my run and the snug fit meant the headphones actually delivered above the headphones I use specifically for when I'm doing exercise. Once again though, by the end of the work out my ears had begun to ache a little.

When heading to Skype, the sound quality held up well. The clip found on the wire makes for better positioning of the microphone. If the mic was too far away from my mouth, members of my party complained that my voice sounded like it had an echo. After some repositioning I managed to find a somewhat suitable position that was tolerable to the people I was talking to.

Xbox Live offered the same kind of situation. Directional sound was actually very good, and players with loud foot steps, or other in game actions were very easy to distinguish. The standard jack plugs straight into an Astro Mix Amp as well so you can get started pretty quickly. Unfortunately like many PC headsets, you need a Mix Amp to make this headset compatible with a game.

Overall Scores

Design 6/10 – The finish is good. The in-line mic is subtle. The design makes the headphones fit for almost every purpose. The headphones tick almost all the boxes, but really fall down in the discomfort. If you're travelling a lot, or spend much of your day listening to music through headphones, if you're like me and find the headphones uncomfortable you may soon be reaching for an alternative. A shame for what is an otherwise great piece of kit.

Functionality 7/10 – The microphone is of reasonable standard, and allows for you to use the headphones with smart phones and with your PC using the adaptor provided. For the headset to be Xbox Live compatible you will need to own an Astro MixAmp or similar. The snug fit means that the headphones can also accompany you for trips to the gym, making the Isurus something of an all purpose portable headset.

Sound 8/10 – The quality of the bass lead to top notch sound both in game and while listening to music. The headphones were also fairly handy for Skype calls and with smart phone usage. The limited functionality of the microphone will ultimately mean that this piece of kit could never replace your regular headset, however you will be hard pushed to find anything better at this price, offering the same amount of portability.

Value 7/10 – With the headphones available from as little as £20, it's hard to deny that this is a good deal. There is no doubt a possibility that the headphones will be uncomfortable but at this price, it's a risk you can take. At a third of the price of similar headphones on the market, if you can wear these headphones for long periods of time, you may have just found your new favourite pair of headphones.

Overall 7/10 – If you find the headphones comfortable for long periods of time, then no doubt you'll be scoring the Isurus an 8 or above. For me though, it seems this is too much of a stumbling block. As an extremely frequent headphone user, this isn't the one for me.

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@Mellow nice review!
I kinda disagree though on the comfort aspect, I got the Isurus headphones and I love them! Never had any better tbh.
However some of my friends though finds them uncomfortable, whereas I couldn't disagree any more. Maybe I have just weird ears
Each to their own I guess

Quite smart, wouldn't mind trying some.

We don't have a preferred supplier so just shop around on the net for the best price. They're about 20 quid or so which is pretty good. I sat on mine unfortunately so they're broken, tempted to just invest and get myself another.

I'm fairly sure Swan will eventually be doing a review on the TT Shocks. Might be Loukas actually but somebody has one lined up.

Nice review.

Mellow seemed to think they were pretty good very loud, personally my ears couldn't handle it but I think that's because I'm just not used to it.

Sounded decent with my laptop/iPod/iPad/Xbox/Samsung Galaxy II Smartphone on full volume.