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Fractal Design Scape review: Is this the prettiest gaming headset ever made?

3 hours ago

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If we judged the best gaming headsets on looks alone, the Fractal Design Scape would’ve won the pageant, taken the money and sped off into the moonlight with one or more of the judges’ spouses. Just look at it. Pure Scandinavian grace.

It isn’t just a looker, either. It’s built beautifully and sounds great, with detailed, spacious audio and a wide soundstage. There’s a parametric EQ to play around with via the handy companion software. But the pièce de résistance is the included dock, which keeps your desk uncluttered and charges the headset wirelessly between use.

There are some caveats to those pros. Chief among the Scape’s drawbacks is its microphone, which sounds pretty tinny. Battery life is fairly poor versus the competition, although the charging dock is a major (but not total) antidote to this. And I found the headset a little uncomfortable after a couple of hours.

$199 / £177
What’s good? The sound quality, companion app, styling and wireless charging stand
What’s not? The mic is crappy, it’s a little uncomfortable and battery life is weak with RGB enabled

Fractal Design Scape review: Specs

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Price	$199 / £177
Colors	Black; White
Platforms	PC, Mac, PS5, Switch, iOS, Android
Connectivity	Wired, 2.4Ghz, Bluetooth
Battery	Wireless rechargeable
Battery life	Up to 40 hours (RGB off); 20 hours (RGB on)
Frequency response	20-20,000Hz
Drivers	Dynamic
Multipoint connectivity	Yes
Paired devices max	2x
Microphone	1x boom mic
Weight	12 ounces

Fractal Design Scape review: The ups

Strong audio quality, gorgeous styling, easy-to-use companion software and a super handy charging dock. There’s a lot about the Scape I love.

Audeze Maxwell 2, SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite and SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro all go down to 10Hz, while the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro goes down to 12Hz. That said, 20Hz is still plenty low and allows for most deep sub bass.

Up top, 20,000Hz is around the maximum frequency the human ear can perceive, meaning the Scape can provide strong clarity and detail in the treble. The Maxwell 2 (50,000Hz), Arctis Nova Pro / Elite (40,000Hz) and BlackShark V3 Pro (28,000Hz) ostensibly have the upper hand here, covering far beyond the range of human hearing. But you can’t hear what you can’t hear, so anything over 20,000Hz is kind of redundant.

Just like the Maxwell 2 and Nova Elite, the Scape supports (via its 2.4G dongle) wireless streaming in 24-bit/96kHz — that high resolution audio. The PS5 can only output in CD-quality 44kHz/16-bit, though, so PC gamers are the primary beneficiaries here.

The Fractal Design Scape on a stone surface with a blue background — (Image credit: Future)

The audio itself is very spacious, demonstrated particularly well in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (KCD2). Wide dining halls felt truly expansive, with the clattering of cutlery and the hubbub of feasts in the background. Cellars and tunnels sounded cavernous, with the echoes of water and vocals ricocheting off dank masonry. All rather immersive.

There’s lots of detail in the treble, plus a wide soundstage (which gives three-dimensional sound), making the Scape great for competitive gameplay. Using the Scape’s “Clarity” EQ present on Counter-Strike 2 and in Sniper Elite: Resistance, I could easily detect enemy sound cues, footsteps and reloading sounds, and pinpoint where they were coming from.

Bass is nice and meaty, especially using the parametric EQ (which I’ll discuss later) to add some extra power to those 60-250Hz frequencies. Again, while it wasn’t skull-shakingly deep, there was still a nice punch to the sounds of artillery in Hell Let Loose and Isonzo.

Music

The Scape is a highly competent headset for music, too. That super crisp treble and punchy bass is perfect for electronic music, and worked wonders for the snappy percussion and powerful driving bassline of Sub Focus’s Miracle.

The airy treble and spacious sound work particularly well in lighter or atmospheric songs, like the surreal, disparate elements of Mk.Gee’s Dream Police, all of which sounded three-dimensional and well-defined. Likewise, it’s often easy for the ethereal vocals of Burn Water’s Ikigai to get buried behind the sound’s huge bassline. Not so on the Scape, although I missed a few of the subtler vocal echoes that I could so easily pick out on the Maxwell 2 with its exceptional top-end clarity.

Again, bass is mostly very good, although intensely sub-heavy tracks like Skream’s Sub Island felt a little thin at the lower end, and I noticed the occasional hint of distortion on the most powerful bass thrums of Foreign Concept’s Breaking Again.

Instrument separation is decent, too, and the mid-range is nice and clean. The two distorted guitar riffs of Melvins’ Honey Bucket — a tricky test for mid separation — didn’t get muddied by one another’s sludge. I often have to mess around with mids and treble in EQ for this song’s riffs to shake free of the bass, and of one another, but the Scape’s Balance EQ was perfect from the off. Overall, a strong display befitting $199.

The Fractal Design Pro Adjust app being used to adjust headset EQ — (Image credit: Fractal Design / Future)

The Fractal Design Scape’s companion software (covered below) gives you access to a five-band parametric equalizer, which allows you to precisely shape your EQ curve. There are three presents (Depth, Balanced, Clarity), which are all adjustable. You can also switch between these on the fly using a dedicated button on the headset, which I love.

I got on just fine with the base presets. Depth provided a nice boost to bass frequencies and more immersion in louder war games like Hell Let Loose. Balanced suited wider soundstages and musical scores better, in games like KCD2. And Clarity worked well for boosting footsteps in competitive FPS games. Still, I enjoyed dialling in some extra volume to low frequencies on the Balanced EQ, for some extra fatness to the bass.

The Fractal Design Adjust Pro app being used to adjust custom EQ — (Image credit: Fractal Design / Future)

I called my new custom EQ “Balance+” and saved it as a new custom EQ profile, so it didn’t overwrite any of the original three presets (but you can always reset those with a single click). You can then select from the base or your own saved presets ad apply them to slots 1-3, which correspond to a physical button on the headset that cycles through EQ profiles (with an LED to tell you which you’re using). This is super handy, and lets you quickly flick between your favorite EQs while gaming, without needing to switch applications.

The Fractal Design Adjust Pro app in use to adjust headset lighting — (Image credit: Fractal Design / Future)

The Scape is adjusted via Fractal’s Adjust Pro web app, which I like a lot. Firstly, I’m a big fan of browser-based software to begin with, at least in theory. Browser software naturally means you needn’t install any software on your device, plus it lets you tweak your hardware from any computer. It’s just quicker, slicker and more versatile.

Adjust Pro is pretty good, too. You can update the headset or dongle, tweak the RGB lighting and, of course, adjust EQ. It isn’t anywhere near as comprehensive as SteelSeries’ GG app, with its exhaustive array of EQ presets and multi-channel mixer. But hell, I don’t really need all that. A solid EQ and a way to update the thing, wrapped in a quick-to-open and easy-to-use package? You had me at “a solid EQ”.

Gorgeous design

I love having this thing on my desk. It’s probably the best-looking headset I’ve seen, let alone tested, with the only competition being the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro. Even still, the Razer can’t match the Scape’s sheer Scandi sophistication.

The Fractal Design Scape on a stone surface with a blue background

(Image credit: Future)

It’s available in black or white and looks just as good in either. That’s saying something, as white is an easy color with which to make a headset look gaudy — looking at you, Alienware Pro and SteelSeries Arctis Nova [insert any model here]. I prefer the black, but I wouldn’t turn down the white variant either.

There are RGB lights in each of the earcups, but these are fairly small and inoffensive. It’d have been easy to ruin the look with tacky RGB, but Fractal has implemented the lighting with restraint and employed a diffuser. The result is that the soft glow of the LEDs enhances rather than spoils the headset’s sleek aesthetic.

Build quality is exquisite, too, helping justify the $199 price tag. The earcups are highly padded and made from high-quality fabric, allowing breathability. The headset feels very sturdy and uses high-quality plastics for the earcups and headband, with lightweight aluminum for the adjustment mechanisms. I love the digital crown for volume on the left earcup. It’s aluminum, feels lovely and has a pleasing level of resistance to stop you turning it accidentally. A far cry from the cheap dials of the similarly-priced SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 I reviewed immediately before the Scape.

Charging dock

I test a lot of headsets, and storing them is a perennial headache. They don’t sit well unless on a stand, which very few manufacturers supply by default. So kudos to Fractal for supplying a stand to begin with, wireless charging or not. Third-party stands are often shaky and fragile thanks to their thin, upright nature, but the Scape’s stand supports it all magnetically from the bottom. That means a low center of gravity and a very sturdy stand.

Given how good the Scape looks, I’ve chosen to keep it on my desk (instead of my shelf of loose headsets), where it tucks conveniently into a gap between my monitor and speakers. It’s always at hand when I want it, and always charged…

See, the dock’s magnetic attachment points feature wireless charging pads, so the headset is always at 100% when I pick it up. I’ll cover the comparatively weak 20-hour battery life in more detail below, but the dock is essentially a complete antidote to that. Let’s be real: I don’t know anyone who games for 20 hours straight. But if you do, you shouldn’t. So when gaming at home, you’ll always have a charged headset when you start playing.

The dock plugs into your PC via USB-A and also serves as a pass-through hub for the 2.4G dongle, which slots into the underside of the base. Another small feature that helps keep your desk and laptop/motherboard slots tidy.

Tinny microphone

Unfortunately, the Scape’s microphone is very poor. On day one of testing, I used a work meeting to put the headset through a conference call test. This specific call was a particular toughie, including the entirety of the Tom’s Guide TV/AV and reviews teams.

I entered the call and informed my colleagues I was testing the mic, only to find myself staring at a screen full of scowls. “Tinny,” “quiet,” “distorted,” “Yuck.” And that was the polite stuff. Their feedback was mirrored in my recording tests afterwards. You can hear from the audio clip below that it isn’t a strong show.

$199 headset, but admittedly, it isn’t uncommon. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2, also $199, features a similarly tinny mic. In fact, most gaming headset mics are designed to be fine for in-game chat and nothing more.

If you want to (or already) stream, opt for the Audeze Maxwell 2, whose mic is excellent, or invest in a proper streaming mic like the Shure MV6.

Minor comfort issues

I’ve seen online reports that the Scape’s headband is quite tight, resulting in temple pressure and headaches. This’ll depend on your head shape, but I can see where they’re coming from. I initially found the headband a little tight, but the larger earcups gave me the leeway to drop the cans down a little and resolve the problem.

The Fractal Design Scape on a stone surface with a blue background

(Image credit: Future)

The headband padding is also a little too thin at the front, so the headband itself can dig into your scalp at certain angles. After a few hours, this started to get a little uncomfortable, although a quick reposition solved it. Again, everyone’s head is different, so what’s uncomfortable for me may be fine for you.

I wish Fractal had used a suspended inner headband design, though. I just don’t see why any manufacturer would go for a single padded outer band — an outdated design now. Suspended inner bands are much more comfortable, relieve pressure and should last better too, as there’s no padding to go flat over time.

A few worthy alternatives with suspended bands are the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, Audeze Maxwell 2 and Asus ROG Pelta.

Relatively weak battery life

This is a very soft con, but I can see it being problematic for certain users, so it’s made the list nonetheless. The Scape has a rated battery life of 40 hours with RGB off and 20 hours with it on. And those figures are on point. Each hour I gamed with RGB on, the Scape dropped around 5% of charge.

Compared to other headsets, 20 hours is fairly paltry. The Maxwell 2 boasts 80 hours, while the Alienware Pro and BlackShark V3 Pro can both last 70. The thing is, how often do you play past 20 hours? If you’re doing that regularly, you shouldn’t.

Otherwise, realistically, you’ll never reach the furthest extent of the Scape’s lowest rating before you can charge it. And it’ll live in its dock when not in use, so it’s not like you’ll have to make an effort to plug it in.

Where I can see this being a problem is gaming on the move. If you’re travelling with your Switch 2 or Steam Deck, you’ll need as much battery life as possible. Even the 40-hour RGB-off figure is still half of rivals. The fact remains that less is less, and here, that’s what you’re getting.

Not for Xbox owners

Unfortunately, the Fractal Design Scape is not compatible with Xbox. According to Fractal Design, this is because “Xbox has its proprietary Xbox Wireless protocol that requires certain hardware to be installed for full compatibility. Since we do not have that proprietary hardware, our Scape headset will not be able to connect to an Xbox console.”

So basically, for whatever reason, Fractal Design couldn’t or chose not to license the hardware required for Xbox compatibility. That’ll be frustrating for Xbox users, no doubt. From a tech reviewer’s perspective, we see plenty of console exclusive hardware here, so I’m not holding a grudge against Fractal for this. If you want a premium headset for Xbox gaming, though, check out the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro.

Fractal Design Scape review: Verdict

I really, really like the Fractal Design Scape. Aside from the tinny mic (which should only really impact people wanting to stream), most of its flaws are fairly forgivable. I had some very minor issues on the comfort front and battery life isn’t the best, but with the dock, you won’t be running out of juice unless you game in +20-hour stints anyway. The elephant in the room is the lack of Xbox compatibility, but that’s more of a pre-purchase consideration in my mind — we test plenty of console exclusive gear here, so it’s not a huge deal for me.

Anyway, the Scape’s design is gorgeous, and the inclusion of the wireless charging dock is extremely handy, keeping your desk neat and ensuring the headset stays charged. Most importantly, the sound quality is very strong, making this an excellent all-rounder for gaming and music. And come on… just look at it.

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Fractal Design Scape review: Is this the prettiest gaming headset ever made?

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