Gaming headphones generally fall into the large and flashy over-the-ear category and for a good reason. Long gaming sessions need comfort, and players don’t want to miss footsteps around them, which is is exactly what the over-ear options present. But there’s a downside too, especially when using these for prolonged periods in a hot country like ours. Ear sweat and discomfort are a few issues that tend to plague these headphones. This is why the Claw G9 earphones which have been designed and optimised for gaming performance, were immediately interesting to me.
Claw G9 build and features
Unlike the regular gaming cans, the Claw G9 is as portable as earphones get. The cable is made of textured TPE material which feels very rugged and durable. The material is also stiff enough to not get knotted easily when you carry it around in a bad or pocket. Though it does offer regular eartips in the box, I really found the dual flange ear tips that the earphones had on by default as the most comfortable option. That combined with the ear wings were comfortable for multiple hours of gaming when I used it on the go with the Nintendo Switch.
The Claw G9 boasts 10mm drivers which does give the earphones a bit of girth, but thankfully, it doesn’t affect the ergonomics or the comfort levels at all. There are two mic options – one is the default in-line mic attached to the left earphone cable, which works pretty well for calls and regular use. For additional clarity, there’s an additional gaming mic bundled, better suited for communication during multiplayer gaming sessions.
I particularly found it better suited for gaming on the go — either with the Nintendo Switch or with Call of Duty Mobile. The design lends itself very well for that purpose, as it looks really good overall and it doesn’t clumsily fall off the ears, thanks to the dual flange tips and the ear wings. Of course, it’s not meant to be restricted to that use though. You can easily connect the Claw G9s to the PS4 or Xbox One controller, and it also has a dual cable attachment for your PC. The 1.2 meter cable length may not be optimal for desktops, but this would fit right in with gaming laptops.
Claw G9 performance
While the Claw G9 checks the right boxes in terms of design, comfort, and bundled accessories — the performance part needs a bit of a deeper dive. Playing Call of Duty Mobile and other multiplayer action games was a great experience, and I immediately noticed the advantage I got from the crisp and clear audio from the headset. The highs were clearly optimised here, as I was aware of each footstep of approaching enemies, which immediately helped my gameplay. It’s an advantage you’d have with any earphones, but the difference here was that the Claw G9 seemed to isolate the lows and prioritise the highs to enhance sounds like shots being fired and footsteps around you. This was further confirmed by the company representative I spoke to during the testing phase.
But that said, this is also the biggest negative feature in the headset. Giving the highs a priority clearly comes at the cost of sacrificing the mids and lows, which seems unfortunate since the earphones end up being useful only in the context of playing intense shooters or in multiplayer gaming. Regular gaming, TV shows and movies, and especially music sound extremely flat. Claw also claims support for positional audio, and we found that feature to work as well as in most earphones. It was dependent more on the game than the earphones themselves.
That said, I found the earphones quite loud overall. I barely needed to push my volume higher than 75 per cent on any device I used. Sound isolation is not very good with the dual flange ear tips, and I could make out outside sounds quite easily. For better isolation, you may want to switch to the regular ear tips, but I still preferred the dual flange option purely because of the comfort.
Verdict
The Claw G9 is priced at an MRP of ₹1,490, but we found the price closer to ₹990 on Amazon at the time of review. While that’s a pretty decent price for gaming earphones, as standalone earphones, you will find more economical options out there that will give you a more wholesome sound. But if it’s comfort during long sessions of PUBG, Fortnite, or Call of Duty (Mobile or otherwise) you’re looking for and hearing your approaching enemies is higher priority to you than booming explosions, then the Claw G9 may just be the competitive edge you’re looking for.