The Fractal Design Scape feels like a gaming headset from the future, which makes it the best thing I've tested in 2035. I mean, this year

I test so many gaming headsets over the course of a year, it's easy to start blending them into one. After all, the basic archetype for a good one is pretty much sorted at this point—a comfy headband, two earcups, a microphone, and a great set of drivers. I thought I couldn't really be surprised by a new model, but the Fractal Design Scape changed all that for me in 2025.

It's got the same recipe, sure. But in terms of the experience it delivers, it feels like Fractal Design has taken all the things I love about a really good set of gaming cans and elevated them to new heights. I'm convinced it's the way all wireless gaming headsets should be from this point onwards, and that makes it the best thing I've personally tested all year.

The Scape is a lesson in refinement. For a start, it's got a grown-up chassis design. No garish colour schemes here, just a flat black, matte finish with some subtle, recessed RGB lighting. The controls feel reassuringly well designed, too. Each clunks and clicks with a positive action, with not a cheap material to be found.

Speaking of materials, the Scape's earcups and inner headband are covered in a plush, couch-like fabric that manages to be warm and cossetting, yet also breathable enough to prevent a case of the dreaded sweaty ears.

Plus, the microphone arm is both removable and flip-to-mute, which feels like it should be the standard going forward. The Scape is a class act, full of design features that feel… well, actually designed, rather than strewn across the frame in a haphazard fashion.

The best bit, though, is the charging stand. It's a flattened, pill-shaped throne that takes up very little room on your desk, with two fabric-covered ovals protruding from the top. Push the headset in the general direction of its plinth, and a gentle magnetic force sucks it into place—where it then tops itself up thanks to the magic of Qi wireless charging tech.

It sounds like a small thing, doesn't it? After all, there are other headsets on the market with charging docks. But of all the models I've tested, this is the one that actually encourages me to keep my headphones charged through sheer ease of use.

There's no clunky socket mechanism to contend with, nor an ugly plastic frame to mangle into my setup. It's such an intuitive piece of design, magnetically thunking the set into its holder quickly becomes a reflex action.

Where do you keep your gaming headset when you're not wearing it? For most of you, I bet it's usually strewn untidily on your desktop. Perhaps it sits atop your tower, partially blocking some vents. Or, for the more conscientiously-minded of you, perhaps you've bought a little headset hook.

With the Scape, there's no need. The throne begs to be used, and as a result, your headset is always charged and ready to go the second you sit down for a session.

Of course, all of this would be for naught if the Scape sounded awful. Luckily, however, it's got a set of drivers that I can happily listen to for hours at a time. It's tuned towards the neutral straight from the box, but Fractal's software provides easy EQ adjustments that really allow the audio quality to shine.

It's got a detailed, polished quality to the treble that makes footstep listening a delight, while the low-end can become surprisingly hefty with a little push. It sounds premium, is the best way I can describe it. Self-assured. Punchy, without being overblown.

The Scape isn't perfect, mind. The microphone quality is average, there's no noise cancelling to be found, and the fabric earpads have a tendency to rustle for a second or two when you first put them on. Oh, and it's pricey. $200 for a gaming headset with no ANC is a bit of a stretch, there's no denying it.

But honestly, I think it's worth every penny. I've got some very expensive planar magnetic sets in my collection: big, magnesium-chassied beastie bois that are capable of some truly astounding audio quality. I get them out on occasion, just to remind myself what the best headphone driver tech is capable of these days.

Then I put them away again, and go back to the Scape. It's just so refined, so convenient, so easy to live with, that it's the one you want to come home to at the end of the day. And let's be honest, I can't compliment it more highly than that.

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