Corsair Unveils A Porsche-Themed Steering Wheel And New Wireless Headset With Long Battery Life
Leading gaming peripheral maker Corsair has released two pieces of gear that caters to hardcore fans and enthusiasts alike. For audio, the Void Wireless v2 headset now boasts 70 hours of run time, Dolby Atmos spatial audio support, quick switching between wireless connections, and lighter weight. Under its Fanatec sub-brand, the new CSL Elite Steering Wheel, modeled after the Porsche Vision Gran Turismo, isn't just bound to cause fans to salivate uncontrollably, but also bring heaps more control to their sims. Sporting premium materials, ergonomic dials, knobs, and buttons up the ying-yang, the wheel is bound to be a hot seller.
Corsair has launched an upper mid-range gaming headset called the Void Wireless v2, a follow up to the popular Void RGB Elite. Both share the same unique arrowhead earcap design with folding boom mic on the left. Where the 'older' model settled for 7.1 surround sound support, the Void Wireless v2 adopts Dolby Atmos to give players greater in-game spatial awareness, i.e. increased pin-pointing of footsteps, blaster fire, etc. At its core, the Void Wireless uses 50-millimeter neodymium dynamic drivers for audio; the RGB Elite has the same setup, and it's possible Corsair tweaked the tuning for the new headset.
Battery life sees a major improvement, though. Void Wireless users can go up to 70 hours of use before needing to juice up. Comparatively, the RGB Elite has 16 hours of rated run time. Corsair also claims that the latest headset is 20% lighter, which should be a boon for longer gaming sessions. Rounding up the feature set are its quick-switching capability between 2.4 GHz or Bluetooth sources (via a dedicated button), and NVIDIA Broadcast tech in conjunction with the flippable omnidirectional boom mic.
Now, as for the mouthful-of-a-name CSL Elite Steering Wheel Porsche Vision GT from Fanatec (owned by Corsair), this thing looks more expensive that it actually is (even if $440 is not exactly chump change). Inspired by Porsche's Vision Gran Turismo concept car, the officially licensed wheel is 310mm in diameter and built around a cast aluminum frame. It fits the latest Fanatec bases on Windows PCs and PlayStation consoles (when paired with a PlayStation-licensed base, natch). It's also nice to see QR1 quick release compatibility on top of the preinstalled QR2 Lite (wheel side).
The wheel offers a versatile array of controls and customization for its input layout. In a first for Fanatec, there are two buttons built into the rim at the 10- and 2-o'clock positions, right above the thumb rests. There are seven rotary encoders, with four of the main ones automatically assigned to the MFD setup in Gran Turismo 7, which makes dialing in brake balance, fuel maps, torque split, and traction control that much easier (and cooler). Pressing the Porsche logo on the hub accesses the Tuning menu, giving users control over force feedback with strength levels displayed on the OLED.
The Corsair Void Wireless v2 is available for $119.99 starting today, coming in Carbon or White colorways. The Fanatec (deep breath) CSL Elite Steering Wheel Porsche Vision GT goes for $440 with a two-year warranty.
