Mad Catz has always been known for being the first (and usually best) third-party accessory maker to have a wide variety of products on the market for a new console launch. Leave it to them to continue their trend of quality with their Kunai headset, under the Tritton brand, designed specifically for Wii U.
It’s tough to review a product like a headset because it’s quality is dependent on the source you plug it into. With the Wii U, we really have no way to measure audio quality because we only just got our hands on one about a week ago. With that said, if you’re looking for a headset for your new Wii U, the Kunai doesn’t disappoint.
There are actually a few key details about the Kunai that makes it as good as it is.
Number one is audio quality, as you might expect. The headset is more than capable of delivering high-fidelity audio that you expect from a high-definition console. But being who we are, we had to take it one step further and plug the headset into our iPod and try out different songs at different levels. Bass is pumped through with force that is undistorted, mid-ranges are clean and crisp, and high notes don’t leave any sort of tinniness in your ear. Quality audio.
Second is the design of the headset itself, and arguably the most important thing. Sure, audio quality is great, but if a headset isn’t comfortable, you’re not going to wear it, regardless of how good it sounds. There are actually a few features here though that make the Kunai headset feel like one of the best we’ve ever used. There is an interesting design in the way the ear cups rotate from side to side as well as pivot vertically which allows the headset to fit almost any size head. Unfortunately, the size of the ear cups are not so well-designed as to fit every size ear, as we found them to be rather small for our (admittedly large) ears. They almost surround our whole ear, but leave a few gaps here and there. If you’ve got small ears, you should be fine, but if you’ve got larger ones and you insist on a tight seal, these might not be the ticket.
Third is the feature set of the headset. In addition to having a detachable microphone for versatility (and to not look like a weirdo if you decide to use these as your headphones of choice when cruising around on public transportation), the Kunai Stereo Headset has a remote set inline on the cord for easy access to volume and microphone muting. They’re very easy to find on the cord and didn’t give us any grief at all in figuring out which direction was up or down.
Perhaps the most important feature in the Kunai headset is the fact that it could keep you from divorce. Okay, we’ll explain. If you’re the type to play Wii U in bed and would prefer your spouse not waking up to stab you repeatedly because all she hears is the sound of Mario jumping, the Kunai headset will make sure you’re the only one that gets the tunes that the GamePad pumps out. So there, it could even help you from dying.
The packaging (which is beautiful and features a clear window, by the way) only lists Wii U and 3DS compatibility, but we tested the headset with multiple devices (an iPhone, laptop, and iPad, to be exact) and found that it is indeed a standard headphone-microphone jack.
The Kunai Stereo Headset is officially licensed by Nintendo and comes in black, white, and red. We quite like the white shell which matches our white Wii U Pro Controller and gives us a bit of contrast next to our black GamePad and Wii U console.
At a penny under $50, it’s a very worthy piece of equipment and the perfect introduction to third-party accessories for your brand new Wii U.