By: Aaron Lai
November 6, 2015
When you start something new, I would say there are two approaches you can take. One is to build off what you already know, or what you have seen from others. You build off a known result, and with it comes the experience learned along the way to know how to improve next time. For example, when I started baking cookies, I started safe by finding recipes, and learning from the people around me, like my mom or my sister. From there, I learned different methods of mixing and combining ingredients. The next batch of cookies I made, I started altering the amounts of sugar, butter, and other ingredients to find the perfect balance of taste and texture. The second approach is to blindly go and rush in with a Leroy Jenkins-like mindset. I can say I have never done this, as this is completely opposite of my personality. However, there are some merits to this. For one, people who take this approach can take all the liberties they want with their ideas. They may think this is their first shot, so they might as well see how far they can go. In addition, because they are not biased by any of their past experiences, they can innovate and inject new ideas. Taking a step back, I should say these two approaches are polar opposites, and there is generally a mixture of the two extremes when it comes to new ideas or products. So when Patriot announced earlier this year at Computex their first lineup of gaming peripherals, I had to wonder what they had in their bags. Sure, they probably would not come out with flame-firing headphones, or automated drink-dispensing keyboards. To see what they actually came out with, we will take a look at one of their products, the Patriot Viper V360. What kind of new ideas has Patriot put in, and what is the result? Hopefully this question and more will be answered in today's review!
Today's review unit of the Patriot Viper V360 arrived from Patriot's offices in Fremont, California, USA. Traveling with UPS, the parcel arrived with practically zero scuffs or scratches to speak of. Holes and dents were also absent here, which is a good thing for us. Using the Express service, Patriot knew we really wanted to see what their first foray into the gaming audio would bring us. Otherwise, there is not much else to note, so I pulled out a pair of scissors and opened up the corrugated cardboard box. Inside the box was a whole lot of plastic air pockets to ensure the retail container of the V360 was unaffected during transit. It is a shame I do not see much bubble wrap nowadays, but I guess that packing material uses much less plastic. The Patriot Viper V360 was also found in a plastic bag to reduce the chances of minor scratches.
Taking a look at the retail container, Patriot takes a step away from their standard deep blue packaging as we saw a few weeks ago with the Patriot Viper 4 DDR4 RAM, and instead opts for a red and black coloring scheme. On the front of the box is actually zero reference to the parent company Patriot, and rather only the words "Viper Gaming Headset V360" are found on the top right hand corner. Those who are savvy enough will know Viper is Patriot's sub brand, but I have to say it is interesting to see this omission -- sort of like how Kingston has done with the HyperX brand. The front also displays a scaled down version of the Viper V360. As you can see, the headset matches the red and black color scheme, but more on this later. Three main features are displayed on the front, including references to "7.1 Surround Sound", "Ultra Bass Response", and "Foldable Mic". We will inspect and test these features later on in our review. A clear plastic window is shown on the left side to display one side of the V360. On the back there are even more features and specifications.
Before we continue, I will pull up these aforementioned features and specifications from the manufacturer's webpage for your perusal:
Specifications
- Weight: 509 g
- Dimensions: 22 x 10 x 25 cm
- Color: Black
- Warranty: 2 Years
- Certifications: RoHS, FCC, CE
- Packaging Type: Retail Box
- Unit Dimension Width: 20 cm
- Unit Dimension Height: 22 cm
- Unit Dimension Length: 8 cm
- Unit Weight: 335 g
Out of the box, there are a few things to note. Obviously, there is the Patriot Viper V360 itself, and this is twist-tied to a clear plastic shell. A medium sized red envelope is found with some documentation and information about general use and warranty. For your information, Patriot offers a two year warranty for this gaming headset. Finally, a black felt drawstring bag is found, with Viper branding pasted on the front. I am really glad to see a bag for users to pop their pair of cans into. Even though it may seem like a small addition, it is a very useful one, especially for those on the go. Otherwise, let us take a closer physical look at the Viper V360 itself.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
