Cougar Megara Review

Cougar Megara Review

Manufacturer: Cougar
UK price (as reviewed): £19.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $31.20 (ex tax)

Following on from our Cougar Immersa 300H and Revenger reviews, we thought we would take a look at the Megara. This is a headset made for gamers on the go. It is far smaller than most headsets and can be used with multiple platforms. If it has performance to match, it could be a winner for LAN attendees.


Inside the box we have the headset, six earbuds, and a Y-splitter cable. There is also a little carry case with the Cougar logo on which emphasises that this is a portable headset. We like to see little bags with products, as it allows you to carry your hardware without damaging it. We go to many events and travel often, so this is useful for us.


The earbuds are very similar to usual in-ear headphones. They come in three different sizes and are made out of a nice soft rubber ensuring comfort.


The Megara comes with a four-pole 3.5mm jack, allowing you to use the headset with a mobile phone or similar. If you want to use the headset with a computer or laptop however, there's a Y splitter for compatibility with three-pole jacks. This means you can use the Megara with pretty much any device.


The actual earpieces are rather bulky and do feel somewhat heavy, but luckily there is a rubber insert which fits into the ear as well to keep it in place. I personally didn't find these the most comfortable of earpieces, but I am a little funny with in-ear headphones. The rubber insert does ensure that you can move your head without them falling out.


On the back of the earpiece, there is the familiar orange Cougar logo. In this picture, you can spot the port for the first microphone. Yes, this headset has two microphones!


The first microphone is at the end of a boom attached to the left earpiece. The quality is surprisingly good, but as it is a straight boom, it rubs on your cheek, and this can be picked up when talking. It would have been really easy to stop this happening by just making the boom malleable so you could move it away from your face. Alternatively, making it a little bit longer would also work. As mentioned, though, the sound quality is acceptable, especially for the price.


If you're using this headset with your mobile phone, you may not want such a large boom sticking out from your earpiece. Cougar has thought of this and allowed it to be removed.


Finally, there is an in-line controller that can be used with compatible devices. Admittedly, this is aimed more at mobile users to skip and pause tracks. This is also a second omnidirectional microphone, so you can use your mobile phone without using the large mic boom. This microphone picked up a lot more ambient noise than the microphone on the boom.

Comfort wise, the Cougar Megara is acceptable. I was able to use them for a few hours without too much trouble at all. The in-ear hooks kept them in place, and they didn't fall out, which is something I usually have problems with. They are quite bulky, though, and I was constantly aware that they were there. This might subside if I use them more often, and in-ear headphones are not something I generally enjoy using; I think for most people these would be perfectly fine.

Portability is certainly where the Megara becomes king. It can be popped in your pocket to be used at LANs, and given the price you could easily justify buying them merely as a spare, especially as they can be used with your phone and other devices. The flat cables are supposedly there to stop them from getting tangled, but as everyone knows, if it has cables, they will become a mess.

In terms of audio quality, the Megara handles itself pretty well. In FPS games, you can make out footsteps and gunfire well. Other full sized gaming headsets do a far better job, but for something so small and cheap, these are perfectly fine. Whilst listening to music you could tell that the headphones were a little bass heavy, which muddied up the mids and made things sound a little strange. This isn't uncommon for budget headphones, though; a lot of companies use bass to cover where the audio might be lacking elsewhere. Both microphones are usable, and although the main one is far superior, the in-line one is perfectly acceptable for use with a mobile phone.

Conclusion

All in all, the Megara has done rather well. When we saw the price tag, we weren't expecting much, but we have been left surprised. At the moment, the Megara is priced at £20 at OcUK, and for that price they are worth getting even if it's just a backup headset. Obviously, larger, more expensive headsets will outshine the Megara, but these are meant to be lightweight and on-the-go. The portability means you can use these anywhere, and although I personally wouldn't use these at home, I will certainly be popping the Megara into my LAN bag.

If you are a gamer on the go, frequent LAN events, or even just want a pair of headphones for your phone, then we recommend you take a look at the Cougar Megara.