You really do owe it to yourself, to your games, and to the audio designers and composers out there to make sure you can hear the games you’re playing with the best fidelity possible. Outside of a new GPU for PC gamers, or a fancy new OLED TV or monitor, high quality earbuds or headphones are perhaps the best way to upgrade your entire gaming experience. With the Edifier Hecate GX05, a pair of gaming-focussed true wireless earbuds, Hecate may have won the award for most over-engineered earbud case, but frankly, I couldn’t love it any more.
The unboxing experience is immediately a bit different. The GX05 arrives in a serious plastic case emblazoned with the Hecate logo and a big red clasp. Opening it feels like you’re going to find a top-quality watch inside rather than a pair of earbuds, but you immediately see the metal form of the GX05’s charging case nestled at the centre of the package.
It looks, for want of anything else, like a prop from a Star Wars movie. It’s seriously heavy, with its metal build adding both weight and the sense that this is a premium product. The earbuds, and the 2.4Ghz USB-C dongle nestle inside, protected by a three-armed metal frame that rotates with a supremely satisfying click. Rotating this frame also starts the RGB lighting, with the case itself and each earbud boasting matching lighting strips. I expected a hologram of Princess Leia to jump from it, and the only disappointment was that it didn’t…
All that weight and the many edges mean that the Hecate GX05’s case is not one you’re likely to pop in your pocket, and probably not in a bag with any other uprotected electronics – the zinc alloy build means it’s more than likely to scratch any screen it comes into contact with. Still, it makes a great focal piece if it’s kept on the side, or, perhaps it would do a great job as an illuminated paperweight.
The premium experience is borne out by the GX05’s £149.99 RRP, though if you’re willing to import, it looks as though you can find it for well under that. The earbuds themselves match the silver finish of the case, though rather than being fashioned from metal, they’re light and sturdy plastic. The body of each is a little chunky, but I found they stayed easily in place, and looked sleek enough to any observers, especially with the ice blue RGB strips lending them something of a Tron look.
The RGB is controlled via the case, with the pairing button on the underside taking double duty to cycle through the different solid or breathing colours. Those looking for something a little more subdued will be happy to know that you can turn them off altogether, but if you do that, are you really a G4M3R?
If you’re connecting via Bluetooth, the GX05 is capable of the standard SBC codec or the high-resolution LHDC 5.0, meaning that it’s certified for Hi-Res wireless audio, but only if you’ve got a device capable of it. I’ve got a brand-new Honor Magic V3 and it supports LDAC but not LHDC, meaning that I’m stuck to the painfully ordinary SBC unless I use the dongle. Using SBC, the sound is fine, but far from special.
The GX05 comes to life when you use the dongle. Given that most things made in the last couple of years are equipped with USB-C, it worked perfectly with my MacBook, Nintendo Switch, the Magic V3 and my PC, and the audio quality is absolutely fantastic, the 10mm drivers delivering crystal clear audio directly to your ears.
I did find that it seemed more important to get the eartip sizing right than with some earbuds, but once I’d selected the right one, it delivered both high and low frequencies with stunning detail. Given the Hi-Res certification, it’s almost reductive to say that I was able to hear parts of a song that I’d never heard before, but in the case of Papa Roach’s Liar – on heavy rotation thanks to watching them live this week – it sounded like an entirely new song.
The Hecate GX05 do a fantastic job with music, but they are designed for gaming, with a low 15ms latency helping keep you in tune with the on-screen action, while the high-quality audio delivers every detail. I put them through their paces with some Overwatch 2, and I could hear the enemy team running for their life – I might have imagined that bit – while picking up the movements of those still coming to try and take mine.
The microphones do a decent job of keeping things clear and concise, letting your teammates know exactly why you’re not very happy as no one plays the objective as they run off in random directions – I hate multiplayer gaming sometimes. That’s not the GX05’s fault though, and they’ve proven to be a great companion for gaming, no matter what’s happening on screen.
