CONCLUSION

   2+ years is a very long time in this industry for pretty much everything but audio so the F.R.E.Q.9 has nothing to be jealous of all the latest models in the market. On the contrary most models have many things to be envious of the F.R.E.Q.9 including its build quality, connectivity, technologies used, battery life and audio clarity. This may sound strange but the F.R.E.Q.9 is easily among the 5 best headsets to ever fall into our hands and that’s not an exaggeration. You will have a really hard time to find a Bluetooth wireless headset that can match the accuracy and clarity of its mids and highs and its and deep and quite powerful bass levels. Battery life is also excellent and although we never did manage to hit 20 hours of continuous playback we did surpass 17 and considering that we always use headsets at near maximum volume that’s pretty impressive. The AM3D surround sound feature does improve things quite a bit in games and sometimes even in movies but stereo clarity is so good that we didn’t use it while listening to music. We were also surprised to see that the microphone worked extremely well for a wireless headset since while using it with our smartphones and with online games since people on the other end reported very good reception. Of course the F.R.E.Q.9 is not really perfect and I’m of course referring to its size/design and weight. You see it’s great to use at home or while at the office but that’s just about it since although very comfortable (especially if you take into account its size) it’s bulky and that’s probably not something you’d like to wear outside (that however obviously comes down to personal preference). We also came across a small bug with the volume control wheel since it would occasionally “lock” thus not allowing us to turn the volume all the way to the max (safety feature?).

   The bad thing with the F.R.E.Q.9 Wireless Surround Headset when it was launched in January 2015 was its somewhat hefty price tag of around USD280 which didn’t change much during these past two years. Now the good news is that Mad Catz placed the F.R.E.Q.9 in EOL (end of life) status a couple of months ago so you can actually currently get one for just USD99.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 76Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) so if you’re looking for a great all-around wireless headset and you don’t plan on using it while on foot we do recommend getting one as stocks last. Bottom line build and audio quality are both there and ontop of that you’re getting optical, 3.5mm and USB connectivity for the audio box (which in turn connects wirelessly with the headset), great battery life (up to 20 hours), good microphone and some very nice technologies including AM3D and D-ANC. Add the quite honestly superb price tag and we all believe the F.R.E.Q.9 Wireless Surround Headset by Mad Catz is well worth of our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Audio Quality (Very Good Mids/Highs)
- Bass Levels
- AM3D Virtual Surround Sound
- Digital Active Noise Cancellation (D-ANC)
- Comfortable
- Omnidirectional Microphone
- Wired And Wireless Connectivity
- Audio Box (3.5mm/Optical/USB Connectivity)
- 12m Wireless Range
- Up To 20 Hours Battery Life
- Thick Storage/Carrying Case
- Android/iOS Battery Level Indicator
- Exceptional Price Tag

CONS

- End Of Life (Limited Support?)
- Size And Weight (Bulky)