Headphones — Fractal Design Scape

The Fractal Design Scape is a closed-back over-ear gaming headset, the first headphone product from the Swedish company best known for PC cases, cooling and other computer hardware. It is sold in Dark and Light colour versions and was priced at GBP 169.99 in the UK. Although it can be used on a cable, it is primarily a wireless design, with a 2.4 GHz USB-A dongle, Bluetooth 5.3 and a wired USB-C to USB-A connection all built in.

Key specs that matter

Inside both cups is a 40 mm dynamic driver with a polyetherimide diaphragm and a neodymium magnet. Frequency response is 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz and total harmonic distortion is below 0.5% at 1 kHz. Through the dongle the link runs at 24-bit/96 kHz with the LC3+ codec, and the wireless range is up to 40 m in open space. Battery life exceeds 40 hours with the lighting off and 24 hours with it on, and a full charge takes under 3 hours. The headset weighs 338 g with its boom microphone and 314 g without it.

Engineering and use context

Charging happens on an included magnetic stand that uses inductive charging, so the headset does not need to be plugged in after each session, and 15 minutes on the stand gives about 4 hours of use with lighting active. Three microphones are fitted - a detachable unidirectional boom mic covering 50 to 16,000 Hz with flip-to-mute, one built-in omnidirectional voice mic and a second omnidirectional mic used for noise cancellation. Controls on the cups include a media crown for volume and track control, a mode switch for the three connection types, a mute button, a noise cancellation toggle, a lighting toggle and a button that steps through three factory EQ presets. Each cup has six individually addressable LEDs, compatible with Windows Dynamic Lighting. Earcups and headband use memory foam, and settings can be changed in the web-based Adjust Pro tool. Warranty runs for two years. The box holds the headset, the charging stand, the wireless dongle, the USB cable, the detachable microphone and a printed manual.

Pairing

The Scape works with Windows PCs, Macs, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and iOS or Android phones. The dongle gives the lowest latency for games on PC and console, while Bluetooth suits phones and tablets. There is no analogue headphone jack, so the Scape does not connect to a dedicated headphone amplifier or DAC.

Alternatives

Fractal Design makes no other headphone model beyond the Scape, which it sells in Dark and Light versions.