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The Logitech Yeti GX is the latest microphone aimed at gamers and streamers from the company as the next iteration of the tried-and-true Blue Yeti before it. With its compact design, stellar stand, decent RGB lighting, and intuitive controls, it can easily be considered one of the best microphones for streaming and one of the best USB microphones, however, there’s little new here to blow anyone away.
Few USB microphones are as well established as the Blue Yeti and this new take carries the torch toward with the signature sound profile, ease of use, and metal construction. If you’re after something plug-and-play that sounds decent then the Logitech Yeti GX could be the microphone for you.
Price and availability
The Logitech Yeti GX launched on September 19 in territories such as the US and the UK for $149 (around £119 / AU$230) placing it in the mid-range of USB microphone offerings. For context, that’s around the same price as the standard Blue Yeti before it, and comparable to the Logitech Yeti Nano. It also comes in a little cheaper than the similarly-sized USB-powered Rode X XCM-50.
Design and features
The Logitech Yeti GX is a compact USB microphone with a small footprint built to take up minimal space on your gaming desk. The condenser itself measures at less than 5 inches / 12cm tall and is suspended on the metal desktop stand with a large rounded dial on the right-hand side. The USB-C cable feeds in at the bottom, and the microphone itself can be angled upwards or away from you. As with other Yeti microphones, this one is a side-address model, which means you speak into it from the side instead of angling it at the top for the best results.
New to the Logitech Yeti GX is RGB lighting which can be customized in the Logitech G Hub. The bottom of the microphone features an RGB light strap with the Logitech G emblem also lighting up. It’s not the brightest display, but it adds a good touch of color to what would otherwise be a plain black mic setup.
The Logitech Yeti GX is about convenience and this can evidenced with the simple controls on offer. There’s a gain dial and a mute button but that’s your lot. What’s handy, though, is that a red light will come on when muted, and even appear when the audio starts spiking when recording or streaming, which is appreciated shorthand. A neat touch is that the scroll wheel is actually one that you would find on some of the company’s best gaming mice with a satisfying click and scroll.
Performance
The Logitech Yeti GX is one of the better-sounding USB microphones that I’ve used in my years of testing, with a pleasing flat sound profile that’s ideal for game streaming. Within seconds of plugging it into my PC’s front I/O, it was instantly detected, and Windows had balanced the input at 100%. I didn’t have to install any new drivers or mess around in settings, it was good to go straight out of the box.
While testing the pickup pattern, I noticed that the custom dynamic capsule did a solid job of picking up everything from a whisper to a normal speaking voice, and even singing as well as harsh metal vocals. You aren’t going to get the depth and clarity of something like the far larger and more expensive Rode X XDM-100 here, but for something this straightforward, the overall audio quality impresses, even though it doesn’t wow.
During my time with the Yeti GX, I was using it as my main microphone when chatting with friends playing Mortal Kombat 11 online, and going through Starfield. These are quite noisy games at the best of times, especially when the action gets intense, and I noticed that the sounds of my gaming keyboard, Victrix Pro BFG, and mouse were rarely picked up despite only being a few inches away. The pickup itself isn’t super sensitive, and that’s for the best as you won’t necessarily have to be recording in a studio where you can hear a pin drop.
What I did notice is that the audio can peak quite aggressively even from a moderate shout or scream with the gain dial reduced and the recording volume lowered. It’s not a massive problem, and something I encountered rarely, but if you happen to speak louder or more animated than most then you will need to bear this in mind. Popping words and tongue clicks can also appear if you’re close up, but it wasn’t something that plagued me much in my testing.
Overall the Logitech Yeti GX is a great microphone for gamers and streamers that marries up good design, ease of use, attractive lighting, and solid overall performance, but it isn’t going to win over any audiophiles. If you’re after bleeding-edge audio then you’re going to have to look elsewhere, but there’s very little you can fault this model on for what it offers for its price.
Verdict
Buy it if…
You want a decent-performing, easy-to-use microphone for streaming
The Logitech Yeti GX is about as plug-and-play as they come working straight out of the box with minimal messing around, and it happens to sound good, too.
You’re after a compact microphone for streaming
The compact size of the Logitech Yeti GX makes it ideal for those with limited desk space for their setup, and the custom pickup pattern means you don’t have to be too close either.
Don’t buy it if…
You don’t care about RGB
You can find the Yeti Nano cheaper than the Yeti GX, which doesn’t add much aside from the lighting and a newer visual design.
You want the absolute best audio quality for streaming
While the Logitech Yeti GX sounds solid, you aren’t going to be getting the same level of quality as you were from a dedicated XLR microphone setup.
The Logitech Yeti GX should pair great with one of the best green screens and the best webcams for a top-tier streaming setup.