Monster Gaming has been a company I’d seen for a while but had never personally tried out any of their products. Enticed by the flashy RGB and unique design choices, I just knew that I had to test out some of their gear when they reached out to me. They were nice enough to send me their Alpha 5.0 LED Mechanical Gaming Keyboard and Alpha 7.1 Gaming Headset to put through the wringer.

And while I do have a few good things to say about what Monster Gaming brings to the table, unfortunately, the bulk of what I have to say falls in the negative category. These are definitely products where you should proceed with caution if you have them in mind.

What’s In The Box

When it comes to unboxing, either product can be used to a degree, right out of the box. The Alpha 5.0 keyboard comes with a removable magnetic wrist rest, keycap puller, some stickers, and a user manual. The Alpha 7.1 headset comes with a removable mic, stickers, and a user manual as well.

Aesthetics and Build Quality

I’ve got to say, Monster really did a lot of great things when it came to the aesthetic choices for the headset. The RGB is vibrant as heck and the overall design is very pleasing to the eye. Durability is only ok as the headset though partially being constructed of metal, is quite wiggly and not too sturdy at all. I’m also not a fan of the microphone either as it doesn’t stay in place and feels very cheap.

On the other hand, though, the keyboard leaves much to be desired when it comes to the actual aesthetics as with the brightness of the RGB lighting as well as the overall design. There are just some aspects of it such as the gloss finish at the top that just don’t meld right with the rest of the design. It seems too busy.

I think that even as far as the actual build quality of the keyboard goes it too seems to fall flat. It’s a very soft and cheap feeling keyboard from top to bottom. It’s completely plastic and I think that Monster may have just gone a little too cheaply about the construction of this thing.

I also had some issues with a key or two not working every once in a while which really made playing games and especially writing a bit more aggravating than it needed to be. It’s a shame though as I can see that it had real potential.

Specs and Special Features

The Alpha 7.1 headset; it has multiple EQ presets to choose from on-the-fly, toggleable ENC for your mic, a mute button, multiple LED presets to choose from on-the-fly, and 7.1 surround sound. Having all of these features right on board via the in-line controls is fantastic, in theory. I found that about half of the headset’s features don’t even really work, at least out of the box

I can probably attribute this to the fact that Monster Gaming’s software for all of their gear currently isn’t up on their new or old site. It makes a lot of their current products apparently only do half of their job since there’s no way to update them or change settings further. As of writing this review, I am still unable to use the microphone at all on my main computer (yet it worked on another), let alone its ENC, customize its LED further than its 8 or so preset colors, or take advantage of its onboard 7.1 surround sound.

As far as the Alpha 5.0 keyboard goes; it includes the usual creature comforts such as multimedia keys, multifunctional volume control, and even a pretty cool dedicated calculator button. I’m pretty happy with the actual features of the keyboard that are offered but I do really wish that the software was up and running to be able to fully utilize everything.

Gameplay

Aside from the gripes I’ve mentioned before, the products are decent at the jobs they do. The headset is very comfortable to use for extended times and the audio is very pleasing as well. The presets came in handy for different situations like gaming, watching videos, or listening to music.

The keyboard gets the job done most of the time and feels pretty good while doing it. The mechanical red switches are buttery smooth and give a pretty satisfying click. I also really like the volume dial too which turns pretty smoothly even if the dial itself feels a bit too cheap.

What It Could Have Done Better

The one thing that rings true for both Monster Gaming products; they are too cheap in quality for the price they are being sold for. Even with the software missing aside, these just don’t stack up against the competition due to the limitations of the bad build quality. Both products go for $99.99 MSRP which is a far cry from what they should cost which should be at most, half of that.

Verdict

Monster Gaming, while having some intriguing designs and ideas for their gaming products, shoots itself in the foot by taking the cheap route when constructing them. Both of these products have a couple of redeeming qualities but the cons far outnumber the handful of pros. Especially for the hefty cost, it just isn’t worth it to test these out yourself. With so many competitors offering the same products but with a more premium feel for half the cost, these just seem like a misfire all around.