Trading insults, um, advice with your teammates and opponents is one of the biggest joys of online gaming, but sometimes we wish we didn't have to wear a sweaty headset to do so. Now LG has answered our prayers and launched what's essentially a soundbar for gaming.
Not only will the LG UltraGear Gaming Speaker GP9 play your game's audio, its mics will also pick up your voice, letting you communicate with other gamers. And all without a sweaty headset in sight.
An echo-cancellation algorithm can differentiate between background noise and your own voice, minimising the former and prioritising the latter. And there are two modes to choose from depending on which genre of game you're playing. FPS Mode optimises audio for first-person shooters, helping you pick up on tiny noises that could help locate your enemy, while RTS Mode is for real-time strategy games (including racers), as it ups the spatial sound, making the audio more immersive.
But of course the GP9 isn't just for gaming. It can also work with voice calls, and as a soundbar for watching TV shows and movies.
Virtual surround sound comes as standard, while a 3.5mm headphone jack lets you plug in a headset, should your teammates', ahem, "advice", get too colourful for anyone else to hear.
The GP9 will launch in the US, South Korea and some European countries starting this month. In the UK, it costs £499 – we'll update this with more pricing details when we get them.
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