E-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle Review
Overview
We have seen a lot of peripherals (Keyboard, Mouse, Headset) here at pcG, but never before have we taken a look at a bundle that has contained all three! But here I have the E-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle, consisting of all three peripherals. What’s impressive though is that all of this can be yours for under £50, now that is impressive…
The Keyboard (Combatant-X) features membrane switches, features red LED lighting (although not backlit keys) and also features eight high-visibility red key-caps (WASD & Cursor Keys). The left handed Mouse (Cobra Type-M) features an optical sensor with a maximum of 1600DPI, it features a DPI switch and again LED lighting (red). The Headset (Cobra) is a stereo headset with 40mm Drivers with a frequency Response of 20-20,000Hz there’s also a built in boom microphone.
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The large box that houses all of the peripherals shows of its contents well. Although for the most part the packaging was good, I did notice that the headband of the headset did get a little squished!
Both the front and the back of the box highlights various aspects of the components within, although to be fair a lot of it can be taken with a pinch of salt as it’s a little meaningless I’m afraid. 😉
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Within the box other than the Keyboard, Headset and Mouse…
there’s a basic PRODUCT INSTRUCTION and an additional bag of black key-caps (WASD & Cursor Keys).
At the time of writing the E-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle is retailing for approximately £50 at ebuyer and £40 on Amazon
Specifications/Features
courtesy of E-Blue
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* KEYBOARD: Additional details available here
* HEADSET: Additional details available here
* MOUSE: Additional details available here
First Impressions
KEYBOARD
First impressions of the keyboard are actually pretty good, it is a membrane keyboard so the key-press feels pretty dead beneath your finger, but that’s not unusual. I quite like the red key-caps (black are provided if you don’t!) as it gives the keyboard a bit of a lift. The overall styling is pretty good too, and when it’s on it gets even better thanks to the LED illumination on the sides and at the top. The upper right corner features three LED indicators (blue, unfortunately) for Num/Caps and Scroll Lock, as well as a decent looking E-Blue Combatant X logo.
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I like the inclusion (fitted by default) of the red key-caps on the WASD and Cursor keys. Not only are they a little easier to see in a darkened room (we all play PC games in the dark, right!?) but they also add a little bling! 😉 Note the oversized space-bar that’s actually contoured towards the wrist rest area, it works well too, especially in game.
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Note that due to some pretty clever feet (yes that’s right there’s more than two) the Combatant X can sit flat on the desk, or be raised to two additional levels (see images below) either by way of regular height feet, or raised even higher by Hobbit sized feet! 😉
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Looking at the back of the keyboard, there’s predictably not much to see other than the feet, there’s actually seven in total and yes that is an odd number (well obviously it’s an odd number, but you know what I mean, right? odd!). There’a the four adjustable feet at the back and the two rubber feet at the front, but there’s also a rather odd one at the front. This seems to lift the front of the keyboard off of its rubber feet!? Odd, eh!? 😉
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HEADSET
First impressions of the headset are not good, unfortunately! The Cobra Pro Gaming headset in no pro gaming headset; it’s extremely flimsy feeling and there’s really nothing to it at all! The bottom line is that this component feels cheap, and looks cheap too (but it is cheap James!). The headband has also been deformed by the packaging, which is a shame, although I don’t expect it to affect the comfort levels.
Approximately 500mm down from the headset is a small in-line volume control with a basic rotary wheel.
The outer design of the ear-cups is actually quite smart, with its metallic red finish. Looking specifically at the left ear-cup we can see the headset features a swivel style boom microphone, but there’s no microphone mute. The boom also swivels a little too easily, so unless you push it back beyond the vertical it’s likely to fall back down and say ‘hello’ at some point!
Each ear-cup swivels horizontally but there’s no vertical swivel. The headband can be adjusted on both sides by approximately 30mm, meaning this headset would fit even the largest of heads!
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Looking at the headband we find a nice looking leatherette band with a smart Cobra name and logo embossed in the top. There’s not much padding here though! Thankfully the headset weights about the same as a butterfly (180g actually), so it should be fine… 😉
The ear-cups are of the variety that sit on your ears, which normally results in discomfort (for me) unfortunately. There’s adequate padding on the cushions, but the material protecting your ear from rubbing the 40mm Driver within is a little thin.
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As you can see from the image below left the microphone boom swivels around the left ear-cup. It also bends (pipe cleaner style) and can easily be positioned close to the mouth. It even stays where you put it, you’d be surprised how many don’t…
MOUSE
Luckily (after the disappointment of the Headset) the mouse seems ok, yes it still looks and feels like a £20 mouse, but it is! The mouse features five buttons, although none are programmable as there is no associated software. The styling is pretty good, as is left handed design, although I not sure about those thumb buttons. Of course another plus point here is the red LED illumination, it always helps to have a little lighting, right!? 😉
The left side of the mouse is the same as the right, other than the fact that the left side features two thumb buttons. Unfortunately these two buttons are so low profile, that they’re difficult to press, especially during a fire fight. They are also too far forward for my liking. That red strip that runs all the way around from one side of the mouse to the other illuminates red when the mouse is powered up, nice!
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Looking at the front of the mouse we can see what is a pleasant design and shape, with a centrally mounted scroll wheel. The wheel rotates well enough with palpable (just) graduations, the rubber surface of the wheel is actually pretty grippy too. The two buttons left and right of the wheel are also pleasant to use, requiring not too much force to activate, while repositioning quickly. Just behind the scroll wheel (effectively on the top of the mouse) is a single DPI switch, this allows switching between 400, 800 & 1600 DPI. The red LED even glows a different brightness for each setting.
Taking a look at the back of the mouse we can see the red illuminating (when on) strip and an E-Blue and Cobra logo somewhat subtly etched on the back. Also with the words ‘Pro Gaming Sensor’, although I’ll take that with a pinch of salt for now… 😉
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Flipping the E-Blue Cobra Type-M over on its back allows us to see its four, well positioned glides as well as its centrally mounted 1600DPI optical sensor.
Hardware Installation
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The E-Blue Combatant X keyboard simply connects by way of a single USB plug, this sits at the end of a 1.6m rubberised cable. |
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The Cobra headset connects by way of two 3.5mm Jack plugs (Audio & Microphone), both plugs are colour coded. These can be found at the end of a 2.0m rubberised cable. |
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The E-Blue Type-R mouse simply connects by way of a single USB plug, this sits at the end of a 1.6m rubberised cable. |
Testing Methodology/Setup
The E-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle (Keyboard, Headset & Mouse) was tested on my Intel Test Rig. As there’s no supporting software/Driver (just Plug ‘n Play) for the E-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle no fresh installation of Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit was performed.
The following games were used during testing:
Hardware Performance
With the e-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle powered up we can take a look at its LED lighting, only the keyboard and mouse have illumination. Both are red and the lighting is permanently on, there’e no colour change facility and no off function. But to be fair it does look pretty good…
From a performance point of view let’s take a look at the Combatant X keyboard first. From a pure performance point of view the keyboard performed well, being a mebrance based keyboard the key-press does feel a little dull, but it works well enough. I also rather liked the flat design of both the keyboard and the key-caps as I could easily slide my finger tips to the required key, the oversize space-bar was also useful when in game, being really easy to hit/spam. I also found the Combatant X comfortable to use thanks to those dual height adjustable feet and the built in palm rest. I ran into no issues with Roll-over ghosting while Gaming, despite the fact that E-Blue doesn’t mention any form of Roll-over or anti-ghosting tech! To be honest at this price point there’s really nothing to complain about, other than that I noticed that during my one week with the keyboard the lettering was starting to wear off one of the keys (left shift key)… 🙁
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The mouse is probably the most important component within this bundle and when it comes to Gaming and the E-Blue Type-M doesn’t disappoint, in fact it’s the best of the three peripherals. The mouse is very comfortable to use using my bastardised Claw grip, although the thumb buttons are too far forward and not easy to press, due to their low profile. The DPI button on the top is of course welcome allowing you to switch between 400, 800 & 1600 DPI, I used 1600 DPI throughout testing. From a tracking point of view the E-Blue Type-M mouse performed extremely well (yes you read that right) its 1600 DPI optical sensor never seemed to let me down when in game. AND while playing (testing) in Survarium and whilst playing as a Sniper, I achieved the highest accuracy that I have ever got, with an overall accuracy of 69%. All of this was done whilst using all three E-Blue peripherals, I guess I don’t need to say much more… 😉
The Cobra headset is the weakest of the three peripherals, not due to the sound quality (although it’s not great) but due to the overall feel and quality of the product. The headset just feels very flimsy to be honest, it looks good, but it’s the cheapest looking/feeling peripheral of the three. But it does work! And it actually doesn’t sound too bad either, it wont give a SteelSeries Siberia V3 a run for its money, buy again at this price point it’s probably good enough. The sound just seems to lack vibrancy, it is, to be honest a little dull, although all of the frequencies are equally well represented. There’s not much power on offer either, I was happy to Game at full volume (although I do like it loud). The microphone performed well (after a little adjusting, turning the Microphone Level down) in Windows and once adjusted I had no complaints from my online friends. Due to the on-ear design of the headset it’s also a little uncomfortable as it compresses your ear a little (made worse by the fact that I wear glasses), which is a shame given the headset’s lightweight (READ: featherweight) of approximately 180g!
Final Thoughts
I guess playing with the E-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle has proven a point for all of us here at pcG, you don’t need to spend a £150 on (Keyboard, Mouse, Headset) if you don’t want to, these three peripherals might just be all you’ll need. I know I did pretty well with them…
When I first took a look at the E-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle, I have to admit I was sceptical; Keyboard, Mouse & Headset for under £50? Yeah right! The bundle was well enough packaged considering its asking price, but the headband hand been deformed a little by being a little squished, although no real damage had been done. Once out of the box it was apparent that not only was the keyboard and mouse quite cool, but also the fact that the headset was not! It’s undeniably the weakest of the three components, mainly due to its flimsy build quality. The keyboard (Combatant X) is actually pretty smart, I like the styling, the red key-caps, the oversized space bar and of course the red illumination. It also performed surprisingly well in-game! The mouse (Type-M) is also pretty cool and it seems well made too. The left handed only (due to thumb buttons on the left) ambidextrous design is easy enough to get to grips with (haha) regardless of grip type, which is impressive. Add to this decent left/right buttons, a DPI switch (400, 800 & 1600DPI) and red LED lighting makes the Type-M seem like a solid contender. Only the rather small and recessed thumb buttons let it down as the’re hard to find and too far forward IMHO.
From a performance point of view all of the three peripherals performed well, again the headset is the weakest link though. But it’s far from bad, the sound produced is good enough when you consider its theoretical asking price (£17), but the sound lacks any form of sparkle and is a little dull. The volume is also a little on the low side, so if you like it loud, then… On the other hand the keyboard and mouse performed surprisingly well, to be honest I’m a little shocked at how well they did perform. I really enjoyed both devices and in-game they both performed faultlessly (see main review).
Overall the E-Blue Cobra Bundle has impressed me far more than I would have believed possible, as I was convinced that these components wouldn’t be up to scratch because of their budget nature, and boy was I wrong. Ok so the headset lets it down a little but for the most part it’s fine, but the stars of the show are the Combatant X keyboard and that Type-M mouse. To be honest at £49.99 I think it’s a bargain…
Verdict
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ebuyer E-Blue Cobra Gaming Bundle
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Many thanks to E-Blue for providing this sample for review
