I can talk to anyone about gaming until the cows come home, mainly because I’ve lived through every generation of it and still love it as much as I did 40 years ago. Back then I was a seven-year-old playing on the Atari 2600 against my brother and my dad. Tennis probably, maybe Joust, maybe Pacman.
Back then we had paddle controllers, then we had those classic Atari retro joysticks – they were simple times, but they cemented my love of gaming. It’s a different world now with virtual gaming headsets and almost entirely realistic graphics across a host of mesmerisingly hi-tech consoles and gaming PCs.
The cost of gaming is high, with new games fetching over £50 and console prices now at an eye-watering level. Which brings me onto the real reason we are here, a really nice range of gaming accessories from Stealth, bright and quirky products at an affordable price…
STEALTH LED Mini Keyboard
Price: £19.99
Available from STEALTH, Argos, Smyths, Very
I really like this mini compact keyboard, not only is it nice and small to keep your desk less cluttered, it also has really chunky keys, which is a good thing for a heavy-fingered angry typing journalist. This isn’t really a keyboard for a grizzly old wordsmith like myself though, it’s far too cool for that and with 4 different light settings it definitely looks great as part of a gaming setup on consoles and PC.
The size and multi-coloured backdrop of the lights are definitely the selling point here, but as mentioned above it feels really great to type with. It’s very sturdy and designed not to move around and it’s effortless to set up by just plugging in the USB.
STEALTH LED Gaming Mat
Price: £14.99
Available from STEALTH, Amazon, Argos, Very
Complementing the keyboard is this extra large gaming mat. It stretched from one side of my desk to the other, I have a standard sized set-up. With a rubber grip on the bottom, there’s no danger of it sliding around, and there is plenty of room for your keyboard and mouse, and anything else you care to put on it.
It literally lights up any desk set-up and has full 360-degree RGB Lighting with 13 different effects. It must be too cool for me as when I put it on my work desk my daughter came in and demanded I was too old for it and she needed it for hers. It’s fully waterproof which will help if she does pinch it and inevitably throws a can of pop on it.
STEALTH LED Gaming Mouse
Price: £12.99
Available in mint green or blush pink from Argos
Designed purely for gaming, this mouse is colourful, and highly responsive, and perfect if you want to brighten up your office or games room. This particular range comes in pink or green and like the other products above, it has animated RGB lighting effects to give it a bit of extra pizzaz.
No batteries or charging are needed, it’s an old school wire straight to the USB port. For all the appeal of the colours and lights – I quite liked the ability to alter the sensitivity settings, that shouldn’t have been my favourite bit, but it’s very useful.
STEALTH XP-Eclipse Gaming Headset
Price: £29.99
Available from STEALTH
Moving away from the lights, but not away from the gaming, we have a really nice pair of gaming headphones designed with comfort and performance in mind. Online gaming is all the rage now and if you have ever been near a teenager’s bedroom where there’s a console, you will know just how intense it can be.
Usually because the headphones they are wearing are full of not only the sounds of gunshots and explosions, but also the voices of other gamers hollering away at the action.
These are a good mid-level offering that won’t look out of place when it comes to looking fashionable, and won’t break the bank either. They are presented as a premium product, but they are a fraction of the cost of market leaders. I found them really comfortable and the sound quality was crisp, both in terms of the audio coming in and when using the microphone.
The performance is great for the money, that’s down to the 40m open sound drivers for enhanced performance and built in air flow speaker chambers that give you a great result. Compatible with pretty much everything via a jack lead, they are hampered by a lack of bluetooth, but only that sort of thing bothers you.
I would have to be critical and say that the length of the lead could be better, that hampers it a bit. Plenty of movement is available in terms of adjusting the fit, and the microphone being able to move around was a bonus.
STEALTH Gaming Station for PS5
Price: £24.99
Available in black for Xbox One Series or white for PS5 from STEALTH, Argos, If you are a PS5 owner and want a neat and tidy place to store the above headphones, this bit of kit is a great option.
This headset holder has a sleek curved design that looks neat, while also remaining practical for any gaming set-up. It’s not just a holding stand for headsets though, this is also a charging port for your PS5 dual sense controller.
It’s a good solution to having bits and pieces all over the place and if you are like me, any help with keeping gadgets handy and tidy, is very helpful.
The STEALTH charging station is connected via a 2m braided charging cable and has lights to inform you of the charging progress, there’s also a detachable cable that allows controllers to be used while they are charging.
You can get white or black versions of the stand depending on your console, this is also available for the Xbox series.