The Epomaker GX1 didn’t instinctively remind me of the early 2000s and the turn of the millennium until I caught a glimpse of the white version of the headset. Rather than dunking the entire pair in a basic shade of white, Epomaker included metallic baby blue yokes that instantly reminded me of the Y2K-era.

In the early 2000s, tech was either transparent or coated in silver and metallic colors to give it that ‘space age’ look of the future. This $49.99 pair went the metallic route and, when combined with its unique oval earcups, feels like it’s stepped straight out of my 2000s childhood. Fortunately for us, it sounds far better than any gaming headset I tried way back then.

I really dig the look of the white model. Equipping the pair with metallic baby blue yokes (the sections that attach the headband to the earcups) was a simple design choice, but one that has ultimately made me pretty fond of Epomaker’s first foray into the world of gaming audio.

When I first caught a glimpse, I instantly imagined it being donned by one of the Y2K gaming era’s most fashionable icons, Ulala from Sega’s Space Channel 5. While the headsets she wears in the original Dreamcast games are blue and silver, there was an official Space Channel 5 Part 2 headset that launched in Japan that was drenched in a metallic silver colorway, with oval cups and dabs of blue for the game’s logo.

The GX1 is a little bit different, but I could easily see Epomaker’s pair upon Ulala’s pink pigtails or sporting the game’s logo, were this headset to be around in the Dreamcast console era. While RGB lighting wasn’t a huge thing back then, I’m sure Ulala would also appreciate the pastel rainbow lighting of this modern-day accessory, which peeks through the open-back grills on the exterior of each earcup too. At least I definitely do.

Besides its retro aesthetics, this budget-friendly headset is also incredibly comfortable to wear. At just 320g, it doesn’t quite out-rival the white Corsair HS35 V3 as one of the lightest headsets I’ve tested to date, but it’s up there. While I’ve been using it over the weekend to play Marvel Rivals on the PS5 and get back into Final Fantasy 14 on the Switch 2, it’s felt like a cloud has been sitting on my head, which feels fitting for the gleaming white headphones.

While you’ll have to wait for my full review over the next few weeks for a more in-depth look at its audio, its out-of-the-box sound is pretty great too. It’s the most low-cost open-back headset I’ve had on my testing bench, and while the bass is lacking, the GX1’s natural audio opens up the soundscapes to games, especially when it comes to the fantastical music of the world of Eorzea on the Switch 2.

But you’ll have to wait to hear more about that. In the meantime, if you’re as taken with the white and shiny blue aesthetics of the pair as I am, you can grab it for 20% off at Amazon right now, as there’s a coupon in play. There’s also a pink and black model for those of you who aren’t a fan of anything that screams the Y2K era but still want an open-back headset that’s less than $100.

• View all Epomaker gaming accessories at Amazon

If the Epomaker GX1 doesn’t tick your headset boxes, check out our guides to the best PS5 headsets, the best Xbox Series X headsets, and the best Nintendo Switch headsets.