Treat your ears to some treacle with the best gaming headsets.
One of the most shockingly effective additions you can make to your gaming setup is the best gaming headset. Perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise at all, given the significant influence that well-crafted game music can have on your gameplay. Grounding yourself in a gaming world unlike anything else can be achieved by surrounding yourself with a comprehensive soundtrack, just as the developers intended.
The headsets on this list are a selection of the dozen or so that I and the PC Gamer hardware team reviewed. We have decades of combined experience with both the best and worst audio equipment ever produced. After weighing all the options, we have determined that the HyperX Cloud Alpha is still the best gaming headset available today.
The HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless is the best wireless gaming headset if you want to cut the connection. It’s highly recommended since it has excellent audio quality and the longest battery life in its class—300 hours. The best low-cost gaming headset is the Corsair HS55 if you’d rather pay a little less.
Best gaming headset
1. HyperX Cloud Alpha
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The best overall
The return of the king. The HyperX Cloud Alpha is the best gaming headset, delivering fantastic audio with plenty of bass response all for a low price. It’s comfortable and the microphone stands up to scrutiny. You can’t go wrong.
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Best budget
2. Corsair HS55 Stereo
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The best budget
The Corsair HS55 Stereo is the best budget gaming headset and improves on the HS50 with better comfort and sound. It has soft earcups, a light weight and a detachable mic. It has a simple design and no extra features, but it is great value.
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Best wireless
3. HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless
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The best wireless
The Cloud Alpha Wireless is the best wireless gaming headset for PC gaming. It has superb sound, a clear mic, and DTS surround sound. It’s also light and comfy, with a whopping 300-hour battery life. It’s the best wireless headset we’ve tested so far.
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Curated by…
Dave James
Managing Editor
Dave’s been an audiophile since his time running Techradar’s Home Entertainment channel around half a million years ago (give or take). Having tested the whole spread of different quality gaming gear, including $51,000 headphones, he’s best placed to say which budget cans still sound good, and which high-end headsets are worth the cash.
1. HyperX Cloud Alpha
The HyperX Cloud Alpha is the greatest gaming headset for 2024. Yes, the king is back, and it’s better than ever. Although the Cloud Alpha was previously dethroned by Razer’s BlackShark V2 gaming headset, it is no longer generally accessible in many areas. But HyperX’s headset is simple to locate, and regular sales bring this fantastic gaming headset back into the spotlight.The sound quality of the Cloud Alpha gaming headset is what sets it apart. That ought to be obvious, right? However, when searching for a gaming headset, it’s simple to become sidetracked by unnecessary features. But the Cloud Alpha is a lowly beast. It offers excellent audio quality that is very hard to match for the same price.A robust bass response is produced by the 50 mm neodymium drivers, which is essential for gaming. It implies that you get the most out of a game’s audio and can actually feel the explosions or the hum of a sports vehicle. Not only does this headset have a tremendous bass, but it also has excellent mid- and high-range clarity and definition.HyperX uses a two-chamber design on the Cloud Alpha to create such remarkable audio quality. The driver in each earcup is divided into two chambers, which maximizes articulation and efficiently minimizes distortion that could muddy the bass with the mids. The thing that sets the Cloud Alpha apart from the others is its simultaneous delivery of clear and rich audio.In addition to its other qualities, the Cloud Alpha distinguishes out as a gaming headset since it is quite comfortable. We’ve worn this headset for extended amounts of time every day without experiencing any discomfort thanks to the cushioned earcups and headband.
The absence of a flip-to-mute microphone is our only issue with the 2024 model, but even without one, the detachable microphone is still a fantastic device that produces clear, booming sound while making or receiving voice calls or playing online games.
The length of time this headset has been available shouldn’t deter you. The Cloud Alpha is so good that HyperX doesn’t need to make any changes. That age really helps us with pricing, since there are often plenty of further reductions available and this headset is usually available for less than the asking price. You just can’t go wrong with the HyperX Cloud Alpha in 2024 for a wired gaming headset.
2. Corsair HS55 Stereo
The Corsair HS55 Stereo is the best inexpensive gaming headset available because—surprisingly—it does everything right, including the microphone—for such a low price. It sounds better than its little price tag might imply and is really well-rounded.
The Corsair HS55 outperforms the older HS50 in all significant aspects, making it an excellent option for anyone looking for a low-cost gaming headset. Unlike the detachable mic arm of the previous model, it has a flip-up mic arm and is lighter and more comfortable than the HS50.
The HS55’s most notable feature is undoubtedly this microphone. In his assessment, Jacob discovered that it captured his voice with amazing precision and clarity, making it ideal for gaming cans of any kind as well as a set of inexpensive cans. Your voice will be crystal clear, so your Discord friends shouldn’t be concerned.
The audio quality is also not too horrible. While the upper frequencies seem a bit harsh at times, this headset works great for gaming, listening to music, and other auditory activities. The HS55 hasn’t fallen into the “let’s cram them full of bass” trap, so there’s enough of distinction between different frequencies and enjoyable gaming in part.
3. HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless
It should come as no surprise that the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless is the finest wireless gaming headset—the wired version of these remains our choice for the best gaming headset. While it does not have the bulky cord, the wireless version offers nearly all of the wired version’s advantages.
One concern with wireless headphones is battery life, and HyperX has managed to blow it out of the park, onto the next one, and into the future in this regard. The battery life of this headset is up to 300 hours, which is ridiculous in my opinion. Such sorcery shouldn’t be possible for anything.
This was evident in Hope’s testing of the Cloud Alpha Wireless as well, since despite her best efforts, she was unable to even approach depleting the device’s battery in a week of testing. It simply goes on for an incredibly long period.
Regarding its sound profile, it differs slightly from the wired model but is still quite pleasing. All ranges are similarly crisp, and the directed sound is perfectly placed. Its microphone works perfectly, nothing to brag about but also nothing to be concerned about.
The only real downside to this headset is it doesn’t crank up as loud as some of the other headsets we’ve tested. But who needs to burst their eardrums, anyway? This thing still gets plenty loud enough for music and gaming. It’s a superb and conveniently cable-free headset that’s still worth the money in 2024.
Read our full HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless review.
4. Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X
If you’re anything like me, you’re more concerned with excellent sound quality than with features tailored to gamers. Naturally, we want this to sound fantastic for gaming as well, being gamers. The greatest gaming headphones that haven’t chosen to cut the cable are Beyerdynamic’s DT 900 Pro X, which are in this category.
These cans provide excellent sound quality even though they lack some features that are specialized to gamers, such a microphone, USB connectivity, and RGB illumination. This is because of the STELLAR.45 driver in the DT 900 Pro X, which, in spite of the Pro’s open-back design (which, incidentally, improves audio quality), produces extraordinarily punchy audio.
The audio quality of these cans is among the greatest we’ve heard, so there’s not much to be unhappy about. We’re talking about excellent separation in the bass range as well as all other ranges. Furthermore, with amazing directional audio, these headphones enhance the immersive and lifelike experience of video games.
They also appear the part. The sleek black-and-grey design chosen by Beyerdynamic shouts “audiophile suavetée” (yeah, I made that term up, but it works, doesn’t it?). Additionally, it uses little power, so setting it up shouldn’t require an amp. Who could argue with mass-market audiophile quality?
5. Audeze Maxwell
The Audeze Maxwell is the greatest wireless audiophile gaming headset, and its planar magnetic drivers are the reason behind it. Gaming and music listening benefit greatly from the Maxwell’s amazingly rich and powerful sound.
What then is the significance of planar magnetic? Compared to dynamic drivers, which are frequently seen in gaming headphones, these drivers use a completely different idea. Each driver generates audio by manipulating a huge, flat diaphragm using magnets. Compared to a dynamic driver with lots of bass, the finished product usually has a far more wide-ranging and natural sound.