SteelSeries' original Arctis Nova 7X Wireless was one of my favourite gaming headsets when it launched a few years ago, so I was certainly very excited to see what had changed with this flashy second-gen model to hopefully keep it towards the top of my own headset rankings.

Having tested this shiny new model for the last couple of weeks, I've been simultaneously surprised and disappointed at what's changed. On one hand, the list of changes isn't that substantial, with things such as improved battery life and added support for SteelSeries' Arctis companion app, which I'll get into more in a minute, while the fit and finish and audio drivers inside haven't changed one iota as far as I can tell.

Depending on your perspective, it's either laziness or refinement—for me, I'm going to be positive and choose the latter.

The fact is that there wasn't anything wrong with how the original Arctis Nova 7X Wireless sounded, so cocking about with it for this second-gen model would have been a bit of a shock to the system if you're already coming from the original. It means we're still getting the excellent all-round audio I liked so much from the previous model, which is characterised by more low-end grunt than typical headphones, helping its chops for listening to my movable feast of rock tracks from Marillion, Rush, Steven Wilson and others, plus adding a more immersive quality for explosions and gunfire in Counter-Strike 2.

Moreover, we're still getting some lovely detail retrieval and a crisp mid-range that helps to accentuate details such as footsteps in Counter-Strike and well-handled vocals in mellower tracks from the likes of Jimmy Buffett or James Taylor, helping to make the Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2 a versatile headset for music, games and more besides.

There is also quite a wide soundstage for a set of closed backs (open back and wired cans at this price, such as the new Sony Inzone H6 Air, will be stronger, though) with good imaging for things such as footsteps, distant chatter and gunfire or nearby grenade explosions in CS:2.

Likewise, SteelSeries has retained the same retractable ClearCast Gen 2 microphone as the original model, which I liked for offering clear and decently clean comms with surprisingly decent body and noise rejection, and it's much the same story with the Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2. Of course, a dedicated USB or XLR microphone will provide you with better definition and a fuller sound, but in a pinch, this headset mic is perfectly cromulent.

Where this headset has upped its game, especially, is on the front of software support, which is evidently where SteelSeries has spent a lot of its time. SteelSeries GG handles desktop duties for customisation of things such as the EQ and surround sound settings, plus it comes with over 200 game-specific presets to optimise the headset's sound for whichever game you're playing.

What is new with the Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2 is that it'll also work with SteelSeries' Arctis companion app, which I've used with some of its other, more recent headsets. This sizes down the desktop app into an even lighter and slicker medium, providing a lot of the same presets and such that can be quickly selected before you jump into a mobile or console game. There isn't more granular EQ control in the companion app, though, which is a little bit of a shame.

On the point of connectivity, this -X suffixed model maintains its edge as the model variant of this headset that'll work with the most things. It connects either via Bluetooth or the bundled 2.4GHz wireless USB-C receiver, allowing it to work with both modern Xbox and PlayStation consoles, PC, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, Android and iOS mobile devices, VR and more besides. That's a lot of devices; oh, it'll also work with both simultaneously if you're a power user, and you can connect via 3.5 mm wired to boot.

The Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2 also benefits from increased battery life over its predecessor, promising up to 54 hours over the 2.4 GHz receiver and up to 42 hours over Bluetooth—connected via both means, it'll go for up to 38 hours. By contrast, the original could only muster up to 38 hours over 2.4 GHz and up to 26 hours over Bluetooth. In my testing, I found SteelSeries' claimed improvements to be about right, getting about 50 hours or so on a charge before I needed to charge it back up again.

If you're caught in a pinch, there is a 15-minute fast charge available via USB-C that takes you back to six hours' worth of run time, while a full charge will take around 90 minutes if you can wait a little longer.

I'm a big fan of the new magenta colourway that my sample of the Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2 shipped in. There are more conventional colour choices available with black and white, but for an added splash of colour, it looks fantastic, perfectly matching the QcK Heavy mousepad and SteelSeries Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 rodent, which I also have knocking around.

The fit and finish of this headset haven't changed much from its predecessor, though. This means we're getting a hard-wearing plastic finish for the outer chassis at a price I'd expect to see a little more metal, although it feels reasonably sturdy. The earcups are made of a breathable fabric and feel decently roomy around my ears, alongside providing decent passive noise isolation for a headset with no ANC. They also fold flat for easy stowage.

SteelSeries' classic suspension headband also makes a return with a semi-elastic suspension strap with some adjustment with the pins on either side to make it looser or tighter depending on the size of your noggin. By default, the headset felt on the smaller side, so I adjusted it to the next level to get a more comfortable fit, a better seal and a more optimal clamping force. It doesn't clamp down too much on your head and is quite pleasant.

The dedicated multimedia controls are well distributed across both earcups and take the form of tactile buttons and wheels. On the left, you'll find a volume wheel and a microphone mute button, while on the right, there's a game and chat mixer dial, plus dedicated power and Bluetooth pairing buttons. Intriguingly, the volume dial on the headset works independently of the system-wide volume, so you’ve got that little bit of extra control.

I think it's fair to think of the Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2 as a further optimisation of a headset that worked especially well the first time around, rather than an outright reinvention. After all, it still sounds good with powerful and surprisingly precise audio, is decently comfortable and has some of the most versatile wireless connectivity you'll find on any gaming headset, beating out the likes of the wired-only Sony Inzone H6 Air and the Logitech G522 Lightspeed.

SteelSeries has made upgrades where it matters, such as extending the battery life, adding a fetching new colour option and adding in some new software options to complement the versatile connectivity on offer. I appreciate that this is still quite an expensive set of cans at £180/$200, but I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a more versatile wireless headset than these in 2026.

2026 seems to be the time of the open-back gaming headset. After years of not seeing much in this sector (bar the Corsair Virtuoso Pro), we've seen a return to form for this admittedly niche sector that I'm all for. First, it was the turn of Asus with the Hifiman-collab Asus ROG Kithara with its audiophile credentials, huge planar magnetic drivers, and an equally hefty price tag that m'colleague Phil liked, although with the caveat that it's $300/£285 and misses some very basic features for a headset. Y'know, like physical controls or any form of software control.

Now it's the turn of Sony with the lightweight and breathable Inzone H6 Air, which immediately wins against Asus in my head for coming in at virtually $100/£100 less. Granted, the $200/£180 price tag is still dear for a strictly wired headset when versatile wireless choices such as the Beyerdynamic MMX 150 and Logitech G522 Lightspeed exist. Whether it can match in features or quality is a different matter entirely against any of these, though, which is why hardware overlord Jacob is paying me for these very words.

The first thing that was immediately noticeable for me when plonking the Inzone H6 Air on my bonce is how lightweight it is. It's technically under 200 g at 199 g without the additional boom microphone affixed to the front to make it look more like a conventional pair of headphones (adding the mic adds an extra 12 g—I know, immense) and the lack of a more avant-garde design, a la Kithara, means you're less likely to get funny looks on Zoom calls or if you bravely decide to use this as normal headphones out and about.

The sub-200 g weight makes these cans supremely comfortable for my head for extended periods, and it almost feels like you don't have them on your head half the time. My only criticism is how light the clamping force feels, as the headset feels as if it's resting on your head more often than not, arguably due to the suspension-style headband Sony has opted for.

It adjusts in the same funny way as on the Inzone H9 II, requiring you to pinch a hinge and adjust each side independently. It's fine, but I think that's where the clamping force issue derives from.

To be clear, I don't mind the lighter force afforded by the Inzone H6 Air, but some folks may prefer a tighter fit, which can mostly be achieved if you take a few moments to adjust the headband properly.

Outside of this, this Sony headset carries a clean and modern look, with strong build quality thanks to a combination of metal earcup outers and some solid plastics used elsewhere. The headset also folds down for easy stowage, although there isn't an egg bag to store the cans in if you want to take them out anywhere.

One area where Sony has improved over Asus is that this gaming headset actually has on-board controls! Granted, it's only two, with a mic mute button and a volume wheel, but there are controls, and they are present. Otherwise, it's just jacks for connecting the detachable 3.5 mm wired cable, and for affixing the boom mic to the front of the unit.

Strictly wired connectivity is handled by the 3.5 mm jack with devices that support it, although Sony also bundles a similar external USB-C DAC and 'audio box' with the Inzone H6 Air, as it did with the Inzone E9 IEMs. This opens up USB-C compatibility for PlayStation and for Windows, opening up access to Sony's Inzone Hub software—again, righting the wrong of Asus' Kithara that's bereft of software controls. That's two for two, Sony—well done.

Software control is similar to the Inzone H9 II, minus the ANC settings, as there isn't any (this is an open-back headset after all), but there is still a wealth of settings for things such as fiddling with different EQ presets for different types of games alongside a 10-band EQ for more custom options, toggles for spatial audio settings and a couple of bits for microphone. What's here is a little more basic, but it's fine for most folks.

And now the important bit, sound quality, and it's here where things get particularly tasty. The Inzone H6 Air isn't using huge planar magnetic drivers like the Kithara does, and instead goes for more typical 40 mm dynamic drivers. With this in mind, they aren't just any dynamic drivers. Sony has taken a leaf out of its own book and uses drivers from its vast range of headphones, opting to use drivers derived from its MDR-MV1 studio monitoring headphones for this headset.

Normally, these more reference-style, monitoring cans will be tuned for a flat curve so studio engineers get the truest representation of the music possible to make mixing as painless as possible. I believe Sony has tuned the drivers a smidgen here to make them more suitable for the target audience of gamers rather than audio engineers.

Likewise, being open-back should give these cans a greater sense of width and space against the more traditional closed-back headsets out there, yielding a greater sense of immersion at the expense of disturbing those around you with audio seepage.

The upshot of all of this preamble is that I love how the Inzone H6 Air sounds. They're an entertaining listen, not least with a surprising amount of meat on the bone when it comes to the bass. Human hearing may not be able to strictly hear the 10Hz these cans can go down to, but you can certainly feel it with a tight low-end, complete with good extension. I found strong punchiness in my usual array of rock testing tracks, be it the brooding Invisible Man from Marillion or Luminol from Steven Wilson, the latter of which has a relentless bass groove in the track's opening couple of minutes.

Combined with this, there's a rich and detailed mid-range for elements such as vocals in the above tracks and in mellower stuff from James Taylor or Jimmy Buffett. On the gaming side, it meant footsteps and voices in Counter-Strike 2 were crisp and clear, helping this headset to emerge as a strong choice for more competitive gaming.

If there's one area where I expected these cans to perform, it was on the front of the soundstage, especially given the mere fact that these are open-backs. Nonetheless, the precision and sheer width are what set these apart from the closed-back cans at this price. It was very easy to place things in Counter-Strike 2, be it far-off gunshots, nearby grenade explosions (helped also by the tight bass) and footsteps.

In addition, in Forza Horizon 5, the sense of width and space was excellent for discerning between different folks I was racing against, making it a little bit easier to give cars I overtook (or was overtook by, I'm not that good, don't judge) the space, so neither of us got punted by someone with no racecraft or the ability to use the brakes.

The Inzone H6 Air's cardioid microphone is a tale of two halves, offering clear and surprisingly full-bodied pickup in my testing, meaning this headset could happily be used for voiceover work and streaming without much hassle. Noise rejection from things immediately in front of the cardioid capsule, be it my loud mechanical keyboard or music I had in the background, was reasonable, although I did find the pop filter and such didn't do the best job with plosives. In my test audio, there are some noticeable thuds with letters such as P or B, which is just something to bear in mind.

So, where does all this leave us? The fact is that I'm a large fan of the Inzone H6 Air for a myriad of reasons, and I think it may well be one of the best gaming headsets you can buy: the comfortable fit, the immersive and surprisingly bassy sound that helps games, music and more besides. Plus, it rights the key wrongs of the Asus ROG Kithara in that it has physical controls, it costs less (although it is still quite expensive for a wired-only headset), it has some software, and you probably won't get as many funny looks with these on in meetings. That's a win in my book.

Amazon Prime Day 2026 is finally here, which means now is the perfect time to start shopping for your new gaming headset. For Amazon, the event has kicked off already, running from June 23 through to the end of June 26, but other retailers launched their big events yesterday, and there's been some great headset deals at very reasonable prices already.

While the price of most things PC gaming has been rising of late, many of the best gaming headsets are still pretty affordable for the most part. Upgrading your audio gear is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve your gaming experience, as a good headset can massively improve the immersion factor.

👉ALL Amazon's early Prime Day deals👈
👉OUR favorite Prime Day PC gaming deals👈

Plus, a great headset is more than just a gaming device. Music, podcast listening, YouTube-watching—all of these things are improved by an excellent set of drivers in a comfortable frame. I've tested tons of them over my years at PC Gamer, and my background in audio means I know a good one when I hear it. I'm already collecting the deals I know are worth your time and money below, so join me on my journey to find your next set of cans.

Where are the best Amazon Prime Day gaming headset deals?

• Amazon: All the gaming headset discounts and deals
• Newegg: Top brand headsets from $40
• Razer: BlackShark V2 X for $30 at Best Buy
• Asus: ROG Pelta RGB wireless headset for $120 at Amazon
• HyperX: 300-hour battery life Cloud Alpha Wireless for $119
• Walmart: Logitech G345 Lightspeed wireless set for $55
• B&H Photo: Logitech, SteelSeries and more gaming headsets with big discounts
• Best Buy: Up to $80 off SteelSeries headsets and much, much more

Amazon Prime Day wired gaming headset deals

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Amazon Prime wireless gaming headset deals

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Amazon Prime Day gaming earbud deals

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Amazon Prime gaming headset deals in the UK

Where are the best Amazon Prime gaming headset deals in the UK?

Headsets and earbuds:

• Amazon: Major discounts on gaming headsets from all the best brands
• HyperX: Great deals on some of our favourite wireless sets
• Scan: Gaming headsets from £29
• Argos: No seriously, Argos. Regular discounts on some excellent headsets from many of the major manufacturers
• Razer: Kraken V4 wireless set for £132
• SteelSeries: Up to 33% off wired and wireless gaming headsets
• Logitech: Save up to £60 on Logitech gaming headsets

Wired headsets

Wireless headsets

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FAQ

In my approximation, diminishing returns start for gaming headsets after around the $100-$150 mark. That's to say the value per dollar starts to go down the higher up you go. With budget gaming headsets only getting better, it becomes harder and harder to justify spending $300+. And with the Stealth Pro II, you can tell that Turtle Beach is aware of that, because it throws everything at this set of cans. Super large drivers, a battery charger / wireless receiver, plus a spare receiver in the box. The Stealth Pro II really tries hard to get that cash out of your hand. In fairness, it's doing a pretty good job of it.

The Stealth Pro II is hiding 60 mm Eclipse dual drivers in its cups, and though it's pretty hefty at almost 400 grams, it's comfortable. That's thanks to squishy cups and a decent headband. It's definitely a weight that takes a little while to get used to, but I've always quite liked the bulky build of Turtle Beach. I feel like I'm more fond of the Stealth 700 range than most for the same reason.

It's a strong build, combining plastics, metals and fabric. Though I don't often do it, I did find myself not hugely liking how the headband adjusts. It requires a significant amount of force to pull the headset out from the headband, and this means it stays in place well, but it also makes it hard to move while on your head. It just feels a little uncomfortable to have to yank it out. What's more, the headband's range is a tad limited when it comes to serving smaller noggins. Not a problem for me, though, as my head is unfortunately rather large.

But, outside of its cost, a love it or hate it weight and clamping force, and the headband, I have almost nothing bad to report about the Stealth Pro II. It's a majestic headset, with plenty of sweet features, and importantly, it sounds glorious.

It's also easy to set up. The box comes with the headset itself, a battery charging dock, a spare receiver, and a USB cable. Effectively, as the battery charger works as a receiver, you can pop the second receiver into a console and swap between console and PC with just a single click. It works really well, and was one of my favourite things about the Stealth 700 Gen 3.

To swap out one of the two batteries, the left cup has a magnetic plate, and a simple pull on the top will take it off. It's not hot swappable, so the internal battery doesn't keep the headset alive, though it takes so little time for the headset to connect that I only ever lose out around a second from a headset that does have an internal battery. Each battery has around 40 hours, and between the two, I've never managed to let the headset go dry. It's a near-perfect amount of battery to feel pretty much limitless.

This system isn't particularly unique. SteelSeries has been doing it for a long time, with the likes of Arctis Nova Pro and the recent Arctis Nova Pro Omni doing it. However, I'm glad more brands are picking up such a handy system, and Turtle Beach have done it well.

The receiver looks good, too. It's a simple puck, with a button to pop out the battery, and lighting which can indicate when you are muted or live, and that's about it. The microphone can be popped up to mute, but the headset also has one built in, which means you can technically bring it out of the house, without having to bring a full-on microphone, and still chat.

The detachable microphone sounds lovely and full, with my voice not only coming through clear, but with such quality that I'd even happily record a video or podcast on it. Though AI noise reduction usually helps cover for the middling microphone of a gaming headset, I'd actually opt to turn it off here, as it flattens sound a little and generally doesn't sound as good with it on. I can pick up more mouth sounds without the reduction, but it's such a nice microphone that it's worth that trade-off.

Above is without AI noise reduction. Bottom is with.

The black and gold model I've got my hands on looks lovely. It's just a shame the receiver doesn't also double as a stand (like the Fractal Scape), as it doesn't quite feel right draping such a regal headset on the edge of my TV. It not only looks nice but is smartly designed too. The buttons on both earcups are easy to navigate, all coming with different tactile feels to differentiate themselves from each other, and a few of them can even be reprogrammed in Turtle Beach Swarm II, should you want even more control.

Swarm II is a solid bit of software now, too. As well as allowing me to get the latest updates, you can adjust volume, put on 'Superhuman' hearing, adjust chat mix, mess with ANC, and swap around the EQ. Generally speaking, I found the headset to be so clear that I never needed Superhuman hearing (Which raises footsteps and gun sounds), and ANC is super solid too. It managed to comfortably filter out the hum of my PC without adding artificial distortion.

Generally, I find the Stealth Pro II's EQ to be balanced and tuned well. The first time I played Counter-Strike 2 with it, and shot with the AWP, I instinctively took the headset off. That's because the sniper thumped so much it practically rumbled on my head. Despite how that sounds, that's a very good thing. It's thunderous when it wants to, but footsteps are easy to make out, and it just has great atmosphere. It's a super engrossing headset, from sound to feel.

On the universally loved and wholly uncontroversial game, Mixtape, I found that the headset contributes to the atmosphere really well. The roar of skateboard wheels on tarmac, with Lush's Monochrome, is, as the game probably wants it to be, a 'total vibe'.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's sound design shines well too, with the pizzicato strings of Lumière never fighting for the spotlight against its twinkly guitar or lush vocals. The soundstage feels broad, with bass, mids, and highs all being invited to the party in equal measure. The vocal boost EQ mode could be a decent shout in conversation-heavy single-player games, but I quite like all its EQ modes.

That soundstage really comes through in music, with the likes of Aphex Twin's Xtal sounding so full and deep that I could almost believe the song is playing right in front of me. Nothing can compare to the all-encompassing sound of live music, but the Pro II does a genuinely solid job at home.

I found putting on the 'treble and bass boost' EQ mode to be particularly overwhelming here. It's not just a sound that you can hear but one you feel. Moving over to Aphex Twin's relatively subdued and delicate Avril 14, the headset's clarity works well in favour of the song's brooding prettiness. The bass can be really cranked up, but it doesn't falter when sound calls for something more subtle.

The Stealth Pro II's 60 mm drivers aren't just 60 mm drivers. They have a dual driver design, which separates the woofer and tweeter to give increased clarity for both. It works really well in use. The size of the drivers isn't everything, and comparing them to the 90 mm planar magnetic ones in the Audeze LCD-S20, I'd actually pick Turtle Beach's. They're not necessarily better, technically speaking, but they have such a great presence that I'd pick them for gaming instead. The immersion factor here is top-notch.

I've also spent some time comparing the Stealth Pro II's 60 mm drivers with the Audeze Maxwell's 90 mm planar magnetic drivers. I do think the Maxwell is still an impressive headset, and cheaper too. However, as much as it may pain my colleagues who truly love the Maxwell, I think I'd pick Turtle Beach's offering here for gaming. That's because the Stealth Pro II offers a truly immersive and punchy sound experience.

I'm definitely in the 'both headsets are good' camp, rather than thinking either is superior, and I'm very surprised it's Turtle Beach that holds its own against the truly lovely Maxwell. I'd say the Stealth Pro II is a more traditional gamer headset than the Maxwell, offering a focus on its bass, where the Maxwell is more neutral. Audeze is perhaps a tad clearer, though not as immersive. I noticed, when comparing both headsets with their neutral EQs in Sweet Pill's Blood, I could make out the chunky opening riff a little sharper on the Maxwell, though the Stealth Pro II hits harder.

It can also get monstrously loud. I rarely raised the headset above 60% (with it usually sitting between 30%-40%), and even then, I only got that high up when I wanted to really crank the music.100% turns the headphones into almost a mini speaker.

Given my connectivity issues with the Stealth Gen 3, I'm happy to report that the Stealth Pro II is an incredibly easy headset to use every day. It connects near instantly, has not cut out on me once, and even has a surprisingly great wireless range. I have never been able to walk into my kitchen with a gaming headset, thanks to the position of a thick wall, but the Stealth Pro II managed to cope with the interfering brickwork with ease.

It still cuts out if I go any further, but it's beaten every headset I've tried thus far. It can also connect via Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz at the same time, which is particularly useful if I'm on call with friends and need to do my Duolingo before I accidentally use a freeze streak. I've had pretty much no complaints in my days working and gaming with the headset, and it has fit into my everyday lifestyle with ease.

In my hubris to get photos of the headset in the hot British sun, I stumbled on a rock and dropped the headset pretty hard. It got some scuffs on the magnetic plate in front of the battery, as well as a light scuff on the microphone and headband, but it held up pretty well overall. I wouldn't recommend flinging it around, but it handled a nasty bash pretty well.

That price point will always be tough, and for $350, your opportunity cost is the mighty Audeze Maxwell 2 and its 90 mm drivers (plus the first Maxwell). That's a bit of a problem for Turtle Beach, but also, I entirely see where the cost of the Stealth Pro II is going into the product.

$300 genuinely gets you into audiophile headphone territory, and if you're willing to go wired, you can pick up something like the Sennheiser HD 550. If I wanted something for the studio, I could certainly see a good argument to go Sennheiser instead, but for hearing the thump of hooves in Red Dead Redemption 2 or explosions, well, everywhere in GTA Online, the Stealth Pro II is an excellent choice. And just because it packs a punch doesn't mean it can't handle the subtle intricacy of a flute high in the mix or sombre tones of a cello either.

I would certainly grit my teeth, handing over $350 for a gaming headset, and I think my partner might faint seeing it hit the bank account, but I'd be damned if Turtle Beach hasn't done its darndest to earn the cash. One could argue that such an expensive purchase should come with zero caveats, and that's fair, but one or two certainly isn't bad. Especially when it sounds, and makes me sound, so lush.

Wired or wireless? This used to be a big debate when it came to picking a gaming headset, but these days it's a pretty simple question to answer. Wireless cans have come on leaps and bounds in the past decade, so wired only really makes sense if you're min/maxing your audio quality options.

The Rig R5 Spear Max HD is the latest addition to Nacon's Rig gaming headset brand, and it's attempting to do just that. It's a wired gaming headset with an included USB Type-C DAC for high-quality audio sources, and it's got some fancy graphene drivers that promise to deliver "studio-grade game audio."

Plus, it's got a modular design that means you can swap out the ear cup sideplates, or switch the microphone and cable unit to either side. For the relatively reasonable price of $150, it's all looking rather good on paper. It's pretty comfy and sleek-looking in person, too.

However, there are two things here that give me pause. One, although a $150 gaming headset with an included DAC and fancy drivers strikes as good value, it's still a wired headset in 2026, and chaining yourself to your PC with a cable feels a touch old-fashioned. And two, while the R5 Spear Max HD can often sound good for gaming, it feels like it's been tweaked so far into gamer-first territory that it suffers in the musical department.

It's an interesting set of cans with lots of nice touches—but there are enough drawbacks to prevent me from giving a wholehearted "yes please" to this quirky-yet-flawed set.

Features

4

Sound

2.5

Ergonomics

3

Aesthetics

5

Software

2.5

Value

2.5

Group 1 Data

Product	Features ()	Sound ()	Ergonomics ()	Aesthetics ()	Software ()	Value ()
Nacon RIG R5 Spear Max HD	4	2.5	3	5	2.5	2.5

We scored the Rig R5 Spear Max HD out of five in six distinct categories.

Rig R5 Spear Max HD: Features

The R5 Spear Max HD is a modular wired gaming headset, which means it has a more interesting specs sheet than most. The outer ear cup plates can be removed and swapped for different models with a clever magnetic system, and the microphone can be mounted on either side (along with the integrated cable) via a similar method.

Apparently, there are more accessories coming for this snap lock system in future, but as far as USPs go straight out of the box, it's a pretty neat design.

In terms of the chassis itself, the R5 Spear Max HD feels miles ahead of other Rig offerings when you pull it from the box. Do I detect a solid metal frame underneath some high-quality plastics? And are those plush memory foam ear pads? Mmm, very nice.

The biggest feature, though, is the inclusion of a USB Type-C DAC, which comes as a separate, portable unit. It's slightly smaller than a box of matches, and can decode audio up to a 32-bit, 384 kHz sample rate. The headset itself connects via a 3.5 mm audio-in port, but there's also a Type-C charging port and an extra aux connection, too.

It's a pretty nice inclusion for the price, and is designed to make the most of this headset's Ora-provided "GrapheneQ" drivers. These 40 mm graphene units aim to improve gaming audio with their ultra-stiff, ultra low-distortion qualities. More on that in a moment.

In the meantime, I think it's fair to say that the Rig set certainly has specs to impress—but part of me feels it might be a bit elementary when you consider it's a wired model, and the industry has definitely shifted towards wireless gaming headsets in recent years. Still, in terms of what you get for its $150 MSRP? Not bad. Not bad at all.

Plenty of goodies, but still wired

Features

4

Group 1 Data

Product	Features ()
Nacon RIG R5 Spear Max HD	4

Rig R5 Spear Max HD: Sound

The R5 Spear Max HD makes some bold claims in the audio department. Given its fancy graphene drivers and the inclusion of DAC through a wired connection, I had my ears fully prepared for some excellent sonic chops.

However, it's clear the Rig set has been tuned for a very gaming-focused sound. That probably sounds like an obvious thing to say in a gaming headset review, but while its tendency towards pronounced treble at the top end and booming bass at the low make for some good gaming experiences, it does make the R5 a bit of a one-trick pony.

Listening for footsteps in Gray Zone Warfare, for example, is definitely enhanced by the quick, angular treble response. And similarly, a chucked grenade in Helldivers 2 has all the weighty, bassy chonk you could hope for. However, while the R5 Spear Max HD is a good fit for shooters and action gaming, something more orchestral and delicate, like the Crimson Desert soundtrack, shows a weakness in the musicality department.

The mids and top end sound like they're sharing a little too much space, and there's simply not enough room for those frequencies to coexist. The effect is rather narrow, and the tight soundstage leaves me wishing the drivers would loosen up a touch and allow the audio to breathe. It's a slightly claustrophobic experience, with some messy edges that show the downsides of such an aggressive tuning.

This isn't the first time I've had these complaints about a set of graphene drivers, either. While their tendency to respond very quickly makes them a great fit for gaming, in terms of music listening, podcasts, and day-to-day audio duties, the sonic palette can feel like it's missing something.

This is improved by the Dolby Access app, which allows you to adjust the EQ to find smoother, more pleasant sounds. Still, despite much fiddling, the Rig set has a tendency to recess certain frequencies in the treble and upper midrange, washing them together to create a touch of confusion.

It's not a bad sound by any stretch, but if you're planning on using this set for more than gaming, expect some of the nicer sonic subtleties to become lost in the crush.

Rig R5 Spear Max HD microphone test

The microphone sounds pretty narrow, too. While it's a very focused sound, it can end up sounding like I'm addressing air traffic control rather than speaking into a quality capsule. Plus, with no available noise cancelling, there's a bit too much background noise included for my liking, even in a very quiet room.

Fine for gaming, but music lacks

Sound

2.5

Group 1 Data

Product	Sound ()
Nacon RIG R5 Spear Max HD	2.5

Rig R5 Spear Max HD: Ergonomics

I've sometimes been left disappointed by Rig gaming headsets in the ergonomics department, but this one's covered in plush materials and sensible design choices. The inner headband is squidgy and compliant, and the ear pads are as soft as you could possibly ask for.

It's not the lightest of sets at 388 grams, but the soft inner materials make for a comfortable ride atop my dome. One thing to note, though, is the clamping force. I have a relatively small head (and brain), and it feels a touch firm. That's fine for me, but those of you with larger skulls may find it a bit much.

The microphone has been coated in a rubberised, pliant-yet-resistive material that feels good underneath the fingertips. The R5 Spear Max HD's snap lock system means the microphone/cable unit can be prised from one side and clipped into the other with relative ease, and the locking mechanism feels reassuringly secure.

The swappable outer earcup covers work very well, too. The magnetic force attaching them is very strong, and they snap into place with a meaty clack. However, the plates are fairly thin, and the space underneath them is left hollow—and while that might be a boon for acoustics, it does lead to some unwanted noises.

Touching the mic stalk in order to flip it down gives you a front-row seat at a tinny plastic concert. Similarly, touching the outer ear cups to take the headset on and off resonates a hollow plastic tone through the earcup chambers, which is unpleasant to listen to.

It's not a big deal, but the unwanted reverberation has made me wince more than once. Otherwise, though, the Rig R5 Spear Max HD feels like a solid device, and one that I've worn for multiple hours with no major comfort issues.

Comfy, with the odd hiccup

Ergonomics

3

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Nacon RIG R5 Spear Max HD	3

Rig R5 Spear Max HD: Aesthetics

The Rig R5 Spear Max HD makes an excellent first impression in the looks department. It's a handsome set of cans, and one that I'd be happy to wear outside—if it wasn't wired, that is. The all-black with a touch of gold aesthetic is pleasant to behold, and reflects the (mostly) premium material choices underneath your fingertips.

And while those of you with a desire for loud colorways will be disappointed, I'll personally take understated style over a bright, "look-at-me" headset design any day of the week. Top marks, I reckon.

A bit of a looker

Aesthetics

5

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Nacon RIG R5 Spear Max HD	5

Rig R5 Spear Max HD: Software

In terms of Nacon/Rig's own Windows software, this is going to be a very short section: there isn't any. However, the included DAC can interface with the Dolby Access app. This is a simple bit of software that enables Dolby Atmos support, and allows you to pick from some preset EQ options, as well as customising your own.

It certainly helps to smooth some of the rough edges in terms of this headset's musical response, but it can't work miracles. Still, it's much better than nothing, and there are plenty of options here to help you tweak the R5's sonic tendencies.

There's no noise cancelling option for the mic, though, and as it's quite a hiss-prone unit, the omission of proper native software to reign it in strikes as a glaring omission.

More than a little lacking

Software

2.5

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Nacon RIG R5 Spear Max HD	2.5

Rig R5 Spear Max HD: Value

In the product briefing for the Rig R5 Spear Max HD, I kept diligent notes. Boutique graphene drivers, gotcha. Included hi-res DAC, yep. Premium design and materials, with a swappable module system. Check. This'll be expensive, I thought.

And then the MSRP was revealed: $150. Honestly, I was expecting a $200+ price tag with this many features, so props to Nacon for keeping the sum to a reasonable figure.

That being said, it's a wired gaming headset in a market swamped with great wireless options. And while the graphene drivers and DAC are great things on paper, and make for some decent gaming performance, I still want a $150 headset to sound lovely in the musical department. Again, the R5 isn't a bad-sounding set of cans, but the tuning really does give me pause.

And the microphone's a bit noisy, too. The Rig's biggest problem, though, is the existence of the Razer BlackShark V3. It's a wireless set with an excellent chassis design, harmonic plug-enhanced 50 mm drivers that sound great for gaming and music, and a pretty good mic. All for, you guessed it, $150.

Sure, it's not got a clever modular design (removable microphones don't count, right?), and the R5 is perhaps a touch sleeker in the looks department. But the Razer sits at the top of our best gaming headset guide for a reason, along with many other excellent headsets for very reasonable prices.

While I admire the Rig R5 Spear Max HD for what it attempts to achieve, in practice, I can think of plenty of other headsets I'd rather drop my cash on. It's pretty good value on paper, but the proof is in the listening—and in this case, I think your money would likely be better spent elsewhere.

Great on paper, not so much in practice

Value

2.5

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Nacon RIG R5 Spear Max HD	2.5

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni wasn't necessarily the headset I expected the Danish brand to release as its next choice. From the outset, it's a funny product that seems to straddle the line between gaming headset and lifestyle-oriented audiophile headphones in a similar fashion to the £600/$600 Arctis Nova Elite released earlier this year.

What's even more curious is that it seems to be a step up in virtually every way from the longstanding Arctis Nova Pro Wireless for a modest premium, at least in terms of retail price—the lingering question I have is whether the Omni is the new Nova Pro Wireless. Let's take a look and find out.

The DNA of the Arctis Nova Pro Omni hasn't changed much over the other two headsets, with the modern and minimalistic finish that has characterised these redesigned Arctis Nova headsets since SteelSeries first introduced them a few years ago.

I think we've got similarly subtle material changes that were introduced on the Arctis Nova Elite here, such as a neoprene-type material for the suspension headband, alongside similarly plush and deep earcups that make this a very comfortable headset for extended periods in my testing.

There is also a strong seal provided with this headset to help its excellent passive noise isolation, even without the ANC enabled. Headband adjustment is similar to the other Arctis Nova headsets, with the option to use both the suspension headband and the main metal one in tandem to get an optimal fit. Adjustment on the main headband is smooth, while you get three sizes for the suspension headband, and the earcups also fold flat for easy stowage

I'm also a big fan of this dark blue colourway my sample of the Arctis Nova Pro Omni arrived in, which just provides something a little different to the usual black and white I see on a lot of headsets. It's a little less gaudy than the light blue and gold finish on the Arctis Nova Elite, which was a little bit like Marmite—I quite liked it, but m'colleague Andy didn't.

There have also been some subtle changes to the on-board controls with this headset, such as a new texture and tactile feel on the volume wheel that gives it a more premium feel than other choices. This headset's on-board controls are mostly loaded on the left side, though, with the aforementioned volume wheel, plus buttons for power and mic mute and the signature retractable boom microphone. The right side only has a button for Bluetooth pairing.

You also get a 3.5 mm jack for wired audio on the left side, while the USB-C port you’d expect is hidden behind the left earcup’s removable cover, and a removable and swappable battery is under the right earcup.

On the point of removable batteries, there has been a reasonable improvement to this headset's endurance over its predecessor, too, with up to 60 hours of runtime across both batteries—the same as the Arctis Nova Elite. More mixed use, as in my case, with the noise cancellation enabled and use over both 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth, leads to battery life taking a bit of a hit, with one battery lasting me between 15 and 20 hours, rather than up to 30.

SteelSeries also touts the Arctis Nova Pro Omni to have brisker fast charging, with a 15-minute fast charge putting upwards of four hours of runtime back into the cans, rather than the old three hours. This is also borrowed from the Arctis Nova Elite.

As was the case with the Nova Pro Wireless, the base station holds the key with the Omni model, allowing for up to four wired connections to a range of devices, plus the simultaneous mixing of audio from all of those sources. Add in Bluetooth 5.3 (improved from Bluetooth 5.0 on the Nova Pro Wireless) and 2.4 GHz channels, and you can theoretically connect this headset to up to six devices at once, while you can also mix audio from up to four sources at once, with two USB devices, Bluetooth and 3.5 mm wired. Moreover, there is the option to mix audio from two separate systems, which is unique to the Omni.

With a Tidal subscription in tow, the base station can also display any music you're listening to on the screen of the base station, which is a very neat addition. I think it only works for Tidal, as it didn't do so in my testing of Roon or Spotify.

The base station handles three USB-C connections via the clever OmniPlay system, including a port specifically dedicated to Xbox use. SteelSeries also rates this headset to have similarly versatile connectivity to its other options, with PlayStation 5, PC, Mac, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, Meta Quest VR headsets, tablets and gaming handhelds. It's a laundry list of connections that makes this a very adaptable choice.

Software control can be handled either on desktop or mobile, with SteelSeries' GG app working for deeper configuration for things such as the parametric EQ, virtual mixing desk, and the enviable amount of game-specific audio presets. You can also deal with spatial audio modes such as Dolby Atmos and Windows Sonic on PC and Xbox, plus Tempest 3D Audio on PS5.

Much like with the new Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2, SteelSeries has brought in support for the Arctis mobile app that provides another means of control that's more ideal for console or mobile workflows. It gives you access to more than 200 game-specific presets, the same as the desktop app, and a proper parametric EQ (itself with over 300 presets) so you can dial in the frequency response to your taste on platforms other than PC. Considering this headset is marketed as a go-anywhere, do-anything one, it makes perfect sense for feature parity here.

Against the older model, the ANC for the Arctis Nova Pro Omni is much-improved, with it seeming to cancel out a lot more noise by default. This especially went for lower and mid-range noise, be it the thud of my deliberately loud mechanical keyboard, my gaming PC's fans and conversations from an adjoining room. It feels like you could use this headset as a set of noise-cancelling headphones when out and about, rather than just a gaming headset.

It's on the front of drivers and audio where this SteelSeries headset is designed to be a middle ground between the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless and Elite models. It retains similar neodymium magnetic drivers to its predecessor, but they've seen "enhanced audio tuning" to hopefully improve their sound. SteelSeries hasn't opted for carbon fibre drivers here, as with the Arctis Nova Elite.

The key difference, though, is that this headset supports up to fully-fledged 24-bit/96 kHz Hi-Res with supported content. Handy if you want to pair these cans to a more specialist DAP for proper audiophile quality listening, or pair them to your phone with a Tidal subscription in tow.

This works over either 2.4 GHz or Bluetooth with the LC3+ codec (there is also SBC and LC3 on offer), although with the potential caveat of a reduced range against other models in SteelSeries’ canon. For reference, with the Arctis Nova Elite, you can go around 30 feet before things go sour. On other Arctis Nova headsets, you’re looking at close to double.

As for general audio quality, I didn't necessarily feel that the Arctis Nova Pro Omni's tuning deviates too much from the way that the brand's other premium cans are dealt with. There's a pleasant helping of a robust low-end, helping elements such as the relentless, frenetic bass in Brand X's Not Good Enough, See Me!, or the grittier Meanwhile from Steven Wilson.

The mid-range has a lot of punch and detail, with this headset getting across the power of Phil Collins' snare and tom hits in that Brand X track. Moving over to James Taylor's October Road, there's a lovely sense of depth to elements such as his warmer vocal and the inflexions of the acoustic guitar threaded throughout the entire song. It also helps the crispness and prominence of in-game elements, such as footsteps and voices, in my runs of Counter-Strike 2.

The Arctis Nova Pro Omni's treble felt quite smooth and detailed, and wasn't as jarring as with the Arctis Nova Elite, as I found with the percussion in both Steely Dan's Do It Again and throughout Ralph MacDonald's Calypso Breakdown.

I also felt this SteelSeries headset had a very organised and wide soundstage for a set of closed-back cans, in keeping with the dearer Arctis Nova Elite. There's lots of breathing room in tracks such as a live cut of George Benson's Affirmation, while the excellent imaging and placement also helped in Counter-Strike 2 for elements such as footsteps, far-off explosions and gunfire to pinpoint where enemies are.

The microphone of the Arctis Nova Pro Omni has been improved in several ways, with it featuring SteelSeries' latest omnidirectional ClearCast Pro mic, that provided some excellent pickup and clarity. Noise rejection for objects immediately in front of the capsule, including music playback from my speakers or my deliberately loud mechanical keyboard, is also decent, and this is carried across all connected systems as it's onboard the headset, rather than just working on a connected PC in software.

The glaring problem that the Omni has is its sheer cost, with it pushing £400/$400 in retail price – to be specific, this headset costs $400/£350. This makes it dearer than rivals, such as the Sony Inzone H9 II and Audeze Maxwell 2.

Sony's choice is perhaps the closest competitor, offering a lighter chassis and strong noise cancellation, although at the expense of connectivity and software support against the Omni. As for the Maxwell, it provides a similarly strong sound with its planar magnetic drivers, but is lacking in comfort for extended periods in being so heavy at just over 500g.

I think all of this has therefore left me very impressed with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni in that it's upgraded against the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless where it mattered, such as with even more versatile connectivity thanks to an updated base station and an even comfier fit, plus stronger noise cancellation and a well-rounded mic. Hi-res audio support is welcome, and this remains one of the best gaming headsets from the standpoint of both versatility and sheer quality. You've just got to be wary of a very high price tag.

There are a number of reasons to pick up a wired gaming headset over something wireless. Price is definitely a factor, but add to that greatly reduced latency, plus the obvious fact you'll never have to worry about keeping your kit charged. Unfortunately, every time I test a wired headset, the castors of almost every desk chair remind me why I live my best life wirelessly.

Glorious is perhaps best known for gaming mice and keyboards, though it's now broadening its peripheral portfolio with two wired gaming headsets and a more premium wireless option, set to drop later this year. So, will Glorious' first foray into gaming headsets persuade me that the grass is, in fact, greener with a wire between me and my rig? At $60, I'm willing to hear the GHS Eternal out.

The only available connection for the basic GHS Eternal is a 3.5 mm audio jack. Besides PCs, this connection offers pretty broad compatibility among smartphones and consoles too (that includes the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox).

The GHS Eternal also comes with a bendy, detachable microphone arm that also enjoys a 3.5 mm connection. The audio quality of this is fine for video calls and Discord chats, but the lack of a squishy windscreen means you should expect some distortion from breaths and plosives. The microphone arm is flexible, so you can fiddle with finding the best placement for you and your trash talk. If you need sound with less crunchy edges, the Corsair HS55 Stereo wired gaming headset offers pretty astounding audio from its microphone for the same $60 price tag.

One thing the Glorious' mic does that Corsair's doesn't, though, is detach. That could open up the GHS Eternal up to non-gaming use while out and about, but A) this headset does not enjoy an IPX rating, and B) I personally dislike the rattle headphone wires tend to make as I powerwalk.

Beyond that, I'd say the cushioned headrest and plush earcups make this a comfortable gaming headset to wear for extended periods. The clamping strength of the earcups is firm enough to feel secure without becoming uncomfortable. However, though the memory foam ear pads are pretty generous, there's little to no noise isolation; even on a quiet day at PC Gamer towers, I could hear the conversations of my deskmates pretty clearly—and I suspect they could hear me listening to Your Idol on repeat too.

That's because the headset overall can get decently loud, and the left earcup features a tactile volume control knob that I really enjoyed twiddling. If I was judging this headset based purely on casually listening to the K-pop Demon Hunters soundtrack for the umpteenth time while I wrote this review, I'd be tempted to give it full marks.

As far as gaming headsets go, $60 puts this firmly within the budget category, and for that price, you shouldn't expect an audio experience that knocks your socks off. Still, the GHS Eternal renders vocals cleanly, and even makes an attempt at reaching for a little extra oomph with the film's thumping, electronic-inspired basslines.

Listen to the Glorious GHS Eternal microphone test here:

The overall sound profile is fairly well balanced, though the sound stage feels somewhat narrow even at max volume, and I did notice some sharpness and even a small amount of distortion around the highest highs. That said, this is pretty par for the course when it comes to more affordable sets of cans.

While Pragmata is a game full of higher-pitched, digital bleeps and bloops, this headset's crunchier top end wasn't pronounced enough to really diminish my enjoyment of blasting bots.

Overall, it can't get as loud as the only other wired gaming headset I happened to have to hand, the Razer Kraken Kitty V2 - Gengar Edition, or compete with that far pricier gaming headset's depth of sound. However, for $60 I'd still say the GHS Eternal's 40 mm drivers acquit themselves well, and personally, I find its angled earcups more comfortable to wear too.

The only time this headset's wired connection failed me—beyond getting caught up under a castor—was once during a phone call where my mic cut out and headphone audio continued even though the 3.5 mm connection was fully seated. I've not been able to replicate this hiccough since.

Glorious also sent me the GHS Eternal RGB, which costs $90/£80. For another thirty bucks, you're definitely getting a few more handy features. For one thing, you have a choice between a 3.5 mm or a USB-C wired connection (in a considerate move, the box includes a USB-C to USB-A dongle too).

You also enjoy an additional chat mix knob on the left ear cup, a floating headband design that combines both elastic and silicone parts, plus a cheeky bit of RGB on both ear cups.

As someone who enjoys chatting up a storm in Final Fantasy XIV Online, I particularly appreciate the dedicated chat mix knob—but beyond that, I'm not convinced this more premium option justifies its added expense.

For a start, both headsets feature 40 mm custom-tuned drivers and detachable mics, contributing to a fairly comparable audio performance. But I found the basic version of the GHS Eternal more comfortable to wear all day long, as even with the more premium headset's 'floating' headband design, my ears felt uncomfortably pinned back after a few hours wearing the RGB model.

I'm also not massively impressed by the pricier model's lighting situation. On the crisp white colourway I was sent, the strips of RGB look mostly tasteful (though you only enjoy full RGB via the USB-C connection, and not the 3.5 mm). Still, it didn't wow me, as I tend to appreciate something that's a little showier.

I mean, after you've gotten used to the delight of donning the Razer Kraken Kitty V3 Pro's brightly illuminated cat ears, can you ever go back?

The more budget-friendly version of the GHS Eternal in the black and orange colourway is downright understated in comparison. But while it doesn't boast twinkling RGB or ostentatious animal ears, I do find myself liking it a lot. For a start, I quite like the orange accents on the insides of the earcups, mic mute button, and the 3.5 mm cable.

I also appreciate the headset's relatively sturdy construction for this price point—some marketing images show the headband being twisted almost pretzel-style like the Logitech G325 Lightspeed, though in my hands, there's enough resistance that I don't really want to push it quite that far. Beyond appearance and construction, this is a comfortable headset that sits securely and ticks the boxes for music-listening, video calls, and gaming.

However, straightforward box ticking isn't quite enough to earn it a best gaming headset crown. For one thing, though its custom-tuned 40 mm drivers are fine, they can't really compete with the audio quality of the HyperX Cloud Alpha's 50 mm dual chamber neodymium.

It's just one reason the HyperX is our pick for the best wired gaming headset and has been our reigning champion for years. But at about $100 these days, I can understand why some might feel the pull of the $60 GHS Eternal instead.

Well, I'm sorry to say that the Corsair HS55 Stereo still has it beat on bang for buck, too. I've already mentioned the fantastically crisp audio you're getting from this bit of kit's flip-up mic arm, but for $60, you're also getting 50 mm drivers. Though I personally prefer the cleaner stylings and less plasticcy build quality of the GHS Eternal, the HS55 Stereo can rest easy in its best budget gaming headset crown.

There's a certain kind of headset I keep coming back to—the ones that don't try to reinvent the wheel, they just get the fundamentals right. Solid battery life, dependable wireless, and sound that actually helps in-game instead of just sounding "big". After a week of using the HyperX Cloud Flight 2 across work, play, and everything in between, that's exactly where it lands.

At around $130, £110 in the UK, and roughly $219 AUD, it sits in that sweet spot where expectations are high, but not unreasonable. And in practice, it feels less like a budget compromise and more like a headset that knows exactly where to spend its effort.

Out of the box, the Flight 2 makes a clean first impression. The design is more restrained than older HyperX gear, with subtle RGB and a modern, low-key aesthetic that doesn't scream for attention. But once I started actually handling it, the build tells a more honest story. This is a very plasticky headset. Not flimsy or poorly put together—it holds up fine—but it lacks that dense, premium feel you might expect at a glance. It's clearly built with cost in mind.

There's a bit of flair with the magnetic swappable ear caps. You can pop them off and customise the look without any effort, which is neat in theory. In practice, it feels like a feature aimed squarely at streamers or anyone building a visual brand. I didn't find myself caring much after the novelty wore off.

The metal headband adds structure, but it's noticeably stiff. I felt the clamp more than I expected, which gives it a secure fit—just not the kind that disappears on your head. Comfort overall is good, but not effortless. The memory foam padding is soft enough for long sessions, though the earcups don't fully enclose my ears. After a few hours, that partial fit creates a bit of pressure, and combined with the firmer clamp, it's a headset I'm always very aware of wearing. Not uncomfortable, just not invisible.

Where the Flight 2 really starts to win me over, however, is in everyday use. The dual-wireless setup—low-latency 2.4GHz for PC and Bluetooth 5.3 for everything else—fits neatly into how I actually use a headset. I left the dongle plugged into my PC, paired my phone once, and never really had to think about switching.

The battery life is the standout. I went multiple days without charging it—not by managing it carefully, but by completely forgetting about it. That kind of endurance changes your relationship with the product. It becomes something you just pick up and use, rather than something you're constantly keeping an eye on. For both long sessions and casual use, that reliability is a genuine quality-of-life upgrade.

Sound is another place where the Flight 2 earns its stripes. The 50 mm drivers deliver a balanced, versatile tuning that works across gaming and music. Bass has a satisfying punch without overwhelming the mix, mids are clear, and highs stay controlled. Nothing feels exaggerated—it's just well judged.

What stood out most to me, though, was the imaging. In Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, I could consistently place footsteps and gunfire with real precision. Not just a vague sense of direction, but enough detail to react properly—pre-aiming, repositioning, making smarter plays. It's the kind of positional accuracy that genuinely improves how you play.

Outside of gaming, I've ended up using the Flight 2 for music more than I expected. The bass has a clean, punchy character that gives tracks a bit of bounce—the kind that gets your head bobbing without muddying everything else. It's not trying to be studio-grade, but it's energetic and enjoyable, which makes it easy to keep on even when you're not gaming.

The detachable boom mic is clear and reliable, doing exactly what it needs to for chat and in-game comms. Voices come through cleanly, but there's a slightly compressed quality to them. It prioritises clarity over natural tone, which is fine for Discord but less ideal if you're thinking about streaming or recording.

HyperX's Ngenuity software follows the same no-nonsense approach. It's easy to use and covers the basics like EQ and lighting, but it feels a bit barebones. I kept wishing for quick presets—something to jump between gaming and music profiles without manual tweaking. It works, it just doesn't go the extra step.

After a week of daily use, the HyperX Cloud Flight 2 feels like a headset that understands its priorities. It focuses on battery life, reliable wireless, and genuinely useful positional audio—and gets those right. The plasticky build doesn't feel especially premium, the swappable ear caps are more gimmick than necessity, and the mic and software both lean toward functional rather than polished.

But none of that really gets in the way of the experience. What matters is how it performs, and day-to-day, it's easy to live with. It made competitive games easier to read, doubled as a genuinely fun music headset, and lasted long enough that charging became an afterthought.

It's not flashy. It's not trying to impress you in a five-minute demo. It just works—and for the price, that's exactly what most people actually need.

No, the ROG Kithara is not the gaming headset to solve the cost of living crisis. It is a joy to listen to your games and music with, though, and a genuine curiosity in a crowded market. You don't need one, and neither do I, but let's sit awhile anyway and enjoy what ROG and Hifiman have built.

This one's all about the drivers. Vast, 100 mm planar magnetic ones, designed and built in partnership with New York-based audio specialists, Hifiman. Every other element's designed to let those drivers do their thing. An open-backed design that doesn't care one bit about the fact you can hear the tumble drier from your gaming room, or that you're sitting in a quiet coach. A frequency response range broader than a politician's promise. Y'know, audiophile stuff.

It's a wired model, featuring a number of different adapters that make it surprisingly compatible across PC, Xbox and PlayStation 5. You can plug it into a DAC if you like. And who are we kidding, of course you like. You're considering dropping $300 on a pair of headphones in this economy.

I'm inclined to think of the Asus ROG Kithara as a pair of headphones, rather than a gaming headset, because if you detach the super cardioid mic the only concession to the world of gaming is the ROG logo itself. None of the usual comforts of a gaming headset are present here: no physical volume control, no RGB zones, no digital surround. Certainly no chat mix adjustment, goodness no.

No, it's more like the Kithara is visiting us gamers from the Manhattan loft apartment of a wealthy hifi enthusiast to see what all this ‘Counter-Strike' stuff is about. Its visual cues are all reminiscent of Hifiman's headphone inventory, from the trademark elongated ovals of the earcups you'd see on the Ananda to the suspended headband beneath an aluminium frame, like an Arya.

(If you were wondering, ‘Kithara' is the ancient Greek stringed instrument from which we get the word ‘guitar'. Hang around in the games industry long enough and you're bound to pick up a bit of ancient Greek. If Kratos' adventures don't rub off on you, the peripheral market's fondness for an obscure product name inspired by classical mythology surely will.)

The sound is, of course, extraordinary. It's a far flatter response than most gaming headsets are tuned to produce, particularly at the low end, and if your ears have been addled by the bass response of Razer headsets circa 2011 you might initially perceive a lack of ‘oomph'. But that would be incorrect.

Instead, the Kithara's drivers give all frequencies the room they need to articulate clearly and distinctly, leading to a far richer sound than you get with a $100 headset that's had its mids scooped like a Metallica album. And if you were in any doubt about that EQ response, there's a bit of paperwork inside the box which shows the factory test results on a graph. It's marketing fluff, obviously, but having your eyes met by a ‘sound signature certificate' as you open the box is a nice touch.

The stellar sound reproduction is another reason I keep thinking about these as headphones and not a gaming headset. Because truthfully, I've had the most enjoyable experiences testing the Kithara with music, not games. There are a few games where the wide stereo spread and flat, spacious sound reproduction are genuinely useful, like Counter-Strike 2 and PUBG, where the Kithara picks up footsteps and far-off gunfire with artisanal care. And cinematic games like Crimson Desert whose soundtrack sounds especially primed to tug at your forearm hairs when it's heard through these magnetic planar drivers. They sound great, these games, but you're experiencing them without the usual comforts like wireless operation, chat mix adjustment or an easily locatable mic mute (this one sits inline on the mic cable).

There are no such downsides to enjoying its mellifluous tones in a musical setting, though. It's when I'm playing Yazz Ahmed albums with the sound up that the Kithara feels most at home, doing what it was designed to.

I'm not completely sold on the comfort. While the build quality, material choices and finishes are all absolutely magnificent and easily befitting of the price point, the fact is that this is a heavy 420 g unit and the earcups are big enough to park your car in. The suspended headband design does its best to distribute as much of that weight as possible over a wide area using a broad protein leather contact surface, but the headset still relies on a lot of clamping force to stay put. My head's on the smaller side, and I found that after about an hour I was, if not uncomfortable, then certainly aware I was wearing a headset.

Worse still, it was pointed out on several work calls that I looked… a bit odd wearing it. With the suspended headband pushed down to its lowest point to fit my smaller head, I'm left with about three inches of air between my head and the headset's aluminium upper band. Coupled with the oversized earcups, this was a source of fun to numerous colleagues. Fortunately/unfortunately, I was able to hear that derision with the kind of crystal clarity only a wired, open-backed model with 100 mm drivers can deliver. But I won't subtract marks for that.

Mic performance is better than Zoom fashion cred though. ROG's opted for a super cardioid polar pattern on this detachable mic, which allows you to point precisely at what you want to be picked up. (In most cases, that'll be your mouth.) That serves as a viable alternative to the digital noise suppression that most gaming headset mics employ, effectively ducking out the keyboard thwocks from your Discord chat.

This headset exists in a very rare sub-category, and it achieves almost everything it sets out to. It reminds me of Audio-Technica's excellent wired ATH-G1, only dialled up to ridiculous. In order to really establish itself as a gaming headset, it needs more features gamers find useful like a comprehensive and ergonomic physical controls layout. But you get the feeling that isn't the point of the exercise. This is aspirational kit, for people who can afford not to worry too much about the price tag, or the value for money. It's a branding exercise that establishes ROG's chops at delivering audiophile-grade sound, albeit in partnership with Hifiman. It does that. That doesn't mean you need it. But it does mean it's a ludicrously enjoyable listening experience.

It's rare that the UK gets better deals than the US, and yet Amazon has skipped out on America for its Spring Deal Days. That means us Brits can finally get a good deal, and I've spent the morning picking through the best bits to find what I'd actually buy for my own setup.

Though memory prices are still in the sky, and don't seem to be coming down any time soon, there are even some reasonably priced gaming rig deals to take advantage of. From gaming headsets to monitors and mice, these are the best deals out there right now.

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The budget wireless gaming headset market is in such a tough spot right now. That's partly because the mid-range is absolutely knocking it out of the park, and partly because with the word 'budget' often comes the denigrative terms 'cheap', 'flimsy', or 'yeah, this sounds kinda bad'. Okay, that last one isn't very snappy, but it's no less true.

The Logitech G325 Lightspeed comes in at $80, and not only is that a reasonable price point, but the headset comes with a few honest-to-goodness selling points. Not just 'yeah, I guess it's sort of cheap' but a built-in discrete microphone, and lightweight stretchy materials that you can literally bend. Trust me, I turned it like a pretzel in the office, much to the horror of my colleagues.

It helps that the stretchy headset sat in my palms sort of looks like a sweet too. A big purple and orange sweet, with buttons on the side. It looks noticeably not that '1337' like, and actually closer to an everyday headset like the AirPods Max. I think this choice articulates how I feel about the headset in general, one that's as easy to pop on and leave the house with, as it is to connect to your PC.

Connection, in my time with the headphones, has been steady and consistent. The G325 has both a 2.4 GHz connection mode (via included dongle) and Bluetooth 5.3 mode. Turning it on automatically activates whatever mode it was left on prior, and swapping between the two happens with a single button on the back of the left cup.

The controls in the headset are mostly pretty comfortable and intuitive, with a sliding on/off switch, two pronounced volume buttons, the connectivity button, and a mute button. I do find clicking buttons to change volume on a headset to be a bit tedious and uncomfortable, as opposed to a wheel, but repeated presses on the volume down options move the volume quicker, which does make recovering from accidentally blasting music too loud a little easier.

Notably, the headset controls are reportedly what Logitech will be using as standard going forward. For the most part, I think they work, though I do miss a volume scroll and wish the mure we were more pronounced to give you a sign of when you are muted/unmuted.

Where many other gaming headsets opt for a sign on the mic to show when you are muted, the G325 has one built into the left cup. This headset is missing a dedicated boom mic, so there's no light indicator when you are muted. The button does have a visual indicator when pressed, but the only way to know if you're muted is to mess around with it or take the headset off. It's very understated and just looks like a small black bar in practice.

The microphone quality, in turn, is mediocre. It's not hard to make out in a call, and it is reasonably clear, though nothing special. It sounds a tad tinny and processed, but it is fine for a gaming session. For its price, and without a detachable microphone, this is about what I expected, and in its form factor, a decent tradeoff.

The G325 is a headset made up of tradeoffs. It is light, but feels rather plasticy. It is super stretchy but rattles with a gentle nudge, and there's no flexibility in the placement of the cups. This meant the first time I put them on, I felt like I was wearing them wrong. This feeling soon faded, but they're definitely a set of cans that are better than their first impression.

The G325 is quite a comfortable headset too, and I suspect that's largely down to the weight and the top headband. Where a heavier headset would sag and cause strain, this is light enough that it only needs a pretty soft cushion on the top and padded earcups to protect the head.

One more tradeoff for its weight and feel is the noise isolation. There's very little, and my partner can clearly make out what I'm listening to at even half volume. This means I can hear others when I'm not cranking up the sound, too. The battery life is also mostly just okay, at around 24 hours at 50% volume.

As far as sound is concerned, the G325 is just 'fine'. Its lows, mids, and highs are all present in the mix and are reasonably easy to make out. It has a relatively neutral sound, and though bass is there, it's not really that strong in presence. The cups don't thump as you might want, and don't provide physical feedback. Bass can be plenty loud, though, even if it doesn't boom.

In Counter-Strike 2, I never have a problem knowing where enemies are coming from thanks to precise sound. Bass for the pound of an AWP is a little lacking, naturally, but everything is clear, and it performs better at louder volumes.

You can adjust EQ in the Logitech G Hub, but I would actually recommend one of the two gaming presets, as opposed to the bass boost one. That's because the bass boost adjusts volume and mix, and won't solve the problem for those looking for their headset to shake.

Red Dead Redemption 2, with its atmospheric combination of animal sounds, acoustic guitar, and gunshots, comes through clear. It's not quite as immersive as some headsets, but I don't feel like I'm missing the most important parts of sound.

In turn, soundtrack-heavy games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Disco Elysium won't have you missing out on the nuance of the odd trumpet, lightness of a flute, or twinkle of a piano. It loses some weight in its focus on the mids, but it doesn't lose clarity.

The G325 is a bit of a strange headset in many ways. It's marketed as a gaming headset and comes with a 2.4 GHz connector, yet I feel like dedicated gamers aren't the ones who will get the most out of it. In fact, at its price point, dedicated gamers are almost always better off going for something wired, with a stronger sound or dedicated microphone.

If, however, you need something quick and relatively inexpensive to blast some tunes, play some games, and take along for a walk outside of the house, that to me is where the G325 succeeds most.

With the G325, I've not found the headset I'd want to throw into my regular rotation, but I have found the one I want to throw into a backpack for a quick walk or trip. And that's pretty impressive in itself.

It is helped by a decent price tag, too. At $80, it is $20 more than the Corsair HS55 Stereo, though $20 cheaper than the wireless version of that same headset. It's $20 more than the Logitech G321 Lightspeed I got my hands on last year, and for the money, I'd pay the extra cash for the G325.

With its style, look, and weight, I'd almost pick the Logitech G325 as an everyday headset, with the bonus of being able to game on it, rather than as a gaming headset which I can take outside. In its defence, that's certainly not a bad thing at this price point.

French publisher and hardware manufacturer Nacon has filed for insolvency, after Bigben Interactive, the majority shareholder in the company, failed to make a partial lone repayment. This appears to have caused a knock on effect that has led the company to declare that its "available assets do not allow it to meet its due liabilities." (via IGN).

While the news will be worrying for fans of games published under its umbrella, it's also concerning for its hardware wing. Nacon designs and manufactures a variety of hardware peripherals, including controllers, headsets, microphones, and more recently, racing wheels.

With debt organisation considerations now requested [PDF], it certainly seems likely that Nacon will be forced to look at what it can and cannot afford to keep. And while its game publishing endeavours look to have been reasonably successful, a question hangs over the viability of many of its wide-ranging hardware efforts.

For our part, we've reviewed a fair number of Nacon controllers (and various other accessories) in recent years, and haven't always been blown away by the results.

The Nacon Rig M2 Streamstar microphone and Rig 900 Max HS gaming headset failed to impress me personally, although other efforts, like the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited, have faired slightly better.

I also got a chance to test out a pre-release version of its recent Revosim RS racing efforts last year, and while there was plenty I liked about the direct drive wheel and pedal combo, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was a slightly-too-early demonstration of something that was a fair way from being ready to come to market.

It remains to be seen what happens next with the company, though it is trying to stay positive about the recent move. It says of the insolvency: "This procedure will enable the Company to continue its business, renegotiate its debts, and develop a credible and effective continuation plan."

While Nacon hasn't always knocked it out of the park, its hardware efforts have made for some interesting, and occasionally unique, additions to the hardware pot. So let's hope that continuation plan sticks.

Beyerdynamic is a highly respected name in the audio world, and for good reason. In fact, you'll find the top spot in our best audiophile headphones for gaming guide is taken up by the Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro, a wired set that adds a microphone to the company's tried and tested "great drivers, plush earpads" design philosophy, making for an excellent high-end headset option.

Its offerings, however, are not cheap. Enter the Beyerdynamic MMX 150 Wireless, which aims to be a more-reasonably-priced addition to its headset range. It's a $230 wireless gaming headset. This is also, let's face it, not cheap.

However, you do get a selection of Beyerdynamic's hardware highlights for your cash, and that's a pretty good start. Beyond some lovely drivers (I'll be waxing lyrical about those in a moment), you also get a pair of fluffy velour earpads, a well-padded headband, and a proper 2.4 GHz wireless connection, along with a removable "Meta Voice" (whatever that means) microphone. It's also got Bluetooth 5.3 support, so you can take it out into the big wide world as a regular set of headphones. Excellent.

What I'm not particularly convinced by, however, are the concessions to a lower price point found across the chassis design. The outer earcup material feels a little grainy and thin, and the bright orange plastic controls are flimsy. I appreciate a gaming headset that keeps the price down, but for $200+, I'd expect the trimmings to be of a higher quality than this.

I'm also not fond of the large LED ring around the already-luminous volume wheel, which flashes green on occasion to let you know the set's connected. It's very distracting, and while I don't mind a small LED to let me know my headset's on while I rest it atop my desk, a big flashing reminder that I'm using up the battery every few seconds feels unnecessary.

Particularly as this set has 50-hour battery life, which is pretty good. It's not spectacular, mind, but while many gaming headsets are still stuck in the 30-hours-or-less doldrums, I'll take it.

However, plopping the MMX 150 on my head for the first time reveals a Beyerdynamic trademark: comfort. The huge velour earpads are extremely plush, and the passive noise isolation is ace. More than that, the padded memory foam headband and firm-yet-fair clamping force makes for a very cossetting experience. The controls might feel a little ropey, but the experience of wearing the set itself still feels premium.

It's just as well the passive noise isolation is grand, as there's no active noise cancellation to speak of, which feels like a bit of an omission at this price point. You can hold down the volume wheel to activate an "augmented" mode, though, which is essentially a microphone-enhanced transparency mode to get around the sound isolation of the earpads.

It's quite tinny-sounding to my ears, so I left it off for most of my testing. Still, the MMX 150 does an admirable job of keeping you inside your own sonic bubble by default, which means you get to experience its 40 mm drivers at their very best.

And excellent drivers they are, too. Rather than focussing on overly-crunchy accuracy, the Beyerdynamic efforts feel like they've been tuned for sweetness, with a sparkly, smooth quality that extends throughout the frequency range. Bass is delivered in honey-toned dollops without becoming too overblown—which, combined with the weighty mid-range response, makes for some seriously good audio.

It's not like detail has been sacrificed in the process, either, as some multiplayer shooter testing reveals a surprising amount of top-end clarity poking through the mix, alongside all those toasty mid-range and bass tones. It's not exactly audiophile-level stuff, but it sounds so hi-fi-like with its slightly boosted tuning, I doubt many will care.

The soundstage is also a highlight, as the sweetness of the treble response translates to airy, wide soundscapes with relative ease. The MMX 150 sounds confident in everything it does, and while it's not the sharpest audio banger I've heard in recent months, it's got an appreciable warmth and sizzle to its response that makes it very satisfying to listen to.

It's also got the sort of sound separation and mid-to-low-end grunt that makes you pull an appreciative face when you crank up your tunes, and that can be a rare thing in the gaming headset world.

The microphone's good, too, being one of Beyerdynamic's Meta Voice units. It's got more richness in its capture than you'll find in most headset microphones, and provides a clear sound that's quite pleasant to listen to—although it's a little prone to sibilance. There's also no Windows software for noise cancelling or audio tweaking, which is a bit of a shame.

Beyerdynamic MMX 150 Wireless mic test

Still, after a poor first impression, the Beyerdynamic MMX 150 is definitely a grower. While the feature set and chassis design feels a little basic, the overall experience you receive when you put this set on soon quells most of those early disappointments. It's a lovely-sounding and very comfortable thing, and those facts simply cannot be ignored.

For a sub-$200 price point, I'd be inclined to score the MMX 150 even higher (although admittedly, it is significantly cheaper in Europe). Stick with that $200+ range, though, and the Beyerdynamic set starts running into some seriously stiff competition.

Take the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro, for example. It's got Razer's new 50 mm TriForce Bio-Cellulose drivers, active noise cancelling, and a build quality that puts the Beyerdynamic's odd combination of materials to shame. It's a touch more expensive at $250, but you're getting a lot more features for your cash.

And if that's too rich for your blood, the regular, ANC-less Razer BlackShark V3 is $150. It's our current pick for the best gaming headset, and gives the MMX 150 a serious headache thanks to its excellent TriForce titanium drivers, also-comfortable chassis design, great mic, and better battery life overall if you switch between its ultra-low-latency options.

Or, if we're still sitting around the $200 price point range, there's the Fractal Design Scape to consider. It doesn't sound quite as good as the Beyerdynamic set, and it's got a lesser microphone. But the addition of a clever wireless charging stand means it's convenient as all get out, and it's full of little touches that tell you where your money went.

It's a better-looking headset for taking out and about, too, as the MMX 150 is chunky (and orange) enough to make itself look a little too gamer-chic for public use, in my opinion.

Still, I'd happily listen to (and wear) the Beyerdynamic MMX 150 all day long, thanks to those excellent drivers and plush earpads. It's not perfect, and I wish it had a few more features for the cash. But I can't deny, its audio chops have been making me grin like an idiot all week—and for that, it gets a solid thumbs up from me.

How much would you pay for a "luxury" gaming headset, with all the bells and whistles you could think of? Something that sounded great, with excellent battery life, plush earpads, ANC, and maybe even a separate DAC? Whatever the theoretical headset, I'd imagine the figure you just thought of would likely be far above $200, perhaps ranging into $300/$400 territory.

SteelSeries thinks you'll pay $600. That's how much the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite costs, and I've been told it's for the "ultimate gamer". Someone with an ultra-high end rig, a chair with all the massage functions, and presumably, a gold-plated gaming keyboard. Y'know, all the little extras.

In a time where the cost of gaming hardware seems to be rising on a daily basis, that $600 figure still feels extreme. It's proper audiophile headset money, put sharply into contrast by something like the Audeze Maxwell 2, a brilliant, boutique wireless headset with space-age planar magnetic drivers from a brand with serious pedigree in the audio nerd world.

The Maxwell 2 will cost you $320. Yep, that means you could buy nearly two of the ultra high-end beasts for the same money as a single Arctis Nova Elite. SteelSeries, however, is banking on the set's extensive list of extra features and luxury touches to help justify that price point.

My review sample comes in a "Sage Gold" finish, for a start. It's a very trendy sort of colour combination, which reminds me of those Instagram influencers who wear grey yoga pants and gold jewellery while promoting dubious workout videos and nutritional shakes. It comes in Obsidian black, too, but I've been sent the achingly-hip one, which looks a little gaudy to my tastes.

The frame itself is made of aluminium and steel, with the headphone hangers on my particular unit coated in gooooooold. Well, gold paint, anyway. Those familiar with SteelSeries' other headset designs will find much of the same design language in this particular chassis, just with the odd upgrade. The volume wheel, for example, is now metal. Mine is also gold, of course, because why not.

The earcups themselves are still plastic, with magnetic plates on either side. These can be removed to expose the internal battery pack, which can be charged in a slot inside the included Game Hub/DAC/mixer combo. More on that later.

Putting the Arctis Nova Elite on for the first time reveals two things. One, it's a little heavy. Wearing a headset that weighs 380 grams in this day and age feels a touch old-fashioned, especially when the $150 (and remarkably good) Razer BlackShark V3 tips the scales at 270 g. Although the SteelSeries is still considerably lighter than the Maxwell 2, so it definitely gains points there.

And two, it's not particularly comfortable. The vegan leather-clad earpads are very plush and squishy, so there's no issue there. But the clamping force is a little tight on my average-sized head, and the adjustment is rather stiff. The fabric inner headband material seems to have plenty of give (and yes, I checked I wasn't resting my skull on the outer band), but it still managed to make my head sore after a long day.

It feels a little unyielding, despite the squidgy earpad's best efforts. Still, the effect of those pads in combination with the tight clamping force means you get excellent passive noise isolation. The Arctis Nova Elite also has noise cancelling of the active variety, which SteelSeries claims is "the best in gaming".

I'm not sure about that, but it's pretty good at isolating background noises, as far as ANC goes. Which is to say, low hums and fan noise are virtually removed, but a mechanical gaming keyboard or someone talking in the near vicinity will still cut through.

Thinking back to my recent reviews, I was more impressed by the ANC in the Sony Inzone H9 II, a $350 ultra-lightweight gaming headset I criticised for being too pricey. Oh, how naive I was back then.

Still, If you're paying audiophile-grade sums of money for a gaming headset, you expect audiophile-grade drivers, and it's here where this particular set starts to shine. SteelSeries has imbued the Arctis Nova Elite with two 40 mm carbon fiber units, complete with brass rings around the speaker cones. This essentially creates a pistonic effect, where the already-stiff driver stays rigid as it moves rather than wobbling around undesirably at the edges.

The aim here is to minimise distortion and create a punchy, ultra-pure frequency response, and in this regard, the Arctis Nova Elite truly succeeds.

These drivers really like to whack you around the eardrums. Jumping into a session of The Division 2, with its airy, post-apocalyptic soundscapes and crunchy weapon sounds, reveals a remarkably hair-raising response from these boutique units. It's also helped by the fact that SteelSeries' software supports custom, game-specific EQs, which in The Division 2's case, ups the bass levels and adds a sizable amount of impact to the treble.

Despite having a poor first experience with the Arctis Nova Elite's comfort levels, I can't help but be impressed with its sonic capabilities. Footsteps become very easy to hear and position, and I found myself jumping at knocked over traffic cones or the odd deer skipping its way through the deserted streets of Washington DC. The sensation can be quite physical, in a way that most traditional gaming headsets fail to achieve.

However, there is a downside to this aggressive response. After an hour or so, I found myself tweaking the EQ back to a more flattened, neutral-like setting, as the drivers can become quite fatiguing to listen to over long periods.

Even flattened out and with the volume lowered, though, you can still tell that these ultra-stiff units are pushing air into your lugholes with unrelenting precision—and this, in combination with the firm clamping force, left me feeling a little beaten up.

Musically, the SteelSeries set calms down a little. This is helped by the music-focussed EQs in the software, which includes Afrobeats, K-Pop, Synthwave, and Trap among the more traditional musical genre settings. Most of these EQs are fairly gentle, which in turn tames the drivers into a softer response.

Accuracy-wise, the SteelSeries set is rather good for music listening. It's missing a little sweetness, though, a little of the golden, "gosh these are lovely" responses I'd expect to hear from really expensive, yet consumer-friendly, audiophile gear. Still, it's undoubtedly an impressive set to listen to, with clear treble, a tight bass response, and a wide soundstage.

Planar magnetic-bothering, though? Nah, not quite. There's a slight sterility to the sound that's difficult to tune out, and I can't help but feel the ultra-stiff design of the carbon fiber drivers is to blame. Perhaps they'll loosen up over time, but as best as I can tell, keeping things tighter than a very tight thing is the ultimate goal here.

So, it doesn't really justify its massive price tag in the audio department, either. However, there are a few more tricks up the Elite's sleeve, and many of them revolve around the included Arctis Nova Elite Game Hub. This is essentially an upgraded DAC unit with support for up to 24-bit, 96 KHz audio transmission.

You can also switch between four audio sources through its three USB Type-C ports and twin line in/line out 3.5 mm connections, and it comes with a big shiny knob to control them, alongside the volume.

It functions perfectly well, and is quite a handsome device to have sitting on your desk. SteelSeries envisages you swapping between connection sources on the fly while, say, waiting in a game lobby, so you can handily switch to another source for some music-listening, YouTube watching, or otherwise. It does so just fine, but I'm not sure it represents a huge amount of extra utility, even for a "luxury" gamer.

What is useful, however, is the built-in battery charging slot in the side. SteelSeries provides you with two battery packs, which means you can swap them in and out in moments to keep gaming into the early hours.

You get up to 30-hours of charge out of a single pack, and it takes between two to three hours to charge one fully from zero percent. Mine occasionally squeaks as I swap batteries into it, which doesn't quite gel with the whole "ultra-premium" concept.

Still, it's a nice feature—albeit one we've seen before in the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, a $350 headset with lesser, but still quite impressive drivers. In fact, the Arctis Nova Pro is perhaps the biggest counterpoint to the Elite's prohibitive price tag. It's missing a fair few of the latter's features, but it's still got a decent selection of the highlights.

One of the things it's missing, though, beyond carbon fibre eardrum-pushers, is the Elite's set of beamforming mics. These work separately from the upgraded retractable boom mic, so you can take the Elite out in public using the Bluetooth 5.3 connection and answer calls without looking like a plum.

Like all beamforming mics, these units provide a hollow, but somewhat-usable sound quality. The boom mic itself has been upgraded to support 32 KHz, 16-bit transmission, and in combination with Sonar AI noise cancelling, it sounds... fine. A bit midrangey and compressed to my ears, but fine. Nothing spectacular.

Arctis Elite boom mic - AI noise cancelling on, default EQ

Arctis Elite beamforming mics - AI noise cancelling on, default EQ

And that's really the whole crux of my issue with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite. Most of its features sit in the "nothing spectacular" category, with the exception of those remarkably punchy drivers. I'd really like a set of those in one of SteelSeries' more affordable models, as I think they're a genuinely impressive achievement, even if they're not quite as sweet-sounding as I'd like.

But I don't want to pay $600 for them. And despite the fact that SteelSeries has clearly thrown the kitchen sink at this set to justify its price tag, I can't shake the feeling that it's charging such a hefty sum because, well, it can.

While there are certainly gamers who will pay vast sums for their gear because "it's the best", when it comes to headsets, SteelSeries has skipped its way across the pricing rubicon—and now finds itself competing with some seriously boutique gear.

If that's the way you plan on spending your cash, you've got some incredible options to consider. Beyond the Maxwell 2, there's the Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro. It's a wired set, but its drivers are gorgeously well-refined, it's got a broadcast-quality mic, and it's as comfortable as an old sofa. Yours, for $330.

There's also the Drop+Epos PC38X, an excellent-sounding set that also requires a cable, but is fabulously lightweight and surprisingly well-priced, at $139. Or the Sennheiser HD650, a mic-less set with superb responses, proper audiophile credentials, and a $400 price tag. Or the $250 Razer BlackShark V3 Pro, if ANC and wireless connections are absolute necessities, complete with Razer's fantastic 50 mm TriForce Bio-Cellulose drivers.

Or, y'know, you could spend much, much less on any of the excellent options in our best gaming headsets list. They're not all audiophile stunners, but each is exceptional in its class.

And yes, I know what you're thinking—each of those sets has something missing compared to the Arctis Nova Elite. But when the price tag is this prohibitive, I know I'd rather miss out on a few features and put the saved cash towards some other peripherals (or some better components) instead. If you've got all the money in the world, the Elite is perhaps worth some consideration. Otherwise, though? Your cash is better spent elsewhere.

If the Elite was $400, I'd likely give it a much higher score. But $600 for a headset that isn't particularly comfortable, with an average mic and great drivers that nonetheless fail to set my inner audio nerd ablaze, really does feel like taking the mickey. Sorry, SteelSeries. Stick those carbon fiber units in something that costs significantly less than an RTX 5070, and then we might be talking.

There's a tradeoff that comes with gaming headsets that are labelled 'lightweight' or 'breathable'. In order to get those low weights, they often have to do away with some of the rigidity you might traditionally expect, and this can lead to them feeling flimsy. Logitech's G522 Lightspeed is almost certainly a lightweight breathable headset, but with enough give to feel like it could survive a toss without breaking down into (admittedly very pretty) dust.

With an included 2.4 GHz wireless receiver and intuitive Bluetooth mode, the G522 Lightspeed can be set up in seconds. It feels comfortable wrapped around the ears. The cushioned pads are spongy and airy, with enough padding, but not so much that you can't hit the frame with your finger with a press. The cups grip just enough to clamp onto the head without adding clamminess in the process.

That comfort is enhanced by an adjustable headband sitting just below the plastic shell of the top of the headset. Unfortunately, that band only has two adjustable holes on either side, meaning there are only three adjustment settings total. That does mean if you have a particularly big head , you may find it a little tight. However, for me, I managed to leave it at standard settings from the start and never had any problems.

What I didn't like at its default setting is the sound. By default, it's full and warm, but a light bass boost in the Logitech G Hub software is the way to go. The cans' bass is pretty darn bassy, but a quick tune-up in the Logitech G Hub has it sounding thunderous.

Highguard, with its boom of explosions, gunshots, and orchestral instruments, rumbles in the headset. It's not just the bass that kicks here, though. The clashes of steel and swells of violin in No Rest for the Wicked are clear and as sharp as they need to be.

Sea Power's Disco Elysium soundtrack, and its swirling of electronic drums, electric guitar, trumpets, and all manner of instrumentation, comes through clearly and well. It's easy to piece together individual parts, and it doesn't feel disconnected or disjointed in the mix. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's soundtrack is much the same in the cans, with a lovely fullness.

I also find that it's easy to discern where noises are coming from and why. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's atmospheric shots, grunts, and screams can be parsed from either can, and the footsteps of enemies in Counter-Strike 2 are easy to pinpoint. When I swapped over to music, the thing I noticed most was how wide the soundstage feels. There are certain compromises you expect when it comes to headsets, and being so lightweight made me feel like it would be lacking presence, but the G522 Lightspeed feels very full, especially at louder volumes.

The lighter material does mean there's little sound isolation going on here, and if you crank it too loud, others will be able to hear your music too. However, I noticed, even at medium volumes, it could drown out background noise when on.

It's the Logitech G522 Lightspeed's price that will be the biggest sticking point. At $160, that's $40 less than the bougie charging-stand-included Fractal Design Scape, just $10 less than Razer BlackShark's V3 and $30 more than the rather similar Asus ROG Pelta.

However, arguably the toughest competition for the G522 Lightspeed is the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless, which has an MSRP of $200 but is actually cheaper than the Logitech pick as of the time of writing. To our ears, the Cloud Alpha Wireless used to be the best gaming headset (until the BlackShark V3 came along), and that's because it sounds great, has a comfortable design and offers up to 300 hours of battery life.

The G522 Lightspeed, on the other hand, only offers up to 90 hours of charge without RGB (40 with RGB on). However, I actually think the G522 Lightspeed puts up a bit of a fight with its light material and its excellent microphone.

The Logitech G522 Lightspeed website says it has 'the best mic in gaming' and that doesn't feel like a huge stretch, especially at its price point.

It's a detachable boom mic that is clear and picks up bass enough to offer a near radio-level sound. Like the audio, a quick adjustment in Logitech G Hub makes it absolutely sing, and it could serve as a streaming microphone without any problems.

The headset mic in 'broadcaster 1' mode in the Logitech G Hub.

The headset mic without any software help.

The only complaint I have about the microphone is that I wish it had flip-to-mute. Right now, you have to find the switch on the left earcup to mute it, though a satisfying ping and red light on the microphone means you will never accidentally mute. All of the headset controls (volume, Bluetooth, on switch) are on the left cup, which can be a tad odd to get used to, but fine after a little time with it.

I can't knock the look either. Even though I think RGB on a headset is mostly useless unless you're on camera, it does look rather pretty and is easy to control from the Logitech G Hub.

Over the last few years, I have noticed a marked improvement in Logitech's software. That was until I decided to plug it into my work PC. First, it failed to connect to the headset, then it asked to update. I updated, only for it to restart and demand I reinstall. Reinstalling did not solve the problem, and it eventually just fixed itself after a while. This inconsistency is a major pain, and definitely something I would have wanted Logitech to have fixed by now.

However, once you've tweaked the settings a little and got any firmware updates, there's almost no need to keep using the G Hub. And day-to-day use with the G522 Lightspeed is great. Swapping from Lightspeed mode to Bluetooth happens in a mere click of the Bluetooth button, and it manages to connect to my rig moments after being turned on.

I did find myself wishing I could do Bluetooth and Wireless at the same time, to get phone audio while in a game, but it's not a hassle swapping back and forth multiple times a day.

The $160 price point is no doubt a tough sell for a gaming headset. That is especially true for lighter, more breathable headsets, as you can only get so light before it feels a bit flimsy. For the same price, you can get more sturdy headsets, ones with neat extras like charging stands, or significantly better battery life. There are simply too many good options out there, and it gets harder and harder to do anything new or different.

Despite that tough competition, the Logitech G522 Lightspeed has clear selling points and reasons to stand out among its competition. It's super comfortable, good in hot environments, and has a truly standout detachable microphone. It's not beating some of its competition in price, battery life, or brawn, but it does have the brains to offer a mighty fine alternative to some of the best.

The original Audeze Maxwell has been around for nearly three years, but there's still been nothing to beat it when it comes to being the best wireless audiophile headset for gaming. With the Maxwell 2, though, Audeze is hoping that it will do exactly that and be the new champion for peerless audio in games.

I was certainly expecting it to be something special, as I've been using the Audeze Maxwell on a daily basis, work and gaming, for just over a year (and our hardware overlord-in-chief Dave has been using his set for even longer). Or rather, just like Audeze, I was hoping it would be better, because as much as I really like the Maxwell, there are a few things that really annoy me about it.

Let me just cut to the chase, then: Taking all things into account, the Audeze Maxwell 2 isn't unreservedly better than the first-generation Maxwell. It's improved in some areas, but it's regressed in others (or just not improved), and given that it's a little bit more expensive, it's hard to recommend that you buy the Maxwell 2 instead of the original Maxwell.

However, if you browse through Audeze's store, you'll notice this has all been made somewhat moot because the OG Maxwell is now mostly unavailable. In other words, you're stuck with the Maxwell 2. Good job, then, that it's still a very good wireless gaming headset, despite not being quite as good as its predecessor.

Let's start with the best bits. The audio is still as majestic as ever, with those huge planar magnetic drivers producing crisp, clean response across the entire spectrum. For some folks, the relatively flat/natural sound might seem a bit odd at first, but once you've settled into playing a game, watching a movie, or listening to music with the Maxwell 2, you'll soon understand just what the fuss is all about.

Where some headsets over-emphasise the bass response, typically making it rather muddy in the process, the Maxwell 2's drivers punch out low frequencies with not a hint of flabbiness. And best of all, it doesn't drown out the rest of the spectrum. Creeping around desolate cities in Escape from Tarkov, you can hear every single sound with exceptional clarity, picking up distant movements of enemies long before you see them.

As with the first Maxwell, Audeze offers two versions of the Maxwell 2: a PlayStation model and the more expensive Xbox version. There's no physical difference between the two; it's just that the latter comes with a licence to use the Dolby Atmos spatial sound effect, whereas the cheaper model uses Sony's Tempest3D. Except it doesn't on Windows, Linux, and MacOS as Sony doesn't offer it.

You just have to use whatever spatial/surround sound effect your operating system has or purchase an appropriate piece of software. At least, Windows Sonic is decent enough for most games, and I can't say I noticed the lack of Dolby Atmos with the PlayStation review sample Audeze sent us.

As part of its improvement package for Maxwell 2, Audeze has added its SLAM system (first introduced with its LCD-S20 headphones) to produce a better bass response. Essentially, it's a metal plate that's sandwiched between the earcups and the rest of the earpiece, with ports to help equalise pressures. Having spent some time testing the Maxwell and Maxwell 2 back-to-back, I can certainly tell the difference.

There's a little more definition to very low frequencies, but the main benefit SLAM brings is reducing the slightly 'claustrophobic' feel the original Maxwell sometimes gives me when it's playing loud, bass-heavy music or sound effects. I know your ears can't experience claustrophobia, but it's the best way I can describe the sensation.

SLAM doesn't make the Maxwell 2's audio hugely better, though, and the introduction of the plates brings me to the first gripe I have with Audeze's new headset. By adding the extra slabs of metal to each earpiece, the weight of the headset has risen by 14% (490 to 560 g), and while that doesn't sound like very much, it is noticeable.

Audeze has also changed the foam used on the inside of the ear cups, but not in a good way. Where the Maxwell's cups firm up in resistance in the last few millimetres of compression, the Maxwell 2's cups just squash right down to the SLAM plate. Again, it's only a small difference, but paired with the increase in mass, there's a distinct regression in long-term comfort.

I can wear the Maxwell for an entire day without a hint of discomfort, but I've found that after a few hours, the Maxwell 2 makes my jaw and head ache. The headband is now much wider (and vented), which is supposed to help offset the increase in mass, but I find that this just makes it harder to reposition the headset when it starts feeling uncomfortable.

While I'm being picky about things, here are some other annoyances. You can't rotate the ear cups so that the headset can lie totally flat, whereas you could with the original Maxwell, which won't help if you want to pack them away for travel.

There's no way to manually change the audio input, as it automatically selects it for you and directly favours any Bluetooth connection over everything else. You can't get around this problem by using two active wireless sources, either, as the Maxwell 2 only supports wireless and wired simultaneously. The first-gen Maxwell operates in exactly the same way, and I can't understand why Audeze thinks that gamers don't want to have direct control over their own audio inputs.

Some of the onboard controls are now fiddlier to use, too. For example, the mic switch on the Maxwell is a big, clunky affair on the rear of the left earpiece, making it a piece of cake to find it in a hurry and quickly mute yourself. For the Maxwell 2, Audeze has moved it (and the power button, which is now smaller and harder to feel) to the edge of the right earpiece, but sunk the switch into a recess.

No matter how hard I try, I physically can't flip it with the end of my thumb: only by digging a fingernail in can I actually move it.

It's not all bad news, though. While there have been no changes to the internal microphones or the one in the detectable boom arm, Audeze does say that it has improved its Filter AINR (AI noise reduction), and I can confirm that it does a better job of blocking out background noise, without ruining your own voice, than the system used in the Maxwell.

Personally, I would have liked the Maxwell 2 to have better internal mics because, although they're functionally fine, they're nowhere near as clear as the boom mic, which I find somewhat cumbersome. Sure, you can just yank it out when you want it completely out of the way, but something that flips up would be better. Why? You can't lose a permanently attached microphone. No, I haven't lost the one for my own Maxwell headset. Honest.

You still don't get any kind of active noise cancellation, but the snug-fitting ear cups and hefty, dense bodies do a superb job of passively blocking out external sounds, if the furious face of my partner, who has been getting somewhat frustrated by my blank expressions while wearing the Maxwell 2, is anything to go by.

The Maxwell 2 retains the original's 1800 mAh battery for 80+ hours of constant use, and it still rapidly charges via its USB Type-C port. The 2.4 GHz dongle seems to activate a touch quicker than the older model, which means you can jump into audio heaven a little sooner once your gaming PC has fired up.

Audeze has thankfully avoided going down the whole 'gamers love RGB' road that so many other vendors have gone barrelling down in recent times, although not entirely so. You can remove the covers on the rear of each earpiece, as they're only magnetically attached (as are the ear cups, now).

At some point in the near future, you'll be able to swap them for something else ("exciting limited-edition collaborations," says Audeze), to give the Maxwell 2 a touch more bling. Personally, I just like the fact that you save a bit of weight by leaving them off.

In many ways, gaming headsets are keyboards and mice: What's magical for one person can be endlessly annoying for someone else, making it quite hard to objectively review such products. I do not doubt that some folks won't find the Audeze Maxwell 2 uncomfortable at all, or won't have concerns about the lack of audio stream controls, the far-too-fiddly mute switch, or the awkward boom mic.

Whatever your personal preferences are, though, everybody will love how good the Audeze Maxwell 2 sounds: It really is astonishingly good. Just think of the headset as being like a high-end OLED gaming monitor. Both will cost you a pretty penny or two, but your games will feel so much better, especially if you're upgrading from something simpler.

However, I do feel that Audeze hasn't moved the boat along far enough with its new gaming headset, especially given the rather high price tag (though it's not really that high for a planar driver headset). I suppose this does mean it can eventually release a Maxwell 3 that rights all the above wrongs, and what a headset that would be. The only problem then is how Audeze would top that?

Logitech has just announced a new gaming headset, the G325 Lightspeed Wireless, and coming with a new design that it's hoping will convince you to wear it outside of the house.

Featuring a beamforming microphone, the G325 ditches the usual boom arm we're used to seeing on gaming headsets. It uses a microphone built into the earcup that's taking aim at your mouth, and using AI-powered denoising to keep non-mouth sounds away from the feed.

I've experimented with beamforming microphones before. Both on the Bang & Olufsen Portal and Audeze Maxwell—with the former being my go-to headphones for a long while now. Admittedly, the beamforming microphone on both is weaker than your average boom arm, and by some margin, but perhaps noise cancelling will come to the rescue here.

I'm yet to try out the Logitech headset myself, but Logitech employees using the headset sounded clear enough in a pre-briefing call in a quiet space. But hey, we can put it to the test soon ourselves.

The G325 are wireless cans, with both Logitech's 2.4 GHz tech, Lightspeed Wireless, and Bluetooth 5.2. They also support 24-bit audio, though no word on the exact drivers used here to make the most of it.

Weighing in at 212 grams, they're pretty lightweight by most standards. They don't fold down to a smaller size, but Logitech's staff were very keen to point out that they are "super squishable" and you'd have to try very hard to break them. That sounds like a challenge…

It's a mostly plastic construction, with up to 46% of that coming from post-recycled plastics, so sayeth Logitech. Some of its heft will be from the battery, which is rated to last over 24 hours.

The earcups are replaceable, a memory foam/fabric mix, and the layout used here for the buttons—power, LED status, 2.4/Bluetooth toggle, volume control, and mute—will be used across future Logitech headsets. So get used to seeing that.

The entire kit comes in three flavours: lilac, black, and white. And what ties it all together is the price, coming in at $80/€80.

We'll have to get our hands on one to give it a full shakedown, but that seems like a decent price for a wireless gaming headset. Though whether that mic is ready for showtime will be the big question we'll have to answer ourselves to get a handle on. The headset should be available to purchase pretty soon, landing all over this month.

You can get a lot of gaming headset for under $300. Or, if you're willing to max out that figure, you can scoop up our top audiophile headphones pick, the Audeze Maxwell, complete with its pricey-yet-stunning planar magnetic drivers.

Or, for $50 more, you can buy the Sony Inzone H9 II. Having seen the $350 price tag before receiving my review sample, I braced myself for the arrival of some really high-end audio gear. I thought of the Maxwell's aluminum and steel chassis, the space-age drivers, and the feeling that your money had gone on something boutique. I anticipated the delivery with relish.

You can imagine my surprise when what I pulled from the box looked… fairly ordinary. Dull, even. More than that, the weight threw me for a loop the second I wrenched the set from its cardboard insert. The Inzone H9 II feels astonishingly light. Almost to the point of suspicion, if I'm honest. I'm used to ultralight gaming mice for premium prices, but light-as-a-feather wireless gaming headsets? Initially, it feels a little flimsy. Hollow, even.

Then there's the headband. It doesn't look (nor feel) like the sort of plush skull-rester you might expect for this sort of cash. It's essentially a thin, fabric-covered outer band, mirrored by a pleather-encased strip of elastic for suspension atop your dome. There are some nice design details upon closer inspection, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Some serious weight savings have obviously been made here, but at what cost?

All of this negativity changed, however, when I put the Inzone H9 II on for the first time. The gentle clamping force, in combination with the soft foam earcups and the exceptionally low weight (a mere 260 g without the microphone), means that the H9 II is remarkably comfortable.

Since receiving my review unit, I've worn the Sony set nearly every day for the past few months, often for eight hour+ stretches at a time. In fact, I'm now on hour seven of wearing it as I write this review—and I can confirm that it's so good at sitting atop my bonce with minimal impact, I often forget I'm wearing it at all.

So, after a shaky start, it's beginning to look rather good for the pricey ear bangers. Even better, however, is the noise cancelling, which is genuinely excellent. It's controlled with either a button on the left earcup, or Sony's Inzone Hub software, which allows switching between ANC and transparency modes on the fly.

No noise cancelling solution is perfect, but Sony's iteration is so good, it's like being "whumped" into a sound-reduced chamber every time it's turned on. You can almost feel the noise being sucked out of the room, which is a blessing for those of us living in shared spaces.

Sure, someone talking loudly right next to you will make it past the filters, and my crunchy mechanical keyboard is still audible. Still, it's a darn sight better at creating a personal bubble of silence than any other gaming headset I can think of.

Gosh, the Sony set is really beginning to justify that MSRP, isn't it? And I haven't even got to the sound yet. I was surprised to learn that the Inzone H9 II uses a pair of 30 mm carbon composite drivers, which, as a specs figure alone, seems a little small.

They don't sound small, though. While the Inzone H9 II drivers are definitely tweaked for clarity straight from the box, they've also been blessed with a honey-glazed dose of warmth in the low mid to low end spectrum, which makes them very pleasant to listen to. You can tweak them with a basic EQ in the Inzone software, too, which means they can be pushed to even warmer, bassier climes.

Or you can pull everything back to super-clinical, fast-responding treble, if you so wish. But missing out on the Sony set's tendency towards a warm, punchy response would be a mistake.

They sound good, these expensive cans—and while I definitely wouldn't call them audiophile quality, the drivers are still capable of hitting the right notes in a consumer-friendly, somewhat-boosted sort of way. The soundstage is decently wide, and the spatial sound support means the set's quite capable of detailed positional audio, too.

Then there's the microphone, which is a removable cardioid condenser unit with a substantial foam filter. It doesn't look particularly pretty—which, in combination with the suspended headband, gives the whole set the appearance of being used for air traffic control. Still, it's got a good capsule, with a rounded, reasonably smooth vocal quality that would be perfectly acceptable for light streaming duties.

It's a little plosive-prone, but it still captures a richer sound than most gaming headsets I test.

There's also a substantial textured mute button on the top side of the left cup, which activates a small red LED on the end of the mic to let you know you're off-air. I initially thought the light would be irritating, but it's diffused enough (and far enough away from your eyeline) to create the opposite effect. Reassuring, is what I'd call it. As is, now I think of it, the design of this set overall.

Yes, it doesn't look particularly special (especially if you don't wipe it down very often, as the matte finish is very fingerprint-prone), but the Inzone H9 II is still quality in most of the ways that matter. The more I've used it, the more I've come to appreciate the subtle little touches that make it better than many other headsets, in several crucial ways.

What I can't quite get my head around, however, is that price tag. For $250, I'd be much more inclined to jump up and down about the Sony, but its $350 MSRP means that it's in low-end audiophile territory—and that's the point where this headset falters.

It's good at many things, but for this sort of cash, I want it to be exceptional. And while the drivers, microphone, and noise cancelling are all varying degrees of great, and the engineers have achieved their low-weight = comfy goals, I'd still be sorely tempted by something much heavier, much bulkier, but more boutique for the same money—like the Maxwell.

There, you get driver tech that leaves the Sony's conventional units in the dust for sound quality, and the sort of chassis that makes you all giggly when you pull it from the box. It hasn't got noise cancelling, and it's much chonkier—but otherwise, it's the better set of cans.

Plus, the Maxwell enjoys 80 hour+ battery life. The Inzone H9 II gets 30 hours with the noise cancelling turned off—and in 2026, that's not quite good enough for a high-end set.

All that being said, the Sony Inzone H9 II still makes for a very good gaming headset overall, and for that it deserves praise. If the drawbacks are of little concern, and you can find one on discount, I'd say it's a great buy. At full price, though? You can find better for the money, even if it does come with a bit of extra fat.

Well, here's a product I didn't have on my CES bingo card. Asus has partnered with boutique headphone manufacturer Hifiman to bring planar magnetic drivers to its new gaming headset, the Asus ROG Kithara.

For those not in the know, planar magnetic drivers use a magnet-suspended diaphragm to deliver exceptionally crisp and accurate audio, which makes them highly-prized among audiophiles. Our best audiophile headphones pick, the Audeze Maxwell, uses a similar pair—but it looks like there's some new competition in town.

I got a chance to hear the ROG Kithara for myself at the Asus booth at CES 2026, and it certainly sounds supercharged. One of the downsides of planar magnetics is that they can struggle with low-end punch, but Asus has tweaked the Hifiman 100 mm versions to high heaven, and it shows.

Watching a clip of Counter-Strike 2 gameplay, the impact sounds were pretty jawbone-rumbling. The open-backed wired set was plugged in to a substantial DAC/amplifier combo, so they were obviously being pushed quite heavily, but boy did it make for some serious air movement. The soundstage seemed plenty wide, too, which should make for some great atmospheric audio.

Asus says the frequency response ranges from 8 Hz to 55 kHz, and that the set comes with a balanced 4.4 mm plug and two 3.5/6.3 mm single-ended plugs for compatibility with most DACs, amplifiers, PCs and gaming consoles. There's also an included USB-C to dual 3.5 mm adapter for laptop and mobile users, which is good to see.

The set has a 16 Ohm impedance rating, so I'll be interested to see if the Kithara can still deliver when powered by an ordinary headphone socket without extra amplification. The set has a distinct gaming flavour to it, and I can't imagine too many gamers will want to purchase extra gear to get a reasonable result out of their new cans.

The audiophile air, it is rarefied. Anyway, the Kithara isn't cheap, being a planar magnetic set, with what I'm told will likely be a $300-$350 MSRP. That puts it squarely in the sights of the newly-announced Audeze Maxwell 2. The Audeze is wireless, too, so the Asus set is going to have to work pretty dang hard to justify that price tag.

Tough competition, no doubt. Still, with tuned Hifiman drivers at its core, the Kithira makes for a compelling headset at first listen. I'll be very, very curious to hear it properly for myself quieter conditions, as the Asus booth was filled with noisy tech journos. Keep it down, would you? I'm listening intently over here.

Big tech loves the cyberpunk idea of brain-computer interfaces (or BCI), though I'm personally not super enthused about letting big tech anywhere near my grey matter. EEG-like devices that can scan brain waves are becoming more accessible to consumers though, resulting in a novel control scheme for Elden Ring: Nightreign if not much else. But perhaps there's an untapped market here too, if a recent announcement from HP at CES 2026 is to be believed.

We've already covered how sub-brands HyperX and Omen have been smooshed together for a fresh line of gaming laptops, but HP is moving to more literally getting its head in the game. HyperX is now teaming up with start-up Neurable to develop a gaming headset that can also function a bit like an EEG. Why? Apparently in a bid to "help players improve their focus and accuracy by interpreting brain activity in real time."

And, before you ask, the thing doing the interpreting will of course be AI.

Neurable develops proprietary AI that it claims "makes it possible to integrate BCIs into everyday products creating a future where technology anticipates and responds to human intention." The company is already offering pre-orders for its MW75 Neuro LT headphones, a set of $500 cans with EEG capabilities slated to ship later this year. By tracking brain activity, the MW75 Neuro LT offers "daily cognitive insights" in a bid to identify what part of the day the wearer's focus is best and thereby boost productivity.

The HyperX collaboration looks like it will follow along similar lines, placing Neurable's EEG sensor tech around the edge of the ear cups. Concept models suggest the final bit of kit will also feature a microphone arm, so you better be thinking only the purest of thoughts as you descend into your next lobby.

That said, the Neurable and HyperX headset probably won't be getting an earful of me effing and jeffing through another ill-fated Arc Raiders match any time soon; judging by the prototype at CES 2026, the final product is still at least a year off.

TechRadar's Matt Bolton went hands-on with the mic-less concept model, noting its current heft would be unwelcome during longer gaming sessions. However, Bolton also writes that Neurable's accompanying 'Prime' programming designed to get you in the zone to game did slightly, but measurably, improve both his accuracy and reaction time.

In a world full of distraction, it's not hard to see the appeal of hardware designed to, ahem, cut through the noise. But if this collaboration between Neurable and HyperX ends up costing anything close to $500, I'm much more likely to simply plug my ears up no matter what promises it makes.

When you have a product that's generally deemed to be the best in its class, it can sometimes be hard to think of ways to make it better. But in the case of the Maxwell planar magnetic gaming headset, Audeze has given it 16 "community inspired" improvements and just as importantly, rolled out a fresh new app for all its audio gear.

Naturally, the new version has a simple moniker, the Maxwell 2, and a cursory glance through the spec sheets shows that Audeze has kept the fundamentals very much the same as the first iteration. Which is a very good thing, as the original Maxwell headset is outstanding, and there's been nothing to beat it as the best for gaming audiophiles since it launched two years ago.

The Maxwell 2 sports the same 90 mm planar magnetic transducers (aka drivers), Fluxor array of magnets, and Fazor audio phase management system. Even the 1800 mAh battery is identical. However, the weight has increased from 490 to 560 g, so something has clearly been added.

Almost all of that additional weight will be the introduction of Audeze's SLAM or Symmetric Linear Acoustic Modulator. We first came across this in the LCD-S20 headset, and it's essentially a physical system of channels to improve the bass response and overall balance of the audio.

If you carefully compare the two Maxwell models, you'll also spot some of the other changes: the ear cup backs now sport a small degree of porting (possibly to help make the bass response more punchy) and the headstrap is now vented (ported!) to stop your nogging from overheating in a long gaming session. Lastly, you can now customise the ear cups with different magnetically-attached skins.

But inside the Maxwell 2, there are numerous little improvements, too. For example, the microphone now has double the bandwidth for better voice quality, sound spatial precision and the AI noise removal system are better (how much so isn't clear), and Bluetooth Auracast is now supported. Alas, simultaneous BT connections are still missing.

I've been using the Audeze Maxwell for work and gaming, every single day, for nearly a year now, and truth be told, I only wanted one thing to be improved: the god-awful software. Sure, it worked, but it was very clunky and looked like it had been cobbled together late on a Friday afternoon, 20 years ago.

Well, butter my breadsticks because Audeze has also released a new app to replace it and while it doesn't appear to bring any new functionality, it's a proper, modern piece of software. The UI is crisp and clear, and it's much faster than the old one.

However, there are still some elements of the old wonkiness, as plugging in my Maxwell headset via USB causes the app to have a bit of a fit between the cable, the dongle, and not knowing whether anything's actually connected or not. Still plenty of work to do here, Audeze.

When we manage to get our hands on the Maxwell 2 for review (and it'll be a stand-up fight between me and our hardware overlord Dave, as to whose sticky mitts and ears will be testing it), we'll let you know what, if any, of those improvements are meaningful to you.

The PlayStation version of the Audeze Maxwell 2 costs $329 and is available right now, whereas there's a 2-3 weeks shipping delay with the Xbox version ($349) due to "a regulatory issue". As to the price difference, that's down to the fact that the latter comes with a Dolby Atmos license for the spatial sound stuff, whereas the PlayStation one uses Sony's own Tempest 3D tech.

Ah, CES. Half AI, a quarter prototypes that seem finetuned for a headline, and a quarter genuinely useful tech. With Project Motoko, Razer seems intent on hitting at least three quarters of that market.

Announced today, Project Motoko is a gaming headset with a Snapdragon chip that reportedly has AI computer vision and universal AI platform compatibility. With dual 3K 60 fps cameras, Razer says it could theoretically look at what's in front of you and use an AI model to take in data. It could then give gaming advice, tell you what's in front of you, or anything else you would traditionally use a chatbot for.

The first-person view means you can also stream or record video, much like the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses. Razer tells us it comes with optical image stabilization, which should help with the whole 'two cameras strapped to the side of your head' thing. However, there's a less traditional use case here that is oh so Razer.

In the pre-presentation briefing I attended, I was informed that Project Motoko can be used to give advice for the game you are playing. How it manages to accurately identify the game, then use that data to give you context-specific advice, is anyone's guess, but it was part of the presentation nonetheless.

In fairness to this idea, Razer's headsets have been mighty comfortable as of late. In Dave's review of the Razer BlackShark V3, he said, "You're getting a gaming headset which feels comfortable even for the long haul." Still, I'd imagine many would pick a standard BlackShark and use their everyday phone, rather than commit to the full AI gaming headset.

With its ability to work with ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, and other major AI bots, Razer told us it could be used to "train the next generation of terminators". This line was, naturally, delivered with a cheeky smile, before moving on to the next thing.

There's also no word yet on battery life, and that's likely because this is simply a prototype, rather than a ready-to-market product.

CES tends to be full of prototypes from companies that may never see the light of day. They work as neat marketing for the brand (which my words naturally play into), though it's not impossible to think enough interest could bring such a project to life.

Last year, Razer unveiled a chair that could swap between being heated and being cooled, and though that idea is certainly interesting, we haven't heard a peep (or awkward creak that sounds suspiciously like a fart) since. Razer also said it plans on releasing a wearable of some kind in 2026 (which would presumably rival what Meta is working on, too).

Still, I can't quite decide if a smart gaming headset or smart glasses would be more awkward to let loose in the wild. One thing is true: Razer's future terminator will certainly look a bit dorky, if you ask me.

Gaming microphones have come on in leaps and bounds over the past few years, putting great vocal capture in the hands of anyone with a USB connection and a small slab of cash to spend. However, 2025 has seen the rise of several reasonably-priced contenders that can swim remarkably close to the pricier players for minimal expense, and that's the sort of development I can really get behind.

Each of the three microphones below is very well-priced for what it delivers, and also happens to be one of the best mics we've tested all year. All that's left now is to give one of our contenders the best microphone of 2025 award, so we'd better round up our nominations into one big capsule-shaped basket, hadn't we?

If you're looking for the cheapest of the cheap, look no further than the Amazon Basics USB Condenser Microphone. It might be a frill-less option with no included software, but it's incredibly difficult to argue with the sound quality it's capable of capturing for less than $30.

Still, if you don't mind spending a bit more cash for a whole lot of features, there's the NZXT Capsule Elite to consider. It's a remarkably good microphone wrapped up in a retro-themed chassis, and comes complete with a software suite full of bells and whistles, including noise cancelling.

And last, but far from least, there's the HyperX SoloCast 2. This $60 microphone has a clever trick up its sleeve in the form of a breech-like stand design, which means its just as at home on your desk as it is on a boom arm. It's also got noise cancelling software, a sleek design, and the sort of price point that makes it a tempting offer, even with the little Amazon mic being so cheap.

Best gaming microphone 2025: the nominees

Yep, that's a bountiful selection of microphones alright. We'll be picking the eventual winner out of these three sonic stunners on New Year's Eve, so make sure you join us then for the final result. I haven't tested any of them for champagne-popping resistance yet, but I'm sure we'll find out how they perform on the night.

2025 has been a bumper year for gaming headsets. I should know, I've been testing loads of them (along with the rest of the PCG hardware team) on a near-weekly basis. We put every headset we review through the ringer, judging it not just on audio quality, but on comfort, build quality, connection options, and much, much more.

So when it comes to picking just three, it's been something of a tough call. Still, first and foremost has to be the Fractal Design Scape, a headset with a clever magnetic wireless charging system that's been something of a game changer for me, and takes pride of place on my desk.

Ah, if only the Scape had its own way. Extremely tough competition, though, comes in the form of the Razer BlackShark V3, an updated model that managed to knock the long-reigning HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless from its top cable-free spot in our best gaming headset guide when we reviewed it earlier this year.

My hardware overlord, Dave, wears this Razer set atop his skull every day in the office, and I often receive my commands through it. What's that, Dave? Finish the article? Yes indeed, back to it.

Wrapping things up, we've even got a set of earbuds in the mix. Yes, given that handheld gaming PCs are a thing, and gaming earbuds have come a long way in recent years, this particular set has earned a place in our nominations. Just ask our Jacob, who uses the EarFun Air Pro 4 buds every single day. We can't pull them out of his head at this point, which probably goes some way to explaining why they have to be a contender here. Let's have a proper look at our best of the best of 2025, shall we?

Best gaming headset 2025: the nominees

So, which shall triumph, and which shall falter at the last hurdle? Only one of these brilliant audio bangers can win our coveted award, but you'll have to check back on New Year's Eve to find out which has won the top spot overall. Any would make a worthy addition to your setup, but when it comes to the best of 2025, it's still all to play for at this point.

I test so many gaming headsets over the course of a year, it's easy to start blending them into one. After all, the basic archetype for a good one is pretty much sorted at this point—a comfy headband, two earcups, a microphone, and a great set of drivers. I thought I couldn't really be surprised by a new model, but the Fractal Design Scape changed all that for me in 2025.

It's got the same recipe, sure. But in terms of the experience it delivers, it feels like Fractal Design has taken all the things I love about a really good set of gaming cans and elevated them to new heights. I'm convinced it's the way all wireless gaming headsets should be from this point onwards, and that makes it the best thing I've personally tested all year.

The Scape is a lesson in refinement. For a start, it's got a grown-up chassis design. No garish colour schemes here, just a flat black, matte finish with some subtle, recessed RGB lighting. The controls feel reassuringly well designed, too. Each clunks and clicks with a positive action, with not a cheap material to be found.

Speaking of materials, the Scape's earcups and inner headband are covered in a plush, couch-like fabric that manages to be warm and cossetting, yet also breathable enough to prevent a case of the dreaded sweaty ears.

Plus, the microphone arm is both removable and flip-to-mute, which feels like it should be the standard going forward. The Scape is a class act, full of design features that feel… well, actually designed, rather than strewn across the frame in a haphazard fashion.

The best bit, though, is the charging stand. It's a flattened, pill-shaped throne that takes up very little room on your desk, with two fabric-covered ovals protruding from the top. Push the headset in the general direction of its plinth, and a gentle magnetic force sucks it into place—where it then tops itself up thanks to the magic of Qi wireless charging tech.

It sounds like a small thing, doesn't it? After all, there are other headsets on the market with charging docks. But of all the models I've tested, this is the one that actually encourages me to keep my headphones charged through sheer ease of use.

There's no clunky socket mechanism to contend with, nor an ugly plastic frame to mangle into my setup. It's such an intuitive piece of design, magnetically thunking the set into its holder quickly becomes a reflex action.

Where do you keep your gaming headset when you're not wearing it? For most of you, I bet it's usually strewn untidily on your desktop. Perhaps it sits atop your tower, partially blocking some vents. Or, for the more conscientiously-minded of you, perhaps you've bought a little headset hook.

With the Scape, there's no need. The throne begs to be used, and as a result, your headset is always charged and ready to go the second you sit down for a session.

Of course, all of this would be for naught if the Scape sounded awful. Luckily, however, it's got a set of drivers that I can happily listen to for hours at a time. It's tuned towards the neutral straight from the box, but Fractal's software provides easy EQ adjustments that really allow the audio quality to shine.

It's got a detailed, polished quality to the treble that makes footstep listening a delight, while the low-end can become surprisingly hefty with a little push. It sounds premium, is the best way I can describe it. Self-assured. Punchy, without being overblown.

The Scape isn't perfect, mind. The microphone quality is average, there's no noise cancelling to be found, and the fabric earpads have a tendency to rustle for a second or two when you first put them on. Oh, and it's pricey. $200 for a gaming headset with no ANC is a bit of a stretch, there's no denying it.

But honestly, I think it's worth every penny. I've got some very expensive planar magnetic sets in my collection: big, magnesium-chassied beastie bois that are capable of some truly astounding audio quality. I get them out on occasion, just to remind myself what the best headphone driver tech is capable of these days.

Then I put them away again, and go back to the Scape. It's just so refined, so convenient, so easy to live with, that it's the one you want to come home to at the end of the day. And let's be honest, I can't compliment it more highly than that.

If you want to find out who wins in the PC Gamer Hardware Awards, we'll be publishing all the winners on New Year's Eve.

Black Friday is a distant blur and now, too, is Cyber Monday, as Cyber Week swooped in to kick off the rest of the week of deals. And now that week is nearly over, but there are still plenty of heavily discounted gaming headsets on offer. Which is great news as we approach the holidays.

👉We've curated all the best Cyber Week PC gaming deals right now👈

Aside from their price, the downside of wireless is that you need to keep them charged up, so it's important that you bag a set with a healthy battery life. We'd suggest 25 hrs+ so that battery status isn't on your mind during marathon sessions.

There are also some fantastic wired headsets on offer. These sets often come in cheaper, and if you don't mind a cable, there's great audio to be found. Whichever you pick, we've got a whole host of great headset deals for you. Let's have a looksie, shall we?

Where are the best Cyber Week gaming headset deals in the US?

Wired headsets:

• Razer BlackShark V2 X - $35 @ Amazon
• HyperX Cloud Alpha - $60 @ Amazon

Wireless headsets:

• HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless - $126 @ Amazon

Earbuds:

• EarFun Air Pro 4 - $64 @ Amazon
• SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds - $150 @ Amazon

Retailers:

• Amazon: All the gaming headset discounts and deals
• Newegg: Top brand headsets from $40
• Razer: BlackShark V2 X for $35 at Amazon
• Asus: ROG ROG Delta S wired headset for $65 at Amazon
• HyperX: 300-hour battery life Cloud Alpha Wireless for $126
• Walmart: Big brand headsets for less
• B&H Photo: Logitech, SteelSeries and more gaming headsets with big discounts
• Best Buy: Up to $80 off SteelSeries headsets

Cyber Week wired gaming headset deals

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Cyber Week wireless gaming headset deals

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Cyber Week gaming earbud deals

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Cyber Week gaming headset deals in the UK

Where are the best Cyber Week gaming headset deals in the UK?

• Razer BlackShark V2 X - £31 @ Amazon (save £28.50)
• EarFun Air Pro 4 - £58 @ Amazon (save £42)
• Razer Kraken V4 - £140 @ Amazon (save £40)

Retailers:

• Amazon: Major discounts on gaming headsets from all the best brands
• Scan: Up to £90 off gaming headsets
• Argos: No seriously, Argos. Regular discounts on some excellent headsets from many of the major manufacturers
• Razer: Kraken V4 wireless set for £140
• SteelSeries: Up to 33% off wired and wireless gaming headsets
• Logitech: Save up to £60 on Logitech gaming headsets
• HyperX: Cloud III wired headset for £110

Wired headsets

Wireless headsets

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FAQ

So, you're thinking about buying a gaming headset. Good for you! A great gaming headset is one of the biggest quality-of-life upgrades you can make to any PC, and we spend all year long testing candidates for our best gaming headset guide.

However, there are some things you should know before you make your purchase, and luckily for you, I've put together a tips list that should guide you towards buying the right gaming headset for you.

I've spent countless hours immersing myself in audio, from my early days knocking around recording studios, to live music, to boutique headset reviews. That means I've got a good set of ears on me, and more than that, I take both music and gaming audio very seriously indeed. There are plenty of potential pitfalls to avoid here, but follow my tips and you won't go far wrong.

We've updated this page specifically because Amazon Prime Day will soon be upon us, and we'll continue to curate the best deals on gaming headsets to help you find your way to audio nirvana. So grab a cup of coffee and a snack, get comfortable, and let me tell you all the things that are most important to remember when buying a great gaming headset.

1. Wired might mean ultimate audio, but wireless has come a long way
2. Drivers make the difference
3. If it looks uncomfortable, it usually is
4. Built-in mics are nice to have, but not necessarily essential
5. Battery life = quality of life

1. Wireless or wired?

Wired might mean ultimate audio, but wireless has come a long way

First up, are you going to tie yourself to your PC with a cable, or go wire-free? There are good arguments to be made for both here, and it's probably one of the biggest considerations to make early on.

Wired headset fans will argue that it's the best way of guaranteeing excellent audio quality, and removing any concerns about connection issues and latency. And to be honest, they're not wrong. That being said, wireless connections have come a long way in recent years, and you'll find that a good RF 2.4 GHz connection provided by a dedicated dongle will sound great, connect robustly, and have zero-perceptible latency in most cases.

There's a fairly large caveat here, so let's get it out of the way early on: I'd avoid Bluetooth-only sets for gaming. Bluetooth is useful for taking your headphones on the move, transforming a gaming headset into one that you can also wear on your daily travels. However, even the most recent versions of the connection standard (Bluetooth 6.0 at the time of writing, but 6.0 is pretty rare) still introduce latency, so for gaming, it's no bueno—as you're likely to notice your audio lagging a little behind the action on screen.

Still, as a bonus feature, it's definitely worth looking out for. Headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5X Wireless come with both a 2.4 GHz wireless dongle for lag-free PC connection and Bluetooth for travel purposes. Sets like these are definitely worth considering if you'd like your gaming headset to transform into a great set of regular headphones for day-to-day usage.

That being said, a tried and tested wired connection will remove any concerns about connection issues or battery life. If all you want your next set of cans for is for sitting in front of your PC, wired may be the way forward for you—but proper 2.4 GHz wireless cans are well worth considering regardless.

2. Drivers

A quality set of drivers should handle both music and gaming with aplomb

Inside the earcups of a headset lies a set of drivers, and these are the things that will transmit sound to your earholes. Essentially, what we mean when we say "drivers" in relation to headphones is "small speakers", and so the quality of these units makes all the difference to the sound you're going to receive.

Size is important, to some degree. 40 mm or up should be capable of rumbling your eardrums with appropriate weight and substance, although there are certainly slightly smaller units that can still deliver properly great sound. Of course, earbuds have tiny, weeny little drivers, but because they nestle deep in your ear canal, they still provide the appropriate effect.

What you'll really want to know here is whether you should be buying gaming-focused drivers or all-purpose ones, and my answer is categorically the latter. While plenty of headsets advertise their gaming and potentially even surround-sound prowess, a really good set of drivers is a really good set of drivers.

Basically, if they sound great for music, they should sound great for gaming, too. Good speakers are good speakers, after all, and while it might be tempting to go for hyper-positional gaming audio setups for immersion's sake (or for detecting enemy footsteps in a multiplayer game), unless you're an esports pro, it really isn't going to make that much difference.

Quality drivers from respected brands like Razer, HyperX, Beyerdynamic, Corsair and many others will sound fantastic for games, movies, music, and anything else you might wish to listen to through them. Buy from a known brand, check the reviews to find out other people's impressions of them, and look out for trusted reviewers gushing about the sound. They should do you nicely.

One quick side note: Our favourite wireless audiophile headset, the Audeze Maxwell, makes use of planar magnetic drivers, and they're truly fabulous. Pricey, though, but well worth considering if you're looking for the best sound imaginable for all purposes.

3. Comfort

If it looks uncomfortable, it usually is

Comfort is one of those horribly subjective categories that depends on so many variables; it's often very difficult to get across in a headset review. We like to bring our headset samples into the office to hand them around to various members of the team because we've all got differently sized heads, differing amounts of hair (or complete lack of), and in Jacob Fox's case, 'weird little ears'.

There you go, that should have made me popular. Anyway, I like to follow a general rule: If it looks uncomfortable, it usually is. No matter what your particular head shape or hair configuration, you're likely going to want some proper padding inside the headband to cushion the top of your bonce over long gaming and listening sessions.

Earcup padding is important, too. Many headset manufacturers use synthetic leather substitutes on the earcups, and some are brilliant for sound isolation, audio dampening, and overall comfort. Others, though, can get a bit sweaty over long sessions, and any good reviewer should point out if this is the case. Some headsets, like the truly magnificent Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro, make comfort a top priority, with super-plush velour pads that really can make a difference over a long day.

Again, it's difficult to give general advice here, but I'd seriously pay attention to any mention of comfort in a headset review before putting down your hard-earned cash. After all, it doesn't matter how wonderful your new headset sounds if it leaves you a sweaty, headache-filled mess after a few hours.

Another thing to watch out for is any mention of clamping force. Some headsets seem very comfy on the first wear, but want to slide off your head the second you look down at your phone, or mess with a cable. A good test here when receiving your new headset is to put it atop your head and then tilt from side to side. If it wants to fall off, I'd consider sending it back and trying something else instead.

4. Microphones

Built-in mics are nice to have, but not necessarily essential

It'll be no surprise that, as an audio nerd, I care about microphone quality. Any good gaming headset with a microphone included should have some degree of richness to the tone, a clarity that allows it to cut through a frantic multiplayer audio soundscape, and a rejection of ugly distortions and plosive sounds, like "puh" and "buh" that can become blown out on cheaper models.

However, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that, to many, this may not matter. If you hardly ever voice chat or don't plan on using your headset for work meetings, I wouldn't blame you if microphone quality is a low priority.

Still, it's a nice thing to have regardless, so I'd look out for headsets with cardioid condenser microphones like the Audio Technica ATH-M50x STS StreamSet to ensure that when you do enter your next voice chat, you sound like a real human being and not a robot attempting to make a long-distance call to Mars.

I also prefer headsets with a removable microphone, as this means you can detach it entirely for travel purposes or to get it completely out of the way for comfort.

Still, if you've found a fantastic pair of headphones but the mic reviews aren't great (or something from our best audiophile headphones for gaming guide, some of which eschew mics entirely), there's always the possibility of buying a separate mic that's likely to do an even better job of picking up your vocal tones. We test the best gaming microphones all the time, so you're spoilt for choice if you want to go for a standalone unit instead.

In fact, for streaming and podcast purposes, I'd highly recommend it. Still, a good mic is a nice thing to have, so don't ignore it entirely when picking out your next headset if you plan on using it on the regular.

5. Battery

Battery life = quality of life

So, let's say you've decided to go wireless for your next headset purchase. To be honest, I don't blame you, as (to reiterate my earlier point), wireless headsets are darned good these days. One thing you really should be aware of, however, is that battery life ratings make a huge difference to your quality of life—and as a result, should be high on your list of priorities when picking the right wireless gaming headset for you.

Our top pick for wireless gaming headsets is the HyperX Cloud Alpha, and a big reason for that is its 300-hour battery life. It's such a large number that even its follow-up, the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2, couldn't top it at 250 hours. That's a simply astonishing figure and means that you can potentially go weeks without plugging into the wall.

It's a bit of an outlier, though. In fact, most decent gaming headsets come in somewhere around the 25 to 50-hour mark these days, and that's a perfectly respectable figure to aim for. It's worth noting that gaming headsets in 2.4 GHz wireless mode tend to drain faster than Bluetooth, and RGB affects battery life too, so this will affect your moment-to-moment use.

Less than that, though, and you'll find your day being interrupted by the annoying beep of a low battery indicator on the regular, and that's a pain in the proverbials. It might not matter too much if you keep a charging cable free at your desk, but trust me when I say that not having to think about your headset's battery life very often does make you feel like you've bought a product from the future, and not one that makes itself an annoyance several times a week. A charging stand, like in the Fractal Design Scape, can certainly help with the annoyance of keeping a headset battery topped up, though.

We all wish battery life were longer on our devices, but good wireless headsets are leading the charge in that regard. Battery life = quality of life, and as a result, I'd pay proper attention to that figure on the spec sheet, and cross-reference it with the reviews to ensure that it actually delivers the figure that it says on the box.

I've spent the past two weeks with HyperX's new Cloud Alpha 2 Wireless, and the pitch is simple: Take a fan‑favorite PC gaming headset, bump the drivers, add simultaneous 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth, and bundle it with a flashy RGB base station that promises to handle every device you own. Then charge $299 (AUD $499). It's a confident swing in a space dominated by Razer, SteelSeries, and Logitech, and for the most part, the Cloud Alpha 2 connects—if you actually need that base station.

Battery life remains the headline. HyperX's previous Cloud Alpha Wireless—a long‑standing PC Gamer favorite for best wireless gaming headset until Razer took top honors— pulls a ludicrous 300 hours. The Cloud Alpha 2 Wireless, however, dials that back to a quoted 250. On paper it's a downgrade, but in real use it still feels like witchcraft.

I gamed nightly, took Teams calls, and ran music on Bluetooth without ever thinking about the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 Wireless' battery. Even with both radios active, it never died. I still haven't charged it since unboxing. "Charge it once a month and forget about it" still applies, and it keeps HyperX well ahead of rivals tapping out after around 40–70 hours.

The new 53mm dual‑chamber drivers are the other marquee change. HyperX claims reduced distortion, and the Alpha 2 delivers a cleaner, tighter sound than I expected at this price, despite the downgrade in frequency response. In The Outer Worlds 2, ambience is rich without turning to mush, and combat cues snap cleanly from the mix. Battlefield 6 footsteps cut through chaos without harshness. Bass is full and controlled—never the sloppy, mid‑eating kind—while mids stay articulate.

They're not audiophile‑neutral, and some will want extra sparkle up top or more slam at the bottom, but the stock tuning nails that 'fun without fatigue' middle ground for both games and Spotify. HyperX's NGENUITY spatial audio adds welcome height and separation, though I kept it off for music. The only downside: the software still loves cluttering Windows with virtual devices, and a few functions feel 'work in progress'.

Comfort is classic HyperX—in other words, excellent. Microfiber cloth ear pads stay breathable, the memory‑foam headband strikes the right softness, and the swivelling cups sit naturally. Clamp force hugs without squeezing. A steel headband and aluminum forks keep everything solid with zero creaks, yet the whole thing never feels heavy. I wore these through long editing sessions without ever hitting the 'get this off my head' point.

Then there's the base station. HyperX frames it as your audio command center, and it's genuinely slick. The central dial feels premium, the programmable buttons pull double duty for volume, switching inputs, or macros, and device swapping is smooth. If your desk is a battlefield of PC, consoles, speakers, and mics, this hub actually earns space. The RGB is tasteful and can be dimmed—or ignored.

But my setup is simpler, and all I really need is simultaneous 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth. This dock is built for streamers and multi‑device power users—people who need on‑the‑fly source juggling and hardware macros. For me, it mostly sat there looking pretty while I jumped between a gaming PC and a work MacBook. The functionality works perfectly, but it's undeniably a premium for features many won't meaningfully use day to day.

Connectivity, though, is where the Cloud Alpha 2 Wireless flexes the hardest. My daily split between Windows and macOS is seamless. The 2.4 GHz dongle lives in my PC, Bluetooth stays paired to my MacBook, and both channels run without conflict. Calls on macOS cut in instantly while game audio remains ready on Windows, and switching back never triggers the usual 'is this thing connected?' ritual.

If you've lived the life of digging behind a tower or poking at macOS sound menus, this feels like liberation. And unlike SteelSeries' Arctis Nova Pro, Bluetooth is on the headset—not the dock—so you can actually take these on the train.

Mic quality is… fine. Clear enough for Teams or Discord, but compressed and lacking richness. Plosives are handled, the mute behavior is reliable, and AI noise reduction works, but it introduces even more compression.

It won't replace a dedicated mic, and headsets like the Astro A50 X or BlackShark V3 beat HyperX here. For everyday comms, no problem. For streaming or recording? Look elsewhere.

The sticking point is price. At $300, the Alpha 2 runs into brutal competition. Logitech's Astro A50 Gen 5 with PlaySync, for instance, is the obvious 'switch‑everything' alternative—with Xbox, PS5, and PC integration, a stronger mic, and magnetic charging in the base. But HyperX's hub is more configurable, making it the better choice for streamers or desk‑bound multi‑device users.

But you're also walking straight into the Audeze Maxwells, with stunning audio clarity, wireless connectivity, and a quality mic.

So where does the Cloud Alpha 2 Wireless land? As an evolution, it's smart. It leans on real‑world convenience rather than gimmicks: effortless multi‑device wireless, a battery you forget exists, excellent comfort, and sound that finds a lively, detailed middle ground. The base station is powerful—if your setup can use it—and the headset itself feels like a refined, durable continuation of the HyperX legacy.

I just wish the mic had made a bigger leap. And I also wish the price landed closer to its predecessor. And yes, I wish HyperX could still boast a nice round 300 hours in giant letters.

If the dock speaks to your workflow—or you're a streamer who'll actually use its brains—this package maybe makes sense. If not, wait for sales, stick with the old Cloud Alpha Wireless, pick up the Razer BlackShark V3, or consider whether a more console‑centric rival like Logitech's Astro A50 with PlaySync better matches your multi‑platform life.

Best gaming headset 2025

All our current recommendations

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BEST OVERALL

1. HyperX Cloud Alpha

Check Price

BEST BUDGET

2. Corsair HS55 Stereo

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BEST WIRELESS

3. HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless

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BEST MID-RANGE WIRELESS

4. Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3

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BEST AUDIOPHILE

5. Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro

Check Price

BEST WIRELESS AUDIOPHILE

6. Audeze Maxwell

Check Price

BEST FOR STREAMING

7. Audio-Technica ATH-M50xSTS StreamSet

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BEST NOISE-CANCELLING

8. AceZone A-Spire

Check Price

BEST EARBUDS

9. Steelseries Arctis GameBuds

Check Price

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Read the full guide: Best gaming headset 2025

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Black Friday might be technically over, now that it's the weekend, but gaming headset deals are still rolling in. That's because we're now into Cyber Monday, and that'll be followed by Cyber Week! This will be the last update of this deals page, but you'll still be able to follow what's hot on the market by clicking on the link below:

👉We're curating all the best Cyber Monday gaming headset deals here👈

Whatever you're after, you'll want some excellent drivers, of course, as these are the speakers that'll relay audio to your earholes. Plus, comfort is important, so look out for plush headbands and squishy earpads. A good mic is also a real bonus, so we'll be keeping our ears out for the best ones.

As for wired or wireless? It's really up to you, but it's worth mentioning that 2.4 GHz wireless sets are very, very fast when it comes to latency these days, so feel free to cut the cord at your leisure. Plus, many of the good ones are nearly as cheap as the wired models these days. Anyway, enough of all that. It's time to find your next gaming audio superstars.

Where are the best Black Friday gaming headset deals?

Wired headsets:

• Razer BlackShark V2 X - $33 @ Amazon (save $27)
• HyperX Cloud Alpha - $60 @ Amazon (save $40)

Wireless headsets:

• Logitech G435 Lightspeed - $42 @ Amazon (save $6)
• HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless - $126 @ Amazon (save $74)

Earbuds:

• EarFun Air Pro 4 - $53 @ Amazon (save $27)
• SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds - $150 @ Amazon (save $50)

Retailers:

• Amazon: All the gaming headset discounts and deals
• Newegg: Top brand headsets from $40
• Razer: BlackShark V2 X for $33 at Amazon
• Asus: ROG Pelta RGB wireless headset for $100 at Amazon
• HyperX: 300-hour battery life Cloud Alpha Wireless for $126
• Walmart: Big brand headsets for less
• B&H Photo: Logitech, SteelSeries and more gaming headsets with big discounts
• Best Buy: Up to $80 off SteelSeries headsets

Black Friday wired gaming headset deals

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Black Friday wireless gaming headset deals

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Black Friday gaming earbud deals

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Black Friday gaming headset deals in the UK

Where are the best Black Friday gaming headset deals in the UK?

Headsets and earbuds:

• Razer BlackShark V2 X - £27 @ Amazon (save £34)
• EarFun Air Pro 4 - £53 @ Amazon (save £47)
• Razer Kraken V4 - £130 @ Amazon (save £50)

Retailers:

• Amazon: Major discounts on gaming headsets from all the best brands
• Scan: Up to £90 off gaming headsets
• Argos: No seriously, Argos. Regular discounts on some excellent headsets from many of the major manufacturers
• Razer: Kraken V4 wireless set for £130
• SteelSeries: Up to 33% off wired and wireless gaming headsets
• Logitech: Save up to £60 on Logitech gaming headsets
• HyperX: 300-hour battery life wireless headset for £110

Wired headsets

Wireless headsets

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FAQ

Women make up a large part of the gaming masses, 48% according to a recent analysis, and Razer is a popular brand among women. The company even tailors products to women, that are then advertised by women, and which appear to sell well among women. That's why it's surprising to see the company deploy an advert that plays on a sexist stereotype of women.

Here's how the ad plays out: A woman and a man are sat on a sofa. The woman is speaking to the man. The man is holding a controller and wearing a gaming headset. The man reaches for his headset to turn on Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). The audio of the woman's voice ceases and the man continues to play his game. The next shot is the same pair walking down a corridor, once again the woman's voice is mostly muted. Then the same skit again while the pair are sat in gaming chairs.

The on-screen caption reads:

Active Noise Cancellation: on

Drama: off

The caption below the video reads: "Don't let yapping get in the way of your winning."

Clearly, the video plays to an old-fashioned trope. It's tone deaf at a time when women make up a large portion of the global gaming community, including PC gamers, and could probably do without a big brand wading in with a tepid bit at their expense. It also plays on the outdated idea that gamers are a bunch of blokes that hate talking to their partners.

The video was first published over two months ago but it's still live on Razer's official TikTok account as of today, October 23. Users have been most active commenting on the video in the past couple of days, however. Comments such as:

"I just put my razer headphones in the bin ♥️"

"the casual misogyny is INSANE"

"welp guess I'm done with razer after 15 years"

"Alienating female consumers is wild work when nearly half of all gamers are women."

These sorts of comments are spreading onto unrelated videos about Razer products. That's how I found out about the ad. I was watching a video about someone's cat having an adverse reaction to their new Razer Kuromi headset, and one of the top comments reads: "razer's sexist btw".

When I searched for this alleged sexism, many videos on the topic were subsequently revealed to me, some with tens of thousands of likes—many thousands more likes than Razer's actual ad. Razer's video sits on a little over 2,400 likes and 3,100 comments. That's a 'you messed up' ratio if ever I saw one—alienating your audience for little to no gain.

What's surprising is how easy the whole thing could've been avoided. ANC can be useful for blocking out a variety of unwanted noise: a leafblower, fan, or neighbour playing music too loudly. You don't have to think for long to land on an idea less offensive to half of your audience.

A recent report published by the ESA suggests women make up 48% of the gaming market across 21 countries. Women play on mobile more than men, but make up for a large proportion of the PC and console population, too. Women play more puzzle, simulation, and arcade games than men, but they're not lagging far behind in the share of action, racing, and role playing games.

Women might make up a similar portion of the gaming market to men, even playing more games in some countries, but the culture of gaming has been slow to catch up. If you don't always feel welcome in the boy's club, Razer playing on that idea to advertise noise cancelling headphones isn't going to help.

I've contacted Razer for comment.

My first impressions of the Logitech G321 Lightspeed gaming headset were not positive. It's a noticeably cheaper-feeling headset than the comparably priced Corsair HS55 (this is before mentioning that Corsair's offering is older and regularly reduced). It creaks under pressure, and the speakers in the earcups aren't even padded, meaning you can tap plastic if you poke your finger in there. However, partially due to its choice of materials, the Logitech G321 certainly earns that Lightspeed name by being some of the most breezy cups I've wrapped around my ears as of late.

The best way I can think to enunciate what the G321 Lightspeed gets right is to express what I think the Turtle Beach Recon 70 gets wrong. The Recon 70 is a decidedly budget headset at $40, and the headset makes a lot of compromises in regards to build quality and feel. The G321 is $10 more, comes with the same-sized drivers (40 mm), a flip-to-mute microphone, a similar weight, and yet, it feels so much better on the head. It's also wireless.

At 210 g, it's not that much lighter than the 231 g Turtle Beach Recon 70 and yet putting both on, a clear winner arises. That's because the parts of the G321 Lightspeed that have been given extra attention are the fabric earcups and headband. Though between my hands, the top creaks, the cups bend, and I frankly wouldn't feel comfortable throwing the headset into my backpack.

Those downsides aren't made up for with the G321's comfortable feel and light weight, but at least the compromises made don't feel all bad. This is clearly a budget pair of headphones, and I can see where cuts are made for that price point.

To compare directly to Corsair's HS55, the G321 is lighter and wraps less firmly around the head. This means the former offers better passive noise cancelling and a more immersive sound, while the latter is easier to move around in and more comfortable over long days. Neither is bad, but both are unique in what they offer, though the HS55 feels more premium.

The pulse of chants, the metallic ringing of synth drums and the squish (no, I don't have a better word) of balls (again, I don't have a better word) in Ball X Pit is as enchanting as I'd hope it would be. The bass doesn't rumble as I've found in more expensive headphones, but it's certainly noticeable in the mix.

This more subdued bass is at its worst in Doom: The Dark Ages. The thunderous lows and heavy footsteps come through in the mix, but don't have that thump to them. You will hear bass, but you won't feel it.

Balatro's main theme, being surprisingly layered with tonnes of synth, electronic drums, and effects, comes through well. And the roar of fire in response to a particularly strong hand is as strong as I was hoping. That fire sound works as the G321 has a decent amount of depth to its soundstage. Footsteps in Counter-Strike 2 come through clear, and the pound of an AWP or Desert Eagle still rings throughout the map.

I wouldn't say the audio quality is particularly strong for its price point, especially when you can pick the HyperX Cloud Alpha at $60 on sale, but it is clear and easy to make out. I don't feel quite enveloped by sound, but I also never feel like I am missing something. I had little problem picking out the instrumentation of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, despite its orchestral intricacy.

The black G321 Lightspeed model I've been testing has a middling aesthetic, with the slightly angular outsides of the earcups and sharp-looking flip to mute mic portraying much more of a gamer look than the rest of the headset. The earcups and headbands are made out of the same fabric, which is a light, spongy texture.

With both, you can press your finger down and hit plastic, but the headset is so light that I never felt that plastic while the headset was on my head. When the microphone is flipped up, the G321 looks like a fairly normal headset and is solid enough for a quick walk or for use around the house.

Listen to the microphone test (wireless, then wired) here:

The mic is okay at best in wireless form, with inorganic cuts before and after sentences and a general layer of fuzz underneath comms. When wired, the mic sounds a tad better, and in both, the quality is clear yet fairly low. At this price point, it's not awful, but in a call, your mates will be able to tell you're on a value-oriented headset.

You can't unplug the microphone, but it does tuck away fairly cleanly. The flip-to-mute feature is easy to use and comes with a small jingle telling you when you're muted. It's a light touch but a welcome one nonetheless.

As far as software is concerned, the G321 has practically none at the time of writing. It doesn't connect to the Logitech G Hub, and there aren't any drivers out there for it right now. That could change in the future, of course, but that's my experience with the headset right now. This does mean you currently can't adjust the EQ, but I found the sound to be fairly neutral, not favouring any section in particular. It's about as plug-and-play as a piece of Logitech gear gets, for better and for worse.

It comes with no RGB to adjust in software or drain that battery, and the 20 or so hours you will get out of this headset are just fine. If you work from home and listen to music every day, you will be charging it every few days. If you mostly just use it to game, you'll charge it every week or two. Given that a full charge takes around an hour, this is acceptable for the price, and you'll see a similar battery life out of the Corsair HS55 Wireless.

The first time I used the G321 Lightspeed, I found it to crackle when connected to my PC. Moving my head around particularly caused it to cut out.

However, after ten minutes or so everything balanced, and I haven't been able to replicate this sound, regardless of how much headbanging I've managed to do. I'm willing to write this off as a small quirk, especially after disconnecting and connecting multiple times to test it.

Despite this connection hiccup, the G321 is easy to use and even easier to connect. When turned on, it automatically moves to the 2.4 GHz channel, but it can also be used wired or via Bluetooth. The Bluetooth button on the back left earcup starts the search for devices, and I've had no problems moving it around from phones to laptops.

Clicking it while already in Bluetooth mode then sends it straight back to the connector. Dual connectivity would have been better here, to take a quick call or cross off Duolingo for the day, but swapping to Bluetooth isn't a huge hassle, and only really costs a few seconds each time.

On the left earcup also sit volume controls. They're easier to get to, being big buttons, and I never found myself accidentally hitting them, but controlling volume with buttons rather than a scrolling wheel always feels a bit awkward.

Clicking volume up moves it by just two notches on my PC, which means having to hit it multiple times to see significant volume changes. If a game blasts its music at me a bit too loud, I've found myself fumbling to press it enough to turn it all down.

The G321 sits around the middle of the pile for its sound quality, build, and design at its price, but at one moment, I went to have lunch and forgot it was on. This is perhaps as much an indictment of my hunger-led tunnel vision, but it's still a rarity for me, and not something I've had happen with similarly priced headsets. No, before you ask, I did not get soup on the headset. Stop asking that.

This is a testament to how light and easy it is to just keep on the head. And from my time gaming with it, I've found the G321 to be entirely uncumbersome, from how easily it connects, to how it projects sound. Bass doesn't rumble as you may want, but nothing feels mushy in the mix, and it's easy to pick up footsteps in a competitive setting. Most importantly, the experience of using Logitech's latest is strong enough to get over a pretty terrible first impression.

I've made no secret of my penchant for purple. So, it likely comes as no surprise that I've been pining after the Gengar Razer Kitty Kraken V2 headset since it was first announced (ghost type Pokemon are some of my favourites, and it's not just because they often adhere to my carefully curated colour scheme).

While I enjoyed my time with the Kraken Kitty V3 Pro, I'm still not a huge fan of the headset's pastel pink 'quartz' colourway. So, when I heard the Gengar Razer Kitty Kraken V2 is now available outside of Asia, I was there with my Pokeballs at the ready.

Obviously, there are a few key differences to note between the V3 Pro and this pretty purple version of the V2. Besides the kitty ears getting swapped out for the ghostie's wee purple horns, the main difference is that the Gengar Razer Kitty Kraken V2 is a wired headset. That means a stable, constant connection at the risk of forgetting about the wire all together and potentially dragging your rig behind you when you leave your desk…but what sort of Slowpoke would do that, right?

The wire itself is contained within a hardy plastic sheathing that could likely withstand a chewing from a deskchair castor (not that I'd recommend putting that theory to the test). At two metres in length, the attached wire is long enough to not feel too restrictive while also mostly avoiding getting tangled up under foot. The main downside is that with this integrated, non-detachable USB-A wire, the Gengar Razer Kitty Kraken V2 is destined for your desktop and your desktop only.

The V2's lack of even a 3.5 mm connection option definitely makes it one of the least versatile gaming headsets I've had the pleasure of reviewing lately. Sure, not everyone has quite the aura necessary to rock a set of purple horns or pink kitty ears while casually out and about, but the difference is you at least have the option to try with the Kraken Kitty V3 Pro.

Anyway, as you may expect from the tag team of a wired, USB-A connection and Razer's Triforce 40mm drivers, the Kraken Kitty V2's audio quality is crisp. I was especially impressed by the clarity of dialogue, though I found lower, bassier frequencies got a little lost in the shuffle. To put it another way, while the scant few voice lines throughout 2016's Doom came through loud and clear, Mick Gordon's already crunchy soundtrack lost some detail—especially when the hordes of hell were hissing in my ear. I found that games with comparatively less hectic soundscapes tend to be better served by this headgear.

While there's no Active Noise Cancelling on offer here, the gentle clamping force of this headset blocks out a fair amount of ambient sound and offers a surprisingly immersive audio experience (just ask my colleagues how many times they each made me jump in surprise while I was testing this headset). The inner earcups are generously cushioned too, making this another Razer headset that's comfortable to wear all day. Better yet, these are covered in a plush leatherette that's easy to wipe clean, so that striking purple colour won't be dulled by my contour of choice over time.

A raised mic mute button, a volume wheel, and the integrated microphone arm are all found on the outer edge of the left earcup. The mic arm is neither detachable nor retractable, unlike the V3 Pro, though it is very bendy; it's easy to adjust and holds its position well when you twist it out of the way—though I personally do miss the option to make it disappear altogether.

As for mic audio, the quality here is about what you'd expect for a gaming headset—clear save for the odd bit of crunch around the plosives. It's perfectly serviceable for Discord calls or in-game chatter, but you might want something a wee bit more professional if you want to launch your musical career with the very best Pokerap cover (like there never was).

Listen to the microphone test here:

Though this wired gaming headset acquits itself well on audio quality all around, the styling really is the headline act here. The outer face of the earcups feature a subtle offering of RGB, with light shining tastefully through Gengar's silhouette. The striking purple spikes along the headband are genuinely sturdy, not to mention visually striking. I think my favourite detail though is the splash of red within the inner ear cup, featuring a line drawing of Gengar that's almost always out of view. Being the only one to see that mischievous grin on the regular is a design flourish I enjoy immensely.

However, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that you're paying for that style at a premium; the Gengar edition of the Kraken Kitty V2 costs $40 more than any of the other colourways, bringing its price closer in line with the Razer Barracuda and the Razer Barracuda X Chroma wireless headsets. That's not the most damning comparison though; the Razer Kraken V3 X, with a USB type A wired connection and the same 40 mm Triforce drivers, is less than $50 on Amazon, meaning the Gengar styling comes at a $100 premium.

The Gengar edition is definitely not what I'd call a budget option. Furthermore, I'd argue it's a price point that makes sense for a wireless headset that can fulfil your audio needs across a variety of scenarios, from gaming to just listening to music on the go, but not necessarily a wired headset you can't really use on much besides your desktop PC.

If you're longing for a purple bit of kit but aren't fussed about RGB, I personally still recommend the slightly cheaper SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X. A wireless headset offering a wealth of connection options, the Arctis Nova 3X is much more versatile for one thing. But if all you're after is a cute, wired gaming headset that doesn't come at such a premium, then the $60 Razer Kraken Kitty V3 X may better suit.

We've seen gaming peripheral companies make a dent in the premium gaming keyboard market, so why not audiophile headphones? That's what SteelSeries must've been thinking when it put together the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite—a headset with new drivers and heaps of connectivity. Oh, and a seriously large price tag.

The Arctis Nova Elite launches today, September 30, for $600/£600/€650. Okay, if you're still with me, let's talk specs.

The headset looks a lot like the $325 Arctis Nova Pro—from the swooped back earcups and placement of the ANC and boom arms, to the desktop hub included with both sets. SteelSeries says it teamed up with a designer here, Jakob Wagner, but the external differences appear to be mostly material. Literally—the Elite has a little more metal, including the control wheel on the side, which might explain the added weight. The Elite weighs 380 grams. The Pro, 338 grams.

But under the hood, there are some changes.

The Elite's drivers are touted as carbon fibre. Rated to the same frequency response as the Pro's 40 mm drivers, 10 - 40,000 Hz, the carbon fibre cans are more sensitive with a dBSPL of 101 to the Pro's 98. That means the Elite will produce a louder sound for the same power. SteelSeries has also added a brass ring for rigidity.

Beyond that, the headset is officially certified as Hi-Res Wireless, which means they're rated by Sony to deliver on certain requirements for high-quality audio, such as 24-bit/96 kHz, and without wires using the LC3plus codec.

LC3plus comes from the Fraunhofer Institution, a group of research organisations that create algorithms, standards, codecs… you name it. You might have heard of a few of its popular creations, like MP3 or H.264. Just note you'll need a device that supports LC3plus, though, as far as I am aware, LC3 is a part of the Bluetooth LE Audio specification, and LC3plus is backwards compatible, which means quite a few modern devices should already support it.

Alright, enough codec chat. The GameHub (desktop hub) supports OmniPlay, which essentially means you can connect to a PC, PlayStation, and Xbox all at once, and mix audio from up to four sources. It has three USB Type-C ports on the rear. Three! One more than the GameHub with the Nova Pro. Though both share the same hot-swappable battery solution that we're big fans of here. It means you practically never run out of battery, as you can always take a fresh battery out of the GameHub and slot it into your headphones.

Other shared features include Active Noise Cancellation (4-mic, same as the Pro) and a ClearCast Gen 2.X Retractable Boom mic. The Pro has the ClearCast Gen 2, and I think auto-switching between the dual mics is the main difference here.

Altogether, I'm wondering where the budget has been spent here. That's an expensive driver upgrade even by today's audiophile prices. For example, the Audeze Maxwell is a pair of wireless planar magnetic headphones with a microphone, and it's only $299. I spent a lot less on my audiophile headphones, the Sennheiser HD 650, and the Audeze LCD-S20 I recently reviewed are more affordable. Though granted, those last two aren't wireless, so apples to oranges.

It appears as though SteelSeries is going for three-headphones-in-one—audiophile, gaming, and portable—hence the inordinately high price tag. I guess I can see that argument, or how it played out in SteelSeries HQ—though consider me still a bit sceptical.

Every once in a while a piece of hardware crosses my desk that is seemingly intent upon drilling through the layers of ice encasing my cold, black heart. After all, it's hard not to spread a little joy in the office, or at least to crack a smile yourself, when you're wearing cat ears.

Pink is far from my favourite colour, as I tend to sport a more pro-purple agenda, but I'm not eager to kick out Razer's latest iteration of the Kraken Kitty headset. Available in both white and black colourways alongside the aforementioned 'quartz', the Kraken Kitty V3 Pro headset offers more than the novelty of feline flair. Costing $180/£180, it had better.

As with every Kraken Kitty, the cat ears remain the crown jewel of this headset. To be clear, the charming interchangeable ears of the pricy V2 Pro are gone; we're now back to full-size animal ears rather than the V2 Pro's oddly diminutive accessories throwing off the proportions of what is an already bulky headset. The kitty ears here are sturdy, solidly anchored to the headband, and immediately eye-catching.

With all of that hardware on top, you may think the V3 Pro would be fatiguing to wear. Weighing 0.86 lbs/390 g, there's definitely some heft to it but I've found it to be consistently comfortable to wear all day. Both the headband and ear cups feature memory foam cushioning, with the latter of these the most generously plush feeling. Despite such bulky ear cups, my ears don't feel pinned back or otherwise inspire a painful horse blinder effect.

This perhaps pales next to the striking styling, but the ear cup cushions also feature a grey leatherette covering that is mercifully wipe-clean. This not only means it's easier to keep your pricey headset looking presentable, but those who wear make up no longer need fear the ear cushions slowly turning the same shade as their contour of choice. The inner part of the headband is still fabric though, so be wary of the potential for colour transfer if you're donning these atop freshly dyed locks.

No doubt contributing to this headset's well-balanced weight is a fairly robust battery too. Sure, it's not achieving the absolute witchcraft of the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless headset's battery life, but even with the RGB lights on and set to a reasonable amount of brightness, you still get about 30 hours of use out of this headset over 2.4 GHz mode. The main annoyance here is that the Kraken Kitty does not feature fast charge, so it will take some time to refill this cat's tank.

Alternatively, you can enjoy over twice as much battery life if you turn the headset's lights off. If this was any other RGB headset, that would seem a little pointless to me but at least here you're still rocking pink cat ears even if they aren't also glowing cat ears.

Besides such feline flair, there are also a number of smart design choices. Let's start with the on-ear buttons: for instance, the left ear cup is home to an always welcome onboard volume wheel, a mic mute button, and a power button that's differently textured so you can always find it by touch. The right ear then offers buttons for adjusting game/chat balance and for Razer SmartSwitch, which offers a number of sound profiles that you can tweak via the Razer Synapse app—but I'm going to put a cat claw in Razer's suite of software for the moment, though.

Another neat aspect of the Kraken Kitty V3 Pro is that you can both connect to your phone via Bluetooth, plus your PC via the 2.4 GHz dongle simultaneously. The practical reality of this is that the headset will pipe in the audio of, say, the podcast playing on your phone until it detects game audio from your PC, which will then supersede the previous audio output. While I appreciate this feature, I also would've liked the option to switch between audio connections with a button press.

On the subject of connectivity, I ran into brief hiccups where sound would intermittently cut out over Bluetooth. These split second outages only occurred over Bluetooth, on both my phone and PC, whether I was simultaneously connected via the 2.4 GHz mode or not. I'm not sure what caused these oh so brief interruptions over Bluetooth—my best guess is perhaps the Kraken Kitty does not care for Glitter and Be Gay from the operetta Candide quite as much as I do.

The audio quality itself over a Bluetooth connection isn't half bad, but 2.4 GHz mode offers a distinct step up in clarity. Add to that the Kraken Kitty V3 Pro's support of THX Spatial audio, and this is easily my favourite way to play DOOM: The Dark Ages. The doomslayer's hefty footsteps have never sounded so crisp, but I definitely appreciate the added energy of "Let's rip and tear through the hordes of hell, uwu."

The Synapse software allows you to more finely tune the EQ across a number of profiles. The standard 'game' profile is a flat line, but the intuitive software welcomes audio noodling. The default 'movie' profile strongly de-emphasises bass and low mids while upping the upper mids, and 'music' slightly boosts sub bass alongside mid range tones, but all of these are easily adjusted too.

Anyway, one of the Pro-exclusive headset features is the very swish retractable Razer HyperClear Super Wideband Mic; rather than offering versatility by way of a detachable mic arm, this just spools back inside the left ear cup. In theory this makes the Kraken Kitty V3 Pro a versatile headset you could use for more things than just gaming—though I don't think I quite have the amount of aura necessary to pull off wearing cat ears more casually.

Besides such sartorial matters, the Kraken Kitty doesn't offer much in the way of water resistance either. If I was to feel brave and use it on my walk to work, I would've also appreciated onboard song skip and pause buttons too.

To return to my earlier point about the microphone arm, the spool-away design is very cool—so long as you never run into some sort of fault with this curly-wurly mic, I assume. My catastrophising aside, it feels like a robust bit of kit that should happily perform its party horn impression for many Discord sessions to come.

Listen to the microphone test here:

As for audio quality, I was really impressed by this microphone. Even without any Synapse tinkering, my voice comes through exceptionally clearly. It's a level of audio precision you arguably don't need if you're just yelling at your friends over Discord, but as someone with a penchant for extended monologues even during my weekly catch up chats with pals, I definitely still appreciate it—and if you do find it lacking a certain something, it's easy enough to adjust the levels of the microphone equaliser in Synapse.

RGB is another, ahem, highlight, shining out from both the ersatz ears on top of the headband as well as from the cans either side of your head. You can either create custom lighting profiles or set the RGB to dynamically react to whatever you're playing or listening to via the Razer Chroma app. However, this is only if you're connected via the 2.4 GHz dongle or fully plugged in, as the software won't detect the headset over a Bluetooth connection.

Listen to the poetry reading microphone test here:

Razer's Chroma Studio allows you to create fairly complex lighting profiles, with the potential for the ears to sport different lighting effects and colours independent of the various segments on the ear cups. I enjoyed and was oh so slightly overwhelmed by the wealth of lighting options available here, but it's easy enough to get the Kraken Kitty—not to mention whatever other Razer kit you may have—all working in concert for your tiny desk lightshow.

You can adjust the brightness of the Kraken Kitty's RGB lights on a slider in the Chroma app, with the headset offering striking luminosity even before you whack this all the way up to 100%. The kitty ears feature a translucent plastic for the RGB to shine through, dispersing the light evenly but slightly dialling down the vibrancy. The ear cup lights are arguably brighter but shine through pin pricks all over the pink plastic face of the ear cup as well as the Razer logo in the centre. Neither are going to hurt your eyes, but are perhaps better suited to a moodily lit gaming den rather than the well lit offices of PCG towers.

All around, the Kraken Kitty V3 Pro headset feels like the expensive bit of kit that it is. Thankfully, for everybody who wants to be a cat but on a budget, there's also the more affordable V3 X model, which costs about a third of what Razer is asking for the Pro. The cheaper model still offers kitty-eared charm, but it's not wireless and its mic arm isn't retractable. The X's cans also feature an older version of the Pro's Titanium Triforce 40 mm drivers. This means you're still likely to get crisp audio from the more budget-friendly version of the headset, though this comes sans support for THX spatial audio, offering 7.1 surround sound instead.

While I'm on the subject of more affordable audio alternatives, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my other new favourite headset, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X in lilac. Costing around $70 less, you lose the cat ears, RGB lighting and, of course, the wipe-clean ear cups. However, for $110 you still get your pick of appealing colourways, alongside great audio, lots of EQ options, and also nine hours of battery life from only 15 minutes of time spent charging. The main sticking point—you know, besides the lack of cat ears—is the Arctis Nova 3X's microphone; though you can fully detach the microphone arm itself, the audio quality simply can't stack up against the V3 Pro's clarity.

What you're getting for the money from Razer is not only a head-turning bit of kit with heaps of style, but also no small amount of substance. All of my earlier praise aside, I also simply feel happier wearing these—yes, even though it's pink. You read it here first: friendship ended with the lilac SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X headset, the Kraken Kitty V3 Pro is my best friend now.

Some of the most iconic headphones in the streamer landscape have just received an upgrade as Razer shows off the new Kraken Kitty V3 lineup of headsets. These are the cutesy cans with the lit up ears you’ve no doubt seen being worn by internet personalities and influencers who can match that style.

The Kraken Kitty V3 lineup is the successor to the V2, which has garnered mass popularity and even spawned sweet collabs like the Gengar and Sanrio collaborations. While other Razer headsets have had refreshes it’s been a while since we’ve seen anything from the Kitty line since the V2 pro, and ear obsessed gamers have had to make do with the V2 specs for a few years.

The new Kraken Kitty V3s come in two options, the Pro and X variants. The pro is the beefier, and pricier option coming in at $180 USD or $330 AUD where as the X is the cheaper lightweight option and will set you back $60 USD or $110 AUD. Both sport those kitty ears, so the important bit is covered no matter which option you choose.

One of the first points of difference in the new Kraken Kitty V3 Pro is a greater focus on connectivity. The V3s support Razer HyperSpeed wireless connectivity as well as Bluetooth as well as a cabled connection via USB-A. This also means you can charge and play which is useful given those game reactive RGB lit ears and earcuffs probably add to the battery drain a touch more than the previous model which only featured lighting on the ears.

For sound quality these feature Razer’s TriForce Titanium 40 mm drivers, which is an upgrade over the 50 mm drivers from the V2 as well as THX Spatial Audio for 7.1 surround sound. This is paired with a retractable wide band mic, as opposed to the cardiod style found on the V2. Both of which can be configured in the Razer Synapse app to maximise your incoming and outgoing sound.

The Kraken Kitty V3 X is definitely a more toned down option, but the budget price point makes it feel pretty worthwhile. You get a lightweight 270 g headset that uses a universal 3.5 mm headphone jack connection for sound—so it’ll work with almost every device especially if you have a USB-C converter. These sound like an affordable, versatile, and most importantly adorable set of headphones.

Both variations of the Kraken Kitty v3 are available now and come in the familiar Razer black with green highlights, popular pink with white highlights, and sweet looking white colourways.

Raucous laughter, babies crying, someone coughing up a lung—the joys of air travel. I'm thankful for my plush neck pillow and face mask to keep my senses dulled to what's around me when I fly, though nothing has made as great a difference as my noise cancelling headphones. The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal are my blocker of choice, as they're the most effective at reducing outside noise and jet turbine rumble to the bare minimum. So, you might be surprised to hear my rally against noise cancelling headphones for gaming, but let me explain.

Active noise cancelling (ANC) is when the headset uses microphones and onboard processing to counteract outside interference. It's quite literally cancelling the noise out with an equal and opposite soundwave. There are multiple types of ANC: feed-forward, which uses a microphone outside the device to pickup external noise; and feed-back, which listens closely to what's happening closer to the listener's ear canal to more accurately counteract what's actually seeping in. The best systems often use a combination of both and adapt how they use each technology for better results. That's what the Beoplay Portal offers, so it's a great example of what ANC can offer, especially for travelling the globe.

I use a different pair of noise-cancelling headphones at home on my gaming PC: SteelSeries' Arctis Nova Pro. These offer hot-swappable batteries and, in effect, infinite battery life. That was their main draw for me using them, though the 4-mic ANC had seemed a net benefit even in my relatively quiet office. And indeed it has: some distractions seem less so for wearing them, if I remember to turn ANC on.

Both the Beoplay and Nova Pro cancel out persistent noise best. Spiky, inconsistent sound won't be removed anywhere near as well, as has always been the case with any ANC I've tried. The roar of a jet turbine, the whirr of a desk fan, or the sound of a gaming laptop trying its best to stay cool—all easily removed. Where things get trickier is with the sounds of humans talking, a doorbell, or the sound of music or TV played at any considerable volume elsewhere. ANC does not deal with these particularly well. A kid screaming three seats away on a long-haul flight tends to seep through the algorithm.

You know what has a more universal ability? Sound isolation. Rather than cancel out any unwanted noise, this is the means of blocking any soundwaves reaching your ears whatsoever. It's passive, rather than active, requiring no significant technology in the earcup, relying instead on solid design and materials to reach the desired effect.

Never has the difference between active noise cancellation and passive sound isolation been so stark than in my recent testing of the Audeze LCD-S20 Closed-Back headphones.

Where some audio slips through the net with ANC, very little squeaks through the variable brick wall of the LCD-S20. Of all the headphones I wear around the house—as someone that tests them for a living, that's a lot—it's only the LCD-S20 that allow my partner to unintentionally jumpscare me by walking up to my desk. Not any of the active ANC headphones or earbuds (did I mention the Liberty 4 Pro I use on my exercise bike and often out of the house have ANC, too?); nope, the completely passive pair.

That is, in part, thanks to the LCD-S20's closed-back design. There's more to good sound isolation than earcup construction alone, as I'll get to shortly, but it's worth considering the differences in closed-back and open-back headphones if you're looking for a pair of headphones to block out the world. There's a world of difference here.

A closed-back headset is fairly self-explanatory: it's a headset with no vents, grill, or mesh on the rear of the earcup, fully encasing the driver within. This, in turn, keeps soundwaves bouncing around inside the headset. This has a few benefits and drawbacks. The main benefit is greater sound isolation (most of the time), and less leakage. That means anyone in close proximity doesn't have to hear your latest music obsession (Bilmuri anyone?). The drawback is that, arguably (and I will argue this to the bitter end) open-back is better in literally every other way.

But we're talking about blocking out the outside world here. Open-back is truly dreadful at that. The LCD-S20's might lose out on the expansive and airy tone for their closed-back design, one that looks like an LA observatory on either ear, but they don't let a decibel in or out.

We're used to closed-back headphones in the world of gaming headsets—few are open-back—though in the world of high-end audiophile headsets and, specifically, planar magnetic cans, the LCD-S20's closed-back design has it stick out like a sore thumb. So, you'd think that gaming headsets would share the isolating properties of the LCD-S20. Yet they rarely do. And more often get nowhere close.

I'd chalk this up to the other important factors in designing noise isolating headphones: choice of earpads and earcup design. The LCD-S20, like many planar magnetic cans, are huge and heavy. The earcups don't sit on the ear, they fully envelope it—providing you don't have massive ears. The earcups are made from a leatherette-like cloth with "acoustic dampening", and importantly seem to be plush enough to keep a firm hold of your head. Where gaming headsets falter by comparison is in their thinner, sometimes brandished as 'breathable', earcups, which let a lot more noise in as a result. Great for wicking away moisture from sweaty gamers, less so keeping noise out.

A headset needs to be designed from the ground up for sound isolation for top results, even if you can jury-rig new pads onto a headset with varying success. That's probably why gaming headsets with improved earcups and ANC still don't really square up to the real deal. Perhaps it's unfair to compare cheaper gaming headsets with other priorities to Audeze's $500 planar magnetic cans specifically created for sound isolation. After all, gaming headset do offer a lot of features, try to do it all and without wires, in a pretty affordable package versus some high-end headphones. So I will cut them some slack here.

But we shouldn't forget Razer, Steelseries and others throw ANC on their premium gaming headsets—like the Blackshark V3 Pro and aforementioned Nova Pro—with the sole intention of cutting out distractions. Neither of those examples do a spectacular job. As Dave points out in his Blackshark V3 Pro review, the ANC has a tough time of blocking much due to a lack of passive sound isolation. Both ANC solutions are easily beaten in my estimations through better design and choice of materials.

So, if gaming headsets are serious about cutting out unwanted noise, I'd like to see a shift from a reliance on ANC to an entirely new design philosophy. That doesn't necessarily mean ditching ANC entirely. Some get it right, like the AceZone A-Spire, and there's no doubt it makes for a huge improvement on travel-friendly earbuds—the Audeze LCD-S20 and Maxwells are not portable enough for travelling around the globe with. Though too often it feels like an easy addition to hit a new premium price point on a dedicated gaming headset and without much consideration for making it genuinely good.

Bluetooth, a short-range wireless communication system, has been around for so long that we expect every PC and accompanying peripheral to support it without fuss or bother. However, for transmitting multiple audio channels simultaneously, it's not been so great, making it a poor choice for gamers wanting to chat mid-battle. Well, Microsoft has finally done something about that, and Windows 11 now properly supports super wideband audio in stereo, even when using a mic at the same time.

If you're wondering what on Earth any of that means, Microsoft explains it rather nicely in a blog about the Bluetooth LE Audio update. Before we dig into that, let's start with a quick scenario where you have a wireless gaming headset paired with a gaming laptop, via Bluetooth.

You're playing a round of Battlefield 6, using spatial sound effects to keep track of your opponents around you. Suddenly, you spot a problem and yell an instruction to your friends. All of a sudden, you lose the spatial effect, and the sounds go really muddy.

It's not the game or your hardware that's the problem: it's Windows. Up until now, Microsoft's operating system couldn't handle so-called super wideband audio (32 kHz sampling rate) in stereo, while simultaneously transmitting the microphone channel. The best it could do is drop the audio stream into mono mode, which instantly removes any spatial/surround sound effects.

You can see why Microsoft is rather pleased with its Windows update, because all that mono madness is now a thing of the past. Yes, we are in the year 2025, and yes, stereo has been a thing for…well…longer than PCs have been around. However, Bluetooth LE Audio is only five years old, so Microsoft can perhaps be forgiven for only being a little bit late to the party.

Personally, I never use Bluetooth on my gaming PC, as my Audeze Maxwell headset comes with a little 2.4 GHz dongle that has no problems dealing with stereo audio streams with spatial effects when using the microphone at the same time. But I'm sure there are plenty of gamers out there who do use Bluetooth, so this Windows update will be music to their ears.

Of course, there are a couple of caveats. First of all, you only get the super-duper wideband stereo audio in Windows 11 24H2, so if you're still on Windows 10 or haven't updated your Windows 11 installation, you'll probably want to avoid using Bluetooth (or just don't talk in games).

Secondly, your PC and headset will need to support the latest Bluetooth LE Audio specification. Thirdly, even if the hardware does, the drivers for it all might not, so you'll need to check with the manufacturer for a relevant software or firmware update. Microsoft has a short guide on how to check if your headset supports LE Audio when connected via BT.

Windows is planned to get even better Bluetooth audio support, with future updates bringing higher sampling rates ('CD-quality') and as long as it all works smoothly, I'm all for better quality sound in games. Ray-traced photorealistic graphics grab all the headlines, but they're all for nought if the game sounds like a lone dry pea rattling around a tin can.

One of the best collabs I've ever seen is finally releasing in regions other than Asia. That's right, those freaking cool Gengar Kraken Kitty V2 headsets from Razer are finally releasing in more markets, including the United States, Latin America, Europe, New Zealand, and thankfully for this Pokemon nut, Australia.

Razer's latest global Pokemon release really let me down. The designs looked more like a kids toy than a set of gaming peripherals. I remember lamenting to myself that it wasn't as cool as the Gengar headset that was at the time, exclusive to certain markets. Thankfully everything I dislike about the look of that release is completely absent here, and what we have is a really whimsical set of cans.

The whole Kraken Kitty V2 is coloured in the rich purples, with spots of lighter highlights, mimicking the stylings of one of the most beloved ghost Pokemon of all time. Purple spikes even line the top band to recreate Gengar's signature spooky shape.

They don't light up though, like ears on the other Kraken Kitty headsets. This means some of the Razer Chroma effects won't be as obvious to viewers if you're a streamer or content creator. Which let's face it, many of you dying for this headset likely are.

Instead the Gengar spikes look more like what I saw in the Kuromi headset with solid joker hat spikes on top. If they feel anything like the Kuromi headset from the brand's recent Sanrio collab, they'll be delightfully soft and slightly rubbery making them fun to play with.

Being a Kraken headset means we still have some Razer RGB lit glory going on. The light holes on the sides that would normally sport the Razer logo have been transformed into Gengar silhouettes. The earcuffs even hide little hidden Gengar details for fans to enjoy.

Other than that you're getting Razer's standard Kraken Kitty V2 headset complete with cardioid mic, TriForce 40 mm Drivers, and 7.1 Surround sound. These are also a wired headset, which is worth being aware of if you're used to cableless freedom. Being tethered to an other-worldy plane by a small chord does sound like something that could happen to a ghost-type Pokemon though.

If this Gengar headset is making you scream "I choose you!" then you might want to get in fast. The word is these are limited stock, so once they're gone that might be it. They're retailing a little higher than the normal Kraken Kitty V2, going for $140 USD, or $240 AUD and are available on the Razer website.

Gamescom is upon us and announcements around all things gaming are coming thick and fast. Whether you're excited about new game releases like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 or fancy hardware, there's something coming out of Gamescom 2025 to grab your attention. One line of products I personally wasn't expecting was Sony's new line of Inzone gear, all aimed specifically at PC gamers with hefty wallets.

The new suits of peripherals takes note from other big PC gaming brands, and has been codeveloped alongside an esports team. In this case it's Fnatic, once known for their CS:GO prowess, nowadays they're celebrated for League of Legends and Valorant among other games. Still, the boast is that this new line of Inzone gear was designed for FPS play with esports professionals.

First up we have the new flagship cans from Sony with the Inzone H9 11 Headset which is definitely aimed at the high-er end pricepoint. Coming in at $500 AUD you'd want to expect a premium device. Even Razer's priciest Pro headset at the moment undercuts it by $50 AUD.

Sony are known for producing some excellent audiophile headsets, and some great gaming ones too like the Sony Inzone H5, so it could be there's something to the 7.1 surround sound delivered by carbon composite diaphragms and Fnatic tuned EQs.

Otherwise it also boasts active noise cancelling, which is hopefully better than what we see on the BlackShark V3 Pro. There's a detachable cardioid mic that has inbuilt AI optimisation to cut background noise, and it boasts a 30 hour battery life with Bluetooth, wired, or 2.4 GHz connections. Even so, it's fairly lightweight, coming in at 260 g which paired with the floating headstrap should make for comfortable wear.

Still if wearing something on your head is really a no go, the Inzone E9 wired in-ear headphones might be more your speed. Hopefully they're an improvement over the last Sony Inzone buds we looked at. These are closed earphones and have the jackhammer design with switchable tips for different levels of isolation. These also boast the Fnatic EQ optimisations and will retail for $210 AUD.

Sony is dipping its toes into some new tech here too, releasing its first gaming keyboard with a super Sony price to match. The Inzone KBD-H75 features rapid trigger, which is basically a non-Razer version of Snap Tap, and a 8000 Hz polling rate. More importantly, this keyboard looks tiny.

Even though it's a 75% keyboard, the keys are closer together than usual after esports feedback and it has durable doubleshot PBT caps. It uses Hall effect switches but there's no word on how they feel, but they're gasket mounted to the chassis for extra comfort. Somehow it'll retail for $470 AUD.

Every keyboard needs a mouse companion, what with the loneliness epidemic and all, so Sony is also releasing the Inzone Mouse-A which also has an eye watering price tag of $270 AUD. It's a wireless mouse promising 10 hours of battery on the 2.4 GHz connection with 8000 Hz polling rate but only weighs 48.4 g.

If you're happier with slower polling you can extend that battery life up to 90 hours and it also works cabled. The switches are optical, which some folks say are the way to go and it uses a new bespoke 3950IZ sensor which boasts 30,000 DPI tracking.

And to go under these Sony is offering two mousepads with the Inzone Mat-F and Mat-D. The F is the thicker of the two running 6 mm, and is designed for high control. The Mat-D is 4mm thick and has min-maxced for smoothness and speed. The Mat-F will retail for $130 and the Mat-D for $75. Like most of the other products here they have me wondering how they could possibly be worth that much.

If these peripherals end up justifying their hefty price tags then that's as exciting as it is terrifying. I'm always willing to be surprised by some epic kit, so I'm hoping this release in October will deliver some super high-quality gear, as opposed to slapping a brand name on and hoping for the best.

The Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro is our favourite wireless audiophile gaming headset, and I should know, I'm the one who reviewed it. As I tested it, however, I came up with a couple of drawbacks—it's wired only, and you can't detach the mic. It seems like Beyerdynamic may have been listening, as it's just announced two new wireless models with removable microphones. But should you be a US resident, I wouldn't get too excited just yet, as the company says they'll only be available in Canada and the EU for now.

The Beyerdynamic MMX 150 wireless is the cheaper of the two, with an MSRP of $250 CAD/€179. It looks like a Beyerdynamic model through and through, what with those wide, circular earcups and squishy velour earpads, and features 40 mm dynamic drivers that the company claims are "detail-rich", along with 50-hour battery life.

We've long rated Beyerdynamic gear for its excellent sound, but this new 2.4 GHz set looks to take things one step further than your average gaming set with what Beyerdynamic calls its "META voice" detachable microphone.

That's "Most Effective Tactic Available", apparently. Ugh. Still, the cardioid condenser mic on the MMX 330 Pro is one of the best I've heard on a gaming set, so hopefully Beyerdynamic brings some of that knowledge over to this newer, slightly cheaper model. I say slightly, because it's still pretty pricey for a modern gaming headset. It better live up to expectations for that sort of cash, in my book.

The MMX 230 wireless, however, is more expensive still, with a $350 CAD/€249 MSRP. It's got a few more fancy specs to be aware of, though, including a bleeding-edge Bluetooth 6.0 connection for taking it on the move and a noise cancelling mic that Beyerdynamic says ensures "gamers voices cut through the chaos with crystal clarity, blocking out background distraction to hear every callout, every time."

Yep, that'll be a noise cancelling unit then. Other than that, it's also got a set of 40 mm drivers providing the audio firepower, and a smooth, rounded outer earcup appearance that should hopefully draw less attention in public than some of Beyerdynamic's other designs. Oh, and removable batteries, which means you can swap out one 60-hour unit for another when you run low on juice, like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro.

Like the MMX 150, it also comes with a USB Type-C low latency dongle for 2.4 GHz wireless gaming, and both sets will be available in black or white colourways, as is the way with many modern sets these days. No lilac? Our Jess will be most disappointed.

They look like handsome beasts, I think you'll agree, but the lack of US availability raises an eyebrow. Hopefully that's a temporary blip, but time will tell. Still, with multiple US tariffs still in effect, I'd imagine that'd go some way towards explaining the omission.

I'll be very keen to see if Beyerdynamic can successfully make the leap into proper wireless gaming headset territory (beyond the Bluetooth-only wireless models it's released to date) with less audiophile-focussed, more gaming-specific models. To the testing booth, Batman!

Until very recently, the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless was our favourite wireless gaming headset, right up until the magnificent Razer BlackShark V3 ate its lunch. It hasn't taken HyperX long to strike back, however, with the newly-announced HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless 2—complete with a fancy RGB-lit base station with a selection of media controls.

HyperX describes it as an "audio control hub" complete with customisable RGB lighting, a smattering of programmable buttons for all your macro needs, seamless device switching capabilities, and a bloomin' great dial in the middle. As an audio expert, I can tell you this is probably used to adjust the volume. Probably.

The drivers have had a significant upgrade, too, from the 50 mm units found in the OG Cloud Alpha Wireless to 53 mm, multi-layer composite models, which HyperX says are engineered to "reduce distortion to the lowest level." Whether they'll be able to compete with the harmonic distortion-reducing driver plug on the back of the BlackShark's units, though, remains to be seen.

The set also now supports simultaneous 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth connections, so you can keep your phone connected while you game so you don't miss an important notification. Plus, microfibre earcups, a 10 mm microphone capsule... it's a suite of impressive upgrades all-round, with one notable exception—the battery life.

The big, headline grabbing feature of the Cloud Alpha 1 Wireless (as I'm now calling it) was a massive 300-hour battery life, but the Cloud Alpha 2 Wireless drops it down to 250 hours. HyperX says this is still more than 2x longer than "other industry gaming headsets", which I suppose is true on average, but it's still a downgrade over the previous model.

Following closely on the Cloud Alpha 2's heels is the HyperX Cloud Flight 2, presumably a more budget model with lesser specs. Here you get replaceable earcup plates, customisable RGB lighting, 50 mm drivers, and 100-hour battery life over the 2.4 GHz connection with the lighting turned off.

Turn that RGB up, though, and it drops down to 23 hours, which is quite the difference. You're really, really going to want to look good to sacrifice that much battery life for the sake of a headset glow, but perhaps streamers won't find it too much of an issue.

HP has been in touch since this article was published to confirm pricing for the Cloud Alpha 2 Wireless, and hold on to your hats: it's $300. The original Cloud Alpha Wireless retailed for $200, but could be often found for a fair bit lower in the sales. The new Alpha feels like a bit of a gamble on HyperX's part, betting on reduced battery life in exchange for an RGB-laden doohickey, upgraded drivers, and a significantly higher price in a crowded headset market.

Our best gaming headset guide is always ready to accept new contenders, but in my opinion, the BlackShark V3 is going to be tough to beat. Time will tell, as always.

Gaming headsets have, in many ways, become much of a muchness in terms of what you can expect once you start shopping in the $100-$200 range. I've reviewed enough of the blighters over the years to know what I want to see when I open the box of a new review sample. A good microphone, 40 mm+ drivers, comfortable earpads, a 2.4 GHz wireless dongle. Same old, same old.

But the Fractal Design Scape adds such a hefty dose of refinement to this gaming headset recipe, it stands apart. Opening the eco-friendly box reveals a headset and charging stand combo that manages to feel instantly familiar, and yet honed to such a point that it makes most of the models I review seem a bit old-fashioned.

It's $200/£172, and that's a fair whack of cash for a non-noise cancelling model. It's a mostly plastic construction, with textured fabric earcups and a similarly-clothed inner headband, a detachable cardioid microphone, and handsome, understated good looks. So far, so mostly-standard. A quick appraisal of the chassis, however, reveals some design touches that make you realise where all that money might have been spent.

It's the little things that stand out. The headband adjustment, for example, clunks and clicks with the same sort of satisfying thunk you might expect out of an expensive car seatbelt mechanism. The plastics feel thick and weighty, with a slightly dusky, satin finish that feels good underneath the fingertips. And the fabrics? They're more the sort of thing I'd expect to find while shopping for a new piece of furniture, never mind on a piece of gaming gear.

On the rear of the left earcup is a touch-sensitive volume dial, mounted sideways so you can adjust it without reaching fully behind the set. Beneath that is a large, slightly recessed mic mute button, and under that is a flush, spring-loaded three way switch for the connection options. Lock it into the furthest position, and you're in 2.4 GHz wireless mode.

Push it to the middle, and you've got Bluetooth 5.3. Push it to its furthest position, and it springs back to the Bluetooth setting with its pairing mode activated, revealing a tiny flash of blue paint underneath the outer switch gear as it fires back into place. It's all very… nice. Thoughtful. A little bit more than I was expecting.

On the right earcup are RGB on/off controls and an EQ-switching button, complete with a tiny white LED indicator to show you which of the three EQ-modes you're currently in. Speaking of RGB, the Scape's lighting emerges from underneath the gap between the fabric earpads and the frame, creating an attractive, subtle glow. Oh, and I've just discovered that the earpads are easily removable with a satisfying click, while inspecting the RGB rings themselves. That's the Scape all over—the more you look, the more clever details you find.

Cleverest of all, however, is the charging stand. The 2.4 GHz dongle (complete with cute little fabric tab, for easy removal) sockets into its own USB Type-A port underneath, while the whole affair connects to your machine with a Type-C cable. But the real party trick is the charging mechanism itself. There are no clunky connectors here—simply offer the Scape headset up to the stand, and it magnetically pulls itself onto two circular, fabric-covered protrusions and charges itself wirelessly.

It's difficult for me to overstate just what a pleasure this is after wrangling with clunky, socket-based charging stations, like the one you'll find included with the Nacon Rig 900 Max HS. I'm often up and down from my desk, answering the door and making endless cups of coffee. Simply being able to clunk the Scape in the rough direction of its charging socket and letting the magnets do the rest has meant that it's rarely, if ever, without charge, and it keeps my desk looking tidy at the same time.

Should you push it to its limits, the Scape will provide 40-hours of battery life with the RGB turned off, and 24-hours with it on. That's far from the most impressive figure I've ever seen, especially when compared to something like the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless and its massive 300-hours of potential juice, but the convenience of the charging stand makes it something of a non-issue for me.

Plus, you get four hours worth of battery life out of just 15 minutes in the stand, so even if you do stay up for a 24-hour mega-gaming-marathon with the RGB on, you're a mere snack break away from another 4 hours of gameplay.

The drivers on offer here are 40 mm neodymium units, and out of the box they're what I'd describe as "gently tuned." They're subtle, warm affairs, leaning toward the neutral in terms of sound profile with a tendency towards clarity at the top end. Eager to see what they were capable of (and eyeing that switchable EQ option up with relish), I rushed to install the software, only to find there isn't any.

Fractal allows you to adjust the Scape via a web app, although you can also download an offline version, something that didn't appear to be the case when I first tested the set—although I'm prepared to admit I may have missed the option. It's tucked away in the settings tab of the web page, but sure enough, it's there.

Still, the web app itself is actually pretty good. Here you can adjust and save your audio settings with an easy-to-understand simplified parametric EQ, or tweak the RGB with several esoterically-named lighting options like "northern lights", "summer sky", or "radiant dawn". You can also customise lighting options of your own, and adjust and test the microphone, complete with a noise cancelling option.

The noise cancelling itself is a bit of a blunt instrument, as you can hear from the digitally distorted breath sounds between lines in the clip above. The mic tone itself is perfectly decent, but, it must be said, not the best I've heard from a headset of this price.

Speaking of which, that's one feature I'd like to see added to the Scape—noise cancelling for the headset, not just the mic. It strikes as a bit of a glaring omission given its $200 MSRP, and the fabric earcups, while extremely comfortable, aren't particularly good at blocking out unwanted noise by themselves. They also rustle slightly when you put them on, which I initially mistook for a crackle in the headset itself. That may be due to an interaction with my long hair that less hirsute human beings won't be bothered by, but still. It's a naughty niggle, on what is otherwise a very smooth user experience.

Anyway, to the sound. As previously mentioned, the drivers have a tendency towards the warm, but they're also very capable of delivering a surprising amount of shiny detail at the top end. For gaming, this means you get the best of both worlds, particularly if you take advantage of the EQ to fatten up the bass response for chonky explosions.

Whizzing bullets and crackling fires have an instant liveliness that certainly helps to up the immersion in a multiplayer shooter, and the Scape's drivers prove to be speedy customers under duress. There's a tightness to the response here that won't be for everyone, but it makes for a very immediate, punchy sonic palette that I find very pleasant to listen to.

Interestingly, the drivers penchant for quick-fire detail response and the tight soundstaging comes with a slightly unwanted effect. Listening to YouTube content (or anything that's, how shall I put this, loosely edited) reveals audio blips with pinpoint precision.

The only other drivers I can think of that do this with regularity are planar magnetics, which probably speaks well of the Scape, but it's one of those things that once you hear it, you can't unhear it. My Sennheiser earbuds also have a tendency to highlight the odd unwanted blip, so the Scape is in good company, at least.

Overall, though, the Fractal Design Scape sounds great, which in combination with its ultra-convenient charging stand and all-day comfort means it's quickly earned a spot as my daily driver. Given that I have an astonishing amount of gaming headsets at my disposal (15 in my house alone, at last count), I think that speaks to just how convenient the Scape is to live with on a daily basis.

I use it for meetings and the odd spot of music listening during my working day, and switch over to gaming with it at night. I'm also a big fan of the weighty bass response it's capable of delivering at low volumes with an EQ tweak, which means I can happily thrum along to a bassline at reasonable volumes while I write. I'm listening to it as I finish off this review, in fact. It's very pleasant.

In fact, perhaps the word "pleasant" is doing the Scape a disservice. It's a refined, honed, unmistakably Nordic piece of design, with enough care and thought put into its features that it really does make other gaming headsets feel a little behind the times.

Enough so, in fact, that I can just about justify its $200 price tag—although it must be said, it's starting to edge into hyper-premium headset territory. The Audeze Maxwell drops down to around $260 on occasion in the sales, and it's a planar magnetic gaming headset that has the Fractal truly beaten for sound quality.

But for convenience, refinement, and something wonderful to put atop your head (and rest on your desk) on the daily? The Fractal Design Scape really is a fabulous thing. Here's hoping it's just the beginning of a wealth of super-comfy, easy to live with gaming headsets to come.

There are many differences between Razer's BlackShark V2 and the new V3 line of gaming headsets—from sparkling new drivers to super-speedy low-latency connections—but the thing that really jumps out to me is the fact that it's wireless from top to bottom.

Once, it was just the Pro version that got the wireless treatment at launch, with the non-Pro BlackShark V2 just a standard wired set of cans. This time around, Razer has given us three new Blackshark headsets, from $99 up to $250, and they're all cable-free. That's great news for us PC gamers, though maybe less so for the pricey Razer BlackShark V3 Pro, which I've had a slightly troubled time reviewing given its price and my feelings about its ANC feature.

So, maybe it's inevitable that the Razer BlackShark V3, the middle child of the new range, is my favourite. And, honestly, I think it might even knock the ageing HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless off its longtime perch atop our list of the best wireless gaming headsets. I've spent a long while testing this new headset side-by-side with the HyperX set, the old BlackShark V2 Pro, and the new V3 Pro, and this is going to be the one which remains plugged into my office rig.

The main reason for that is that the BlackShark V3 just sounds great. The new drivers are slightly different from the top-end TriForce Gen-2 drivers built for the V3 Pro headset in that they use a titanium coating rather than a bio-cellulose diaphragm, but I have really, really struggled to tell the difference between the audio representation of the V3 Pro and the straight BlackShark V3.

From what I can glean, it is just the diaphragm that's changed between the two 50 mm TriForce drivers, which means you're getting the best of the rest of the redesigned cans' features. Of those, the key features are the "driver plug", which reportedly reduces harmonic distortion by up to 50%, and the 75% bigger magnet in the base of the driver, which is there to improve the bass response and help increase the clarity of the sound.

And the difference this makes is pretty huge. There's a level of clarity and detail to the BlackShark V3 now, which makes it one of the best-sounding gaming headsets you can clamp onto your bonce. I'm still going to be leaning on my Audeze Maxwells when I'm gaming at home, just for their planar magnetic perfection, but honestly, the sound from these $150 cans is really not a million miles away from that $300 set.

As I said, I've been comparing this new headset to the Cloud Alpha Wireless—because it's our current pick as the best wireless headset. The HyperX set's dual-chamber drivers still sound good, with a warm, detailed sound. They were, after all, the specific target when Razer was designing its own ported, multi-chamber driver design for the original BlackShark V2.

And the clarity of the Cloud Alpha Wireless feels almost on-par with the new BlackShark V3… until a lot starts happening. This is where you can really tell the difference in quality between the competing drivers. When it all kicks off in the heat of battle in your chosen gameworld, or you hit the drop where a song mix brings in a lot of different instruments, that's where the TriForce drivers shine.

It's not that the HyperX cans' audio gets muddy so much, but it becomes hard to pinpoint individual sounds. That's not the case with the BlackShark V3, where the detail of each individual element is retained. The cut-off on these drivers is excellent, which means the extra bass feels tight and high tones or vocals keep their own clarity within the mix. When there's a lot going on, that means you can really pinpoint those details—and when that becomes about knowing where footsteps or gunshots are coming from, that's a real aural advantage.

Basically, it's the audio quality that's really struck me about the new Razer headset, but that's not all it has going for it. Sure, you're not getting the active noise cancelling of the far more expensive BlackShark V3 Pro, but I'm not hugely sold on its effectiveness anyways. And the ear cups on the straight V3 headset are a mix of leatherette and memory foam, which gives a fit and seal that actually delivers an impressive level of passive noise isolation on their own.

And without that ANC increasing the pressure on your ears, combined with the fact that the BlackShark V3 is near 100 g lighter than the V3 Pro—and around 50 g lighter than the Cloud Alpha Wireless—you're getting a gaming headset which feels comfortable even for the long haul.

I'm a big fan of the BlackShark chassis in general, too. The overall design hasn't really changed between versions two and three, but that's not an issue at all. I love the big, physical volume knob on the left ear cup, and the mute and power buttons have always felt placed right. It's a clean design, too, with just a connection toggle button and a configurable secondary dial on the right ear cup.

Okay, you're not getting the 'Pro' stitching of the more expensive BlackShark, but it's solid, robust, light, and feels like it will take an absolute pounding day in, day out.

The only other place you miss out against the $100 pricier Razer headset is in the mic. Where the V3 Pro uses a new 12 mm microphone, this middle-order headset uses the same 9.9 mm mic as the BlackShark V2 Pro 2023 update. If I'm honest, for me that's not a big issue. It's detachable, and at home I'm still going to be using an affordable desk mic for improved clarity anyway, but in the office I can happily use it for meetings and voice chats without issue.

Default EQ:

Broadcast EQ:

Oh, and it only comes in black right now, while you can get the V3 Pro in my preferred white. But then, it is the BlackShark, right?

Where it does lose out against the HyperX set is in that battery life. The 300 hours of uptime on the Cloud Alpha Wireless is well beyond the 70 hours the BlackShark V3 can offer, and instinctually, that feels like a big miss between two wireless headsets. However, Razer estimates that just 15 minutes of charging time will get you six hours of gaming.

It is worth saying that one of the other headline features of the new BlackShark does have a severe impact on its battery life, too. The HyperSpeed Wireless interface has a low-latency mode, which is enabled by default, and drops the connection speed to an unprecedented 10 ms. The standard HyperSpeed connection is around 25 ms by contrast.

That's great when it comes to competitive gaming for sure, but like the 8K polling rate of a modern gaming mouse, it will more than halve your battery life. Razer tells me that you're looking at a little over 30 hours of battery life with it enabled at 50% volume.

I have to say, I'd welcome an automatic setting in the Synapse software like the dynamic polling rate switch for the DeathAdder V4 Pro, which can tell when a full-screen game is running and can flip from 1,000 Hz to the battery-draining 8,000 Hz polling rate on the fly.

When I'm just on a call or listening to music while I'm working, I don't need to have a 10 ms latency that's going to kill my battery life, but to have that come into play when I might actually need it would be a great feature.

While Synapse is still a pain in the butt when it demands a complete system restart for just plugging in a new device, there are still a bunch of actually useful features in there. You get the different EQ settings, which can really make a difference to your audio, and that includes game-specific EQs, which you can add to your quick access list. There are also enhancements, such as the ultra-low 10 ms latency toggle, options for your simultaneous 2.4 GHz/Bluetooth sound mix, and other actual audio enhancements.

There are also specific EQ settings to tune the sound of the microphone, and a handy little option to pick what you want the LED on the wireless dongle to denote. I like it to have the battery indicator on there, personally.

It is worth noting that, because it's using that HyperSpeed dongle, gone is the discreet wireless USB connector. Instead, you need to connect via a cable looping around onto your desktop. It's a little frustrating if you're on a laptop, but as you get audio via the USB cable when filling up the battery that's going to double as your charging cable anyways, so it's less of an inconvenience on a desktop setup.

And it's going to take something more than just an inconvenience to trump the audio quality on offer with the BlackShark V3. When the different headsets arrived in the office, it was always going to be about the top-end V3 Pro, for me. But the process of testing these different cans has shown just what a great wireless gaming headset this middle child is.

At $150, it's around the same price as the BlackShark V2 Pro and the Cloud Alpha Wireless, and I think it's a far better gaming headset than either of those. While I know that is still a good chunk of cash to drop on a PC peripheral, the comfort and audio quality that you're getting out of Razer's new drivers is going to have me championing the BlackShark V3 all day long.

It's about time Razer launched a properly new version of its flagship esports-focused BlackShark gaming headset. After all, the BlackShark V2 launched five years ago and was one of my early PC Gamer reviews on my return to the fold back in 2020.

As a card-carrying member of the HyperX Cloud Alpha fan club, I was surprised to find Razer rocking up and knocking the headset off its perch (stand?), but the company had made that its express purpose and nailed it on all fronts. Then came the BlackShark V2 Pro, the wireless version, which itself went toe-to-toe with the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless.

The wired and wireless versions—including the don't-call-it-as-sequel V2 Pro 2023 update—of the Razer and HyperX cans have been our picks as the best gaming headsets since they launched, and personally I've been using the wireless BlackShark V2 Pro as my go-to office headset all along. In fact, it's only the Audeze Maxwell headset that usurped it at home, because I'm an absolute sucker for a planar magnetic driver.

And now, in 2025, we have a new version, the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro. And it is an upgrade to the original almost across the board, though that includes a $50 upgrade to the original's MSRP, too. Just $10 a year since the original. A bargain, eh?

I will say that, on first pulling it out of the box, I was expecting it to be more or less the same situation as the original vs its 2023 update: pretty minor stuff, but overall a decent improvement.

But when it comes to the audio, this set is miles ahead. I'm still going to be keeping my Maxwells close, but the clarity and tonal separation on offer with Razer's Gen-2 TriForce drivers is something to behold. Belisten? Behear? Whatever. They sound great.

This was where Razer had managed to catch up to the Cloud Alpha headset that it was targeting with the BlackShark V2 cans. It was a deliberate thing, and the ported, chambered drivers closely ape the original HyperX design, creating a level of separation that I was not expecting from something billed as an esports headset.

And these new drivers are even better, to the point where I'm switching back to the 2023 version of the BlackShark V2 Pro and am now finding them suddenly rather one dimensional, and aurally flat by comparison. With a quality input source there is a clearly defined soundstage to the presentation, making it incredibly easy to pinpoint specific instruments in a song or elements in a gameworld. Razer has also found a little extra bass from somewhere, too, adding a level of gravity to the sound previous generations didn't quite have.

At too high volumes, that level of clarity can actually turn into some spiky treble, especially in the Music EQ setting. And that's not something I've felt in anything other than high-end, more reference-y headphones, and only very rarely in an actual gaming headset. The Game EQ setting lifts the bass and mids a touch, too, and that can level things out when things get loud in-game.

And in sometimes quite spectacular ways.

So, what's changed? The Gen-2 drivers have, apparently, been "completely revamped" while essentially retaining the same multi-chamber, ported design. There's a new driver "plug" which sits inside the middle of the bio-cellulose diaphragm and, according to Razer, that cuts distortion in half, which is theoretically what gives them the clarity I've been experiencing.

There's also a much bigger magnet in the base of the driver, too, reportedly 75% bigger. That larger magnet—and the resulting stronger magnetic field—are part of what gives the new TriForce drivers their tonal separation.

The new 12 mm pickup on the mic is pretty decent, too, especially when I've been playing with the EQ. The broadcast option does actually sound pretty good, though I have noticed a little interference occasionally when I was recording my own personal ASMR playlist.

Default EQ:

Broadcast EQ:

That is not to say I find the aural experience flawless, however. One of the most notable new additions to the BlackShark V3 Pro's feature set is that of active noise cancelling (ANC). Or rather what Razer's calling hybrid active noise cancelling as it's using four discrete microphones on the inside and outside of the headset. And, for me, it's bringing some downside and not a whole ton of upsides.

I get that ANC could be a handy tournament feature if done right, but I've got to say, even in our relatively sedate office (bar occasional heated exchanges over exactly when AI will take our jobs), it's not like things are that blocked out. I can still hear the tippety clack of mechanical gaming keyboards; I'm still aware of the dulcet tones of Jacob and Jacob indulging in yet another philosophical debate over the meaning of existence and self; I can still hear the office manager raging about the fire hazard of PC boxes I've littered around me; I've got the entire outside world still at the edge of my hearing.

Sure, it's definitely muted, but given the soft, padded memory foam ear cups are always going to leak some sound themselves—unlike the AceZone A-Spire, with its plush, head-hugging cups—the weak passive isolation doesn't help the BlackShark V3 Pro's efforts in keeping external noise at bay.

But the ANC does hinder the feel of the audio for me. One of the things I loved about the HyperX Cloud Alpha and the BlackShark V2 drivers was the fact they didn't feel like standard closed-back headsets. There is a wider, more open soundstage regularly only found in leaky open-back headsets, and that is lost with the active isolation of the noise cancelation being enacted on the V3 Pro.

I found it brings the sound closer in to my ears, even while retaining that impressive tonal separation and detailed soundstage, and that makes the long-term experience feel quite oppressive. In the heat of a pro-gaming tournoi, that might well be preferable or even desirable, but if you want to indulge in a lengthy play session at home I've found it less appealing and more fatiguing.

When I first started using the BlackShark V3 Pro I thought that was going to be a real issue, but the longer I've used them the more impressed I've been with the audio quality and clarity they deliver. When I'm gaming, or even just kicking back listening to music, for a shorter session I've found myself less bothered by it than I initially thought. But I've certainly needed to take a break from them every now and then.

And it does have me questioning whether I really want to pay $250 for a gaming headset where the main standout feature is something I don't think is particularly great or that I actually want. Which brings me onto the pigmy elephant in the room: the BlackShark V3. Sans Pro suffix, this middle-child of the new BlackShark lineup is around $100 cheaper, uses nearly the same drivers (using a titanium coated diaphragm instead of bio-cellulose), ditches the new 12 mm mic in favour of the old 9.9 mm detachable one, yet still rocks the same HyperSpeed Wireless connectivity with the optional 10 ms latency feature.

With the same pro-tuned features baked into the Synapse software you're getting all the custom EQ fun, all the same enhancements should you want them, and crucially the same audio experience.

It doesn't come in white, which is a bit of a bummer as I dig the aesthetic, but otherwise kinda has everything that I've loved about using the Pro version. It's lighter, too, by almost 100 g. No hybrid ANC, no 3.5 mm connection, but honestly, no worries.

Both sets also have the same 70 hour battery life. That's maybe a slight disappointment given the Cloud Alpha Wireless sports that unprecedented 300 hour battery, as the needle hasn't moved on from the BlackShark V2 Pro 2023 update. There's also the fact that if you use the super-fancy ultra-low latency toggle, which drops the wireless connection speed to just 10 ms, you're going to start eating through your battery even quicker than that.

Razer engineers have said you're looking at around 30 hours with that enabled alongside ANC and with the headset at 50% volume. And apparently the ANC itself has a "negligible" impact on the battery, which means the non-Pro BlackShark V3 will have the same battery life.

It's worth noting on both headsets ultra-low latency is toggled on by default, so you'll have to turn it off to get that battery life up. Razer's HyperSpeed wireless dongle will still get you around a 25 ms connection speed anyways, so unless you're super-sensitive to it I doubt you'll feel the change.

Essentially, these are the things which will have me steering gamers away from the Pro version of the new BlackShark headset. I don't particularly rate the ANC; that feature and presumably the bio-cellulose diaphragm (and maybe the bigger magnet) in the drivers add a ton of cost and weight to the set, and that's why I would honestly suggest saving your cash and heading for the non-Pro set instead.

It still sounds great, has the option for speed should you want to prioritise that over battery life, and is lighter on the head. That makes it a decent update over the current BlackShark V2 Pro for around the same price, and also makes the extra $100 for the V3 Pro a real tough ask when Razer has such extreme competition for it within its own stable, and when the stunning Audeze Maxwell set is just $50 more at most.

A good gaming headset has to be one of the most surprisingly significant upgrades to my setup. I still remember the first time I went from gaming on a cheap included headset to getting a decent pair of cans, and was astounded by the difference. I could hear everything, from atmospheric creeks to the doomed footsteps of my openants coming around the corner. Technology has come miles since my early days of acoustic awakenings, and now we see one of the biggest powerhouses in esports release its newest pro level headsets with the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro lineup of headsets.

I was lucky enough to go hands-on with the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro before launch and can say that these are a very comfortable and versatile headset. They're expensive, but the build quality and features are there to potentially make it a worthwhile purchase, especially for someone who really values their esports edge.

The BlackShark is Razer's heaviest hitters when it comes to esports pro gaming headsets, and the V3 has taken this mantel very seriously. This is true even if PC isn't your platform of choice, with optimised models for PlayStation and Xbox also releasing with themed blue or green trimming depending on your team. For PS fans, the headset works with Tempest 3D Audio, while Xbox gets Windows Sonic support. Those of us on PC can rely on THX Spatial Audio with 7.1.4 sound, which is said to be better for telling not just compass direction but also the height of a noise's origin.

To make the V3 Pro a step up over the V2 from 2012, or even the V2 2023 edition Razer have focussed on esports improvements. This starts with latency, and the BlackShark V3 Pro is the first headset to sport the brand's newest Gen-2 HyperSpeed Wireless with as little latency as 10 milliseconds. This is step faster than most other headsets, sitting at 15 milliseconds. For me this probably doesn't matter, but if you can make good use of those extra 5 milliseconds, then you have the advantage.

The drivers are also gen-2, but this time of Razer's TriForce 50 mm ultra-thin design. They use a bio-cellulose diaphragm which sounds more like a bodypart than a driver but is said to give cleaner sound with better frequency separation. I can say they are excellent for listening to music, and also provide excellent clarity on things like gun sounds and footsteps in game. All of this is to say Razer thinks these should sound better and give better accuracy than the BlackShark V2.

But it's a bit more than that. It's a common esports branding message to design these pieces of kits alongside pro gamers, tailoring them to what a pro needs in game. Well the BlackShark V3 comes with 12 profiles all tuned to games that pros have found give the best results when it comes to hearing out their enemy. You can tweak these yourself, make new ones, and even store 9 of them to the headset so you don't need Razer's software to make them work.

As a Pro headset, these also feature active noise cancelling so you can really get into the game without disturbance. I always find playing games with noise cancelling incredibly immersive but also terrifying, because anyone can walk up behind me and I'd have zero idea of their presence. The ANC on the BlackShark V3 Pro uses 4 microphones to pick up and filter out ambient noise. Then you've got plush memory foam cushions to form nicely to your head and do the rest. It makes for a very comfortable and focussed listening experience.

The BlackShark V3 Pro delivers a whole lot in a headset, but naturally has a price to match. To hear all those lovely curated EQ profiles out of these snazzy drivers you're going to need to pony up $250 USD or $450 AUD for the V3 pro. It's not cheap, especially for us Aussies. But you rarely get all these features for much less so for those who want one of the most pro-focussed headsets around it could be worth the drop.

For everyone else, you can check out the rest of the BlackShark lineup. Alongside the pro flagship Razer is also dropping the BlackShark V3 and the BlackShark V3 X HyperSpeed.

The standard V3 is a general step down from the pro. You take a hit to things like drivers, mic, and lose the noise cancelling but get a slightly lighter headset and save yourself around 100 USD. These come in at $150 USD or $270 AUD.

Lastly the BlackShark V3 X HyperSpeed is the budget option of the group. Going for only $100 USD or $180 AUD, this one drops the specs once more on things like drivers, mic, and spatial audio but delivers a fairly affordable headset that hopefully still carries enough of the BlackShark DNA to be worthwhile.

I think unboxing experiences are a little overrated. While it's nice to open your new purchase and find a level of care and attention paid to the packaging that makes every component feel like a rare gem, I don't really mind if a product comes in a default, easy-to-recycle cardboard container. It makes me feel good about myself, like the company, and I might have saved a sea turtle from an unfortunate plastic lunch.

I do expect a little bit more than the Nacon Rig 900 Max HS provides, though, which is to deliver you a headset that comes with its earcups dangling by their respective wires. Step one here, after removing it from its cardboard frame, is to rescue each cup from its perilous position and click it into one of three sizing settings on the headband. That's providing you haven't wrenched the cables horribly in your eagerness to get going with your $250/£200 new gaming headset, of course.

Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself—so let's run through the basics. The Nacon Rig 900 Max HS is indeed a gaming headset, and an expensive one at that. It's got Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation, and PC support, dual wireless connections in the form of Bluetooth 5.3 and 2.4 GHz wireless via the included dongle, and a USB Type-C charging stand, so you can rest it on its cradle when not in use for easy desk-based top-ups. In theory, anyway.

Once the earcups are clipped in, the set itself feels reasonably pleasant. It's light, at just 240 g, and has a springy metal outer headband with "RIG" emblazoned on the outside in a large white font. The microphone is a flip-to-mute omnidirectional cardioid unit, and the earcups are soft and squidgey, which, when combined with the headband adjustment and the lack of weight, makes for a comfortable set to rest atop my head.

On the rear of the left earcup are buttons for power control, mode switching, and a mic mute, along with a nicely-weighted volume dial. The right earcup is buttonless, with only four contact pins at the bottom for connection to the charging stand.

All of this is fine, but each control, each material used in its construction, all feels a little… cheap. The volume dial is nice enough, but the buttons lack positivity, and the whole chassis is covered in fiddly details that don't seem particularly well-designed. Speaking of which, the stand itself is a shiny black plastic throne upon which the headset somewhat awkwardly sits.

The alignment here feels a bit crunchy when you place the headset in the cradle, and more than once I've found myself setting the Rig 900 Max HS into its charging base without actually making contact with the corresponding pins.

This is my fault in part, as a gigantic LED on the front flashes red when the headset makes contact—before staying illuminated in the same colour as the set charges itself up. Could I perhaps get a yellow light for halfway charged, and a green to tell me it was done? No? Fair enough.

Nacon says the battery life is around 50 hours, and I'd say that was about right, so it's not a huge deal if you pull it on and off the stand regularly with the odd misalignment mess-up. Still, it strikes as a bit of a clumsy implementation—and the slippy black plastic combined with the awkward connection socket doesn't give off the feeling of a premium product when you attempt to bring the two together.

Clicking on the Windows software link on the product page takes you to the, err, Android Google Play store, where you can download an app to adjust the settings over the Bluetooth connection. Nope, no native Windows software suite here, but at least in dual connection mode, you can make adjustments on the fly with your phone while still being connected to your PC.

The app itself is actually rather good. The menus are straightforward, everything is clearly laid out, and you can tweak the settings to your heart's content—with everything from parametric EQs to auto power off adjustments handled within easy-to-find tabs. I particularly like the toggle to turn off the voice prompts, as otherwise the 900 Max HS is a bit of a chatty Cathy. More headsets should allow you to turn off the sickly-sweet voice-overs, in my opinion. Take note, everyone else.

So, to the most important thing about any gaming headset: the sound. The drivers here are 40 mm units with plenty of low end punch straight out of the box, and are clearly tuned to give you a bit of skull-bouncing bass without any software-based EQ at all. Thankfully, however, the lows are of the tight and defined variety without veering into wobbliness, which makes for a chonky, chunky listening experience without being too fatiguing on the ol' lugholes.

The mids and high end frequencies, however, sound a little ill-defined. They're perfectly serviceable, but there's a tendency for the top end to ring a touch hollow when dealing with the details, and the drivers overall are missing the sweetness I'd associate with headsets of this price.

Messing around with custom settings in the EQ helps, but there's a distant quality combined with an ever-so-slight edge of harshness that certainly helps gunshots ring, but isn't the sort of sound profile that says "$250 worth of audio gear" to me.

Still, the Rig 900 Max HS is a reasonable-sounding, comfortable headset, mostly let down on initial impressions by the fact that it comes without its earcups properly attached, the dubious plastics, and that subpar charging base. Where I really fall out with the Nacon, though, is the microphone.

Flipping it down with a slightly graunchy mechanism (you can hear plastic sliding on plastic through the left ear cup as you deploy it) leaves the mic in a downward position that ends up being a country mile away from your lips. Even with the gain set to maximum in the app, I've found the signal to be very quiet—but it's the audio quality itself that's lacking.

Don't get me wrong, it's not flat-out bad. But the audio pickup sounds ultra-compressed, in a way that reminds me of military communications. Military comms equipment squashes the audio in order to reduce latency and cut through the sounds of battle, and I'd imagine the same thought process has gone on here. Squish the signal, and the clarity means it should stand out over COD gunfire just like it would over real-life rounds.

But what you're left with when you go to, say, use the Pro 900 Max in your next meeting, is a tinny, thin-sounding vocal tone. Sure, it's easy to hear what you're saying, but it's not a soothing sound to listen to for long periods of time. It's very sibilant-prone, too, so prepare for esses to become "ethessss".

For multiplayer comms, it's fairly serviceable, but a good headset mic (particularly attached to a $250 unit) should sound rich, wide, and smooth. The Nacon mic is none of those things, and reminds me somewhat of the $19 Bengoo G9000 I tested recently. In fact, scrap that. I think the Bengoo's mic actually sounds a little rounder, which is more pleasant to listen to overall.

What I've ended up with here is a headset that's genuinely difficult to recommend, despite the odd high point. I don't mind the look (although given that the mic is non-detachable, I certainly won't be taking it on my next train journey), it's pleasant to wear, the feature set is acceptable, the battery life is good, and the drivers are fairly capable.

But the devil is in the details, and it's the details where the 900 Max falls apart. Both the controls and the base are clunkily designed, the microphone isn't up to scratch, and there's a prototype-like feeling to the whole affair that I just can't seem to shake. And with a $250 price tag, it's difficult to see where the 900 Max HS fits in.

This sort of price bracket practically demands refinement, and it's refinement where the Nacon Rig 900 Max HS fails. For $50-$80 more, you could be the proud owner of a Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro, a gaming headset with excellent audio quality, a truly brilliant mic, and velour earcups that are even more comfortable than the ones you'll find here. It screams quality from every angle, and really feels like you're getting your money's worth in everything it provides.

It's wired, unfortunately, so you're tied to your devices. However, should you require a cable-free existence, how about the fabulous Audeze Maxwell?

I mean, it's got a pair of planar magnetic drivers, for goodness sake—again for around $50 more than the Nacon. We regularly see it dip to around $270 in the sales, and it's one of the best gaming headsets we've ever tested. Put it next to the Rig 900 Max HS, and there's simply no contest which I'd rather have, charging stand be damned.

Should you go cheaper, you'll find a wealth of brilliant gaming headsets for much, much less, like the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless with its 300-hour battery life. Again, you don't get a charging stand, and the mic is more serviceable than fabulous, but otherwise it's a complete superstar. We regularly see it drop below $130 during the sale periods, but even at full whack, it's good value. And really, that's the Nacon's issue all over.

To put it bluntly, it simply doesn't deliver what you'd expect for the price. Comfortable it may be, and the sound is mostly fine (with the exception of that mic). But unless you can find one with a considerable discount, I simply don't think it justifies the cash.

I've put off picking up an honest to goodness gaming headset for an embarrassing reason. In my audio adventures, when I've found a headset that sounds amazing and does everything I want, chances are I'll still set it aside for one very simple reason: It's just not cute enough.

And when a gaming headset does meet my high standards for cuteness, it will likely have had to cut corners somewhere else. Well, I may finally have fallen head over heels for a headset that is both cute and still enjoys many of the features I'd want in-game.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X wireless headset ticks off 'cuteness' with flying colours. Though available in a number of appealing colours, including black, white, and aqua, I am in love with the lilac colourway. Properly purple all over with nary an ugly logo to distract, even the foam pop filter on the detachable mic arm is lilac; it's a pretty pleasing approach to a pastel colourway.

So, full marks for presentation—but does that mean that this is yet another gaming headset that's all style and little else? Thankfully, no.

To begin with, build quality is perfectly pitched for this price point. The predominantly plastic outer shell is not at all creaky and could potentially withstand a tumble or two onto carpet. Adjusting the height and position of the earcups is a lovely smooth motion, offering just enough resistance to hold it in place but otherwise not requiring too much effort to move.

This headset also features a floating headband design, with the headset's 260 g weight balanced across an elastic strip rather than directly upon your bonce. This elastic strap is held in place by two plastic posts on either side of the headset, plus three holes at the ends of the strap itself, which allows you to adjust the position of this band to get it to sit nicely across your noggin. All of this smart design, coupled with the big foam earcups, makes the Arctis Nova 3X an incredibly comfortable headset to wear all day.

In terms of quality, it easily stands head and shoulders above my other beloved, though considerably cheaper purple headset. The JBL Tune 720BT is still gorgeous, but every press of its on-ear buttons betrays its comparatively lacking build quality with a metallic twang. It's also far less comfortable through extended wear.

That said, the $110/£100 Arctis Nova 3X could still learn a thing or two from even this budget, $90/£40 set of headphones. For instance, as someone who wears makeup, I'm missing the option of swappable earcups for the Arctis Nova 3X, or at least ones made from a wipe-clean material like my JBLs. Furthermore, the SteelSeries is surprisingly light when it comes to on-board buttons; on the left earcup, there's only a rounded mute button, a definitely still welcome volume dial, and then finally a single button that handles both turning the device on or off, pairing, plus switching between 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth connection modes.

The headset's relatively lightweight and detachable mic arm makes it easy to take the Arctis Nova 3X out on the go, though the lack of a song-skip or pause button is a definite drawback. The fact that the SteelSeries headset doesn't have an IPX Waterproof rating either should also make you think twice before taking this on a tour away from your desk—my aforementioned JBLs, on the other hand, are rated for a light splash of water resistance.

The SteelSeries' dedicated mute button silences your microphone independent of your video call software settings, though I do keep forgetting I've muted myself this way. Speaking of voice chats, the mic here is perfectly serviceable. The audio quality is fine for voice calls of all kinds, and the detachable arm itself is very flexible while also holding its position well too. However, as you might expect, the mic audio does get pretty bubbly and crunchy if you pull it right up close to your mouth. So, it's definitely not a great bit of kit for any semi-pro voiceover work, but it still offers a funny way to underline the punchline of an in-joke over Discord.

Listen to the microphone test here:

Both the SteelSeries and the JBLs I keep banging on about also offer fast charging, with the Arctis Nova 3X headset specifically offering 9 hours from only 15 minutes of charge time. But hold your applause—the JBL Tune 720BT is comparable on this front too, though its up to 76-hour total battery life comfortably leaves the Arctis Nova 3X's up to 40 hours in the dust. For most, that just means you're going to be charging the SteelSeries slightly more often, but I was surprised by this stark difference of hours given the big gap in price between the two sets of cans.

Alright, enough scene setting—how do SteelSeries' lush lilac listeners actually sound? Fresh out of the box, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X offers a fairly well-balanced though flat sound profile. This default is fine for casual listening, though you're not out of luck if you're looking for something a little richer.

On Apple and Android devices, you can download the SteelSeries Arctis Companion app. When you connect your SteelSeries headset, this allows you to choose from a wealth of game-specific EQ profiles, plus a smattering specifically for music-listening or movie-watching. Besides the music EQ profiles designated 'bright', 'clear vocals', and 'punchy', 'deep bass' was perhaps my favourite of the bunch. To be honest, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X aren't the bassiest cans, but their 40 mm neodymium magnetic drivers do offer a surprising amount of oomph without muddying up the details.

I was less enamoured with the so-called 'clear vocals' EQ profile, which seemed to shift the vocals off to the side while crushing down everything else around them. The clear dialogs and immersion profiles for movie watching offer much crisper vocal sound without smudging out any audio detail as far as I could hear. Otherwise, I liked the music listening experience so much that after hitting repeat on the soundtrack again, I did start to wish I had played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for the first time while wearing this headset—Une vie à t'aimer just hits different with the deep bass EQ profile.

You can also create your own custom EQ profiles too, though this requires yet another bit of software, namely the SteelSeries GG desktop app. Besides EQ noodling, this software also allows you to fiddle with how much mic monitoring sidetone you'd like to hear to reassure you that the mic is actually picking up your voice and you haven't accidentally muted yourself via the on-ear button again. Handy!

After tweaking an EQ profile to your heart's content via the intuitive parametric UI, you can then import the profile into the phone app via your SteelSeries account. If you've already got a lot of SteelSeries kit, this shouldn't be a hassle, but I personally prefer a lighter-weight software experience that doesn't require an account just so I can tinker with my peripherals.

Anyway, Clair Obscur is one of a healthy selection of games that enjoys its own dedicated EQ profile here—DOOM: The Dark Ages is another. Given how, in my last review for the Razer Clio gaming chair headrest speaker, I dove into Doom Eternal for the first time to test out its specific THX spatial audio sound profile, it seemed only right that I do a spot of shield-bashing here too.

Taking to a soggy battlefield in DOOM: The Dark Ages, I found the game-specific EQ profile sounded oddly crunchy over a Bluetooth connection. Taking a closer look at Steelseries' recommended parametrics in this game-specific EQ profile, I could see that a lot of the treble-y, top-end frequencies have been dialled right down—this went some way to explaining the heftier low-end that emphasises footsteps and gun shots, though it didn't necessarily account for the kind of hollow sound overall that I was hearing.

One could argue that a deep-fried sound profile makes sense for combat against the hordes of hell, but I was unimpressed with the game-specific profile for Hi-Fi Rush for similarly finger-lickin' reasons. Something definitely wasn't adding up—for one thing, I was having a much more enjoyable listening experience via Bluetooth on my phone, not to mention how Spotify on my PC was seemingly unaffected by whatever deep friend nonsense was going on in-game. To narrow things down, I tested the Bluetooth connection on another machine. The weird compression persisted even after a reboot, and also after swapping to my JBL headphones.

I reached out to SteelSeries directly and, alongside a gentle reminder to ensure the Arctis Nova 3X's firmware was up to date via the Engine tab in GG, I was told that the sound distortion I was experiencing could be due to two EQ profiles being accidentally applied at once via the GG software. This is possible because Sonar offers digital processing at a software level on your PC, while the Engine portion of the program directly interacts with the settings of the physical headset itself—so that's two different 'layers' where an EQ profile could be applied.

I was advised to double-check that the Engine tab was set to the Flat EQ profile before I dove back in-game. It turns out that Dolby Atmos can have a similar effect, stacking an EQ on your sound output before it even passes through your SteelSeries GG settings. In that case, applying the Flat EQ profile in both the Sonar and Engine tabs should help.

I was also told that the difference could be down to which Bluetooth codec your device uses—for example, the original Nintendo Switch only supports the standard SBC Bluetooth codec. SteelSeries also supports better quality, low-latency Bluetooth codecs such as LC3, but not all of my devices are going to be able to make the most out of that.

EQ stacking is an annoying quirk of the GG software, but easily addressed. Once I crossed those peaks and dotted those valleys, I found that the in-game audio over a Bluetooth connection was significantly improved, if not just a little sibilant and compressed around the top-end frequencies. And, to reiterate, this isn't a problem I'm encountering while listening to my tunes over Bluetooth either on PC or my phone—it's just in-game.

Anyway, after all of that, then I took the 2.4 GHz mode out for a spin, and I discovered what the Arctis Nova 3X is really all about. The dongle included in the box comes with a USB-C connection for consoles, but can be slotted into another dongle like a Megazord for a USB-A connection. Thankfully, SteelSeries GG's EQ profiles play much better over the Arctis Nova 3X's low-latency 2.4 GHz connection, ultimately offering audio quality that really is banging.

Listen to the poetry reading microphone test here:

Over a 2.4 GHz connection, in-game audio is clear, detailed, and wonderfully immersive. For instance, Hi-Fi Rush enjoys a subtle bass boost that brings the rhythm running through its heart to even more vibrant life without upstaging the details of its brash soundscape. DOOM: The Dark Ages is bolstered by its own game-specific EQ profile, too. Gibbing demons is all the more immersive for one thing, as you really hear the viscera splatter across environments that could've done with a deep clean long before all hell broke loose. The slayer's footfalls enjoy a real sense of heft here, too, making it an absolute joy to crash through Khalim and beyond; with my lovely lavender listeners, I really do feel like the chunky green guy himself.

And as for my beloved Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, well, let's just say I'm seriously considering a new game plus run—gotta scoop up those baguette weapons sometime, right? Long, winding story short, 2.4 GHz mode is the way to play if you're at all interested in SteelSeries GG's game-specific immersive EQ profiles. While my experience with these over Bluetooth left me pretty grumpy, all was forgiven as soon as I plugged in that 2.4 GHz dongle. It can feel like a faff to remember to pack a dongle for wireless headphones, but this really is the connection where the Arctis Nova 3X is at its best.

Otherwise, there's still a lot to love about this comfortable, not to mention stylish, headset—but is it the best gaming headset out there? For a start, it's definitely not boasting the beefiest wireless headset battery—that honour goes to HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless—though fast charge does go some ways to making the up to 40-hour battery feel less like it's holding you back.

That said, the similarly priced Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (Gen 3) offers twice as much play time alongside fast charge. But when it comes to comfortable all-day wear, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X has our top pick for the best mid-range wireless gaming headset beat, thanks to its overall lighter weight and floating headband design.

If comfort and versatility really are your chief concerns, plus you don't mind spending just a little more, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds remain our favourite earbuds for gaming, offering great sound from absolutely tiny 6 mm drivers. But do they come in purple, though? Apparently not, instead limited to black and white colourways alongside the double-take-worthy 'Glorange'. So, for my money—and my carefully curated colour scheme—the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X are still the ones to beat.

I've long been of the opinion that you don't need to spend a bomb on a gaming headset, or indeed any piece of audio gear, to get a great experience. Sure, there are $300+ models out there with the sort of sound quality that makes nerds like me break out the superlatives box, but drop your budget down to reasonable levels and you can find some really good cans for relatively little cash.

Or you could spend $19 on the Bengoo G9000 gaming headset. It's currently got a rating of 4.3 out of five on Amazon, with an astonishing 109,834 completely real people voicing their overall enjoyment of this particular model. 67% gave it five stars, with a mere 7% voicing their one star displeasure. I am in the 7%. And you should be, too.

The listing claims it's a noise cancelling set, (which it isn't, at least in an active sense) and features 7.1 surround sound audio, while also being compatible with the PS4, PC, Xbox One and the PS5 controller—presumably by virtue of the fact it's got a 3.5 mm audio jack. It's also the most outrageous-looking gaming headset I've ever seen. Ordinarily I'd save the photos for later, but in this case I'll make an exception. Revel in the glory that is the shiny plastic, blue-accented frame of the Bengoo. I'll wait here.

Mere images cannot convey the feel of such a magnificent device, so allow me to get descriptive for a moment. The plastic feels like the sort of quality one might expect from a McDonalds Happy Meal toy circa 1993. The headband adjustment sticks and graunches in a way that makes me think it's not long for this world, even fresh out of the box, and the flip down microphone has a surprising amount of plastic-on-plastic resistance in its travel.

The hollow arm creaks underneath my fingers, and the similarly-hollow chassis resonates in response. I'm not sure what this sort of unintentional chambering might do for the audio quality, but I'm pretty sure the Bengoo isn't going to be an addition to our best audiophile headphones guide. Early judgements, I know. Just a feeling.

It's not all bad, however. The "skin-friendly earmuffs" are, in fact, quite soft. They're currently gripping my cranium with all the strength of a light morning breeze, but still, not too shabby. The cable is of the thick, braided variety, and is separated into two plugs at the end, one USB Type-A and one 3.5 mm jack, complete with an extra splitter cable to separate the microphone input and audio output from the latter.

You may think, as did I, that the USB connection would be for the microphone, or perhaps some sort of link to a software package. Nope, it's just there to power the lights. Which are, of course, blue. Very blue. You can pick up the Bengoo G9000 in a variety of colours, varying from eye-searing orange to "I wish I was an anime character" pink. All of which weirdly makes my electric blue offering seem like the more subtle option in the range. Shrinking violets should look elsewhere, it seems.

Still, before you start thinking that this is merely a throwaway unboxing experiment, my beloved hardware editor-in-chief, Dave, has insisted that I use this headset exclusively for a week. I'm not quite sure what I've done to anger him into this obvious display of passive aggression, but I've gamely decided to write the rest of this piece as a diary, detailing my experiences of the Bengoo over the course of seven, agonising days. Let us begin.

Andy's diary: Day one

I like a little music in the morning, as I check over my emails and prepare myself for the day. Let me start again: I used to like a little music in the morning. Early sound tests of the G9000 are… not good. The 40 mm drivers are capable of delivering a surprising whack of bass, which is promising, but mids and treble seem to exist in the same, horrendously muffled sonic space, turning even the most separated of mixes into a hollow mush. I'm an audio nerd. This feels like cruel and unusual punishment.

I am debating handing in my notice. No, no. I haven't tested the microphone yet. Time for my first meeting.

Well, that was a bust. For reasons I can't quite discern, the microphone refuses to put out any sort of signal at all, splitter cable or otherwise. I've attempted to use it for several meetings today on two different machines, both of which I use to test audio equipment on the regular, and it has point-blank refused to capture even a whisper—no matter which configuration I attempt.

As a result I've been using the Bengoo as a pair of headphones only, with my laptop's built-in microphone standing in for audio capture. I have, however, been making the most of the USB-powered lighting in my meetings, and the hardware team has been cooing and cawing over the aesthetics they provide.

Just kidding. They've been smirking, of course. I will have my revenge at some point in the future, don't you worry.

Day two

Another glorious day with the Bengoo. I attempted to play some Gray Zone Warfare earlier and discovered that the 3D stereo surround sound is not, would you believe, particularly 3D. Despite being advertised on the product page as "clear sound operating strong brass [sic], splendid ambient noise isolation", I've found the experience a lot like playing with earplugs in. Muffled is the word I keep coming back to. Among the ones I can print here, anyway.

And as for spatial positioning? It's difficult to tell. Which is pretty much the antithesis of what you want from gaming audio. Was that gunshot far away, or relatively close? Were those footsteps, or did I bump the cable gently against my knee? It's all a guessing game with the G9000, and not a fun one at that.

Comfort-wise, though, it's still not too bad. Up the clamping force and it'd be downright reasonable, so I have to give the Bengoo some points here. The upper headband cushion is decently squidgy, and the earmuffs (I know, I know, pads) seem to be holding up just fine. I wish they were larger, though. The G9000 perches upon my lugs with a perceptible degree of peril, as if it's debating chucking itself onto the floor at any given moment. As am I, come to think of it.

Day three

Stockholm syndrome may be beginning to sink in. I have accepted the Bengoo into my life, and I believe it has accepted me. Today is my day off, which means plenty of gaming time, some YouTube watching, and the odd bit of music listening. Let's see how we go.

…

Stockholm syndrome has not sunk in. I debated cheating, dear reader. The Bengoo is ruining my Saturday, and I have a set of Audeze planar magnetics upstairs that are calling to me, siren-like, from the great beyond that is my spare room/kit cupboard. Dave wouldn't know, would he?

No, I must be strong. For PC Gamer. For us all.

In a phrase, the Bengoo G9000 sounds bad. I believe I may have made that clear already, but it's making me long for a headset that's capable of telling the difference between bass, mids, and treble, and where each of them might go in the sonic spectrum. In-game dialogue sounds oddly distant, bassy explosions resonate like farts through a mattress, and the mids are so gutless, I'd genuinely prefer to hear them over a phone speaker. I believe this is descriptive enough for now. I'm going to bed.

Day four

Today is Sunday. I have decided to go for a walk, and then Sunday lunch. Neither of which involves the Bengoo, which sits on my desk like an electric blue spider awaiting my return. I'm going to go and touch grass today. The G9000 can wait.

Day five

Monday morning. I have rescinded my opinion that the Bengoo is comfortable, instead realising that what I've been interpreting as comfort is mostly down to its low weight. Putting the G9000 atop your head is akin to wearing the polystyrene packing that comes with a large electronics item, like a gaming monitor or a PC case. I mean, it's not uncomfortable per se, but comfort implies pleasantry, and pleasant the Bengoo is not.

The drivers still suck, too. To be fair to them, they haven't crackled or distorted, but I'm beginning to lose my patience with everything sounding hollow, overly-bassy, and downright bad. While I'm committed to testing the Bengoo the same way I would any other gaming headset, I think I've been subconsciously avoiding anything to do with audio on my PC, instead preferring to hear the birds chirping outside, and my postman swearing as he drops an important package mere feet from my letterbox.

Perhaps that's a plus? Many of us are trying to limit our digital obsessions these days in the name of mental health, mindfulness, and an attempt to get back to nature. Unfortunately, I live by the British coast, so my serenity is regularly interrupted by seagulls fighting over leftover kebabs in the street. Perhaps I can learn to love the squawks, I wonder. Perhaps.

Day six

Today I sat on my Bengoo. It didn't break, disappointingly, so I sat on it again, also with little result. So, as durability testing goes, the G9000 gets a pass—although the faux-leather coating on those earpads gives me pause. Even expensive pleather earcups can begin to fray after a few months, and these feel thin enough that I'd say a fingernail stands a good chance of going through them with enough pressure.

The good news, however, is that I've finally fixed the microphone. I've looked with suspicion at the G9000's mid-cable control box for the past few days, as it features a mute switch that is definitely in the unmuted position. Could I really trust it, though?

So, I've opened it up, and look what I found inside. Frayed cables, bundled together in an unholy nightmare of a tangle, not unlike my hair on a Sunday morning. Wiggling them around (and coating the switchgear in silicone spray, a product I highly recommend for any electronics enthusiast) has finally resulted in a signal from the mic—and y'know what, it's not bad.

I mean, it's not good, either. But given the rubbish audio quality of the drivers themselves, I'd say the microphone is actually fairly usable. Providing you're prepared to do some home maintenance to get it working in the first place, in the case of my particular unit. Should a screwdriver set be included with the Bengoo, I wonder?

Day seven

The Bengoo has experienced a terrible accident. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but it appears to have fallen directly from my head and into the outside bin.

Just kidding. There's enough e-waste in the world, so it's going to go directly to the nearest charity shop where someone can buy it for 50p, alongside a tattered Jane Austen novel and a set of novelty plates. Still, my time with the Bengoo has led me to some useful conclusions, and I shall summarise them here:

There are many headsets to choose from on the market, and some are temptingly cheap. And, it must be said, I can absolutely see how a gamer on a budget might read these thoughts and think of me as nothing more than an elitist snob, trying to gain a laugh by trashing a cheap headset and comparing it to much more expensive models.

But for a mere $60 you could instead buy the Corsair HS55 Stereo, a budget gaming headset I've used on the regular that outclasses the Bengoo G9000 in every single conceivable way. Yes, I realise that it's more than three times the price, and yes, it's not an attractive shade of blue. But what you get for your money is one of our best gaming headset picks, whereas what you get if you buy the G9000 is likely to be nothing but disappointment—and the feeling your all-important cash has been wasted on something not just cheap, but in my opinion, downright nasty.

And if the Corsair set is too expensive for you, how about a pair of these Sony MDREX110AP wired earbuds? The microphone isn't brilliant, it's true—but if $20 audio equipment is what you need, I can confirm they're surprisingly good for the price. I bought a pair last year to plug into a 3.5 mm headset jack on a flight, and they've become reliable, decent-sounding travelling companions ever since. And when it comes to gaming audio, or indeed, any audio at all, they'll be a darn sight nicer to listen to than the Bengoo G9000.

Sound matters. And if you're a gamer, a music-listener, a YouTube watcher, you owe it to yourself to buy decent audio gear, much of which is available for relatively little money. But if you're debating the G9000 I can tell you right now it's a waste of your funds, and that's a cardinal sin I can't forgive. It's been fun, dear Bengoo. But our time together has finally come to an end, and I can't help but feel a wave of relief. I await Dave's next parcel with relish. Surely it can't be as bad as this, right?

The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (Gen 3) has come a long way since its first generation, in terms of aesthetics, sound quality, and battery life. The internal tech has improved tenfold, with the design has been steered away from that gamer-style look in favor of a sleeker, more reserved appearance and a matte colourway. But against a market awash with smashing, mid-range wireless gaming headsets, the question is whether it stacks up against the competition, because there are a lot of options around the $100/£100 mark.

The Stealth 600 comes in three colourways: a matte black with shiny accent, plum purple, and a lovely Stormtrooper-esque black and white. Sadly PC users only get to choose between black and, er, black. While aesthetic variety is reserved for Xbox and PlayStation users, the Stealth 600 still manages to capture that understated look in all its colorways. The curves make it feel a little playful, but there's something about it that says "I mean business."

Against its $20-cheaper sister, the Turtle Beach Stealth 500, it looks like essentially the same headset on the surface, but there are some notable differences. For one thing the Stealth 600 design opts for Athletic Weave Fabric over pleather on the ear cups. In theory, that means less flaking later down the line, and less money spent on spare ear cups. That said, the headband is still pleather and not replaceable either.

The headband is one of my major gripes actually, since the Stealth 500 had one of those lush floating headbands that meant you could wear it for long sessions. Sadly, the Stealth 600's headband is not floating, and is severely under-padded, meaning it starts to hurt my head after a couple of hours. I ended up shifting it around a lot during testing to relieve the pinpoint pressure on the top of my head. It's likely to be less of an issue for people with wider, flatter heads, but my crown shape doesn't sit right apparently.

The breadth of the headband and spacing of the design in general does seem to indicate that the Stealth 600 is meant for big head/hair havers, anyway.

Aside from that you're looking at a slightly wider, more rounded look about the on-ear dials, which are easier to distinguish than their predecessor's thanks to their easy-to-feel patterning. Not that this was an issue with the Stealth 500, but better accessibility is always welcome.

The most welcome feature the Stealth 600 delivers is the extensive battery life. I've spent the past few years with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless strapped to my head—currently on our best wireless gaming headset list for "best battery life"—and the Stealth 600 matches what would be two entire battery charges for the Nova Pro. Rated at 80 hours, it actually sits closer to 60 hours of use, but I haven't actually had to charge the Stealth 600 once throughout almost a month of daily testing. While the Stealth 600 doesn't have the Nova Pro's charging dock and hot-swappable battery packs keeping it going 24/7, it eliminates the need to carry a charging dock or spare battery with you on lengthy trips. Not only that, you can charge it while in use, and in a matter of minutes from near empty, via the included USB Type-A to USB Type-C fast-charge cable.

Making it all the more portable is the simple-yet-effective application of rotating ear cups. It's a small thing, but it makes slipping it into your bag or carrying around your neck a heck of a lot easier. Though actually using the Stealth 600 out of the house is a less than ideal experience. Bad sound isolation means I can hear most everything going on around me from the rumble of the bus, to sirens, and even people talking nearby. That said, using it inside you can expect great range as you move away from your PC/mobile, and it's sturdy enough on your head for a bit of a headbang in the comfort of your own home or hotel room.

Listen to the Stealth 600 microphone below:

Also something I appreciate, and that many other headsets don't deliver, is the ability to pause and skip music over both wireless and Bluetooth connection. Even the $350 / £330 Nova Pro didn't offer that kind of functionality.

Aside from the great on-ear controls, and Swarm 2 software that does all the basics and does them well, the Stealth 600 delivers a great soundstage. There's no change in frequency-response from the cheaper Stealth 500, but the 50 mm Nanoclear drivers have got some punch to them. Sounds are warm, and easy to distinguish, though there's a little sharpness to the sibilants. The same goes for the mic, though it handles plosives and the like well, with recorded speech coming out super clear, over all. There's a slight compression to note, but as flip mic's go there are far worse contestants for everyday use.

While other wireless headsets deliver better comfort on the cranium, the Stealth 600's wizard battery life really gives it an edge against the competition. Sure, it can't match the impressive ANC on headsets like the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal, but it's also less than a quarter of the price you'd have to pay for a high-end, all-purpose headset. Even without the frills that come with more expensive headsets, the Stealth 600 performs admirably for a headset in its particular price range. With stellar connectivity and range, all the audio accuracy you need for everyday use, and ridiculous performance in the battery department, it's well worth the money spent.

The Alphyn lineup is PowerColor's first foray into the gaming headset market, having only specced into graphics cards until now. With the Alphyn AH10, the company hops out of the proverbial frying pan, into the highly competitive fire of wireless gaming headsets. At the $100 mark, this headset will have to do something particularly swanky to get noticed, and yet its stripped-back nature has it clawing for attention all the harder. Though there are some redeeming features to note for a certain kind of gamer.

Looking at the Alphyn AH10 I'm transported back to the early '90s when I discovered my dad's old aux headset. Times have changed, and home audio has come a long way since, but it's nice to see the aesthetic is alive and well. With curled wires strung between the ear cups and headband, and a black metal mesh adorning each ear cup, there's a real sense of nostalgia in the design. It also does away with modern greebles like ear cup rotation, though it allows for a little (if crunchy sounding) movement.

The size, too, harkens back to the days of technology taking up far too much space. The ear cups prevent me from leaning back into my gaming chair's side-cushioned headrest. The pleather headband, attached to the ear cups via brushed metal struts that slide in and out to adjust, is wide and well-padded. So I can wear the Alphyn AH10 for long periods without it digging into my cranium.

The PowerColor logo is embossed in large, shiny letters across a wide, textured pleather strip on top the headband, and all is neatly stitched together with a retro styling that rivals the Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro. Of course, there's a vast gulf between the two in terms of sound quality, but professional audio headsets often reach the $300 mark, while you can nab the AH10 for a third of that price. And for a gaming headset aiming for the mid- to low-range market, it performs admirably. Particularly where gaming is concerned.

At the top of our list of best audiophile headphones for gaming, the MMX 330 Pro touts a balanced yet powerful sound profile against the Alphyn AH10's warm but inconsistent tones. With bass handling that favours middling frequencies and unbalanced presets (we'll get into those in a moment), I'm not entirely convinced by its sonic prowess. Still, it's well tuned for subtlety with little harshness at either end of the sound spectrum. If you play games that support DTS spatial audio you'll get to enjoy a wider and sharper soundstage, and latency is all but undetectable in gaming mode, which is a real boon for the Alphyn AH10.

It can be hard to get the AH10 volume lined up right since the headset volume is linked to that of my Windows device. The sound isolation on the ear cups isn't the best, I'm often left pining for greater oomph in gaming mode to help block out the outside world. Cycling through the sound profiles with the on-ear buttons, Theatre mode almost blows my ears off without warning, though is definitely the clearest soundscape.

I haven't been overly impressed with the PowerColor Keystone software. Its super minimal UI lets you turn on DTS, switch through the few preset sound profiles, or add up to three custom ones. But there's little else the software is good for. No custom button macros, no noise gate or controls of any kind for the mic. I understand this is the company's first dive into the headset landscape, but to not even include a battery indicator is a little upsetting.

Listen to the microphone test below:

The lack of noise gate for the mic means you'll be reliant on other programs to catch and cancel background noise, though the bi-directional mic is good and clear. It does a great job of handling plosives and sibilants, and apart from the fact that pressing the mute button also mutes any audio coming through the ear cups (causing you to miss a chunk of your conversation) the mic is actually one of my favorite features. I'm a big fan of retractable microphones on a headset, as opposed to flip mics or plug in aux mics. The only catch here is, there's never much need to retract it. It doesn't sit flush like that of the snazzy but expensive Arctis Nova Pro, but there's a secure little grove for it to nestle into.

With no Bluetooth capability and ear cups the size of monster truck tyres, the Alphyn AH10 isn't the kind of wireless gaming headset you take outside with you. The multi platform compatibility means you can use it with whatever console you have—even the Switch 2 via the included 3.5 mm jack should that be your bag—but the range is so short you'll probably end up leaving it on your desk rather than walking around the house with it. Hopping off to make a cup of tea, the Alphyn AH10 cuts out after about eight paces having only a thin drywall to contest with, and proceeds to spam "connected" and "disconnected" in quick succession in my ear until I move back into range.

And if the large ear cups weren't enough, the USB Type-C dongle is far larger than necessary and has forced me to sacrifice another USB port for the privilege, which isn't a good look.

The Alphyn AH10 hits most of the basics for wireless audio without issue, with top-tier comfort for a non-floating headband and great battery life, but sadly its bulkiness, short wireless range, and the omission of Bluetooth undermine the wireless nature. The number of frustrations and limitations in using it make me question whether the designers were clued in on the price point.

If comfort and wireless capability are top of your list, you can do a lot better for less with something like the Turtle Beach Stealth 500, which charges up in a fraction of the time and won't break the bank. If audio quality is your main concern, you could always spend a little extra for something like the Corsair HS80. In a world where you can easily get impressive audio quality in a wireless package for less than $100, there's nothing really helping the Alphyn AH10 stand out.