The best gaming headsets: Reviews and buying advice
- 26 December, 2021 01:00
Your PC gaming arsenal isn't complete without a proper headset.
It's as important as your mouse and keyboard if you're playing with
or against anyone else. As you'd expect, every gaming peripheral
maker has added headsets to their stables.
We know you don't want to scroll through every single headset review, when all you really want to know is this: What's the best gaming headset I can buy with my hard-earned dollars? This page holds the answers you seek, no matter what your budget is.
We'll keep updating our recommendations as we look at new products and find stronger contenders. Scroll below are recommendations for more information on how we test gaming headsets.
1. HyperX Cloud Alpha — Best all-around gaming headset
HyperX outdid itself with the Cloud Alpha, or HyperX Cloud III, as I've termed it in my head. Alpha brings the same combination of durability and comfort that made me fall in love with its Cloud predecessor. There are some quality-of-life upgrades though, like removable cabling and more accessible volume and mute controls. the Cloud Alpha sounds as good or better than plenty of its more expensive competition, and with slightly more bass kick
2. Logitech G Pro X — A close second
A close contender to the HyperX Cloud Alpha is the Logitech G Pro X. It has a higher MSRP, but can often be found for around the same price as the Cloud Alpha, making the two even more competitive. This is Logitech's best headset yet, and features a beautiful aesthetic, amazing sound quality that far exceeds it price, and a fantastic microphone, making it a worthy choice.
3. Cooler Master MH752 — A close third
As yet a third excellent gaming headset for under $100, Cooler Master's MH752 deserves mention. It doesn't have the best design, and it has elements that feel low-rent, but it delivers where it really counts, with extreme comfort, great sound, and the tools to tinker with output.
4. Astro A10 — Best budget gaming headset
At $60, Astro's A10 is very entry-level. There were compromises to hit that price, for sure. The A10 lifts some design inspiration from its more expensive siblings, but it's a bit boxier, with a drab gray chassis and minimal decoration. It's also 100 percent plastic.
The A10 has it where it counts though, which is to say it sounds great. We're talking great for a $60 headset, of course, but still. The A10 delivers clean mids and a rich bass that comes close to mimicking the sound of Astro's more expensive headsets and only falters in the details.
5. Logitech G935 — Best mid-range wireless gaming headset
The G935 picks up where the G933 left off. It has a slightly dated boxy silhouette, with the nice design touches of the folding boom mic that tucks out of sight and a compartment for storing the headset's wireless dongle. It also offers a number of controls, such as a power switch, three macro keys, a mute button, and a volume wheel.
Add to that the great sound with strong bass presence and an attractive price, and you can see why we like the G935, even if it doesn't have the best battery life at 12 hours with RGB lighting disabled.
6. Astro A50 — Best high-end wireless gaming headset
Expensive as ever, Astro's redesigned A50 nevertheless makes a case for its sticker price with a sleeker charging cradle than before, a return to the more reliable 2.4GHz band, and a refined audio profile. Just drop the A50 onto its stand, where it will be charged up for your next session. If you forget, an onboard battery has capacity for around 15 hours of use.
How we tested
We test headsets over the course of a few weeks, and sometimes longer. Much longer, in some cases—I've been using a pair of Astro A50s as daily drivers for years now, and stand by their quality and durability. Our rankings are based on the following criteria:
Design/comfort: Obviously you want a headset that fits well without snapping in half the first time you put it on. Headsets are tested with our vigorous and ultra-scientific I bent it a lot and saw if it seemed durable method, as well as against the internationally recognized, I wore this for eight hours and it didn't give me a headache or make my ears feel like sandpaper baseline.
Sound: There will always be the people who say, Why buy a gaming headset when you can buy a decent pair of headphones and a standalone microphone? And those people are right, but they're sort of missing the point. There's something to be said about a product that performs just as well when watching movies/listening to music as it does while playing games. After all, I assume most people want one pair of headphones for their PC, not multiple pairs for different tasks.
With that in mind, we test headsets at PCWorld in various games (Battlefield 4, Rainbow Six Siege) but also listening to music and watching videos, to make sure you're getting a decent all-around experience. These aren't necessarily studio-quality headphones, but that doesn't mean it should sound like all-bass-all-the-time.
Price: How much are you willing to spend on a gaming headset? That's a purely subjective question, but it's something we try to keep in mind. Our best all-around option is a bargain at $80, but if you want to throw $300 at Astro for the A50 we're not going to stop you.
