You can’t turn around these days without being told that gaming is bigger than ever. But if you’re new to it, you might not realize how important a good gaming headset is to the experience. You want a good mic for chatting with friends and squadmates; good highs, lows, separation and surround so you can hear enemies creep up behind you and get creeped out by zombies; as well as good balance and tonality to appreciate the soundtrack you paid extra for. So it might be time to upgrade your experience with a top gaming headset.
Plus, it’s still hard to find a graphics card to spend your cash on and you may already be spending a ton of time on video calls, so treating yourself to a new headset can be a way to satisfy your work brain — yes, be that person wearing the huge headset in meetings — and your play brain without blowing a ton of money.
Keep in mind that analog gaming headsets, which connect via 3.5mm jacks, can work with almost any device — a gaming PC, a PS5, an Xbox Series X or Series S, a Nintendo Switch and so on — in addition to regular Windows PCs. But depending on the hardware you may not get the full set of features, such as surround sound, mic monitoring/sidetone and other capabilities that rely on software and a USB connection to function.
Also, if you’re a gamer looking beyond excellent audio quality and want to update other aspects of your gaming rig, be sure to check out our picks for the best gaming mice, gaming keyboards, gaming laptops and other options, like a gaming-optimized router and a fast VPN.
Lori Grunin/CNET
This excellent wireless headset supports both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connections for simultaneous lag-free gaming and audio monitoring, with a bunch of excellent features. You can use it wired or while it charges over USB, and it’s got a Discord-certified noise-canceling retractable microphone, swivel earcups so it can sit on your shoulders and support for DTS Headphone:X v2.0 and Windows Spatial audio. Its pucklike dongle has an analog 3.5mm input for game audio and a line out to the headset, which expands its usefulness. My only significant quibble with the Arctis 9X is it feels a little too tight on my head (which is odd, since all the other Arctis models feel fine). Its big brother, the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless, gets rave reviews as well, but it’s significantly more expensive as well as relatively old; it’s due for an upgrade and I think it’s a bit overkill for many gamers, anyway.
Read our SteelSeries Arctis 9 review.
Lori Grunin/CNET
These aren’t the absolute best in gaming headsets, but the newest generation of Razer’s BlackShark headsets — the wired Razer BlackShark V2 ($100) and V2 X ($60) and the Wireless V2 Pro ($180) — are well-rounded options if you need a single headset for both work and play. I prefer the V2 over the V2 X for its extra PC features, like support for THX Spatial Audio, microphone settings in Razer’s Synapse utility and a USB dongle. Plus, it has a better cord, a removable mic with foam cover and breathable fabric on the earcup padding. If you’re on a tighter budget, the analog-only V2 X has all your platforms covered for half the price.
Read our BlackShark V2 and V2 X review.
Lori Grunin/CNET
The first time I saw the Rig series of gaming headsets — well before the brand was bought by gaming and accessory company Nacon — I was so turned off by the aesthetic I didn’t even take the headset out of the box. I powered through this time, and although I’m still not fond of the appearance, it’s turned out to be one of my go-to headsets in why-doesn’t-my-pc-see-my-wireless-headset emergencies.
You get a lot for the money. It’s comfortable and relatively light with good 3D audio, pretty decent mic quality, good noise isolation and an inline volume control that’s neither too far down the cable or too far up. The mic is both removable and flip-up, which you rarely see at this price.
The last generation of the headset got complaints about build quality, but I’ve been using it for months with no issues. Its flat rubber cable is a step up from competitors: Flatness makes it tangle-free and less susceptible to damage when I roll over it with my chair. To adjust size, there’s a combination of three notches on the headband — you basically pop out the earcup to move it, so if it comes under stress it just pops out — and a basic suspension band.
It doesn’t come with a headphone/mic splitter cable, a common omission in budget headsets, and the shortish cable isn’t removable, but it’s a good length if you’re going to plug it into a controller for use with the Xbox. You do get a two-year activation card for a Dolby Atmos subscription (at least the last time I looked) for Windows 10/11 and Xbox One or later.
At my last update the price had risen to $55-$60 from $50, but I still think it’s worth the money.
Lori Grunin/CNET
It’s priced on the high side for a virtual 7.1 surround-sound headset lacking in many features, but what the lightweight HyperX Cloud II Wireless is missing in capabilities it makes up for in comfort and performance, such as a 60-foot signal range and good battery life. You can use it wirelessly with a PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch as well as a PC.
Read our HyperX Cloud II Wireless review.
Josh Goldman/CNET
It’s useful to be able to monitor your phone (or other audio) via Bluetooth with your headset while simultaneously using a separate, lag-free connection for gaming, but that capability frequently adds a premium onto the price. By adding Bluetooth to an otherwise wired headset — usually it’s only available in wireless models — Corsair manages to avoid that trap. The stereo HS70 supports USB for laptops and desktops, along with 3.5mm analog cabling to connect to all consoles. The battery is rated for about 30 hours, and the noise-canceling microphone is detachable. The company’s iCue app for Windows or MacOS to access EQ presets or adjust mic and sidetone levels. Though it’s not as pricey as most gaming headsets with Bluetooth on the side, it is relatively expensive for an otherwise basic model. And oddly, the HS70 Wireless, which lacks Bluetooth but incorporates a 2.4GHz connection, is the same price.
Read our Corsair HS70 review.
Lori Grunin/CNET
The Level Up’s comfy, retro-ish style — with on-earcup illuminated VU meters, full-bodied stereo and 7.1 virtual surround sound for music and gaming — leads me to recommend it for people who aren’t necessarily looking for cutting-edge gaming features, but who want something cool and different. You can use it with any 3.5mm-jack-bearing console or system, but you don’t get the customizable surround setup unless you’re connected via USB on Windows, since it requires a proprietary app.
Read our Meters Level Up review.
The G733’s generally an above-average lightweight wireless gaming headset, but it’s got one advantage over much of the competition: an excellent mic backed by a high level of customizability via Blue Yeti-powered software.
Read our Logitech G733 review.
Lori Grunin/CNET
Even though it has some design and feature quirks, for $100, the Xbox Wireless Headset is a good deal. Simultaneous wireless and Bluetooth and chat-mix balance are usually only found in more expensive models, so here the performance and sound quality are worth the money.
Read our Xbox Wireless Headset review.
Lori Grunin/CNET
Though it’s part of the Designed for Xbox program, the 7X also works wirelessly at 2.4GHz with the PC, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation (through PS5) rather than resorting to an analog wired connection for those secondary platforms. It has the great audio and design of the more-expensive 9X, but feels a tad more comfortable. The 7X is hard (if not impossible) to find at the moment thanks to a temporary supply crunch, but it’s worth looking for.
SteelSeries also recently launched an updated Arctis 7P Plus ($170, for PC and PS5) to replace the 7P, adding Tempest 3D AudioTech compatibility with the PS5, and it’s equally solid for PC if you prefer white.
Read our Arctis 7X preview.
Lori Grunin/CNET
This may be a somewhat controversial choice overall, but even a lot of people who don’t like the Epos gaming headsets in general tend to agree that they have great stereo audiophile-quality sound. Given Epos’ kinship with audio veteran Sennheiser — and unfortunately, the Sennheiser-level high prices — one expects no less.
I really like the H3Pro Hybrid headset, though, for gamers who don’t need surround sound. It has rudimentary support via software (or an extra-cost external sound card), but lacks a lot of the capabilities of most true 7.1 headsets, such as Dolby Surround or DTS Headphone:X compatibility, which you’d expect for the price, instead using proprietary surround technology. That, plus only passable signal retention via the dongle — it occasionally gives me problems starting at about 16 feet away, roughly a half (or more) the distance of other headsets, but doesn’t seem to have any lag while gaming — are the only two issues I have with it. But they’re not minor issues, so may be deal-killers for a lot of people. The software’s kind of lackluster as well.
But the H3Pro Hybrid has a really broad set of functional features, and has become my go-to headset for use with a laptop or mobile device because of its flexibility and it-just-works operation. That includes the same connect-to-everything flexiblity as the Arctis 9X: You can’t use two Bluetooth connections simultaneously, but any other wired and/or wireless pairing works. Unlike with so many other headsets I’ve tried, you don’t need to constantly replug the dongle, and when it disconnects or goes into standby mode it reconnects promptly.
The novel design has two mics, a flip-to-mute magnetized detachable boom mic plus a mic built into one of the earcups to use without the boom, and the boom performs very well once you get it positioned; the earcup mic also helps with noise suppression for the boom.
There’s also a small mic in the earcup to enhance the noise cancellation, and its active noise cancellation works quite well; the earcups filter out a ton of noise even without the ANC (though they’re leatherette-covered memory foam, which can make for some sweaty ears).
The earcups are really comfortable for extended wear and on the lighter side given everything inside them (10-11 ounces/288-309g depending on whether the boom’s attached) at least for my head and with glasses on, plus the battery lasts a relatively long time and doesn’t run down quickly when it’s not used for a while. And the headset is far less bulky and aesthetically gamey than many competitors.
This is currently out of stock. There are cheaper models in this line, the $99 wired H3 and $179 wireless Bluetooth-only H3 Hybrid.
Gaming headset FAQs
Why do I want a ‘wireless’ headset rather than a Bluetooth gaming headset?
Bluetooth lets you connect to most mobile devices as well as PCs and laptops, which makes it really convenient. But it’s also low-bandwidth and slow, which means it may compress the audio (and thus make it sound worse) and introduce delays between the device and the headset. The delays, referred to as latency, can range from just annoying to game-ruining, depending upon how important the audio and your chat is to responding quickly.
Bluetooth also requires that there be a pretty small distance between the headset and device it’s connected to. The best wireless gaming headsets come with a USB wireless adapter, usually 2.4GHz, to create a dedicated, fast, high-bandwidth channel between the headset and the system, and one that can maintain the connection over a larger distance.
How do I hear myself talk?
The ability to hear yourself talk while you chat is referred to as “mic monitoring” or “sidetone,” and some people find it essential for more natural conversation; I find that without it I tend to shout, especially if the earcups suppress a lot of external noise. You generally need to have a USB connection — either a wireless dongle or wired — in order to get mic monitoring to work, and many times it’s dependent on the software utility that’s provided by the manufacturer, at the very least to control the volume of the monitoring so you don’t blast yourself with your own voice.
For better gaming
For all the latest world News Click Here
