Games are all about immersing yourself into a completely different realm where you enjoy the play and all the beautiful things that an entire team of developers has endeavored to show to you. To achieve the full experience of most sophisticated, yet popular games, we have analyzed tens of gaming headsets and only picked the ones that made the gameplay significantly more enjoyable but also offered the biggest edge for competitive play.
We’ve compiled a List of Best Gaming Headsets in 2019
Top Picks
1. Beyerdynamic MMX-300 (2nd Gen)
2. HyperX Cloud Alpha
3. Sennheiser GSP 300
4. Sound Blasterx H7 Tournament Edition
Beyerdynamic MMX-300 (2nd Gen)
Best Gaming Headset Money could Buy
Why we like it: From the bottom of the range of audible frequencies to the top, the comfortable Beyerdynamic MMX 300 (2nd Gen) recreates game sounds, music, and speeches in a vivid style. Using the same technology as the HS 400 aviation headset, the sound is reproduced with high-fidelity.
The immersive surrounding sound these premium gaming headsets master ensures you an illegal advantage of locating your enemies precisely whenever – pinpointing with high accuracy the sound of their footsteps or relentless gun firing. In an intense team fight or strategy planning, the crystal clear microphone with ambient noise-canceling won’t compromise the intelligibility of your message in a counterattack – the communication, as well as the voices of your teammates or those of in-game characters, embody enough clarity and coherence to step up into the next league.
These gaming headsets are the best for gaming fanatics for whom money is no object, their audio quality is fantastic, and tunes sound beautiful and balanced, however, due to the nature of fixed microphone they’re limited to dwell inside the gaming room.
Verdict
The closed-back design and large rounded velour-covered earpads provide plenty of sound isolation, but the rich audio content is committed only to you and doesn’t escape to the outside. In our tests, the overall sound felt competent, it delivers insightful auditory information, whereas the bass encompasses an extensive range that is greatly detailed and clear, which furthermore highlights the massive explosions, engines, and any other pitch in that range.
The result is impressively beautiful, with crisp sounds that are able to create a well-defined image in your mind of your surroundings when eyes are closed. Another important feature that is integrated into this set of gaming headphones, is the in-line remote control which provides total control over phone calls management, volume adjustment and the option to switch on and off the microphone sound – and so, you have a full package with futureproof build and sound.
HyperX Cloud Alpha
Best Overall Gaming Headset
Why we like it: This famous gaming beast raved since its origin, largely by the enthusiastic users of HyperX Cloud, is the best budget gaming headset but also a remarkably dangerous competitor to more expensive contenders.
HyperX implemented a pair of 50 mm neodymium drivers, and in comparison with the gaming headphones that hold 40 mm drivers, the sound quality difference is not subtle at all. The audio performance is fantastic and the sound has accurate acoustics. The sonic spectrum is broad, and each frequency is clear and coherent, which does a very good job at describing the action and sounds that otherwise would have been elusive and hard to notice. Right after, we noticed the bass is nothing alike its predecessor that many reviewers define as “muddy and decent, but warm and full, which is the effect of the technology HyperX implemented into Cloud Alpha called Magma Chamber.
Since they are adorned with very comfy pads, sporting them for extended sessions presents no downfall. The comfort is essential, especially for someone who enjoys spending a good chunk of the day playing games, and in this regard, HyperX Cloud Alpha headsets don’t fail. The lightweight gaming headsets make it for a very convenient wearing on your head, while the clamping force is present enough not to fall off your head, but certainly not as noticeable.
Verdict
The removable cable and microphone is something that we liked in this headset since many competitors in the same price range lack these simple properties. The Cloud Alpha doesn’t work in wireless, and has no Bluetooth connectivity either, despite its removable cable (its sole purpose is only to replace it once it breaks).
A massive advantage that these over-ear gaming headsets have over the competition is ensured by the compatibility which spans across a broad array of devices: PC, PS4, Xbox One, and even mobile devices. Whereas playing on PC might not be your only deal, HyperX Cloud’s multi-platform compatibility is unarguably the most significant perk for an avid gamer that also has other gaming platforms.
Sennheiser GSP 300
Best Budget Gaming Headset – Value for Money
With yet another reasonable priced gaming headset, the Sennheiser GSP 300 makes its way on this list for its great sound, comfort, multi-platform compatibility, and excellent workmanship. The $100 blue gaming headset is slightly cheaper than its superior: HyperX Cloud Alpha, but of enough quality to secure a much higher value/money ratio.
We’re more happy with this gaming headset’s microphone because the speaking into it outputs some of the clearest and lifelike sounds, it’s far more precise and reliable in combat and group fights than, even though it’s not detachable it’s the best microphone a gaming headset could have. But we’ve also enjoyed the memory foam earpads that feel soft and comfy just as with HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headsets.
The sound quality is impressively good also, having excellent stereophony rendering and enriched with lots of details and an enjoyable warm sound signature, and that’s exactly how we like the sound to be reproduced in a gaming setting. Furthermore, there’s this unique serenity-like feeling that you get from wearing the headphones when you try to hear your surroundings but realize that the closed-back design and thick paddings create a quiet environment for you without noise-canceling (the headsets doesn’t include this feature though).
Verdict
In the creation of this pair of mid-end gaming headsets, the sound quality was highly focused, and we observed that in our tests by listening to both music and in-game sound effects. Unlike Cloud Alpha, which build contains more durable materials such as the red aluminum frame and higher-quality plastic, the construction of Sennheiser GSP 300 is made entirely of plastic, but it doesn’t show signs of weaknesses.
Overall, the build is rather flexible, and it doesn’t crack whatsoever when stretched, and so we conclude that the plastic is of very high quality and reliable. Attached to the left earcup, there’s a microphone with an analog volume wheel, and the handy mechanism lets you mute the mic by raising the microphone pole.
Sound Blasterx H7 Tournament Edition
Runner-up
Why we like it: Not extraordinarily expensive – but also not cheap – the Sound BlasterX H7 is a fantastic gaming headset if you’re looking for something in between Beyerdynamic MMX-300 (2nd Gen) and HyperX Cloud Alpha.
The Sound BlasterX H7 has a sober appearance, a robust build, 50 mm FullSpectrum drivers, and even though its sound is nothing alike Beyerdynamic’s, it’s still incredibly balanced and natural. The drivers can punch with growling bass and crisp highs with ease highlighting most sounds in modern shooter games, whereas the virtual solution which provides a realistic 3D sound effect is perfect for passionate gamers that make great use of positional audio in an FPS game like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Overwatch.
The 7.1 surround sound is enabled via Scout Mode, a subfeature among many other features that are customizable inside Creative’s software BlasterX Acoustic Engine which also includes a wide variety of settings. The soundstage was good, and it offered a good sense of spatiality that felt natural and easy to perceive, we also enjoyed the immersive sound that you can achieve with the Scout Mode even though is handled digitally.
Verdict
Wearing on the headphones for several hours playing Metro Exodus, Battlefield 1 and Fallout 3, we enjoyed the fantastic visuals of these games as much as we enjoyed the sound experience, which was inciting and engaging. The whole experience was incredible, and that’s because the headsets are extremely pleasurable and comfy. They’re lightweight, robust and nothing is cheap about them, the headband is heavily padded with soft cushion with artificial leather cover, the earcups receive the same treatment.
The construction of these mid-end gaming headsets is made of quality materials, mostly aluminum, steel and the slightest amount of plastic. We concluded that the Sound BlasterX H7 is the best mid-tier gaming headset because it offers a natural, yet balanced sound that is developed to boost your in-game performance, but also because it has a compact build that will withstand even the most raging moments, an in-line microphone is also provided which is handy at times, but without an Xbox One stereo headset adapter you’ll only be able to connect these headphones to a PC or PS4.
Alternatives
Even though the bass is rich, the sound of Roccat Khan Pro is at best average, and it doesn’t do a great job at pinpointing various sounds the same way GSP 300 does.
The Fnatic Duel TMA-2 does have a fantastic performing microphone and comes with a second pair of earpads, but they don’t sound too great for their price, they’re also not very comfortable for extended plays.
With Razer, we consider the Thresher Tournament Edition to be a nice budget gaming headset for Razer enthusiasts that has copious sound, yet it’s a bit heavier than most of our picks while the sound isn’t as accurate and well-reproduced as with Hyper X Cloud Alpha or Sennheiser GSP 300 – especially in the bass range. The Razer ManO’War headset has some thick round earpads that feel comfortable despite the weight of 375 g, they can operate in wireless mode and benefit of 7.1 stereo surround sound which can be further customized in a fairly intuitive software just as SoundBlasterX H7, however, the sound isn’t the most accurate and is only compatible with PC and PS4, the lack of wires also present a significant downfall in performance. Razer Kraken Pro V2 is merely a decent wired gaming headset that has a relatively good build with a good quality microphone, but an inadequate sound reproduction that lacks precision.
The Creative Sound BlasterX H5 was also a great contender with audio reproduction that we liked, their compatibility with multiple platforms is also an excellent add-on, but their comfort and microphone quality isn’t similar to GSP 300’s which are also a tad cheaper than Creative’s H5.
A pair of headphones that we enjoyed very much is the Jabra Evolve 75 on-ear headsets, although they’re largely designed for office settings and have a great mic, they’re lightweight and incredibly comfortable, they work in both wireless and wired and the sound is reproduced with fidelity, although our only issue is the price – They’re pricier than SoundBlasterX H7, but if you got the budget and want a pair of on-ear wireless gaming headsets, then you should definitely get these.
Comfort becomes very subjective when it comes to SteelSeries Arctis gaming headsets, and with Arctis 7 that depends very much on the mechanism of the ski goggle headband, the sound is fairly good, yet we weren’t fascinated by the surrounding sound effect and the EQ.
We offered some attention to several high-end wireless gaming headsets, namely: SteelSeries Arctis Pro+GameDAC, Siberia 800 (H Wireless) and Siberia 840 from SteelSeries; Astro A50 Wireless Headset, Astro A50 (2019), but also a very intriguing model with planar drivers: Audeze Mobius. They’re all high-tech quality products designed for power-users because of their heavy customizations and integrated features such as 5ghz wireless technology, or 7.1 Dolby surround sound. All of them have excellent sound performance and can be worn for long, but just Astro A50 and Siberia 800 (H Wireless) are suitable gaming headsets for competitive plays where sound displays insightful information. Audeze Mobius uses LDAC Bluetooth codec which has latency between 100 and 150 ms, whereas Siberia 840 measures 225 ms – While these are relatively low numbers, there’ll be moments when the sound is delayed (a casual gamer might find that annoying, but for a professional player that’s detrimental). Between Astro A50 and Siberia 800 (H Wireless), Siberia 800 is slightly cheaper, has more pronounced sound, the lowest wireless latency (20ms), but a less intuitive software panel with fewer options, and only average surround sound.
