Top Gaming Headsets | Price Versus Performance

Top Gaming Headsets Comparison Price Versus Performance

Looking for the best gaming headset?

In this article we’ll break down the top gaming headsets available whilst comparing them for price versus performance.

HyperX Cloud Revolver S:

Starting off with the Best Overall Gaming Headset we have the HyperX Cloud Revolver S.

It’s never easy to choose the best product
from a list of excellent contenders, but someone has to do it.

After careful consideration of what most gamers want, we’ve come to the conclusion that the best gaming headset of 2019 is the HyperX Cloud Revolver S.

This headset has everything you could ever ask for. It’s available for just under $150, it works with PC, PS4, Xbox One, and even the upgraded versions of these consoles, the Xbox One S and PS4 Pro.

Better still, it offers 7.1 surround sound on all of these consoles – no small feat when you consider this is usually a PC only feature.

It manages to provide this without the need for any additional drivers or software too
as it’s simply “plug and play”. It’s a delight to wear, too.

It features a wider headband which reduces the pressure on your head and when coupled with the memory foam earcup pads, this headset remains comfortable during even the longest gaming sessions.

The frame is made of steel, so as well as being very comfortable, this product is also
durable and likely to last a long time as long as you treat it right. But that isn’t all.

It comes with a noise-canceling microphone that boasts crystal clear voice chat, and if you somehow find a better microphone, you can attach that instead.

This model has one of the broadest frequency responses out of any of the products I’ve reviewed a frankly ridiculous 12Hz-28kHz.

This wide range coupled with the large 50mm drivers ensure that not only can you hear everything that’s going on around you in-game, but you might even be able to pick up on sounds that another headset wouldn’t have been able to reproduce.

Best Budget Gaming Headset:

Next up we have the Best Budget Gaming Headset we have 3 picks.

So you’ve done a little research and you’ve found that most of the highly recommended headsets have names like “Black Phantom Stealth Razor” and cost hundreds of dollars.

Take a deep breath, we’ve got you covered.
We’ve found three fantastic gaming headsets that cost less than $50 that we think will fit your needs (and your budget) nicely.

SADES A60:

The first is the SADES A60, a classic black and white headset with sleek, curved edges
and a price tag of less than $30.

It has leather padded earcups, so it’s comfortable to wear for extended periods of time, plus its microphone is grounded.

This reduces the crackling noise that occurs when adjusting the mic’s angle.

The sound quality on this headset is impressive given how little it costs: there’s a good balance between bass and treble, plus they’re noise canceling so you can concentrate on the game instead of the other things in your room.

As this model is so inexpensive, there are some compromises that have to be made.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with consoles, but it’s plug and play for all home PC systems. Additionally, it uses simulated 7.1 surround instead of the real thing.

This isn’t wholly unexpected, but it is something you should know before you make the purchase.

Logitech G430:

If you have a little more room in your budget, you might want to consider the Logitech G430.

It’s a favorite among gamers as it provides a good balance between audio and microphone quality, price, and comfort.

The earcups can swivel, and they’re padded with sports cloth, so they’re very comfortable, plus this headset offers 7.1 surround sound.

The only issue with this headset is its lack of presets – the audio sounds decent, but
there’s a real lack of emphasis at both ends of the spectrum.

As such, you’ll have to adjust your equalizer to fit the game you’re playing every time.

Turtle Beach Ear Force XO:

Finally, we have the Turtle Beach Ear Force XO.

It’s designed for use on Xbox consoles, but also works with a PC.

They boast a bass emphasis option that’s great for listening to music, but it causes
slight distortion that could be detrimental in game.

The mic is fairly standard, but this headset is very comfortable to wear thanks to its
padded leather headband and cushioned swiveling earcups.

We really liked that it has three volume sliders instead of just two: there’s one for game volume, chat volume, and bass boost.

All of these headsets have a frequency response of 20Hz-20kHz, but we found that the SADES A60 had the most balanced sound profile, while the XO tended to favor the bass a little too much.

Most Customizable Gaming Headset:

Up next we have the Most Customizable Gaming Headset of which we have 2 picks.

Here’s the thing about gaming headsets
 you’re going to be wearing them for a long

time, over the course of weeks or months.

When you’re in a game they become part of you, and if there’s something about them

that annoys you, it’s going to slightly sour your experience.

For this reason, we’ve found two gaming headsets which allow for a wide range of customization.

Logitech G533:

The first is the Logitech G533.

These cost around $100 but come with Dolby 7.1 surround sound and an audio quality usually only found in much more expensive models.

They’re wireless, with a range of up to 15 meters, and better still, you can swap the battery out for longer sessions.

The noise-canceling microphone can be folded out of the way when not in use and as an added bonus, it automatically mutes in this position.

There’s an easy access volume dial on the side of one of the earcups, and you can use
Logitech’s software to tune the equalizer until you get it just right.

One of the best things about this product is its versatility: as well as being able to adjust the microphone, sidetone, and surround sound levels, you can also program the mute button to do other things – even pause your music, if you’d like.

BlasterX H5:

Next up we have the Creative Sound BlasterX H5.

These are designed for use in professional gaming tournaments and unsurprisingly, they hold up very well.

They include 50mm drivers and true 7.1 surround sound which really helps to make you feel as though you are in the game.

They also have a pretty good microphone – tournaments are often very loud, but the noise cancellation takes care of most of the external sound.

The leather earcups are replaceable, the headband is adjustable, and there’s even a decent inline controller, although the thing which has the biggest impact is yet to come.

This model provides excellent audio quality straight out of the box, but it can be further
enhanced using the Sound Blaster software for Windows.

You don’t even have to put much effort in – it comes with presets for some of the most popular games available today.

Both of these products have a fairly standard 20Hz – 20kHz frequency response, but we’d say that the Logitech sounds better overall.

Its Pro G drivers allow for a nice, crisp sound across the entire spectrum, although
at lower volumes bass-heavy tracks do lose a lot of their punch.

Astro A50:

Next we have the best headset for streaming which goes to the Astro A50.

If you’re looking to break into the world of streaming, there’s one thing that will kill your aspirations as dead as the dodo: a low-quality microphone.

Nobody is going to sit and watch you play games if they can’t hear you over the background noise in your room.

The Astro A50 prevents this from happening. It comes with a high-quality microphone, ample padding on the headband and earcups, and even DOLBY 7.1 surround sound to give you that competitive edge.

But that’s not all, we haven’t even mentioned the best parts yet. This is a headset which comes in two variants to cater to every need.

There’s a gorgeous black and blue one, compatible with PC and PS4, or one with a slick green and black color scheme which works with PC and Xbox.

In a market packed full of single platform headsets, seeing one which supports both consoles and PC equally is a breath of fresh air.

Both of these variants are completely wireless for increased ease of use – no mess, no stress.

The Astro A50 has a good battery life too, with up to 15 hours of use on a single charge.

There’s very little chance of your other wireless devices interfering with this headset, as it uses 5.8GHz signals while other products tend to use a far lower frequency.

The sound quality on this model is excellent. It has a very balanced sound profile which delivers solid bass without neglecting the higher tones, plus it has three EQ presets just in case you’d like to mix things up.

Now, this is a serious headset, and as such, it costs more than many of its competitors.
It’s priced at around $300 and we know this is steep, but if you take care of it, it’ll take care of you for years to come.

Best Gaming Headsets For Ps4 And Xbox One:

And for our last 2 picks we have the best gaming headsets for PS4 and Xbox one.

You’ve probably noticed that most of our top picks have been primarily targeted at
an audience of PC gamers.

This is because most gaming headsets make use of the greater flexibility that advanced sound cards provide, however, there are several high-quality headsets available for traditional home games consoles too.

HyperX Cloud II:

Take the HyperX Cloud II, for example.

It uses its own sound card to provide a fantastic audio experience on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

This built-in software also allows its detachable microphone to cancel both external noise and any echoing that might occur as you talk.

It’s super comfortable too, thanks to its memory foam earcup padding and velour spares.

Now, while this headset only supports 7.1 virtual surround sound on PC, it’s still great for console use thanks to its well-balanced sound profile and large 53mm drivers.

This means that you can hear every gunshot, footstep, and musical score exactly as the designers intended and further enhances the sense of immersion you’ll feel when you boot up your favorite game.

It even has a slightly better frequency response than some PC only headsets; this model can accurately produce audio in the 15Hz-25kHz range as opposed to just 20Hz-20kHz.

ASTRO Gaming A40:

Next up, we have the ASTRO Gaming A40.

Now, this headset really is something special. It retails for a little under $150 but justifies this higher price with increased versatility.

Not only can it provide 7.1 virtual surround sound on PC, but on consoles too, thanks to its included audio mixer.

This mixer also allows you to tailor your audio output to fit the situation: more bass
for action games, more treble for cutscenes, and so on.

One of the things we liked most about this headset is its customisability.

It can be adjusted to fit using its sliding headband mechanism, but you can also switch out the earcup panels in case the standard appearance just doesn’t do it for you.

You can even leave them off if you’d like a more open-ear aesthetic.

The earcup padding is made from a soft-touch material which minimizes the amount of sweating you do during an extended session and again, this can be swapped out if you’d prefer.

The built-in microphone is decent and provides good audio transmission, however, it doesn’t cancel noise as well as we’d like.

The mic can be swapped to the left or right sides of the headset, or even replaced entirely with something a bit more robust, depending on personal preference.

So that sums up our top gaming headsets of 2019.