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Nov 07, 2024

The Best Gaming Headsets—We Tested Over Hundreds of Hours (2024) | WIRED

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. Learn more. Thoughtful sound design is a touchstone of modern gaming, and one of the best ways to improve your experience is

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

Thoughtful sound design is a touchstone of modern gaming, and one of the best ways to improve your experience is with a better pair of headphones. Plenty of headsets are designed just for this task, with mics for team chat, wired and wireless options, and comfortable designs for hours of play. We've rounded up the best gaming headsets, whether you're relaxing with a cozy game, crafting your way through space, or clicking heads in multiplayer games.

For the rest of your gaming accessory needs, be sure to check out our other guides, like the Best Gaming Keyboard, Best Gaming Mouse, and Best Game Controllers. We also have console-specific picks for the Best PS5 Accessories and Best Nintendo Switch Accessories.

Updated November 2024: Added the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, Corsair Virtuoso Max, and HyperX Cloud Mix 2.

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Testing gaming headsets is like gitting gud: There's no way to do it besides playing the game. A lot. For every gaming headset I test, I spend at least one week (usually more) using it as my sole headset for every gaming session on every console it's compatible with. I bounce between the PS5, Xbox Series S, Switch, and Steam Deck, as well as my usual desktop PC, which I use both for work and gaming.

For measurable criteria like battery life and charging time, I use the following tests:

Since a lot of factors involved in testing headphones can be subjective, I also consider more nebulous factors, like how a gaming headset feels to wear for long periods of time, audio quality during different types of games, the layout of on-device controls, and what kind of tools are available for customizing the audio experience. No amount of measuring a headset's frequency response can tell you whether a particular headset “sounds good,” so I rely on my years of experience in video editing and podcasting to offer my best recommendations for every need.

The Logitech G Pro X 2 improves in almost every way on our previous top pick, the first version of the Pro X (8/10, WIRED Recommends). These over-ear headphones use Logitech's Lightspeed wireless connection to maintain ultrafast, low-latency audio, but you can also pair via Bluetooth, which the previous model could not. It also has the option for a 3.5-mm wired connection. All of this gives it more connectivity options than its predecessor, making it excellent for PC gaming, console gaming, and even just using it with your phone.

This headset comes with the same high-quality 7.1 surround soundstage, Logitech software for customizing your microphone quality, and memory foam earpads from the previous model. The Logitech-owned Blue (of Blue Yeti fame) contributed to the mic and software design, so your voice comms sound excellent to your team. Also, just like the original, the price is extremely reasonable, making it an excellent value on one of the best gaming headsets we've tested.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset produces immersive, expansive sound, and it packs a desktop DAC (digital to analog converter) with a slick little display. This DAC is packed with functionality to customize your audio. It can be used to adjust volume, or the mix of voice, sidetone, and voice chat, and even tweak EQ. The over-ear headphones are super comfy to wear for long periods. The ear cups are plush and soft, and they shut out almost all exterior sounds. The new adjustable head strap pays homage to the classic ski-goggle adjustment strap that made the original Arctis such a standout.

The wireless version (8/10, WIRED Recommends) blew us away. On top of all the benefits shared with the wired version, it comes with two batteries, each of which can provide around 25 hours on a full charge. When one is in use, the other can charge inside the GameDAC, so there's always a fresh battery when you need it.

We weren't super impressed with Sony's Pulse 3D headset (5/10, WIRED Review), but the Pulse Elite (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a much better contender. It uses planar magnetic drivers to deliver more accurate audio with richer lows, more precise mids, and clear, distinct highs. It has both Bluetooth and wireless USB dongle connectivity options, which you can use simultaneously. The headset gets up to 30 hours of battery life on a single charge, and it also comes with a charging hanger that uses wireless contact points to charge the headset whenever you're done using it—so it rarely dies in the first place. It also matches the striking PS5 design, which means you don't need any RGB LEDs for people to know you're a GamerTM while wearing this thing.

★ Alternative: The SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ ($150) is another solid PlayStation-focused headset. It reaches over 30 hours of battery life and has a USB-C dongle that makes it easier to also connect to devices like the Switch or your phone. It sounds great and the earcups are reasonably comfortable for long gaming sessions.

The Arctis Nova 5X Wireless is one of the few gaming headsets that can pair with every game console you could possibly have. The headset's USB dongle comes with a handy switch that lets you connect to your PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, or any other device that uses USB-C. I even used it while playing on my Steam Deck (though the dongle did block the power button a little bit on this device). On top of that, you can connect this headset via Bluetooth and swap between both connections with the press of a button. That makes it excellent for answering calls or switching to music on your phone.

The earcups are soft and comfortable for longer gaming sessions, and the headset has a battery to match, lasting up to 60 hours on a single charge. The audio quality is surprisingly crisp and clear given how inexpensive this headset is. While playing Hades II, I was able to make out the clangs of Hephaestus' hammer or the whooshes of Chronos' scythe with enough clarity to save my life on more than one occasion.

I haven't stopped raving about HyperX's absurd 300-hour battery life on the Cloud Alpha Wireless (an achievement that no other headset I've tested has come close to replicating since then, by the way). But if I went looking for nits to pick with that headset, it's that it lacked advanced features like active noise canceling. Now, there's a more robust alternative: the HyperX Cloud Mix 2. This headset is comfortable, with soft, spacious earcups and a subdued black design. The ANC performance is impressive for a pair of headphones at this price, and you can swap to transparency mode with the dedicated ANC button on the right earcup.

In keeping with HyperX's pattern of battery life dominance, the Cloud Mix 2 gets more than 100 hours of battery life under normal usage, though that can drop down to the 70 to 80 hour range while using ANC. That's still multiple times longer than many other competing headsets without ANC, which continues to baffle me. Whatever dark magic HyperX is using to maximize battery life, it's working. It comes with a USB-C dongle that can plug into gaming handhelds like the Switch or Steam Deck, but HyperX also provides a tiny dongle dock that you can use to easily connect it to a desktop.

Turtle Beach has been a mainstay in our guide over the years for its Stealth series of headsets, and the latest generation has proven why they're a worthy inclusion. The Stealth 600 (Gen 3) headset adds a wireless USB-A dongle with a switch that allows it to pair with the Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, or any other device you can plug a USB device into. My one gripe is that most devices I'd want to use this on have USB-C ports, but if you don't mind getting a USB-C adapter, it's not a huge deal. The headset lasted more than 80 hours on a single charge in my testing, and the flip-down microphone provides decent audio for team chat. In terms of audio quality, the Stealth 600 is a little bass-y for my tastes, but for a relatively inexpensive headset, it's solid for most gaming uses.

★ Alternative: The third-generation Stealth 500 ($80) is a similar device that's slightly cheaper, but comes with the same widely-compatible USB dongle. It doesn't last quite as long on a single charge, though. Turtle Beach claims battery life of 40 hours, and while it lasted a little longer than that in my testing, it didn't approach the 80 hours of the Stealth 600. Still, if you want to save a bit of cash, charging more often isn't a huge sacrifice to make.

HyperX is best known for getting you the most bang for your buck, and the Cloud Alpha Wireless headset (10/10, WIRED Recommends) raised that bar by a country mile. Most gaming headsets—including several others we recommend on this list—offer 30 hours of battery life. This one, however, is rated for 300 hours. Yes, 300. In my testing, it lasted for over 325 hours of continuous usage on a single charge. It's such a baffling achievement that our friends over at iFixit did a teardown just to figure out how they pulled it off.

Combined with shockingly comfortable cans, impressive audio, and a measly sub-$200 price tag (it's been “on sale” for $170 for months at this point and often drops even lower), this is one of the few gadgets that's ever earned our perfect review score. The only downside is that it lacks a headphone jack or any non-dongle wireless options, like Bluetooth. But for wireless battery life, this headset is quite literally an order of magnitude above the rest of the competition.

★ Alternative: HyperX also makes the Cloud III Wireless, which is usually a bit cheaper than the Cloud Alpha Wireless. It “only” gets around 120 hours of battery, which is still several times longer than most other headsets on the market. It also comes with a USB-C dongle, with a USB-A adapter, so you have more options for connecting it to devices like the Switch.

Most headsets do their best to isolate you from ambient sounds, so you can hear your games with clarity. If you'd rather keep an ear out for screaming children, cooking timers, or your boss walking over to your cubicle (we're not judging), then open-back headsets are better for you. These headphones don't enclose the space behind the drivers, so ambient audio can still reach your ears clearly.

The Atlas Air from Turtle Beach is one of the nicest of this style of headphones that I've tested. The left earcup has a slick volume dial embedded in the side, and the earcups are attached in a “floating” style that's comfortable and allows excellent airflow. Audio quality is still clear and rich despite allowing ambient sound to co-mingle in your ear, though you obviously shouldn't expect perfect clarity in this type of headset.

The Audeze Maxwell Wireless gaming headset is one of the pricier options on our list, but it earns every dollar. These headphones use planar magnetic drivers, which produce more accurate, immersive sound, and they come with both a detachable boom mic and integrated mic, so you can choose between better mic quality or not having a mic sticking in your face. The cans have a premium feel and are made of sturdy material, but they're also pretty heavy. They might be uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time, but if you do, the battery can last a while. Unlike most standard gaming headsets, these can last up to 80 hours on a full charge. This still might not rival the absurd battery life of some of our HyperX picks, but it remains head and shoulders above most typical wireless gaming headsets.

The Corsair Virtuoso Max headphones emanate luxury. The sturdy, smooth metal cans are surprisingly lightweight for how comfortable they are. 50-mm graphene drivers produce rich, robust sound that's clear enough to hear every subtle footstep in my games. It includes active noise canceling that performed better than many of the headsets I've tested, though this (expectedly) caused a hit to battery life.

The Virtuoso Max got around 60 hours of battery life with noise canceling—as well as its built-in LEDs—turned off, but even with them on, I was able to play for several days without needing to reach for a charger. You can also connect this headset to both 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth connections simultaneously, so you can take calls or listen to music without being disconnected from your game. It's a handy feature not all headsets offer, which helps to justify its higher price.

You might not think the aesthetics of your headset matter much if you can't see them on your own head, but try wearing your headphones into an office or on stream and you'll quickly appreciate some good-looking cans. That's why I love the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro. Its earcups are held on by wire frames with angular tubes that give it a slight retro feel, reminiscent of those ’90s headphones every elementary school had. It doesn't hurt that they're also super comfy, get up to 70 hours of battery life on a single charge, and produce excellent sound—especially on the bass-y end of the spectrum. If you want to make sure you hear every Reaper footstep in Overwatch 2, these headphones will have your back right out of the box.

NZXT makes some pretty great accessories for PC gamers, and the company's first foray into audio gear has impressed us out of the gate. The Relay Headset is a wired gaming option that feels more premium than the $100 price tag might suggest. It has smooth, white earcups that are comfortable to wear for long periods, a volume wheel and mute toggle embedded in the cable, and comfy cushioning along the headband. If aesthetics are a concern for you, they also happen to look great alongside the company's Relay Speakers.

There are so many good headsets on the market that we have a hard time picking out our favorites. Here is where we list other headsets that we like, but that didn't find a distinct place on our list above.

Apple AirPods Max Wireless for $500: These headphones are among the best we've tested, but they're also incredibly expensive. They can be finicky when connecting to Windows, or when connecting to multiplayer games. If money's no object and you care more about audio quality than anything else, this is a great option, but there are cheaper, simpler picks on our list.

Beyerdynamic MMX 200 for $249: This headset from Beyerdynamic is designed with accurate audio in mind, meaning that you're more likely to get the sound that the game designers intended. That can be a good or a bad thing depending on your preferences. Some people might prefer a stronger bass boost or filters to make dialogue clearer, but if you don't, this is a great headset for you.

The most important question to ask yourself when looking for a gaming headset is, will it work with my [insert device here]? Here are some tips to make sure your new headset will work with your setup.

Audio quality: It seems like it would go without saying, but we're saying it anyway: You can't always tell from a spec sheet how a gaming headset will sound. A well-made stereo headset can sound better than a poorly made 7.1 Dolby Atmos surround sound set. Check reviews to get a sense of how a headset performs in real life.

Surround sound options: Modern headsets have gotten very good at recreating or simulating surround sound in headsets with systems like Dolby Atmos for Headphones or DTS:X. These systems are particularly impactful in games where you want to be able to hear exactly where the enemy firing at you is standing. Be sure you can turn the surround sound on or off.

Comfort: This is another subjective category, but if you're going to wear a headset for hours while you're gaming, it's important that it doesn't hurt. A heavy headset pressing against your temples can give you a headache after a while. Look for headsets that have adjustable, ergonomic designs, plenty of cushioning, and are generally lightweight.

An adjustable boom microphone: If you plan to use your headset for online gaming, a good microphone is important. Many headsets come with boom mics that can be positioned in front of your mouth. Some are removable, while others can be rotated or bent away from your mouth when they're not in use. Make sure you get the kind that's right for your needs.

Visible mic muting and indicator LEDs: It's important to know when you're broadcasting audio so you don't accidentally share your private conversations with your teammates. Some mics mute automatically when you flip them upward, while others use a dedicated mute button. We particularly like headsets that include red LEDs that indicate when you're muted.

Mic monitoring so you can hear your voice: If you want to keep tabs on how you sound to your teammates, and not sound like you're yelling while playing, mic monitoring is a feature that lets you hear your own audio through your headphones. Optimally, you can adjust its volume. When you listen to a podcast or radio talk show, chances are those folks are using some form of mic monitoring so they can hear themselves, as well as others.

Equalizer (EQ) and customization tools: Games, movies, and TV shows are mixed differently, and when you're listening, you might want to emphasize different aspects of the audio signal. Custom EQ presets let you set different balances for watching a movie versus playing a game, or even have different balances on a per-game basis.

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