Happiness for your ears

After the controller – or keyboard and mouse – a good headset is a gamer’s best friend. Okay, a quality monitor or television is also up there. But today we are talking about helmets, and there are a lot of affordable options.

When deciding which helmet to buy, think about your priorities. Are you an audiophile who wants features like surround sound? Do you want the convenience of a wireless connection? If you don’t like the bulk, keep in mind that some headsets can be used with multiple devices, like a PC and console. While no one is likely to use the microphone for high-end recording, gamers still want clear sound. The ability to detach the mic is a nice feature.

No headset is perfect, but every headset on our list is feature packed and sound great. They’re all comfortable and well-made, and we think they’re all great choices as the best gaming headset available.

In addition to being comfortable and rugged, the Razer Kraken V3 Hypersense includes haptic feedback for your ears. In theory, this allows you to really identify those sneaky enemies above and around you. Although I found it a bit hit and miss, it’s a nice feature when it works. The Razer Kraken V3 has a removable microphone. It also has RGB lights that sync with Razer mice.

These are closed-ear headphones. While they don’t have noise cancellation, they still block out the outside world well. They connect via a USB cable, which means they can be used with both PC and consoles. The only downside for console users is that the cable is a bit short.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 shares many features with the Razer Kraken V3. It is a closed-ear design with powerful 60mm drivers and a detachable mic. The headphones are slightly less luxurious than the Razer, but the headset is a bit lighter. It’s a perfect fit if you wear glasses too.

Instead of a USB connection, the Recon 500 uses a quality braided cable and a 3.5mm jack. This makes the helmet incredibly versatile. You can plug them into your laptop or mobile devices, or into the audio port of your controller.

Our reviewer called the Epos H3 a “Swiss army knife”. The reason? These headphones can cover just about any situation. They connect wirelessly via Bluetooth or using the 3.5mm cable. This means they work with all of your gear, so they’re a great option if you only want one set of cans.

They sound fantastic with all kinds of games and music. The only downsides might be the price – they’re more expensive than the others on our list, but still reasonable – and might be more suited to users with smaller heads.

The HyperX CloudX Stinger Core has better than decent sound for a budget price. It has a dynamic driver and frequency response of 10Hz to 21kHz, a closed-ear design, and is lightweight. The build quality isn’t as impressive as some of the other headphones on our list, but it’s still sturdy. The microphone is not detachable but folds up when not in use.

This is a strictly wireless headset and can only be paired with the Xbox. It comes with a short charging cable and offers an impressive 17 hours of battery life on a single charge.

While it syncs wirelessly with the Xbox Series X / S, the LucidSound LS35X also includes a 3.5mm braided cable, which makes it useful beyond gaming. One cool feature is that the boom mic is detachable, but there is another built-in mic. This means that the headset can be used plugged into a smartphone and that the controls are intuitive and easy to access.

The LS35X has crystal clear sound and, according to our reviewer, is so comfortable that “I often forgot that something was resting on my noggin. The only downside to the headphones is the price. It is the same as the Epos E3. If you are primarily an Xbox gamer, we recommend this headset.

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