Top 22 Best Headsets of 2022

The SteelSeries Arctis 5 is a gaming headset providing high levels of comfort and a noise profile that’s perfect for many situations. This means that you can easily hear approaching enemies, experience magnificent environments and at the same time enjoy the game soundtrack. However, this isn’t the headset you'd choose if you were only thinking of listening to music. The soundstage is too flat to suit different types of genre. Nor does the equaliser make much difference, and this is a bit of a shame, because if it had you’d have been able to get a sound that suited you on a more personal level. For example if you prefer a relatively heavy bass for particular music genres. It can also be nice to have a more powerful bass to reinforce the experience when you’re doing something like flying a plane or throwing a grenade. But the bass isn’t particularly powerful in this headset – instead it’s quite well-balanced. If you try to increase the bass through the equaliser, it doesn’t really make much difference. However, if you prefer a more balanced soundstage, it works straight out of the box. Nor did we experience any problems with distortion. The microphone performs well and the people we played with experience the sound as clear.

The comfort levels with this headset are almost the most striking thing about it, as they're extremely high. It presses just the right amount around the ears – not so much that it shuts out your surroundings completely, but enough so that you're not bothered by computer noise. However, in noisier environments you may need to turn up the volume quite a lot so that you're not disturbed, in which case quite a lot of sound leaks out too. The ear cups are made of plastic, but they have a rubbery finish that means they don’t feel plasticky. Nor do they crackle when we pull on them as sometimes happens with cheaper headsets. You can control all of the important functions on the ear cups. You adjust the volume and microphone on/off here, but you can also adjust the volume with the USB cable that’s included. If you connect the headset via USB instead of the 3.5 mm cable, it also has LED lighting.

The headset is held in place on the head with a ski goggle headband. You can replace this with a different design if you like. The advantage of the ski goggle headband over stepwise expansion is that you don't need to remember your favourite position. This combined with the great comfort levels and a balanced soundstage mean that the Arctis 5 is a good value for money headset.

The HyperX Cloud II has been a favourite for many years. This headset has good build quality, good sound and a crisp microphone, all for a reasonable price. Now it’s been been released in a wireless version and we love it.

New on the wireless version of the Cloud II is that the volume button and mute are located on the back of the right cup. These can be a bit difficult to find and could have been better textured. On the cup you’ll also find the power button and an LED that indicates whether the headphones are on or off. The LED also warns when the battery level is low.

The HyperX Cloud II Wireless is no exception when it comes to sound quality. Just like its wired siblings, the sound is really good given the price. You get good reproduction of details and nice balance. Sure, the bass could have been a little deeper, but that’s not something that really matters when you’re playing a game. The sound generally gives a powerful and authentic experience.

The Cloud II's microphone is so crisp and clean that it’s a joy to use. It has a clarity and a depth that is neither exaggerated nor underdone. HyperX have really done a great job with the whole thing.

The range is about 20 metres before it starts to stutter. Which is fine. You rarely need much more distance when you’re streaming – so unless your kitchen is a long way from your office, this range should probably be more than enough.

The battery life of the HyperX Cloud II Wireless is good. During our test, we got about 25 hours per charge, but this could vary depending on sound levels and the like.

These wireless headphones from HyperX are ideal for gamers who care a lot about sound and comfort. You get a lot of headphones for your money.

The Plantronics Voyager 8200 UC is equipped with four microphones that, as well as helping out with noise cancellation, also give the Voyager 8200 really good call quality regardless of surrounding noise or weather conditions. We tested it by making calls in the harsh autumn winds along busy Hornsgatan in Stockholm, and it was more or less like a conversation in a soundproof studio booth. Impressive.

But we may as well say straight away that there are more attractive headsets in the segments than this chunky affair. The white version feels significantly more up-to-date than the black version, however, with contrasting red details.

Top-class noise cancellation

If you don’t mind the design, a very pleasant experience awaits you with this headset.

For a start, it’s really comfortable to wear and despite the fact that it’s quite heavy it rests lightly on both head and ears. That slightly “sweaty” feeling you get with lots of other headsets of this size is conspicuous by its absence.

The noise cancellation is also eminent to say the least and can almost compare with what world-famous Bose have succeeded in achieving with their noise-cancelling headphones. We’d even say that the noise cancellation is on a par with what Bose offers.

There are two levels of active noise cancellation to choose between, but for an enfolding and almost incredibly noise free experience we recommend that you choose maximum.

One great detail is the built in sensors in the headset, which pause and play the content you’re listening to automatically if you remove the headset or even if you just lift one up a little bit, for example to hear what somebody’s saying to you. This also works in an exemplary manner.

And as if this wasn’t enough, this headset is also top-class when it comes to the sound quality in general. Even music of widely varying types sounds nuanced and detailed in a way that we'd normally associate with more expensive headphones. You almost forget that you’re listening to Bluetooth sound.

Overall, this is quite an expensive headset with perhaps not the most hip design, but it does an excellent job when it comes to everything from call quality and noise cancellation to listening to music.

The AOC GH401 is a headset with great sound quality and a comfortable fit.

A disadvantage of the design is that this headset is somewhat forward-heavy. If you tilt your head over the computer, you risk dropping them. But that’s also the only negative thing we found when it comes to design. The cushions are soft and well-padded, the loop bar has a comfortable fit.

The overall construction quality is reasonable. We like the fact that the microphone is soft and flexible, and that the headset has solid buttons and controls.

However, the best thing about the AOC GH401 is the sound. This headset has great sound for its price. The sound is well-balanced, clear and works equally well with both music and games. Details can be heard in every register. They may not have the heaviest bass, but in this case that's only a positive thing. The bass pressure is still quite good, and above all we are impressed by how rich the sound is across the spectrum.

The microphone’s sound, on the other hand, is not something we are neither impressed nor disappointed by. It does its job, but unfortunately picks up some environmental noises.

The AOC GH401 is suitable for those who want a fairly inexpensive headset with a focus on good comfort and high quality sound.

The German company Roccat isn’t a new name in the gaming world. They’re known not only for their history in both League of Legends and CS:Go as one of the competing teams but also for their gaming products.

The Roccat Elo 7.1 Air is a wireless gaming headset that’s intended to work with a PC, but which works just as well with a PS4. Given that, the Elo 7.1 becomes much better value as you can easily jump from PC to games console if you like to play on both platforms.

Via Roccat Swarm, which is the app for this headset, you can configure most of the things you need. Everything from sound and light to the microphone. It’s clearly structured, and the program is user-friendly. There’s also an extra feature where you can distort your voice, and choose between monster, female or male. A fun idea, especially if you want to be anonymous.

The sound quality is what you'd expect from a headset in this price class. It delivers deep bass, clear treble and a mid-range that works fine even if it’s not particularly high resolution. In any case, you definitely feel you're getting value for money.

The 7.1 sound works really well and in the Roccat Swarm app you can clearly hear a difference when you go from 2.0 to 7.1. You also get an in-game sound improvement, although of course there's a huge difference between this virtual 7.1 and real surround sound.

The buttons can be found on the back of Elo 7.1's left headphone. Everything you need is here, but unfortunately it’s difficult to locate which button does what just by feeling with your finger. To be honest, the buttons could have been better textured, because as things stand you just have to guess which is which.

During our test, we measured the battery life to about 23 hours, which is in line with what Roccat states.

The Roccat Elo 7.1 Air Wireless is an affordable gaming headset offering pretty much every feature you could possibly need. You get good sound quality and an excellent fit. The fact that they also work with PS4 makes them that bit more appealing to a wider target group.

JBL Quantum 610 is a mid-range headset aimed at gamers. It has a great battery life compared to its siblings, but does not have a quick charge. Charging takes place via USB-A. It does not have a USB-C, but the charging time of 3 hours is still to be regarded as approved, given how many hours of playtime you get out of that. Of course, it can also be run via a 3.5-millimetre cable if the battery runs out.

The range is good. The headset is connected via a dongle to the computer and then the RGB lighting that lights up the JBL logo on the ear covers also starts.

Sound quality is okay. The sound is not very balanced, but you can hear your fellow players well and there is quite good pressure in the sound. Like many other JBL products, this headset has a powerful bass. It is suitable for playing FPS and similar games with a lot of explosions. In addition, the ear covers insulate the ambient sound well.

The microphone is also of high quality. The sound is passed through nicely to the listeners, and they are not disturbed by clutter in their immediate surroundings. However, the microphone is not removable and it is difficult to fold away completely.

The construction quality is good overall, but the microphone doesn't feel as well built as the price suggests it should be, and the headset may pinch against your jaw uncomfortably during longer gaming sessions.

Apart from this, the Quantum 610 has well-padded cushions and a bouncy headband. The overall impression is that this is a robust headset.

The JBL Quantum 610 is suitable for those who looking for a headset with reasonable sound quality in relation to the price and who are focused on a sound profile with more bass pressure.

The Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless is a headset offering high sound quality given its price, and a decent if unspectacular microphone. It’s really important that you take the time to adjust the sound. As standard, this headset sounds perfectly OK, but if you fine tune it, you can get a really crisp sound both for yourself and for your team-mates.

For example, the microphone can’t be adjusted sideways, so it’s a good idea to set the sensitivity for it yourself so that the sound doesn't become too loud or too quiet. Furthermore, there are some pretty good settings for sound quality. By the time we finished fine tuning, we had a really nice balance where all registers came through without any one dominating.

Unfortunately, the software is one gigabyte in size, which feels unnecessarily large for what is a quite simple program.

You can charge them during use!

The design of the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless headset is unusually stylish for what is, after all, a gaming headset. The headset is minimalist and doesn’t show off too much, even if the design is a bit unusual.

Something we really appreciated was the volume knob. That may sound unimportant, but it's actually one of the best we've tested. It’s very easy to navigate, and quick to find with your finger. The other control is the on/off button. And are the only buttons. You can easily mute the microphone by lifting it up.

But while the volume knob has a really good design, the headband itself has a poor one. You adjust them with a Velcro strap, which makes the headphones unnecessarily difficult to alter compared to the competitors' solutions.

However, if you can find a good setting, they do fit really well. The headset tends to press a little against your jaw after a couple of hours, but still has really good ergonomics and comfort levels compared to many others in the same price range.

Battery life is just over 20 hours. If you turn off RGB, you can get another hour or so. All of which is fine. One thing we really did appreciate was that you can use the headphones while charging them, something that isn’t offered by many of their competitors. USB-C is also a plus, as most people already have such cables at home.

However, the range could have been better. If you’re in the same room, you won’t have any problems, but as soon as there’s a wall in the way, we experience some loss of connection. Of course, it does depend on how far away you walk, but many other models in the same price range wouldn’t have lost contact.

Overall, the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless is a really good headset. You have the buttons you need, and they are easily accessible, the headset sits well on your head and you get good sound. Given the price, we think the HS80 is a pretty good buy.

These minimalist wireless headphones from Logitech offer a discreet choice for gamers who don’t like to stand out with flashy RGB details. The headset also has a good build quality. The weight indicates a well-balanced headset, which feels neither too plasticky nor too heavy. In terms of appearance, these headphones are more reminiscent of studio headphones than a pure gaming headset.

Though gaming is very much the focus. And for this purpose you want a pair of headphones with good sound that shut out the noise of the computer fan and instead enclose you with the high-quality sound from your gaming world. That’s what you get from the Logitech G Pro X.

The sound is well balanced and the registers are sufficient to get both depth and breadth in the sound. Nor does the bass eat up the mid-range as many other headphones tend to do.

You can turn up the volume relatively high without the sound losing quality or becoming unbalanced.

However, we did have some problems with white noise. This headset constantly emits a low but annoying hum, which is irritating when you’re listen at low volume or have no sound at all. Some people like to play with only their friends’ voices coming through their headset, and then that white noise becomes a real problem.

As regards talking you do get a microphone that really delivers. People can clearly hear what you’re saying, even in a rather noisy environment. And thanks to Blue Voice, you also have a range of ready-made voice settings.

Easy to set your preferences

With the included G Hub software, you can make all necessary adjustments, such as voice settings, virtual surround sound and so on. You can either choose your own settings, or use the presets.

The range is fine – you can walk around the house and up to 15 metres away without losing your connection. The battery life of 20 hours is also pretty decent.

The Logitech G Pro X headset is aimed at anyone who wants a discreet headset with plenty of settings. If you can live with the background hum, this is a really good headset. But that noise does reduce our score. Other than that, you get good sound quality, a decent microphone, a good fit and a headset that works just as well on the LAN as during a Zoom meeting.

The Asus Rog Theta 7.1 is a pair of headphones suited to people who like a bit of bass. With eight individual drivers and its 7.1 surround sound, the Theta 7.1 delivers well in excess of our expectations. Surround sound in headsets is usually something of a marketing ploy, but in these headphones it’s a positive addition to the soundstage. You can navigate in-game very well with this function running. It also makes a really good acoustic addition for when you’re watching films.

Overall the sound quality is really good. There’s a nice balance between the different registers. There’s plenty of bass pressure without it taking over. If you’re prepared to pay for a headset that performs on this point, the Asus Rog Theta 7.1 is definitely a product to consider. For those of you who prefer the bass to be a bit lighter, there’s a mode you can select so he headset still sounds good.

Large and chunky with high build quality

However, this wired headset from Asus is definitely not one we’d classify as minimalist. It’s actually of the largest headsets in the segment. In addition to the size, it also weighs 600 grams, making it almost twice as heavy as many of its competitors.

With extra weight usually comes good build quality, and the Theta 7.1 is no exception to that. The build quality feels really solid. These headphones feel lavish both in terms of material selection and construction. There are no squeaking noises here and they sit really comfortably on your head.

Even though the Theta 7.1 are a pretty heavy pair of headphones, they still feel very good once you put them on. What is noticeable quickly is the rear-facing D-shape that’s a bit confusing to begin with, but once you get used to it it’s not a problem. These headphones are comfortable even during long gaming sessions, although you do start to feel that extra weight after a couple of hours. But not as much as we’d expected.

What is irritating, however, is the cables. These are large and heavy, even for someone used to playing with a wired headset. The split of the cords is also quite tight, which makes them feel restrictive.

In the Asus Armoury software, you’ll find plenty of options to configure everything from surround sound to RGB. But Armoury always requires a reboot after each update, which becomes a pain over time.

The Theta 7.1's microphone is removable. It has active noise cancellation which works pretty well. It may not be the best microphone we've tested, but it still does its job.

These headphones not only deliver really good sound, they are also multifunctional, working just as well for films as they do for gaming, especially FPS games where surround sound can make the difference between life and death. They’re also fairly comfortable. If you don’t mind wired or heavier headsets, these are worth taking a look at.

As soon as you remove the Plantronics Voyager 5200 from the packaging it strikes you as a sports focused headset. But this is a headset that also works really well in professional contexts, not least because of the excellent call quality.

In purely visual terms, the headset is a little reminiscent of the Bluetooth headsets that made the entire segment popular in the mid-00s. There are both advantages and disadvantages with this. The fit can be a little so-so depending on the shape of your head, but at the same time it allows for really substantial buttons, which makes control much easier. For example there’s a multi-function button that’s really easy to adjust, something that’s a stark contrast to smaller headsets which are often fiddly to control.

An intelligent headset with good noise cancelling

But as we mentioned above, the fit isn’t always 100%. If you can live with this though, it’s a really good headset. For example, it has a number of intelligent functions. Not least is the fact that the headset is equipped with sensors that can tell whether it’s in your ear or not. If you remove the headset, the call switches immediately to the phone microphone and speaker instead, which makes everyday use considerably easier.

If you pick up the headset and put it in your ear while it’s ringing, the call is automatically connected to the headset.

The fantastic sound quality is the result of using four microphones with digital noise cancelling, something that produces excellent call quality even if you’re in a really noisy environment, such as a railway station.

The headset is also equipped with a 20 band EQ optimised for voice calls and which prevents irritating echoes. And the headset has no less than six layers of wind protection. Overall this provides optimum call quality as we aren’t disrupted by noise around us and can focus 100% on what’s being said.

Long calls are no problem

We get about seven hours’ talk time with this headset and a week’s standby time on a full charge. This is good. Charging from 0 to full takes 1.5 hours, however, so you need to be aware of this if you’re dependent on the headset.

Overall, this perhaps isn’t the most attractive headset that’s ever seen the light of day, but for somebody looking for a robust product that offers really good call sound regardless of the environment, there isn’t much wrong with it. Pretty much what we’ve come to expect from Plantronics, in other words.

The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 is one of the company's most popular models. In terms of price it fits into the lower medium class, and is a headset worth keeping an eye on.

In terms of design, the Stealth is fairly standard when it comes to gaming headphones. It both feels and look plasticky. But the build quality is definitely more on the robust side. However it’s noticeable that Turtle Beach have focused on other things rather than material choice and build quality.

According to them the Stealth 600's battery life is up to 15 hours, and during our test we were able to use the headset for about 14 hours on a single charge, which is pretty good – especially at this price.

On the back of the Stealth 600's left headphone you find the controls. There are standard things such as a volume scroll wheel, USB-C port and the like.

You have three different EQ modes to choose from when you press the mode button, which give slightly different sound settings. Another interesting feature is that the power button also has what Turtle Beach has chosen to call "Superhuman hearing". This is a function that picks up and amplifies important sounds such as your enemy's footsteps or when someone’s reloading. This works better than we'd expected.

In terms of sound, the Stealth 600 offers decent quality for the price. The bass is a bit poor and the sound a bit out of balance, but that’s not unusual for this price class. The mid-range comes through fine.

The headphones are comfortable and big enough to cover even larger ears. To be fair, if you wear them all day, they might start to feel a bit uncomfortable, but during normal gaming sessions they’re fine.

The Stealth 600’s microphone also passed our test. The sound is clear and clean, and if you want to mute it, you just fold the microphone back in.

This headset is ideal for most people who play for fun. It’s a really affordable headset with several welcome features and a good battery life.

The MSI GH50 is a headset with a stable, robust construction which ensures its position in the lower part of the premium price range. The headset is ergonomic, and comes with an appealing matte black finish.

The headset is also equipped with powerful RGB lighting (which you can reduce in terms of power of via the software). At maximum power, it’s hard to miss the GH50 on a LAN or in the darkest room.

This is a wired USB headset and the cord is equipped with a control box that allows you to turn off the microphone or vibrations and also activate MSI's built-in 7.1 surround sound.

Unfortunately, the 7.1 sound really doesn’t cut it. It feels more like sitting inside a tin can. At the same time, the GH50 is great in terms of sound quality when it comes to regular 2.1 sound, so equipping the headset with a virtual 7.1 that doesn’t deliver feels like an unnecessary feature that only detracts from the overall impression.

That said, other than that, the sound is impeccable. The bass is deep, but still clear and distinct, which works well for games such as CSGO, PUBG etc., where you navigate using sound to find out where your opponents are. But the GH50 is suitable for all sorts of games, and the sound is very good in terms of price level.

The design and the cushions also reduce a good bit of external noise.

Detachable microphone

The GH50's microphone is detachable, which is a fantastic feature. The ability to remove the microphone and be able to use the GH50 as regular headphones is useful, but it also reduces the risk of damage to the microphone when you put the headphones in a tight case. Unfortunately, the mike can’t be raised or turned sideways, which is a shame, as sometimes you need to move it or bring it closer to, or further away from, your mouth. The fact you can’t raise it or turn it makes this more difficult.

The sound is clear and distinct. It’s not the best microphone in the world, but it does the job and everyone can hear you clearly. But the microphone also lacks depth, and even if the output sound is set high it feels short of power, which means that whilst it's perfectly OK, it doesn’t quite achieve top marks.

At 300 grams in weight, the GH 50 is on the heavier side which is both good and bad – the build quality is very good and robust and that means extra weight, but that extra weight also makes the headset heavy to wear in the long run.

The MSI GH50 is suitable for anyone looking for a robust headset with good sound quality for fun gaming sessions with friends – whether you want to be seen on the LAN or perhaps be that bit more discreet.

The Corsair HS65 Surround is a minimalistic headset with flip-to-mute boom microphone and only one volume control on the outside. In other words, very few buttons – but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

This is a fairly small headset. While the fit is acceptable, it’s not as good as we’d expect from a headset in this price bracket. If you have a large head, we strongly advise you to test the fit before buying this headset. Even if your head is on the smaller size, you’ll find that this headset starts to feel uncomfortable after a couple of hours.

The sound quality, on the other hand, is very good. The sound is well balanced. There’s fine clarity in the treble and plenty of details in the sound. While the bass is not that deep, it still feels good enough.

As the Corsair HS65 lets in a lot of ambient noise, it’s best to use it in a quiet environment if you want to game in peace.

The microphone is great. It’s possible to turn and angle it as you wish. The angle isn’t huge but sufficient to make a difference. The sound reproduction is good and the other players have no problems understanding what we’re saying.

JBL Quantum 810 is a gaming headset with a similar design to its predecessors. Its design is comfortable, relatively stylish and X. However, we felt that the microphone was very plasticky. It looks bendable but is so stiff that it immediately returns to its original shape, and the protection that's meant to reduce external noise is poor.

Sweaty

The headset is comfortable both on the upper part of the head and over the jaw. The ear covers form well. They can get a bit sweaty if you play for hours, but that’s the case with many headsets.

The sound quality is good. You have deep bass and a good width of sound over all the registers. It’s the traditional JBL sound with a slightly heavier bass.

###Bad ANC Quantum 810 is equipped with active noise cancellation. Unfortunately, it does not come into its own at all. The ANC is far too weak, and in principle it only dampens noise that is very far away. The question is whether it is even the ANC that's dampening the noise, or whether it is the padded, closed ear covers.

The battery life is okay. You can play for just over 24 hours before they need to be recharged. However, many manufacturers are now releasing gaming headsets with an impressive battery life that spans several days, and as this headset is on the verge of premium price, we expected even more here.

The JBL Quantum 810 is for those of you who like JBL’s signature sound and a slightly more stylish design on your gaming headset.

The Epos H3 Pro Hybrid is a gaming headset in a slightly higher price range with a perfectly acceptable battery life. We get just over 20 hours with noise cancellation activated.

The noise cancellation is okay. While we’re not super-impressed, it’s good enough to block out noise from the keyboard or other players in the same room. A great addition to this headset.

Sound that elevates the experience

The sound quality of music and game audio is top class. We like how crisply all the details in the registers come through and how clearly we can hear our co-players.

The sound is well separated. The bass is powerful enough to give the sound effects pressure, but without overwhelming the rest of the sound. The ANC also gives the sound great focus.

Plasticky headset

Unfortunately, the build quality doesn’t match the price. The headset feels quite plasticky and we’d have preferred a more fun material choice. However, this headset sits comfortably on your head, even though the inside of the headband is made of metal. It’s also suitable for people with larger heads.

The Epos H3 Pro Hybrid is a great headset if sound quality is more important to you than build quality.

The Asus Rog Delta is almost a premium class wired headset. It’s a gaming headset with amazing sound. It features high-resolution virtual surround sound, which adds a true-to-life feel to your gaming experience. But it also offers a brilliant sound balance if you like to listen to music between gaming sessions.

The microphone is good. Our co-players hear us clearly. It’s not quite the same high sound quality we get with our external microphone, but perfectly acceptable.

The Armoury Crate software offers plenty of options for different types of settings and profiles.

Long cable (if desired)

One advantage is that an extension cable is included. This gives you up to 2.5 metres of cable, if necessary. Even better, it’s USB-C, which feels modern and good. Unfortunately, it loses points for the thickness and stiffness of the cable. The headset is also a bit expensive for a wired headset and doesn’t feel super-comfy on your head.

Ear cushions adapt

The design, on the other hand, is gorgeous and you get two different cushions, so you can switch them if you want a slightly looser fit. We feel that the standard design fits slightly larger heads best.

Asus Rog Delta will be ideal if you want a wired headset with a long cable and USB-C compatibility.

Asus Rog Fusion II 500 is a wired gaming headset that’s very well balanced and unusually well fitting. It’s also comfortable to use for marathon gaming sessions.

The downside is that it has a surprisingly plasticky feel for a premium headset. It lacks the luxury and flair that we’d expect to get in this price bracket. But at least it’s well in line with the minimalist trend we’ve seen in recent years in the gaming world.

The RGB lighting has a slightly different but edgy design. The earcups have an LED strip on the back. The advantage of this is that if you wear glasses, you avoid reflections in the lenses. It also looks really cool.

The buttons are easy to find, and their texture and design help you to feel the difference between them.

You get two different sets of ear cushions, so you can switch them around. You can also remove the microphone.

The sound quality of the Rog Fusion II 500 is good, although we would have expected a wider range from a premium headset. We also noticed a lack of details in the registers. You can distinguish footsteps from other sounds, but when you listen to music, the sound occasionally seems mushy.

These headphones only block ambient sound passively: despite the high price tag, they don’t offer active noise cancelling. Nevertheless, they are good at dampening ambient sounds, so you can enjoy the in-game audio undisturbed.

The microphone is noise cancelling, but unfortunately picks up a lot of sounds – your teammates will be able to hear you hammering on your keyboard if it has mechanical keys.

Asus Rog Fusion II 500 isn’t really worth the money. Although it performs acceptably in many respects, we feel it lacks a certain flair.

Asus ROG Delta S Wireless is a comfortable gaming headset within the premium segment, which unfortunately does not quite live up to its price tag. The potential is there. For example, details are nicely heard in the middle register and the treble. We also like how stable the headset feels on the head, even when moving around.

Poor bass

On the other hand, the bass is far from impressive, and the sound is not as well-balanced as it would need to be in order to justify the price.

The microphone also has some shortcomings. Sometimes it can sound static, or it can make a crackling noise from time to time. This is something that annoys you when gaming for longer sessions with other people.

No noise reduction

This wireless headset has a battery life of just over 24 hours. This is okay, but considering the price tag we would have liked even more here. We also missed having noise reduction.

Fast charging, on the other hand, is a great addition. You get around 2.5-3 hours of battery life on 15 minutes of charge.

Astro's A20 Wireless headset is an upgraded version of their wired A20. In terms of design, this headset looks like a standard gaming headset. You can see immediately what genre it’s built for. It isn’t unattractive, but it’s clearly aimed at gamers.

The build quality feels a bit uneven. The overall feeling is that the headset is a little plasticky and doesn’t feel all that great in your hands. By contrast, the A20 Wireless does feel nice once it’s on your head. It has comfortable padding – not the softest ever but you can definitely play for long sessions without any problems.

There are five buttons and other controls on the back for on/off, sound settings and the like. These include three ready-made modes.

Competitors offer more

In terms of sound, the A20 does very well for the price. The sound is clear and crisp, the bass is soft and a little anonymous but good enough for most people. Having said that, of course this isn’t the sort of headset to wear if you're going to sit on the sofa and enjoy music. But for FPS games and the like it’s fine.

The battery life of 15 hours is OK, but competitors offer more. For example, the Logitech G 733 has almost 29 hours of battery life, which is twice that on offer here. Charging the Astro also takes almost 5 hours, which is far too long considering the operating time you then get out of it.

The A20 Wireless headset offers good sound and a comfortable fit. But there are better models on the market where you get more headset for your money.

The Asus Rog Strix Go 2.4 is an unusually discreet headset, given that it’s aimed at gamers. The black rubberised surface on the outside offers a good grip while creating a nice contrast to the high-gloss plastic material that the headband is made of. Furthermore, it’s equipped with USB-C, which is very flexible as more and more products support this.

One of the cups has buttons for controlling volume and playback. The playback buttons have a good response, but the volume button has some shortcomings. It isn’t a conventional scroll wheel. Instead, you have to wiggle the knob up or down depending on whether you want to increase or decrease the volume, and unfortunately the adjustment is difficult to fine-tune.

As with all battery headsets, there’s a pre-recorded voice that announces how much battery you have left and so on. On this headset, this is embarrassingly bad. Although this is hardly a deal breaker, it does make the Rog Strix Go 2.4 feel like a real budget headset – which it isn’t.

The sound quality, on the other hand, is good. In the standard version, the bass feels a bit thin, but you can adjust it in the equaliser if you install the software for the headset. The software is updated quite often, but unfortunately you have to restart your computer each time before you can use it again.

The Asus Rog Strix Go 2.4 has a bendable microphone that’s OK as long as it’s placed right in front of your mouth, with the microphone opening correctly aligned. But you have to constantly fine-tune it, which quickly becomes annoying – otherwise the microphone’s sound quality drops quickly for your team-mates.

You get just over 20 hours of battery life, which is more than acceptable.

These headphones from Asus are both discreet and stylish. They’re also comfortable even during longer sessions. But unfortunately, the microphone leaves a lot to be desired, and the volume adjustment is very awkward.

Jabra Evolve2 30 are a pair of lightweight headphones intended for office work, or if you’re a homeworker with lots of online meetings and you want better sound quality than you’d get from your computer's built-in microphone and speakers. These are so-called open headphones, and so they let through some ambient noise, which means you have a good idea of what’s happening around you.

These headphones are equipped with dedicated mute buttons, volume buttons and a pause/play button. The buttons, located on the back of one cup, are quite small and somewhat difficult to find when you need them. They are rather low profile and lack any texture that would have made it easier to distinguish between them.

The sound quality, on the other hand, is great – as you’d expect from Jabra. You get a very well-balanced sound with a decent mid-range. And a crisp, clear treble. The bass is also very good, given that these are open headphones intended for conversation. We could clearly hear the people we were talking to and got good sound quality when we listened to music between conversations. Details also come through well.

And we could be heard clearly too – even when we were sometimes in a more noisy environment. However, we do have some concerns with the microphone. It can be angled up or down easily enough, but it’s not possible to angle it sideways. So it tends to pick up the sound from when you breathe. If you don’t want to breathe into the microphone, you have to lift it up a bit, which means that you aren’t heard quite as well in a noisy environment.

The Jabra Evolve2 30 are wired headphones. They come with a relatively short USB-A cable which keeps you pinned to your desk when you talk. Nor are they particularly stable on your head. We found they slid forward towards the face during use.

The wonderful sound quality and the minimalist design are the best functions of this headset. But considering its price, we’d have expected better construction with a more functional design.

These headphones from HyperX are compatible with both PS4 and the forthcoming PS5, which in itself is a big bonus. The Cloud Stinger Core headset has a relatively standard design and at first glance looks like many other headsets on the market. It feels quite plastic, but quite robust rather than thin and cheap.

The Cloud Stinger Core isn't very comfortable at first and even feels downright uncomfortable. Over time, however, that feeling of discomfort decreases a bit and you get used to it during a gaming session. But overall, this is definitely not the most comfortable headset we’ve ever tested.

The battery life, on the other hand, is really good given the price.

As the HyperX Cloud Stinger Core is a headset for PS4 and PS5, it doesn't include an app for configuring the settings, but the Cloud Stinger Core still delivers acoustically and does so well. The bass is OK without being great.

However, the Cloud Stringer Core's microphone fails quite badly. It’s really quite poor, cutting in the middle of sentences, which is probably to mask background noise, but it does this so much so that it quickly becomes really irritating.

What we’ve seen in previous tests where headphones are aimed at game consoles, is that they have also been compatible with PC, which is a big bonus – and this is also the case here. The Cloud Stinger Core also works well with a PC.

These headphones could suit anyone who switches between different sources, such as a games console and computer. But you’d need to not be bothered about microphone quality, and primarily just looking for decent headphones. On the other hand, if you need a full headset with decent mike, then we can’t recommend these.