Does Hyperx Cloud Have Software

[Helen Francke]

Likemost gaming headsets, the Cloud Alpha Wireless uses a USB-A dongle to plug into your PC or PlayStation 4/5, and the headset communicates with it wirelessly via the 2.4-GHz frequency (up to 20 meters). Unlike some other headsets, they can't connect via Bluetooth or with a 3.5-mm headphone cord. Also unlike most headsets, they hardly ever need to be recharged.

This kind of battery life is unheard of for a wireless gaming headset. It goes beyond the kind of marginal improvements you might expect from new hardware. If Apple released a new iPhone that lasted three days on a single charge, that'd be an impressive engineering feat. If it released a phone that could last a month, we'd have serious questions about how it violated the laws of physics. That's the position HyperX has put us in.

The 1,500-mAh battery cell is the only tangible clue here, but even that's not very helpful. The HyperX Cloud Flight, the predecessor and a now thoroughly unseated pick in our Best Wireless Gaming Headsets guide, also has a 1,500-mAh battery. Yet that headset only lasts around 30 hours.

After speaking to Arthur Shi, a battery expert at iFixit, our best possible guess is that HyperX found a way to either dramatically cut down on the power required for signal processing and wireless communication, or to offload some processing to the device it's plugged into. Whatever the answer, the company isn't sharing.

To a certain extent, the answer doesn't matter. As much as an unexplained 10X increase in battery performance raises eyebrows, the results are plain to see. It's been more than three weeks. I still haven't plugged a charger into this headset. This is the kind of upgrade that's so massive it baffled the entire WIRED Gear team. Quite simply, we've never seen anything like this kind of battery life from a wireless gaming headset.

I compared them to a set of studio headphones and found shockingly little difference. I could detect the faintest bit of postprocessing that muddied some of the higher frequencies, but that's fairly typical for gaming headsets. These are usually designed to accentuate the kind of sounds you'd hear in a video game, like explosions or gunfire, and they do that job really well.

A part of what makes this impressive is that the Cloud Alpha Wireless uses 50-mm drivers to produce the sound. This is the norm for many gaming headsets, but using smaller, weaker drivers would've been one way to reduce power consumption and increase battery life. Given the absurd battery gains in this headset, this was my first suspicion, yet the opposite is true. This headset has some of the best audio of any wireless headset I've tested.

The Cloud Alpha Wireless also have the benefit of feeling lighter than nearly every other headset I've tried. (Another surprise as I initially assumed HyperX was using bigger, heavier batteries.) It makes them much easier to wear for long periods of time. They're comfy too. The memory foam along the ear cups and headband is squishy yet retains its shape, and the faux leather is supple without feeling sticky or trapping too much heat.

The on-ear controls are thoughtfully designed, with each button and dial having a specific feel. The power button is concave, the mic mute button is convex, and the volume dial on the right ear cup has a ridged feel, almost like a gear with soft teeth. There's a subtle click for each step of the volume knob, making fine adjustments easy, and it still spins freely enough to quickly turn it all the way down when audio suddenly starts blasting.

I've yet to use the USB-C charging port, but that's what you'll inevitably use to recharge these cans when (if?) they die. Then there's the detachable microphone. Like many gaming headsets, it's a very get-the-job-done kind of mic. If you wanted to record audio for streaming or a podcast, you'd probably want to invest in a USB mic, but no one I talked to with it had any problems hearing or understanding me.

This is, simply put, a fantastic-sounding, comfortable pair of headphones for your PC or PlayStation with a solid microphone and intuitive physical controls. They somehow do all of this with a battery you only need to charge once, maybe twice a month. For $200. It's hard to recommend anything else for most people.

We've tested 16 pairs of HyperX headphones. They mostly make mid-range gaming headsets with a couple of higher-end models. They're known for their great microphones and good overall audio reproduction, but they're generally somewhat lacking in active features and customization options.

The best HyperX headset we've tested is the HyperX Cloud III Wireless. These headphones are the next generation of the HyperX Cloud 2/Cloud II Wireless and offer a few improvements. They have a wireless dongle that works with PlayStation and PCs and offers low latency, so your game audio and video stay in sync. Their default sound profile makes instruments and vocals sound clear and natural and has a bit of extra punch that helps bring out sound effects like footsteps. It lacks some thump and rumble, but unlike the Cloud II, their companion software offers a graphic EQ and presets for sound customization. They also support DTS:X Spatial Sound, which is meant to create a more immersive soundstage, although you have to play a compatible game for it to work.

Their 123-hour continuous battery life is much longer than the previous generation's, so you don't need to recharge your headset daily. The headphones are sturdy and have a comfortable fit that won't cause fatigue for most people, even if you're gaming for hours. Their boom mic has pretty good performance, but if you mostly game online and will use the mic often, you might still prefer the previous generation. The Cloud II's mic makes your voice sound more natural and clear-bodied and has a similar noise-handling performance, so you won't be drowned out by moderate background noise. Unfortunately, both headsets are wireless-only, so you can't use an analog connection with Xbox or when you're out of battery.

Check out the HyperX Cloud III if you want something more affordable. HyperX released these headphones in 2023 to replace the popular HyperX Cloud 2/Cloud II, which were released in 2015, though the Cloud II are still a great option if you can find them in stock. However, if you want the newest product, the Cloud III are very comfortable and well-built. Their boom mic does a better job of making your voice sound more clear and natural than the previous generation but has slightly worse noise handling. However, it's still decent enough to separate your voice from moderately noisy backgrounds.

Overall, their sound profile is balanced, with a detailed mid-range that helps bring out dialogue in cutscenes. However, their bass response is underemphasized across the entire range, so sounds like explosions will lack rumble and boom. Fortunately, unlike the previous iteration, these headphones are compatible with HyperX's NGENUITY software, which lets you modify the sound to your liking. This software is only available on the Windows store; you'll need to sync it to a PC via USB. There are additional controls for adjusting chat and game audio levels and activating a 7.1 virtual surround sound feature. These headphones are also compatible with most consoles via an analog connection.

The HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 are the best HyperX headphones in the budget category we've tested. They're cheap wired headphones that offer a decent gaming performance. However, they aren't as well-built or comfortable as the previous picks. Their boom mic is great but doesn't offer quite the same level of noise handling as the HyperX Cloud III's mic, either. However, it's not an issue if you're gaming in a quiet space, as the mic still captures your voice very clearly. They also have a comfortable fit suitable for long gaming sessions, though the pads aren't as plush as the more expensive models.

Their excited sound profile lends extra punch and boom to your audio, which can help bring out sound effects like footsteps. Elements like voices are clear, present, and bright as well. Like most ΗyperX headsets we've tested, their sound is dependent on the headphones' fit and positioning on your head, so you'll need to adjust them to get the same sound every time you wear them. They don't have a companion app to tweak your sound, but our model comes with an activation code for two years of DTS Headphone:X, a spatial audio app that you can use to generate a 3D soundscape for a more immersive gaming experience. It's worth noting that this software only works with Windows 10 and Xbox.

The HyperX Cloud Alpha S are a great choice if you want to add rumble and thump to your in-game mix. Unlike the HyperX Cloud III Wireless, these comfortable and sturdy headphones have bass sliders on either ear cup so that you can adjust the amount of bass in each separately. With the sliders turned all the way up, they have a boomy sound profile that can help emphasize sound effects like footsteps and explosions in games. They also come with leather or cloth ear cup padding, so you can choose which is more comfortable.

The boom mic has a good performance, so you'll sound natural and easy to understand when gaming with friends, and moderate background noise won't drown out your voice. They're fully compatible with most consoles via analog connection but also come with a USB dongle that provides a low latency connection with PCs and PlayStation consoles. The dongle has physical buttons for volume control, channel mixing, mic mute, and surround sound, so you have some controls within easy reach when gaming. The headphones are compatible with HyperX NGENUITY software, which offers surround sound and microphone level controls but is otherwise simple in design.

Logitech and HyperX make similarly priced gaming headsets, although HyperX generally produces better-built products. Some are even Xbox compatible, and their mics have better recording quality, too. However, thanks to their companion software support, Logitech's headsets are much more customizable. Some also support Bluetooth, which is uncommon in HyperX headsets, so it's worth considering Logitech's best headsets.

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