HyperX Cloud Stinger Multi-Format Gaming Headset Review

A Closer Look

The Stinger headset comes hard-wired with a good length 3.5mm 4-pole cable, this means you can plug it straight into your mobile device, or console controller and it’ll work straight away for calls and gaming. You could use it with an MP3 player if you like, but you may look a bit silly with the microphone boom on the side of your head, headphones these are not.

The headset design is certainly attractive, and while it’s fairly compact, it does still pack in some mighty 50m drivers into the earcups, which are sure to deliver thumping performance when you crank the volume. On the side, you have that flexible boom microphone, which can be folded up out-of-the-way. When folded up, you’ll hear a mechanical click, as the mic auto-mutes its self when not in use, giving you an easy way of taking a bout of privacy mid-game.

Pull it down again and it un-mutes its self, ready for action. The microphone is nothing amazing in terms of quality, but it’s not bad either. It doesn’t pick up too much background noise and gives bright and clear audio that’s perfect for multiplayer gaming, or even just making a few Skype calls.

On the side of the ear cup, you’ll find a HyperX logo in red, nothing too fancy, but it breaks up the otherwise all-black design of the Stinger. Each ear cup comes mounted on a pivot too, allowing a little bit of angle adjustment to ensure a clean fit over your ears, which goes a long way to ensuring unwanted external noise is blocked out and headset noise doesn’t leak out either.

On the bottom of the headset, you’ll find the hard-wired 3.5mm cable on one side, and a simple volume slider on the other. The volume slider is great, as it’s easy to locate without having to take the headset off, but also gives you a quick and easy way to tweak the audio on-the-fly while gaming.

The design of the headset certainly looks cool, with a mixture of sweeping curves and strong angles, that give it an aggressive, yet still nicely understated design. Despite their compact size, the ear cups house 50mm drivers, and it doesn’t take long to realise they can deliver very impressive performance. They’re very loud at max volume but maintain a distortion free sound regardless. The closed back design, combined with the soft microfiber and leather material ear pads also means that they hold a tight bass response that’s sure to put the thrill into those explosions, as well as give your music and movies nice big fat sound.

While not as refined as something like the Cloud headset range, the cheaper price of this headset easily justifies the more extensive use of plastics, but when it comes to sound quality, the headset makes no compromises. Gaming is an absolute blast on the Stinger and no matter what we threw at it, it left a smile on our faces and is easily one of the best sounding headsets in this price range.

The headband is pretty tough, but also surprisingly lightweight, and sits on your head with a comfortable fit; a welcome bonus for those who game for hours on end.

Between games, you can wear the headset around your neck, and the drivers fold inwards to provide more comfort while doing so. This pivot system also means that you can get an ever better fit over your ears, helping further enhance the fit and noise dampening qualities of the headset.

The ear cup padding doesn’t look particularly deep, but it’s nice and soft and certainly padded well enough for long-term comfort. It also gives the drivers a nice and direct feel and provides more than enough room for a perfect around-the-ear fit.

While mostly plastic on the exterior, the build quality is certainly robust, with a metal headband interior that provides a durable feel and an adjustment system that locks firmly in place for a reliable fit.

We’re suitably impressed with this headset, and it doesn’t matter if you plug it into a console, your PC, or mobile device, the performance is very impressive. A big sound, with plenty of bass yet it still manages to sound nicely balanced, with plenty of detail in the mid-ranges and treble, so movies, music and gaming all sound their best. We can’t think of anything better for the same money, and it’s easy to see why pro gamers are jumping to support the Stinger.