I test gaming headsets and these are my top 5 tips

Wireless is just as good as wired these days

First, are you going to tether yourself to your PC or go wire-free? There are compelling arguments either way. But the truth is there’s not that much difference these days.

Wired headset fans will put forward a case for audio quality and argue that it’s the best way to remove any issues about connection latency. They’re not wrong about those points. But wireless headsets have come a long way in recent years. In most cases a wireless connection courtesy of a 2.4GHz dongle will sound great, have an almost flawless connection and near zero latency.

Some headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless have both wireless and wired connections so you get the best of both worlds.

There is one big caveat with wireless headsets though. You’re going to want to avoid Bluetooth for gaming. Bluetooth is useful for taking calls on the go and turning your gaming headset into a roving headphone but even the latest standard of Bluetooth will introduce some latency issues. You might notice your audio lagging behind the action on the screen, so use the Wi-Fi mode instead.

The size of the drivers matters

Inside the headset are the drivers. These are like small speakers that deliver the sound to your ears. Because they produce the sound, the quality of the drivers is important to your listening experience. Size matters when it comes to the drivers, with a minimum size of 40mm being what you want to get a robust sound. If you can find bigger than that, like the 90mm planar magnetic drivers in the Audeze Maxwell wireless headset, then all the better.

You’ll also want drivers that are general purpose rather than for gaming specifically. Plenty of gaming companies advertise the quality of their headset drivers for games and even their surround sound prowess, but a good pair of drivers is a good pair of drivers and if they sound good for music, they’ll sound good for games too.

So while it may be tempting to go for a gaming headset with specially tuned drivers, you really should be going for a headset that just sounds great. Indeed, headsets from Razer, Logitech G, Corsair, and HyperX, which are trusted brands will sound great and be suitable for music as well as gaming.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

Comfort is of paramount importance

Comfort is a very subjective thing that depends on a whole bunch of different factors. It’s also a hard point to make in a headset review because what feels good to one gamer will feel lousy to another. But when it comes to comfort, one simple rule applies: If it looks uncomfortable it usually is.

There’s a lot to think about when it comes to headset comfort. No matter the size of your head or how you wear your hair, you’re going to want some serious padding in the earcups and on the top headband to cushion your head over long stints.

Additionally, the clamp pressure of the headband should be moderate, neither too hard nor too soft. If it’s too hard you will feel pain, but if it’s too soft it’ll probably fall off your head the minute you look down at your phone or your keyboard. You also want an adjustable headband that you can easily manipulate to fit your ears.

With earcup padding it’s important to think about sound isolation and sweat. Leather and leather substitutes can feel very plush and do wonders to passively block out ambient sound, but they can be extremely sweaty at times. On the other hand, mesh fabrics can be remarkably soft and allow you to play without accumulating much sweat.

It’s difficult to know what the comfort levels of a headset are before you buy, but I advise paying close attention to any mentions of comfort in reviews before putting down your hard-earned cash. Look for headsets like the Logitech G Pro X2 Lightspeed that really make comfort a priority, with super-soft earcups and highly adjustable headbands.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

A detachable microphone is better than an attached flip-up one

Microphone quality matters a lot especially if you want to cut through the cacophony of jarring plosive sounds and distortions in multiplayer matches with a rich and more balanced-sounding voice. For such a microphone you want to find one that has a warm and clear sound profile.

You then have to think about whether it’s a detachable or an attached flip-up microphone. While many headsets with attached flip-up microphones usually come with automatic mute functionality, which can be extremely convenient when you don’t want to be heard, detachable microphones are my microphone of choice because they allow your headset to look like and double as a headphone. The Logitech G Pro X2 Lightspeed has a detachable microphone so excels in this category.