Corsair HS70 Pro Wireless Gaming Headset Review

The Corsair HS70 Pro Wireless Gaming Headset is essentially a follow-on/ wireless version of the HS50/HS60s. They are designed similarly with even the detailing looking identical. This wireless pair from Corsair is a budget option for those out there looking to cut the cord and they come with a healthy amount of hardware controls and features.

Corsair is a massive manufacturer in the world of PC gaming, with its products ranging from internal components to gaming peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and headsets. In this review, we will be putting the HS70 wireless headset under the microscope, to see what it can offer at such an affordable price point.

Video Review

Pros

• Performance –  Good, reliable sound quality
• Affordable –  Excellent functionality for the price
• Comfortable – Not too heavy, decent adjustment options, and plush memory foam earcups

Cons

• Bulky – These are lower profile than others but still a little bulky for out the house
• Hiss – Produces a hissing noise when at full volume

Specifications

Let’s take a quick look at what you can expect in the box and the overall specs of the Corsair HS70 Pro Wireless Gaming Headset.

Inside the box, we see:

• Corsair HS70 Headset
• Micro-USB charging cable
• USB Dongle
• Detachable Microphone
• Pop Filter

Headphone Frequency Response	20 - 20,000 Hz
Microphone Frequency Response	100 - 10,000 Hz
Wireless	Yes
Battery Life	16 hours (advertised)
Pick-up Pattern	Uni-directional
Weight	329g
Cable Length	N/A

Setup

The sound out of the box for the Corsair HS70 is pretty good for both gaming and music, so you don’t even have to install the Corsair iCUE software. I prefer to tweak a gaming headset and the presets were generally enough but you can fully change the EQ if you fancied.

To get these going, you simply plug the included USB dongle in and after it has finished installing you are good to go. There’s a small amount of charge on the HS70’s out-the-box but you are going to want to get these fully charged before you begin as well.

Design

The design looks just like the older Corsair Hs50/HS60 wired headset and comes with a few color variations like the Hs60’s, although not as many. The design on these is what you might consider one or two steps up from basic but the simplicity is something I will always go for in a pair of headphones and these are pretty pleasing on the eye. Now the build quality isn’t near the same level as the Corsair Virtuosos (their premium wireless headset) but they feel built to last and look decent for the price.

Build Quality

The build quality actually feels quite good and these are a massive step up from the HS35s/ HS50s, or even Corsair Void Pros, which are all a bit plasticky. The oval earcups are a mixture of durable matte black plastic and a perforated metal grill. The grill gives these a lot of design points and makes them appear open-back (they aren’t), with the Corsair logo embedded in the middle. The earcups are attached to the headband with aluminum yolks, which feels very sturdy and built to last, unlike the ones we saw with the HyperX Cloud Flights.

Despite the affordable price, the little extras that come with Corsair products always seem to elevate the premium feel and its the same with the wireless HS70’s. The detachable mic comes with a removable pop filter and the dongle is more robust than the one featured with the Sennheiser GSP 370s. So everything feels solid and built to last, which is not very common around this price point, so well done Corsair.

Hardware controls are quite good with the HS70 wireless headset, with everything a gamer needs at your fingertips.

On the left earcup, we see a volume wheel. The wheel isn’t infinite like other brands and I much prefer one that stops, regardless of windows telling me what volume level I’m at. There is a mic-mute button and you get a little noise through the headphones when this is activated/deactivated. Lastly, there’s a small LED on the left earcup right next to the USB charge port that flashes green, yellow, or red, depending on the charge level. On the right ear cup, we see the main on button which is a good size (unlike the tiny switches on the Sennheiser GSP line). Just like the mute-mic button, you get a little beep to indicate on/off and the headset will do this when the headset is going to sleep too.

Comfort

The HS70 gaming headset is quite comfy and remained so during an extensive gaming session or two. What was a little strange is the fact these feel much comfier than the expensive Corsair Virtuoso SE headset, a premium model with incredible build quality. The comfort is basic but effective, much like HyperX Cloud II’s.

These are tight enough that they shouldn’t fall off most head types while the clamping force isn’t so tight your ears heat up too much or these become uncomfortable. The pressure was just right for me, creating a reasonable seal and adding to the overall immersion in-game. The fit wasn’t quite as good as the Corsair Virtuoso SE pair but these are not as loose and generally wouldn’t slip or fall off my head, regardless of movement.

The oval-shaped ear cups are something I much prefer over the circular ones we saw with the Virtuosos. The shape on these accommodates for more ear sizes, and if yours are particularly large then you are probably going to favor the HS70s. The earcups feature oval-shaped memory foam padding. These pads are unfortunately non-removable, so there is a longevity issue here with the material but they are memory foam and do a great job for the overall comfort of the headset. My ears didn’t touch the inside wall as far as I can tell and the inside is covered with a soft velvety bit of material, which is soft to the touch. My ears touched the inner driver wall on the premium-priced virtuosos due to the memory foam disappearing, which I can happily report isn’t the case with the HS70s.

The HS70s weigh approximately 329 grams, which is 50 grams lighter than the Sennheiser GSP 670s and you can tell. These still feel quite heavy compared to the SteelSeries Arctis 7s or Sennheiser GSP 370s but not so much that there are any underlying comfort issues.

Like most of Corsair’s gaming headsets, the HS70s come with a decent amount of adjustment options, giving all head sizes and shapes room for a comfortable experience. The metal headband also features a cushion that has been embroidered with a contrasting gray thread, furthering the aesthetics of the headset. The headband has two sliders on either side that can be adjusted, with eight different steps. The steps are labeled with ruler-like inlays, making it easier to get the headset even on either side. The earcups tilt off the frames axis to better fit the head. This tilt flattens or gives the earcups a 45-degree angle, regardless of your head being square or oval-shaped.

Overall comfort is more than satisfactory and I’d say much better to game with than the Corsair Virtuosos from a comfort perspective.

Performance

The overall performance was great from the HS70 headset, gaming and music all sound clean, with plenty of bass and enough detail. Even though these are fine out of the box, I’d still recommend tweaking these with the EQ to get them closer to your preference as sound is largely subjective after all.

These perform similarly to the HS60’s, with the ability to get incredibly loud. The high volume doesn’t seem to distort but I did get a constant hiss when using this at full volume. I thought the hiss may have been from a certain game but it happened across all testing and I could even hear the hiss without any audio playing. If you turn these down to about 80-85% you aren’t going to hear the hiss and they are still plenty loud.

Sound

For the price, there is little to complain about with the HS70’s, I enjoyed these out of the box and had no issues in-game. 

The HS70 gaming headset has a good frequency response consistency, with a consistent treble and bass range. The bass on these is very good and while it isn’t overpowering, the low bass that is responsible for the thump in your tunes was superb. The mid-bass was great for music too and the highs sounded accurate and warm.

The mids made vocals sound great, with the treble providing a lot of detail without sounding too sharp. The sound overall is much improved on the muffled sounding Void Pro headset. The detail I noticed in the high-end was great for picking up small details like footsteps in CS:GO. The detail and combination of being rather loud meant I felt I was noticing more minuscule noises than other headsets around this price point.

The isolation may be a bit poor on these, so they aren’t the best for the daily commute, but what gaming headset is? Furthermore, the imaging was spot on and directional cues always felt accurate, so I quite enjoyed game time with the HS70s.

The Surround sound 7.1 is virtual and it works well enough but I don’t tend to use this in the competitive style games I play. This feature does slightly expand the sound stage without sounding muffled, which is nice to have but not something I particularly care about. It is worth noting that to turn on 7.1 you’ll have to go into the software but the headset will give you a heads up command when changing.

Microphone

The unidirectional microphone is fully detachable, which is great for those that prefer a standalone mic or if you wanted to use these for entertainment whilst traveling. The mic is very flexible and has a keyed plug so you can’t plug this in the wrong way or anything. The mic has been optimized to reduce ambient noise, which you can add to by attaching the included pop filter.

The noise-canceling mic has an impedance of 2.2k and a frequency response of 100Hz – 10 kHz, providing an acceptably clear experience for my teammates. The mic is a bit nasally/tinny and doesn’t compete with the Virtuosos but what gaming headsets mic does? There is a bit of compression but the mic is more than passable for gaming and while it may not be as good as the HyperX Flights mic, it sounds like it cancels out more background noise to me.

All in all, we’ve got a microphone fit for purpose that does exactly what it says it does.

Features

These are an affordable pair of headphones, so they don’t come equipped with features such as dual volume control, wired mode, or RGB but that doesn’t mean these aren’t packed with useful touches and reliable technology.

Connectivity

The main selling point of the HS70 is their wireless operation. These can work up to 40 feet away, through a low latency, 2.4GHz stream. While listening to music I could freely roam my flat or the office, without any dropouts or large hissing to tell me I’d gone out of range. These are by no means the best wireless pair of headphones I have tested but with such an affordable price, they are certainly one of the best in their corner of the market. 

These connect wirelessly to the provided USB dongle and work. Yes, they work and connect without any issues on discord or in-game, which has happened with more expensive pairs like the GSP line from Sennheiser. The dongle can be used with your PC and laptop as standard but these are also compatible with the PS4 console. When using these with your PS4 you won’t be able to make use of the 7.1 surround but this isn’t a huge issue for serious gamers.

The headset is charged with the included micro-USB cable which, unfortunately, won’t allow you to use them while charging. Corsair advertises the battery life of these to be at 16 hours of continued use but I got around 14 hours after a full charge. Either way, I got a good 3-4 days of use but found it a little annoying I had to go into the software to see what battery percentage I was currently on.

Our Verdict

Overall the Corsair HS70 Wireless Gaming Headset offers quite a lot for the price. Now, you may not get anything flashy here but this is a reliable and sturdy product with a superb level of build quality.

The comfort isn’t particularly the best but it’s not the worst either and these will remain comfy on your head for extended gaming sessions, without too much head sweat or need for a break. I would have preferred a different material on the cups themselves as this faux leather style can often flake later in its life but the plush memory foam felt better than what is used in the Corsair Virtuosos.

The sound quality and imaging are actually really good for gaming. These sounded superb for music and in any game I played. They are a little bass-heavy but that is something I like and they made picking up directional cues quite easy. The sound quality was great but when operating at max volume there an audible hiss constantly coming from the headset. This is a shame, as many may want to pump out music on these but they are incredibly loud and running them at 80% was no issue for me.

Should you buy them? Well if money is no object then probably not but for gamers looking to cut the cord without spending a fortune, the HS70s are a really versatile option. You could, of course, save even more and go for the wired HS60s if wireless operation isn’t your thing. These are available in a few different colors to match setups, work consistently, and feel very durable. A great gaming headset.