HyperX Cloud II Gaming Headset Review

HyperX is one of the most well known peripheral brands in the business, bringing high-performance keyboards, mice, headsets, and mousepads (including every other peripheral) to the consuming public. They may have started out life as a RAM division under the Kingston namesake; however, since then, they’ve branched out into the peripheral market in a big way.

We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing and testing many of HyperX’s best selling peripherals over the last 12 months – all of which showcased a variety of different pros, cons, and price points. So, when we got our hands on the HyperX Cloud II headset, we were more than prepared to see what they could offer. 

Today, we’ll be putting the Cloud II gaming headset through its paces to see how it stacks up in a market place currently flooded with high-quality and affordable alternatives. We’ll see how it performs in gaming, music, and general use purposes in order to make sure all bases are covered. 

So, with all that in mind, let’s waste no further time and dive straight into it!  

Video Review

 

Specifications

Before we go into the finer details regarding this headset, let’s take a brief look at what it has to offer in terms of specifications.

Inside the HyperX Cloud II box, we see:

• HyperX Cloud II Headset
• USB Headset Adapter
• Airline Adapter
• Carry Case
• User Manual
• Welcome Note

[mks_col]

[mks_one_half]

Pros

• Great build quality
• Good comfort levels: featuring memory foam
• Multi-platform use
• Design that suits both gaming and non-gaming backgrounds
• Detachable microphone
• Good sound quality for competitive gaming

[/mks_one_half]

[mks_one_half]

Cons

• Less than desired bass levels
• 7.1 surround sound is a little gimmicky

[/mks_one_half]

[/mks_col]

 

Setup

Thankfully, the setup process that comes hand-in-hand with the HyperX Cloud II gaming headset is a fairly simple one. I mean, it’s pretty much plug-and-play for the most part.

Once unpackaged, you’ll find the “Advanced Audio Control box” separately packaged. You can use the HyperX Cloud II as a standalone headset by simply plugging the audio jack in the computer. Alternatively, if you want to use this as a gaming headset you’ll have to plug the mic into the jack on the left earcup, then plug the audio jack into the controller.

The controller links to the PC via USB and should be recognized pretty much straight away. You have several settings to alter on the controller, but we’ll get into that later.

Design

From a design point of view, I actually think the HyperX Cloud II’s look pretty damn good – almost every day good. They have a stylish design that is accentuated by a combination of stitched fabric, polished metal, and soft faux leather. The earcups sit inside two aluminum forks that have been finished with a brushed style that really sets this headset off. The same brushed finished can be found on the outside of the earcup, surrounded by what feels like decent plastic. The earcup padding has been finished using a faux leather that feels extremely soft and pliable – great for long gaming sessions. The earcup is connected to the fork by a simple plastic connector – held in place by a couple of small screws. For me, this is the weakest part of the headset and could lead to complications down the road. Having said that, after a year of usage, they still feel pretty solid. 

The headband provides more style thanks to the stitching that runs across both sides of the headband itself. Our version, the all-black color theme, comes with white stitching that contrasts nicely with the dark color theme found across the rest of the headset. Faux leather covers the entirety of the headband, with some fairly cheap padding on the underside. The HyperX branding has been stitched across the top of the headband and on both earcups in quite an obvious fashion. And even though the branding is quite loud, I don’t think it takes anything away from the design itself. They still look pretty smart. 

The microphone doesn’t really offer anything in terms of aesthetic appeal, neither does the thick braided cable coming out of the left earcup. Overall, I feel the HyperX Cloud II  headset looks really quite nice. I mean, it definitely looks a lot more premium than other headsets of this price point. A great start.

Build Quality

I was extremely surprised by the build quality that this sub $100 headset brought to the table – and for a few reasons too. Firstly, let’s be honest, HyperX aren’t extremely well known for the build quality of their products. A lot of them fall into the budget category – a price point where build quality is usually sacrificed for features or design aesthetic. 

Having said that, I was very happy (and still am) with the build quality of this headset. Now, for context, I’ve been using this headset at home for almost a year, and since using this headset, I’ve seen almost zero degradation in the quality of the materials. Usually, with a headset, the first thing to go is the earcup lining – in this case, the faux leather. On this particular headset though, which gets used between 5-8 hours a day (sometimes longer) there are no visible signs of aging whatsoever. Literally nothing – I was extremely surprised. 

The joints feel pretty much exactly how they did when we received them, and so does the flexible mic – still holding most of its rigidity. So, overall, very good in the build quality department. HyperX has used simple screw fittings throughout this headset too, meaning if you do start to feel parts of the headset becoming loose, you can simply tighten the headset where necessary.

Comfort

Comfort has been a little hit and miss for me personally, but nothing so bad that I would discourage people from buying this headset.

The HyperX  Cloud II headset comes with two over the ear earcups lined with faux leather that feels both soft and durable. Inside, the earcups have an adequate layer of memory foam padding that provides enough comfort for long gaming sessions and everyday use. Having said that, whilst the padding in these earcups does provide good levels of comfort, I still feel the quality of the memory foam used in the Cloud II falls short of what you’d expect. So, just keep that in mind. 

The headband on the Cloud II also offers another layer of foam padding on the underside, but this is nowhere near as comfortable as the earcups. The padding here feels a little empty – if you know what I mean. When pressed, the padding takes quite some time to expand to its normal shape and form which is usually a sign of poor materials used. 

Like most of today’s headsets, the Cloud IIs offer an adjustable headband that can be adjusted by around seven “clicks” which equates to around 40mm. That makes this headset perfect for pretty much the entire spectrum of head sizes. Furthermore, HyperX have designed this headset in such a way that it doesn’t apply too much pressure on the head over long periods of time – making long gaming sessions all the more enjoyable. 

Overall, I’d give the HyperX Cloud II a 6.5/10 when it comes to comfort – mainly down to the materials used in the earcups and headband. Having said that, they’re far from the worst I’ve ever seen. So not bad.  

Performance

Now, when we’re talking about a headset’s performance, ultimately, we’re talking about the sound quality it provides. This is the number one factor that comes into play when buying a headset – whether its a high-end gaming headset or a budget pair for listening to music. So, making sure it performs to the highest standard is absolutely crucial. 

My initial impression upon using this headset was “Wow, these are loud”. They seem to be much more intense than other headsets I’ve tried in the past. Once adjusted properly, however, I was actually very impressed with the sound quality this headset provided. 

Sound

Let’s start off by going through what these sounded like from a multimedia perspective. I tried the HyperX Cloud IIs in a number of different musical genres that ranged from 140BPM driving trance to slow country and pretty much everything in between. It was clear that the 53mm drivers inside the Cloud IIs performed quite well when it came to high-end sounds. Trance melodies sounded sharp and exciting, while guitar riffs sounded crispy and clear. However, an area where I felt they lacked a bit of meat, was in the bass department. I don’t want to say the music sounded empty, because that would be false. But, they certainly lacked solid bass – even when cranked up to deafening levels. 

I did a quick music comparison between the HyperX Cloud IIs and the Razer Krakens (just because they were sat next to me) and yes, there was a noticeable difference. The bass in the Cloud IIs – even though lacking – was still better than the bass of the $60 Krakens. The Krakens just sounded a little emptier for the most part – but that’s to be expected with a $40-50 price drop.

Moving onto gaming, I was pleasantly surprised. Whilst the Cloud II’s fell a little short in the music department, they made up for it in gaming performance. Like most tests, I decided to jump straight into some competitive CS:GO – a game that relies heavily on knowing where your opponent is. 

I started off by warming up with some deathmatch. Everything sounded crisp and clear. The depleted bass levels made gunfire and steps very audible – as well as flashbangs and smoke grenades too. It seems like HyperX had flattened out the bass end to make competitive gaming more audible – something I’m right on board with. 

I could easily paint a picture of where my enemy was, and thanks to the increased volume this headset provides, I could hear the enemy sooner and more clearly than my allies. Looking at this from a non-competitive gaming standpoint, the lack of bass does take some of the immersion out of the gaming experience – especially in roleplay games. But for me, that doesn’t really bother me a great deal.

As mentioned above, the HyperX Cloud II headset does come with a dedicated advanced audio control box that offers up a bunch of additional features. When in use, the advanced audio controller provides volume controls for the headset and microphone, a mute slider for the microphone, and a simulated 7.1 surround sound toggle as well. 

For the most part, the controller works extremely well. However, let’s focus on the 7.1 surround sound briefly. When marketed, 7.1 surround sound is meant to provide users with a more accurate portrayal of where the enemies are. However, in reality, this isn’t really the case. Whenever I flicked the 7.1 surround on it just felt like the mids had been boosted and the volume had been increased slightly. I didn’t really feel any effects from the surround sound that would benefit my gaming experience – sorry HyperX. 

Overall, the sound quality is pretty good though. But, I feel the 7.1 surround sound is a little gimmicky and isn’t actually required on a headset that already provides pretty decent sound in most scenarios. 

Microphone

The HyperX Cloud II headset comes equipped with a relatively basic boom microphone that can be detached when not in use. The microphone provides clear and accurate voice recordings while doing a good job of not leaking too much background noise from the headset itself.

One negative I would say for the microphone, however, is that it can be quite sensitive to noise. What I mean is, I had the microphone positioned a decent distance away from my mouth and nose. That being the case, people could still hear me breathing when I played – annoying most of the people I gamed with and aiding in a few lost rounds along the way. You can stop this happening by simply changing your discord/Teamspeak settings. However, for those that have the mic active constantly, this might pose a small issue. 

The microphone is made up using a flexible material that allows you to find a decent seating position for in-game comms. Its design is slender and robust, providing enough rigidity to last through the foreseeable future. It fits into the microphone jack slot in the earcup firmly and doesn’t feel loose in any way.

Seeing as though HyperX does not come with any product software, you can’t do a great deal with the microphone in terms of quality or output. However, as far as budget microphones are concerned, this one isn’t the worst we’ve ever experienced. 

Features

One of the biggest selling points a headset can come equipped with is its features. Like most hardware, the features are usually what seal the deal when it comes to purchasing time. 

So, with that in mind, let’s see what features the HyperX Cloud II gaming headset comes equipped with. 

Stellar Build Quality

One of the biggest features this headset comes to the table with is its build quality. 

Build quality is essential when buying headsets (especially ones tailored towards gaming )that fall under the $100 price mark. Build quality can be severely sacrificed at this price point to ensure budgetary requirements are met. So, when we tested the HyperX Cloud II gaming headset, we were more than happy with the build quality. 

Let’s just say, they could survive a few hard rage slams – if you know what I’m saying. 

Multi-Platform Usage

We haven’t really touched upon this so far, but, another big plus that comes with the HyperX Cloud II headset is multi-platform usage. That’s right. Even though this headset does connect via USB, you can bypass that and simply use the audio jack that comes directly from the headset to your device. The audio jack can be used in phones, MP3 players, consoles, and pretty much everything else that has a mini-jack connector. 

The great thing about this headset is, when the microphone is removed, it can genuinely pass as a normal, everyday pair of headphones. Something that other headsets in the gaming category simply can not do. 

Our Verdict

So, there you have it, our comprehensive review of the HyperX Cloud II Gaming headset. We’ve finally reached the last section of the review, our personal verdict. This is where we some up our final thoughts on the headset, letting you know whether we feel it’s worth your consideration or not. 

Personally, I find the HyperX Cloud II to be a very good gaming headset for the price. It offers good sound quality (albeit a little lacking in the bass department), good comfort, and stellar build quality. If you’re into your competitive esports gaming, the Cloud II gaming headset is a fine choice that should stand the test of time. It also blocks out a little background noise – thanks to the well-designed earcups that encase your ear in there entirety – increasing immersion exponentially. 

As far as negatives go, it’s really hard to be overly harsh on this headset. For the price, I think these show really quite good value for money. Could the sound quality be better? Sure. Could the comfort level be increased? Well, yeah. However, these are the sort of premiums that can push a headset into the hundreds of dollars. At this price point, you’ll struggle to do much better.

So, the bottom line is this. If you have around a hundred dollars to spend and need a decent headset that offers great comfort, good build quality, cool features, and is usable over multi-platforms, then look no further. The HyperX Cloud II gaming headset provides exactly what you’re looking for.