Member-only story
Corsair HS65 Surround Wired Gaming Headset Review
Way back in 2017, Corsair launched the HS50 gaming headset — and it blew up my whole grading curve for reviews. It offered the same sort of build, comfort, and audio performance I had come to expect at the $90-$100 price point for just $50. I liked it enough that I bought its more expensive HS60 and 70 variants.
The HS70 was enjoyable enough that I decided to use a picture from my review for my profile picture online, and I haven’t changed it since. It’s a good reminder of what can happen when consumer product design goes well, and why headsets can still excite me.
Corsair didn’t pay me or ask me to write any about any of those products, and they didn’t pay me to write this one — I’m just an enthusiast who found something to be really enthused about.
I’ve waited a long time for a proper follow-up to that HS50 series. Instead, Corsair embarked on a number of strange side quests. A couple of years back, they added more padding to the HS50 series and slapped a pro on the name…and almost ruined them. Then they released two very interesting wireless designs in the Virtuoso and HS80. Both had solid price/performance ratios, but neither quite wowed me like their budget predecessors.
My ship has finally come in. Corsair has just launched a brand-new series of cheaper headsets, with the $79 HS65 on top, and the HS55 Surround ($69) and HS55 Stereo ($59) beneath it.
I decided to start with the “flagship” first this time, so I bought my very own HS65 (official web site here) out of my own pocket from a major retailer. It offers a number of small perks over the cheaper variants in exchange for the higher price. It has more metal in its build, with stronger joints and different ear cup plates. The portion of the ear pad that touches your face is covered in a super soft cloth with a leatherette exterior, instead of a full leatherette wrap. Finally, the USB dongle is fully featured, packing in Dolby Audio processing, a hi-res listening mode, and SonarWorks’ “Sound ID.” This is a system that puts you through a series of…
