HyperX Cloud Core Wireless Gaming Headset Review

The headset I’ve wanted since 2017

Photo taken by the author.

In mid-October, I was browsing the Best Buy web site clicking on gaming headset listings, as I’m prone to do. The site’s algorithm popped up a product I’d never heard of in the “recommended” list: the HyperX Cloud Core Wireless. I got excited. I clicked through, and saw what looked like a cheaper $99 take on the $150 Cloud II Wireless, complete with an industrial design that mimics the classic frame of the original Cloud series.

I emailed my contacts at HyperX PR, and they let me know that the headset was planned for release some time in November, and that they’d be in touch. I nervously watched Best Buy’s stock in nearby stores, and was tempted to order one with shipping and see if it would show up. I’ve been anticipating a wireless variant of the classic Cloud design for over four years, and although the Cloud II Wireless is an excellent headset and one of my favorites, it made enough design improvements and changes to feel like its own new thing. I’ve also tried some knock-off attempts at this concept, but they didn’t have the same excellent sound performance as HyperX’s in-house stuff.

HyperX didn’t send me a review unit in time for today’s launch of the headset.

However, my local Best Buy stores put their stock out on shelves over the weekend and I bought one, then tested it furiously over several days to bring you this review. Does this cheaper riff on the Cloud II Wireless offer some of the best bang-for-the-buck I’ve seen in a long time?

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Photo taken by the author.

OVERVIEW

The HyperX Cloud Core Wireless is a $99 wireless closed back gaming headset currently exclusive to Best Buy (official product page here). It is designed for PC gaming, and will also connect to PlayStation consoles or a docked Nintendo switch. In the box you get the headset itself, a HyperX USB dongle, a very short USB-C charging…