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The Xbox-Shaped Hole in HyperX’s Headset Lineup
Microsoft charges an extra licensing fee to companies that want to put out a wireless peripheral for their consoles. The Xbox console family uses a special high bandwidth wireless protocol based on wi-fi direct, and as such products made for other consoles and PCs don’t have automatic Xbox compatibility. This proprietary tech and its associated licensing fees mean that the PS4, Switch, and PC have far more available wireless gaming headsets than the Xbox.
Still, this hasn’t stopped many of the big gaming tech brands from doing their best to offer bespoke Xbox-compatible wireless audio experiences — even if they sometimes come at a higher price premium to cover the additional costs of licensing the wireless tech.
Turtle Beach has their Stealth 600 and 700 Gen 2, and their upcoming MAX variants. SteelSeries offers both an Xbox-compatible Arctis 1 at the low end and the Arctis 9X at the high end, along with the Arctis 7X right in the middle. Razer developed a brand-new headset platform around their best speakers for the launch of the Xbox Series X|S called Kaira (which means “opportunity”) available in both standard and pro variants. Corsair has an Xbox variant of their popular HS70 model. Astro has Xbox versions of both their A20 and A50 headsets. Luxury…
