An adjustable steel slider and soft ear cushions provide comfort, and the flexible, swivelling mic lets you position the microphone where you want it.
HyperX Cloud Stinger Review – Is It Still Worth $50?
The HyperX Cloud Stinger is a cheap wired gaming headset in a jet-black color, with a simple design, and all the basic features. If you’re looking for a solid budget headset for gaming, HyperX Cloud Stinger is still one of the best options, though competition is catching up. In short, it costs under $50 and offers solid comfort even for long gaming sessions, enjoyable sound with a robust microphone, but it’s weak on durability.
There is enough memory foam in the padding, so your ears don’t make contact with the drivers.
The only annoying thing is that the earpads become sweaty after a couple of hours of hardcore gaming. A lot of gaming headsets come with big, bulky ear cups, but the Stinger’s a somewhat thinner.
After 2 years of daily use, the headset looks worn but the faulty mic mechanism is hidden inside. It comes with essential functions like mic mute and volume control, which is fine for a budget gaming headset.
Apart from a mutable microphone and volume control, you don’t really need anything else for a comfortable gaming experience. With the volume slider on an earcup you control the sound, it works fine but isn’t fancy. The built-in electret condenser microphone has a quality sound, which is great for a budget headset. You can comfortably chat with friends on Discord or talk with co-players in multiplayer games.
The Cloud Stinger comes with bass emphasized signature that works well for explosions and more immersive gameplay. Though they can’t compare to high-end models, sound quality is fine for casual gamers. Bass response is clearly boosted to create deeper bomb blasts and gunfire noise. If you’re on the lookout for a cheap gaming headset that works well and comes from a reputable brand, then the Cloud Stinger should be your top option.
You get everything you need for a fun gaming experience: a good mic for clear communication without white noise and interruptions, comfortable fit that you forget about, decent audio quality, and the mute and volume controls. Now, 50 bucks won’t get you the same quality as the best gaming headsets but is more than good enough for infrequent users.
A great dirt-cheap option – Onikuma K6 (check the review): This one is much cheaper from an unknown brand but delivers a similar gaming experience for a casual gamer, plus it’s even more comfortable with thick earpads. Logitech G432 around : With it you get the same 50mm drivers plasticy but comfortable design but also the addition of virtual surround sound DTS Headphone:X 2.0.
HyperX Cloud Stinger Review
A small overemphasis in the high mid will bring out a touch more intensity to your mixes, but it shouldn’t be too overwhelming.
HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Review: Light and Comfortable
Focused on providing the lightest, most comfortable gaming experience possible for an entry level price. The compromise of weight with wireless design does not apply here, as the Cloud Stinger Core crams it all in to a remarkably ergonomic package.
It feels like a corded headset, much like its Cloud Stinger brothers, just without the tether to the PC. I was thrilled to see the implementation of a USB-C charging cable instead of the dreaded micro USB.
The HyperX Cloud Core has 40mm drivers, a 20hz to 20khz frequency response, an impressive 17 hours of battery life, a noise cancelling, uni-directional microphone, and up to 12 meters of wireless operation. The ear cushions have soft and comfortable mesh padding as does the support band on the arch.
In fact, it’s difficult not to justify the small jump in price from a similar wired headset to this alternative. However, if you get up to get a glass of water, a snack to munch on, or grab a controller battery as much as I do, being able to go wire-free while gaming is more than worth an extra twenty bucks.
Even with an enclosed battery that cranks out over fifteen hours of playback it weighs 9% less than the corded Logitech G230 that pulls in at 265 grams.
If we are talking about more premium headsets, the Cloud Stinger Core weighs an astonishing 47% less than the HP Omen.
In fact, the only headset that managed to weigh less than the Cloud Stinger Core was an old pair of on-the-ear Afterglow Level 3’s at 235 grams. I had no such problems with the Cloud Stinger Core and even forgot I was wearing them during my hours playing.
The ear cups are comfortable, and the soft padding on the top provides support enough to get lost in the game instead of having to constantly readjust to a better position. While the Cloud Stinger Core might contain more plastic than competing headsets, it’s also a valuable weight saving material. I could recognize and pinpoint the wispy undertones of a Hiss agent appearing behind me and react accordingly.
One thing that was a bummer was that I was not able to get HyperX’s optional software for the Cloud Stinger Core working. The newest version provided through the download link on HyperX’s website is still in beta. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one having this problem, as Reddit and other forums are filled with questions regarding the same issue. This was disappointing, as I was hoping to be able to get into some sound profiles and headset adjustments, but it was a dead end. Hopefully HyperX will sort out whatever bugs are in the beta so that future owners will be able to fully utilize their headset on PC.
Optional software bugs aside, the Cloud Stinger Core is a wireless headset that doesn’t compromise in giving you one of the lightest, and comfortable audio experiences for the price.
HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Wireless + 7.1 Review
The Core model trades off a few design features in order to go lower on price, but makes up for a bit of that with improvements.The Core headset opts for mesh ear cups that only have a few degrees of swivel, and the padding in the ear cups and headband is fairly light. The Core model maintains the 17-hour battery life of its predecessor, but now it can charge using a USB-C connection, helping bring it in line with the modern era of ports.
The dongle is about the size of a typical flash drive and connects to a USB-A port.The audio on offer comes through 40mm neodymium directional drivers with support for software-enabled 7.1-channel surround sound on Windows PC. It also maintains the flip-to-mute function of its predecessor, alongside a unidirectional pickup pattern, noise-cancelling, and a fabulously flexible boom arm.HyperX’s NGenuity software is a fairly simple app for controlling settings of the headset.
Given the software is required to enable surround, it’s disappointing to not even see custom EQ or any sidetone settings.Few wireless gaming headsets come into this price ballpark, so it would be fair to expect less from them on the audio front – but the HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Wireless + 7.1 holds up well.The drivers can sound a little bass heavy, but that bass-forward sound manages not to muddy the audio. Amid frantic combat and plenty of gunshots ringing out around all sides, I could still hear clearly enough to pick up major warning signals like the sounds of a lurking Reaper, the approach of Roadhog looking for a pick, or the all-too-alarming callouts from D.Va or Pharah popping their ultimate abilities.The ability to hear those audio cues clearly and with directionality was enough to maintain my usual level of play.
Customer Reviews: HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Wired Stereo Gaming Headset for PS4 and PS5 Black/Blue HX-HSCSC-BK
It’s not only for gaming but you can also use it for online class, listening to music, and also for watching movies because the sound quality is so crisp.
HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Wireless review
The HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Wireless is an affordable headset with solid battery life, but it’s certainly no match for its predecessors. The HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Wireless is an affordable headset with solid battery life, but it’s certainly no match for its predecessors. Kingston’s HyperX division made its name in the headset market thanks to a successful collaboration with Swedish peripherals maker QPAD in back in 2014. The HyperX Cloud took QPAD’s excellent, aviation-inspired QH-90 headset design, turned the bass up a bit, and rightly found rapturous reception.
Instead of that reassuring hug the Cloud Alpha gave your temples, this headset gives a stiff prod – there’s simply too much clamping force, even with the headband fully extended. This is unashamedly a budget proposition, priced well below $100, and in order to retain a lot of the pricier Cloud Stinger’s core features sacrifices must be made, but comfort shouldn’t be one of them. Not to labor the point, but in the earlier Cloud models that snug fit and leatherette cushion cover material gave the frequencies an enclosed space to resonate, and provided great passive noise cancellation. Instead of the authoritative low-end response and tangible pulse you got around your ears from the first-gen Cloud headsets, this feels imprecise and unimpressive by comparison. Even though the bass sounds a bit muddy, the overall response is tight enough for an Overwatch session without losing track of characters announcing their imminent specials.
The boom arm has a satisfyingly pliable construction which means it stays just where you place it, and the mic’s fuller than we’d expect at this price range.
HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Gaming Headset Review
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Cloud Stinger Core Gaming Headset for PC
Improve your chatting experience with your friends thanks to its noise-cancelling microphone which cuts out ambient noise and puts the focus on your voice.
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