With platform parity, solid audio, and a reasonable price, the HyperX Cloud Flight S should be among the best on the market. Let’s see how it holds up!
HyperX puts out some of the best gaming headsets on the market, and has done so for years. With the HyperX Cloud Flight S, the company is looking to make a play for a more premium part of the market. It’s not as flashy as the Cloud Orbit S, or as cheap as the Cloud Alpha, but it’s got a lot going for it. The HyperX Cloud Flight S is a premium offering with restraint — it has a lot of features, but only ones people would actually find useful. Does it stick the landing?
If you could sum up the HyperX Cloud Flight S in one word, it would be versatile. This wireless gaming headset works just as well on the PC and Playstation 4, which is to say: very well. Even without the using HyperX’s optional software, the Cloud Flight S strikes a great balance of features and comfort.
It’s mainly made of plastic, with a single strip of metal running along the inside of the headband. Despite the affordable material, it doesn’t feel cheap at all — adjusting doesn’t cause any obnoxious creaking noises, and it doesn’t take much work to fit comfortably on your head. The headband also features a memory foam cushion, and clamps down with just the right amount of force to feel secure. Detachable earpads are made of leatherette-covered memory foam, which made it easy to achieve a decent fit. Velour would have been more accommodating to people with glasses, but the leatherette is soft, at least.
Getting the headset to work is simple — just plug it in. Most gaming headsets offer virtual surround sound by linking up with a custom app, like Razer Synapse or SteelSeries Engine, but the Cloud Flight S handles it on the hardware side. That means surround sound is available on both Playstation 4 and PC, which is rare.
The headset takes a little getting used to; it packs in a lot of controls and the space-saving design takes time to memorize. The controls for volume, surround sound, and power are easy to find, but the controls for game/chat mix and mic muting are subtle. Once you get the hang of where each button is, it’s not so bad, but more than a few times I was left scrambling when an in-game explosion totally blew out what my friend was saying on Discord. If it’s something that really ends up irritating you, the HyperX Ngenuity app allows you to remap the buttons.
