There’s no plainer way to put it: bad sound sucks. When sound is grainy or distorted, it can put a real damper on your favorite game, movie, or album. Using a mediocre headset to consume media is worse than wearing a shoe that’s two sizes too small. It’s uncomfortable, grating, and just downright annoying.
Luckily, the Cloud Flight gaming headset from HyperX is none of those things. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The Cloud Flight is a plug-and-play masterpiece that delivers unbelievable sound quality on both console and PC. Sure, it’s a bit pricey at $159.99, but it stands toe to toe with the other sets in the high-end space, specifically the Logitech G533 and the Corsair Void Pro.
A few design hiccups here and there keep it from being the Swiss Army Knife of gaming headsets, but considering it produces great, high-quality sound for all your devices, it’s a headset you’re going to want to consider if you’re currently in the market for a set of cans.
Design
If you’ve ever used or seen a HyperX gaming headset, you know what you’re in for when it comes to the Cloud Flight’s looks. With its black, red-accented aesthetic, the Cloud Flight probably isn’t going to turn any heads at first glance, but it has an elegant design that in some ways hearkens to a simpler time when not everything had to sport futuristic, Weyland Corporation-inspired motifs. And in that regard, I think some gamers, such as myself, will find its minimalist exterior entreating.
Starting with the headset’s earcups, you’ll find that the Cloud Flight does have a few splashes of color on its predominantly black, hard-plastic frame. The outside of each earcup sports the truncated HX logo emblazoned at its center and an exposed red wire reaching up into the headband for added flourish. Depending on how much battery life you want to get out of the Cloud Flight, you can set the HyperX logo on either side of the headset to solid red, pulsing red, or off when the headset is in use. Moving up the headset to the headband, you’ll find the full HyperX logo sprawling in glossy black across the top.
One of the more comfortable headsets I’ve ever worn, the Cloud Flight’s earcups are also roomy and soft. They employ a combination of memory foam and pleather to create a snug, agreeable fit. You’ll also find this cushy material on the inside of the headband. After 40ish hours of using the headset, I can say that even gaming in an upstairs bedroom with basically no ventilation save a creaky old box fan, my ears and head didn’t sweat at all.
Coming in at around 315 grams without its detachable microphone, the Cloud Flight is also lighter than both the Logitech G533 (350 grams) and the Corsair Void Pro (368 grams). Unlike some other headsets, the weight of the Flight didn’t cause any discomfort across the top of my head, and my ears never felt weighed down.
As for the Cloud Flight’s controls and inputs, you’ll find them conveniently placed on the underside of the earcups for easy access. On the right earcup, you’ll find the volume wheel, and on the left earcup, you’ll find the power button, the microphone jack, the USB charging port, and the 3.5mm port. Interestingly, the microphone’s mute button is the entire outside plate of the left earcup. It’s a unique design choice that I’m surprised hasn’t been implemented on other headsets — and it’s a feature I can see being very, very useful for streamers and competitive players.
Oh, and it features rotating earcups you can lay flat on your chest when you’re not using the headset, something I find extremely useful in everyday situations — and a feature I think every headset made from here on out should implement, no questions asked.
Performance
What I really love about the Cloud Flight is that it’s a ubiquitous headset that you can use with any of your devices. Whether you’re gaming on PC or console, listening to music on your smartphone, or watching a movie on your tablet, the Cloud Flight provides fantastic sound right out of the box. There’s no software to fiddle with or dial in, but that’s nothing to fear because the Cloud Flight’s audio quality is simply that good.
Providing 2.4GHz wireless capabilities for the PC, PS4, and PS4 Pro, the Cloud Flight also works with the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices via a 3.5mm connection. We tested the headset on the PC, the PS4 Pro, and the iPhone 6S+ across mediums, from games to movies and music.
Sound
In all applications and on all platforms, the HyperX Cloud Flight provided clear, exceptional sound. Its 50mm neodymium drivers thrummed with meaty bass and surged with soaring treble. It’s nice to see a headset provide such parity of sound without equalizers or special software.
Tested on the PC with Battlefield 1 (our go-to for high-quality sound engineering), tones were vibrant and lush. Dialog was easy to understand, even amid violent explosions — and the game’s score was the same sonorous soundscape it was when we tested out Logitech’s G533. Unfortunately, the Cloud Flight doesn’t provide the surround or directional sound found in the G533 — meaning I couldn’t hear exactly where enemies were coming from — so that’s something to keep in mind if you’re strictly a PC gamer.
On the PS4 Pro, we tested the Cloud Flight with Horizon: Zero Dawn, and again, the game’s score and sound effects were on full display. Herds of Striders thundered across the plains outside Mother’s Heart, and arrows swooshed through the air as if I had loosed them just inches from my ear. The only discernible drop in quality I noticed with the Cloud Flight during my time playing HZD was during sections of dialog. Although the voice acting was loud and full, the background noise and music were oddly quiet, making it sound almost as if characters were speaking within a vacuum.
For mobile, it’s no surprise that the Cloud Flight’s sound is impeccable here, too. Plugging the headset into my iPhone 6S+ with the included 3.5mm jack was super easy. Watching The Force Awakens, I felt as if I were in the theater, and while listening to Mesmer by Northlane and You Are We by While She Sleeps, I was able to pick out every instrument and tone — without any wonky distortion or muddiness.
The only gripe I have when it comes to using the Cloud Flight on the iPhone is that the volume wheel on the right earcup doesn’t seem to do anything when hooked up to the device. The only way I could change the volume was by adjusting it on the phone itself. A little annoyance, sure, but something to be aware of.
Microphone
Tested in both gaming and work scenarios, the Cloud Flight’s detachable, noise-canceling microphone worked well — mostly.
When playing team-based games like Paladins and Battlefront 2 on PC, communications were crisp and clear. And in meetings with colleagues over Skype on the PC, the microphone was able to easily cancel ambient office noise for clear communications. The same can be said of using the microphone on the PS4 and PS4 Pro.
However, I was disappointed to find that the microphone didn’t work when using the headset in analog mode. That means anything requiring a 3.5mm jack won’t support the capability. It’s something that I find (very) odd, considering many other headsets offer the functionality for a fraction of the price. It’s an oversight that’s more than head scratching — and an oversight that really holds this headset back from being the best of the best.
Verdict
At the end of the day, the HyperX Cloud Flight might be a bit pricey at $159.99, but it’s the only high-end headset currently on the market that’s platform agnostic. If you’re a gamer that wants a comfortable, great-sounding headset that can be used across multiple devices without sacrificing quality, provides up to 30 hours of battery life, and has a wireless distance of up to 20 meters, then the HyperX Cloud Flight is a gaming headset you’re going to want to consider.
Just keep in mind that it’s not completely wireless; you’ll have to use a 3.5mm connection for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. And you won’t be able to use its noise-canceling microphone to chat with friends on those devices either. However, if that doesn’t deter you from checking out the Cloud Flight, its sound is only rivaled by the PC-only Logitech G533. And that’s damn good company to keep.
You can buy the HyperX Cloud Flight on Amazon.
[Note: HyperX provided the Cloud Flight used for this review.]
