Best Wireless Gaming Headsets in 2024

If you’ve checked out our other best gaming headset roundups, then it should be no surprise that the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro is one of our top picks here. It earned a coveted 10/10 in our Arctis Nova Pro headset review for several reasons, namely its top-notch sound quality and long-term comfort. But it’s the smaller things that make it stand above the rest.

It comes with a convenient base station to control various features on the headset including profiles you can program in the SteelSeries software, EQ presets, and active noise cancelling. Other headsets may do ANC a bit better than the Arctis Nova Pro, but it’s sufficient in helping isolate the audio experience if you need it. For built-in microphones, it has one of the best in terms of clarity, but it’s also great about blocking out ambient noises. Its unique battery system is a major perk as well; you get an extra battery unit and can swap out the battery pack easily, allowing you to let one charge as you continue to use the headset wirelessly.

Its bold and balanced audio out of the box is one of the big reasons to look into the Arctis Nova Pro, but it’s also built for competitive play with great spatial and positional audio. It’s cool to get an immersive sound experience, but it’s even cooler when you can anticipate enemy movement because you can pick up on their footsteps or gunfire and make smarter judgments in critical situations. It’s the finer details like these that push this headset above most. It may be pricey, but you definitely get what you pay for.

Where something like the Arctis Nova Pro stands out as an all-around fully featured product, the Audeze Maxwell has a particular focus on sound quality. It’s a chunky headset, and it is a beast when it comes to the audio experience, rivaling some of the studio-grade headphones I’ve used. It rocks a sleek, nondescript design so it certainly looks the part and it definitely delivers as if you’re attaching a home theater setup to your head.

The Maxwell sports 90mm planar magnetic drivers, which are the biggest of any headset I’m recommending. Now, bigger drivers doesn’t always mean better sound quality, but in the case of the Maxwell, its drivers are tuned nicely to create a rich natural audio profile out of the box with strong and balanced frequencies that remain clear at high volumes. This aspect alone would shoot it to the top of any list of high-end headset recommendations, but it has the important features that justify such a price tag.

For a headset as robust as this one, you should expect comfort for long sessions. Even though the Maxwell lands on the heavier side of headsets, it doesn’t necessarily feel that way because of its comfortable earpads and headband. You also get toggleable ANC to block outside noise, great microphone clarity for in-game communication, and one of the longest lasting batteries, which can go for about 80 hours under ideal conditions.

One of the most impressive aspects of the HyperX Cloud headsets is its build quality – it uses a sturdy aluminum frame that can twist and contort any which way without ever feeling like it’s breaking. That flexibility and durability speaks to the quality of the latest iteration in the Cloud III. Because of the way it’s built, it doesn’t clamp too tightly, letting its dense and plushy earbuds rest easy over your ears. This makes it super comfortable.

This also creates a natural noise isolation that lets its big 53mm audio drivers deliver great sound quality that punches above its weight. You get strong audio across the frequency spectrum and minimal distortion even at louder volumes, while positional audio will take care of you in competitive shooters. In my Cloud III headset review, I felt comfortable tracking enemy footsteps while playing a ton of Valorant and enjoyed the balanced audio in Final Fantasy XIV – both of which this more affordable headset handled gracefully.

And if that wasn’t enough to impress at the mid-range, the Cloud III’s microphone is among the best regardless of price range. No built-in mic is going to match that of a standalone mic, but the Cloud III approaches a level I would be comfortable streaming with. So, if you just need to communicate clearly in-game, you’ll probably sound much better than most people you’re playing with. I’m always recommending the Cloud III for those who still want a high-end experience, but don’t want to ball out for the top-tier options.

Turtle Beach has a long history of making gaming headsets, and its latest lineup proves that it knows what it’s doing. Perhaps surprisingly, the one that stands out the most is its entry-level option in the new Stealth 500. Don’t get me wrong, the likes of the Stealth 600 and Stealth 700 are fantastic in their own right, but when I reviewed the Stealth 500, I loved that it doesn’t necessarily feel like you’re “downgrading” by going with the more affordable model.

It’s a hefty headset with chunky earcups that make you look like you’re doing air traffic control, but the super-flexible synthetic frame strikes a good balance of durability and weight. It may feel a bit “cheap” but that also makes it easy to handle and without worry of it breaking. That flexibility does keep the clamp force down so it’s comfortable to wear for long sessions, especially with the dense earpads and cloth upholstery that makes it nice to wear.

For a budget-friendly wireless gaming headset, it still brings booming sound quality that doesn’t sacrifice much. It has impressive bass and clarity across other frequencies and can still bring out the finer audio details in terms of positional audio for competitive gaming. It’s rounded out with Bluetooth that’s easy to swap between devices and easy customization through the Turtle Beach Swarm II software. Overall, the Turtle Beach Stealth 500 is a fantastic value and delivers the kind of experience you rarely get in its price range.

The latest Alienware Pro headset goes against typical design conventions of an Alienware product – you would think this was a pair of Bose or Apple headphones at first glance. It’s a slim and sleek headset with a no-nonsense aesthetic yet still performs fantastically as a proper gaming headset, which also makes it easily double-up as a casual everyday pair of headphones, and that really makes its active noise-canceling features sing. As a gaming headset, it brings strong bass to support all the other frequencies so games are going to have a powerful low-end to give a proper cinematic experience, but it's also tuned to be fit for competitive games as well.

If you're looking for good ANC above all else, I can easily recommend the Alienware Pro headset since it's very good at drowning out ambient noise and retains solid battery life even though ANC tends to drain battery rapidly. That good ANC extends to the microphone as well, so while the overall microphone quality isn't that impressive, it's fantastic at isolating your voice.

When it comes to comfort, its memory foam earbuds get the job done even though they don't look impressive at first glance. The flexible headband lets the Alienware Pro headset clamp easily on my head to help it stay comfortable for several hours of play. I’ve gone entire days with this headset on, conveniently swapping between 2.4GHz for gaming and Bluetooth for music on my phone – and with great battery life, I could do this often without charging. If you’re looking for something versatile as an everyday headset that can do it all, Alienware delivers.

When we reviewed the PlayStation Pulse Elite headset, it turned out to be an absolute beast. It didn’t come as much of a surprise considering its more affordable counterpart, the Pulse 3D, was already a fantastic headset. It has some versatility with Bluetooth connectivity, but when connected to the PS5 with the USB dongle, you can access EQ settings and 3D audio natively. Additionally, you’re able to get audio feeds from both the PS5 and a Bluetooth device simultaneously. With a sleek unibody design, its on-device controls are easy to use since it’s easy to distinguish each button.

But at the end of the day, it’s all about audio quality, and the Pulse Elite delivers on that front. The planar magnetic audio drivers help minimize distortion and provide tremendous sound quality that’ll get the most out of your games. There’s strong bass that doesn’t overpower other frequencies, and playing games at loud volumes doesn’t sound harsh when it comes to the mids and highs. Especially when you use the right EQ settings, the Pulse Elite sounds tuned just right for each game. Sony's own Tempest 3D audio is the cherry on top, and a single-player game that takes advantage of this feature gives the experience of an immersive soundstage few headsets can pull off right.

For $150, you’re getting a lot for your money. It’s priced well below other high-end headsets, yet performs on par with many of them. It’s also packed with several extra features that make the most of the PS5 as a platform. For all that and more, the Pulse Elite is one of the best PS5 headsets you can get today.

Like the Pulse Elite for PS5, the official Xbox wireless headset is finely tuned for its specific platform. In the case of Xbox, this headset connects wirelessly without a dongle via Microsoft’s proprietary wireless tech and pairs just like a controller to make things easy. It’s convenient, but doesn’t come at the expense of all the important features that make it the best option for dedicated Xbox players.

It brings a theater-like sound experience to a headset so single-player games like STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl or Elden Ring have the details of their respective eerie atmospheres shine through. I also played a ton of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 to give this headset a whirl in competitive games, and whether I was caught in the chaos of lightning-fast rounds in the Moshpit playlist or carefully working with teammates in Search and Destroy matches, I had both a great audio experience and a tactical advantage with sound quality and positional audio. The main thing I should note is that it takes some tweaking in the EQ settings to find the right balance since this headset can be a bit bass-heavy out of the box.

It may clamp a bit tight (although it will loosen over time), but the dense earpads alleviate that pressure. It’s a lightweight headset that’s well-built and rocks a sleek look just like its predecessor. The right earcup acting as an entire volume dial is still one of my favorite touches on the Xbox wireless headset, too. The microphone is nicely designed on a retractable snake-like arm, but clarity was one of the original’s shortcomings – the new model sounds much better this time around. The thing I find most attractive about this headset is its price tag. It’s an incredible value for what’s one of the best designed gaming headsets available for Xbox.

Gaming earbuds are a fairly recent trend with the notable peripheral companies like Razer, Asus, and PlayStation making their own that are suited for games. It's tough because of the limited driver size and battery life, earbuds tend to make sacrifices in one way or another. But the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are so impressive because of how uncompromising these little rounded buds are.

On top of having solid foundations of sound quality, battery life, and long-term comfort, SteelSeries has one of the most robust software suites, which is easily controllable through a mobile app. This takes out the inconvenience of having to flip through PS5 menus to customize the earbuds, while also letting you access its 100+ custom-tuned EQ profiles easily.

Although there are a few minor inconveniences with how some of its quality-of-life features work (autoplay when taking it on and off, connecting through Bluetooth reliably), the GameBuds do all the important things extremely well. While you should definitely use these as your primary earbuds to listen to music on your phone, they really shine in games with the kind of bold audio experience you expect from a headset. For all that and more, I gave a 9 to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds in my review, and they'll pair nicely with your PS5.

At $160, these have cheaper base price than the Razer Hammerheads I previously recommended. While I still think the Hammerheads have a very slight edge in sound quality, it's the battery life, software support, and overall comfort that make the GameBuds the best all around.