The best wireless gaming headset in 2022

The best wireless gaming headset frees you from your gaming PC and allows you to move around your room freely. On top of that, it'll keep running for days without charging, and even when you do need to juice it up, it'll do it quickly. A wireless gaming headset shouldn't be fussy and obviously should deliver excellent audio too.

The features that matter most for the best wireless gaming headset are great battery life and a supreme wireless technology, at least up to a reasonable distance. Just as we expect excellent audio and a competitive price from the best gaming headsets, so we expect the same from their wireless counterparts. You shouldn't hear any difference when it comes to the best wireless gaming headset, but you'll likely pay a little more for the privilege of cutting the cord.

We've tested each and every one of these cable-free cans, and many more, with our own ears. We know audio, and we know what makes for the best wireless headphones. We've thrown high-res audio, outstanding gaming soundscapes, and hours of playtime at these headsets, which has allowed us to get to know their joys and failings pretty intimately.

If you're a serious audiophile whose primary focus is music instead of gaming, you should check out our picks for the best headphones for gaming (they're not just for gaming). The real bargains will be found in the best gaming headsets list linked above, but they won't provide the magical air of freedom those below will.

Best wireless gaming headsets

The HyperX Cloud Alpha is perhaps the most praised thing to exist on this site. We all love it on team and now HyperX has cut the cord on its best pair of cans. The biggest drawcard for this headset is the new huge battery. This is offering up to 300 hour battery life while in wireless mode while still keeping the headset relatively light and comfortable. It's a pretty massive feat and I feel HyperX has pulled it off.

Out of the box this unit was reporting having about 80% charge, so I decided to leave it there to see how well that held. I spent a work day listening to music and checked the battery again: I swear it still said 80%. I have been using this thing for gaming and music listening pretty consistently for the past week and we aren't even at 50% battery yet.

That impressive battery life is of course, a best case scenario. A lot of that has to do with the volume you're running the headset at, and volume is probably my only real complaint. It's absolutely loud enough but I can listen to it at full volume and still be fairly comfortable.

But the sound quality truly is incredible. Music sounds amazing. It's always fun to listen to some of my favourite sound heavy songs on a good pair of cans and try to pick the different instruments or bites used. These do an excellent job, and are definitely one of the better gaming headsets I've used to listen to music on. When playing games the directional sound is also very nice. I was able to easily locate hidden batteries by directional beeps in Deep Rock Galactic, and had a wonderful time bouncing along to the tight beats of Shadow Warrior 3. I loaded up some Doom Eternal and promptly terrified myself. If you've ever wanted to know what it sounds like having a Cacodemon suddenly show up and whisper sweet blah-things into very specifically your left ear then these can absolutely deliver.

The Cloud line is always touted for comfort and despite the hefty battery this still definitely fits the bill. I'm someone who struggles with too much weight or tightness on my head, and I have a real sensitivity to uncomfortable headsets. The top band is thick and has soft padding underneath. This coupled with the equally soft ear cups makes for a very cozy experience, and does an excellent job of blocking out noise.

Sadly, the mic is your fairly standard affair and while it will work just fine for chat in games, it's very basic and uninspired when it comes to sound quality. 

Though all things considered, I struggle to imagine a customer who wouldn't be happy with these as a wireless gaming headset. They're pricey, but within reason for their specs, and they certainly deliver on everything you could want for gaming, and listening to music, on your PC.

Read our full HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless review.

The wired Razer BlackShark V2 is our favorite gaming headset and the wireless 'Pro' version takes all of the best bits from those excellent headphones and snips off the cable. It was previously sat in the number one spot but with the Cloud Alpha Wireless offering similarly excellent audio but with an absolute massive battery, we gave it to HyperX cans. That said, the BlackShark V2 Pro is regularly discounted as it's been around a little longer now, and with a big enough discount we'd definitely make the switch to Razer's pair.

The BlackShark V2 Pro is still the gaming headset I use on a daily basis, despite the fact I've got $400 and $1,300 planar magnetic headphones, both over and in-ear, in my kit cupboard. Largely that's because of the freedom of wireless connectivity, but also because the audio experience is as good as any dedicated gaming headset is able to offer.

The TriForce driver design apes the fantastic HyperX Cloud Alpha headset and matches its fantastic audio delivery, helping knock the previous top gaming headphones off their perch. They feel detailed, punchy, yet still rich enough to deliver an incredible experience in your chosen gameworld.

They're also super comfortable too and, call me a luddite, but having a physical volume dial is incredibly useful, and saves me otherwise fumbling around for buttons on an earcup. In fact, our only real issue is that I'm not a fan of their wee boom mic, but given there are some fantastic budget gaming mics out there right now, that's not a biggy.

When they were $180 the BlackShark V2 Pro was an excellent, though expensive wireless headset, but now it's regularly down to the $130 mark it's absolutely the one I'd recommend to my friends. And you, my new friends.

Corsair's new HS80 RGB Wireless Gaming Headset is easily one of the best headsets the company has ever made and also one of the best wireless headsets around. It takes some of the best headset features available and executes them really well. At $150, it boasts the latest and greatest lag-free Slipstream Wireless tech, high fidelity audio, and Dolby Atmos. The microphone is outstanding and the new design lets you wear them for ages without fatigue.

It's said that imitation is the highest form of flattery and the new HS80 imitates some of the best headsets from Steelseries. Corsair has finally adopted the same floating headband design that uses an adjustable strap to evenly distribute the weight across your noggin. Furthermore, the HS80 feels bulkier on my head than any Steelseries headset but at 370g, it's not much heavier. The ear cushions use plush, breathable fabric that wraps around your ears like a warm blanket, too, but can get humid in summers.

The HS80's ear cups can swivel 90-degrees and each one has a backlit Corsair logo. You can change the lighting in the Corsair iCUE, and it's actually quite understated. 

The HS80 uses 50mm drivers that output 24-bit/48kHz audio over Slipstream wireless and a higher fidelity 24-bit/96kHz over a USB Type-C cable. The latter will require something better than your typical Spotify to notice the difference though.

But all this just means that the HS80's sound fantastic with rich, full-body sound with well-balanced bass. The sub-bass can be a little lacking at times and I noticed some distortion even at low volumes.  This holds the HS80 back from true greatness but there's an EQ in iCUE that you can play with to fine-tune the audio to your liking.  

However, it's the spatial audio where the HS80 surprises, with impressive 3D audio and accurate positioning. This, as you can imagine, is great for games like first-person shooters or large open-world environments. This is made even better with support for Dolby Atmos and Corsair provides an automatic license with the headset. I've been playing a lot of Halo Infinite which supports Dolby Atmos and it has sounded amazing on these cans.

Battery life on the HS80 was consistent with the marketing claims of 20 hours. For me, this meant charging the headset every two days—with 10 hours of work and play each day. I didn't test to see if turning off the RGB lighting made a significant difference but given how small the lights are, I doubt it. Charging the HS80 is easy thanks to a Type-C connection that also allows you to listen to them while it charges.

The Corsair HS80 is a great headset. It sounds great in both games and other media with a wonderful implementation of Dolby Atmos. If you do a lot of chat, the microphone is one of the best we've tested.

Read our full Corsair HS80 RGB review. 

Whatever you're listening to through the Arctis 9X wireless gaming headset, there's none of the muddiness or audio artifacts that have historically plagued other wireless cans. In essence, it sounds just as good as the best-wired models we've tested at this same price

The Arctis range's distinctive ski goggle headband is effective at keeping the weight of the headset away from your head. After a solid 12 months of daily usage, the headband has slacked off, making for a looser and slightly less comfortable fit, but the bands themselves are replaceable. We're big fans of the control placements at the rear of the headset, too: volume wheel and mic mute on the left, chat/game mix, and headset on/off on the right. The retractable mic is a little quiet, but it remains perfectly usable.

The extraordinary battery life clocks in at over 30 hours out of the box, and after almost a year of heavy use, that figure's hardly dropped off. This SteelSeries headset hits the sweet spot of providing the best sound without taking out a bank loan.

Epos has launched out of the gate swinging with its own lineup of high-end headsets, and the H3Pro Hybrid is a testament to that. It's a premium headset with a whole lot of functionality, and that's going to interest anyone with multiple devices but only time for one headset in their life.

What you're getting is a gaming headset with an included microphone. Okay, good start. Though it's wireless, of course, and uses 2.4GHz via a dongle or Bluetooth to any device that supports it. Furthermore, it can be connected via USB for audio or a 3.5mm jack.

The key here is that flexibility in connectivity also transfers to the headset's design. It's lightweight, compact, and well-built for travel. The built-in microphone is also removable and can be replaced with a little magnetic cover. That means you can get up from your PC, disconnect the microphone, and have the headset connect to your phone for seamless and easy travel. No more looking a weirdo on the bus with your gaming headset mic at the ready.

Everything that’s removable, like the plush ear pads and mic are easy to do so without feeling like you might be breaking it. As a bonus, they go back just as simply so it never feels like you’re putting too much pressure forcing things in. That's especially true of the mic with its excellent magnetic hold, which you can replace with an equally easy to use cover when not in use.

That last point actually ended up being a bigger deal than I expected, because these headphones sound really good. Even for music. They’re a really nice set of wireless headphones I’m happy to wear for more than just gaming. They have a good range and quality of sound, and can get exceptionally loud without losing quality.

The control on the side is also really nice for granular changes so I found myself picking up even subtle little noises I might otherwise miss in music. I make and mix the music for my ambient sci-fi radio show podcast, Blockbuster Station, on an iPad, and even noticed a similar effect hearing my own music back through these via Bluetooth.

The real kicker with the headset is the price, and $‌279 for a gaming headset is no small amount of savings to offer up. Given the extreme versatility, an argument can be made that this is more than one headset for your money. I can use this headset with every single piece of kit I’ve tried and it’s worked well each time. As a one stop solution that does an excellent job and any task I give it that price becomes a bit easier to swallow. 

Read our full Epos H3Pro Hybrid review.  

This is great work from Corsair. The company has channeled all its expertise from higher-end models and somehow kept costs right down without compromising… well, anything detectable. If you'd told us the HS70 was a more expensive headset when we first unboxed it, we'd believe you. 

Aesthetically, they’re a breath of fresh air. There’s no RGB here, the minimal amount of plastic is soft to the touch, the leather memory foam headband is embroidered in an array of different colors, and the overall feel is sturdy. These can take a hit, that’s for sure. There’s the usual height adjustment on them, but that’s it.

And that build quality is what baffles us about the HS70's lower-end pricing, though—they feel sturdy enough to last years but are still light on the head and well-padded. The slightly under-padded headband is the only exception. We're not wholly on board with the perforated metallic finish on the earcups either, but that's a small price to pay for nailing everything that counts.

Stereo spread and overall sound articulation are the highlights here. 50mm neodymium dynamic drivers drive both earcups, and although they only come packing a 20Hz–20kHz frequency response, they’re some of the most well-balanced coils we’ve ever seen from the gaming market.

Equal even to HyperX’s now legendary Cloud series. Everything is crisp, everything is clear, they’re not too bass heavy, there’s very little distortion, and the mids don’t fall flat—it’s all very nice. They're tuned in line with the modern trend for flatter EQs and thus better versatility when you close down PUBG and bring up that doom metal playlist you've been working on in Spotify.

So, then, drawbacks? Well, apart from the lack of rotational movement, and no RGB for the, er, enthusiasts, you’re still limited to a 16-hour battery life before you need to recharge, and there’s no dock or the like. On top of that, the 7.1 virtual surround sound still kind of sucks, even in films and games. It’s just too synthetic, and you can tell—but, then, that is an optional extra; you don’t have to enable it. 

Ultimately, for the price, these cans are classy as hell, sound incredible, and are comfortable to boot. It’s hard not to love them.

Read our full Corsair HS70 SE review.

The long-awaited Xbox Wireless Headset definitely does not disappoint.  We knew that Microsoft's first wireless gaming headset was going to be ambitious; little did we know that it was also going to be one of the best budget wireless headsets for gaming at $100.

The audio is surprisingly good for the money, if not exactly spectacular. But the battery life is at the lower end of their peers, but being able to get four hours of juice from a 30-minute charge is pretty clutch and makes up for not having 3.5mm connections. One interesting feature for Xbox users is that you can connect the headset to your phone and your console simultaneously. This means you can hop onto Discord on your phone and hear your teammates WHILE still getting game audio from your Xbox. 

If you're a PC and Xbox Series X/S owner, the Xbox Wireless Headset, much like the Xbox Wireless controller, is a well-made piece of kit worth investing in that won't let you down or hurt your wallet. It's an easy-to-use Bluetooth headset that works well on multiple devices (except PS5s), and that isn't an easy trick to pull off. 

You'd be forgiven if you don't feel the desire to spend money on a pair of gaming cans for your desktop, earbuds for your walk to work, and audiophile headphones for lounging with some tunes. There's a benefit to more specialised equipment, but it's an expensive and potentially cluttered existence. But there is another option, and one that needn't see you sacrifice utility or features for it. A headset that surprisingly suffices, if not shines, for all of those many uses: the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal headphones.

The Beoplay Portal headphones are a single headphone with the aptitude and attitude of a scout sixer: they're prepared for just about everything and anything. There's a gaming headset capable of holding its own on the desktop, but thanks to a built-in microphone, sleek and compact style, Bluetooth and 2.4G wireless connectivity, and active noise-cancelling (ANC), this set of cans is an excellent fit for heading out and about. They'll even hook up to your PlayStation 5, saving you a buck or two there.

With Bang & Olufsen I had high expectations and I'm glad to say they have been met by the Portal. With a closed-back design and solid noise isolation, I had expected some spiky audio, but that's far from the case here. They're surprisingly vibrant and lush and that makes for easy gaming/listening over a long period of time.

You need to be able to place footsteps and gunshots to come away from a match of Hunt: Showdown with the bounty and your life, and the Portal absolutely nails what I ask of it. It delivers a snappy and detailed response that doesn't hinder my gameplay, and I've not been afraid of pushing the volume with these headphones as the Portal doesn't introduce excessive feedback or lose quality at higher volumes.

All round, these cans are great for gaming, and they're not caught short with music either. The Portal performs at its best with midrange and high tones, and those are the most defined and immediately noticeable qualities when you put some high-quality audio through the drivers. If you want a punchy bass line to shine you'll probably want to look elsewhere, however. There is a decent bass response here across some of the lower range, but not the depths of bass I really want for electronic music or similar. 

Twin microphones on the outer edge of the earcups, facing away from your head, are used for ANC. And this is some seriously impressive ANC. With these headphones on my head and ANC enabled, I couldn't hear much else but the soothing tones of Tidal.

There are actually two microphones on either ear cup, those partially responsible for ANC alongside two more for voice pickup. These combine to become, what Bang & Olufsen calls, Virtual Boom Arm. Basically, there's no microphone arm to get in the way if you take this headset on the bus, all that functionality is built right into the ear cups themselves.

Without a physical mic arm it does sound a little different to headsets that do have one, however. The Portal is definitely quieter, and if you're particularly softly spoken you might have to speak up to get your teammates to hear you clearly. I'm not that soft spoken and I was told I was a little quiet on a handful of occasions. Similarly, the quality isn't majorly impressive, and while it's not bad quality per se, it's middling.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal might just be the one and only headset you need for modern life, acting as a universal pair of cans that you really don't have to think twice about using with any device. Though that doesn't necessarily come cheap.

Read our full Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal review.

Wireless gaming headset FAQ

There are a few wireless-specific elements we need to test for, too: battery life, charge time, range, and latency. The former is pretty self-explanatory, though, in addition to an ‘everyday use’ battery life test, we also run the headset at full volume to discover how quickly the charge drains under those conditions. To ascertain charge time, we… well, we charge the headsets and note how long it takes.

Range and latency are trickier to test scientifically. However, having a pleasant walk around the house gives a good indication of range, and latency ultimately comes down to perception. After several days of use, we’re in an excellent place to make the call on a headset with all that taken into account.