I was recently approached to review the HyperX Cloud III S Wireless gaming headset, and I gladly accepted it because I wanted to check out how wireless gaming headset has achieved over the years. Short answer, I’m quite impressed but a little hampered on certain things. So, let’s get to the whole story.
Design
I’m going to be frank as the review unit I have received is the Black-Red, is delivering the gamer vibes and most people might prefer it because of the dual-tone colour. You can get it in Black and White as well. The build quality was above average as it mixed with plastic and aluminum. The paddings one the head and earcups are quite comfy as well for long period of gaming. I also noticed the gaming headset is relatively felt light on the head despite the weight claimed of approximately 340 grams without the microphone, and about 347 grams with the detachable boom mic attached. The detachable mic is also quite convenient to install and remove.
The controls (buttons and dial) on the earcups are well placed, as it is easy to have the memory kicked in which button to press. The buttons feels tactile and the rotary dial feels smooth, although it could have been better in terms of tactility.
The USB Type-C adapter dongle also comes along with a converter to Type-A, making it convenient for transition to PCs that still haven’t fully embrace USB Type-C port.
Audio
The HyperX Cloud III S Wireless uses angled 53mm drivers to deliver audio. They are tuned well for gaming audio out of the box, but if you wished to listen music, you may need to adjust the equaliser. It also has DTS Headphone:X spatial audio for an immersive 3D soundscape but if you don’t require it, the audio is still great for gaming.
Volume wise, I would definitely say its quite fairly loud enough, especially when you’re playing first-person shooters or battle royale games. The overall audio experience when gaming is quite immersive, to say.
If you want more controls on PC, you can download the NGENUITY software. But I have a minor gripe because the website offers two NGENUITY app to download, NGENUITY and NGENUITY beta. So, for users who don’t explore much, you will already stumble in the early stage when you trying it for the first time. If you want less headache, just download the NGENUITY beta as the site stated they will replace the old NGENUITY software.
However, do take note if you’re updating the drivers and happened to crash for no reason, you just uninstall it and re-install without updating the drivers. Also, due to unable to update it, it seems I can’t try out the spatial audio and control the boom mic. Bummer, but hope they are going to be quickly updating it as time goes by.
Boom Mic
The boom mic on the Cloud III S Wireless is quite clear when you need to chat or narrate your gameplay. It is also easy to move around. However, you need to be sure the mic is on level with your mouth when doing chats or you might not able to deliver proper audio chat as intended.
Connectivity
The Cloud III S Wireless offers two connectivity, Bluetooth or 2.4GHz Wireless via an adapter. The worked fine on either connection. HyperX claimed it is compatible with PC, Mac, PS5, PS4, Mobile, and Switch but not Xbox, which felt weird that Microsoft’s console was left out. The adapter dongle can connect to smartphone, but as long your phone don’t have a case because it has a short USB Type C head. Also, not all device with USB Type C will work well with the adapter dongle as I found out with the Xiaomi Pad Mini. Bluetooth connectivity is your friend if you’re planning to use it on mobile.
Battery Life
According to HyperX, it can achieved up to 120 hours of battery life with the adapter dongle and up to 200 hours in Bluetooth mode, which I think is impressive. I fully charged the gaming headset to 100% and around 1 hour of usage in Bluetooth mode with the tablet, it only dropped to 99%. Of course, with Bluetooth mode you do noticed some latency but its a minimal, so depends on what you require, the battery life is stunning to withstand long hours of gaming.
Verdict
The HyperX Cloud III S Wireless is priced at RM769 for the Malaysia market. If you just need a wireless gaming headset that works purely for gaming and delivers amazing battery life while feels comfy and light, then it is in your buying list.
However, if you’re fancy for additional features like RGB or Active Noise cancellation, then you might have to turn away. For certain market, the lack of support for Xbox consoles are also a major factor, but no worries in Malaysia as we are still largely dominated by PlayStation and PC platform. Also, the beta software really need more quicker update to improve on stability.
For the ratings, a solid 7.3 out of 10, ideal buy to get immersive audio from gaming and other usage as well.