HyperX Cloud Flight Wireless Review
A new gaming headset for PS4 and PS5 users
Verdict
The HyperX Cloud Flight Wireless is a sleek gaming headset that’s compatible with the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It’s sturdy and comfortable with good audio, but there are unfortunately issues with the microphone and wireless performance that are hard to forgive at this price.
Pros
- Comfortable design
- Detachable microphone
- Great tonal balance
- Crisp audio
Cons
- Lack of Bluetooth
- Performance issues
- Not enough features to justify price
Availability
- UKRRP: £99.99
- USARRP: $99.99
- EuropeRRP: €197.99
- Canadaunavailable
- Australiaunavailable
Key Features
- PS4 and PS5 compatible:Compatible on both the PS4 and PS5
- Comfortable memory foam ear cushions:Memory foam and leatherette ear cushions are great for prolonged wear
- Wireless connectivity: Uses a 2.4 GHz connection through a USB dongle, with a 20-metre range
Introduction
The HyperX Cloud Flight Wireless is a sleek gaming headset that offers good audio, but seemingly only when it wanted to.
I encountered a few performance issues when using this headset, and while re-plugging the USB dongle always solved the problem, it’s still a frustrating process to go through considering this headset’s high price.
I’ve been using this headset for a week and a half. Here’s what I thought.
Design
- Sleek design that can be used outdoors
- Detachable microphone
- RGB lighting makes this headset look more fancy
The HyperX Cloud Flight is a pretty attractive headset; its black matte design is sleek and minimal, with the blue lighting on the earcups bringing some personality and flair.
The lighting isn’t very dramatic and would still work well for someone who doesn’t want a particularly flashy headset, but it makes it more than the standard black style, like the Logitech G Pro X.
In terms of buttons, there is a volume roller on the right earcup; it provides a little more resistance than other headset rollers, which I liked, as I never accidentally knocked it to 100% volume as I have with other models.
On the left earcup, there are ports for the bundled detachable microphone, the charger and an audio jack. Past that there are few other embellishments, which I think worked well as it didn’t make the headset feel cluttered.
This is a very easy headset to wear for hours at a time. The leatherette ear cushions didn’t press into my head, and unlike the HyperX Cloud, I could wear my glasses with this headset without issue. The padded headband also meant I didn’t feel resistance in my neck after long periods of use.
Features
- Wireless connection via a USB dongle
- Lack of Bluetooth limits versatility
- No high-end features like ANC
The HyperX Cloud Flight Wireless uses a 2.4GHz wireless connection via a USB dongle, which can easily be plugged into a PS4 or PS5 console. However, there’s no Bluetooth support or USB-C adapter here, which means it won’t wirelessly support the Switch or a majority of modern-day laptops.
To make matters worse, HyperX does not bundle a 3.5mm cable in the box, which means you’ll need to find a cable elsewhere to use this headset in wired mode.
For the price, I was also a little disappointed that the HyperX Cloud Flight Wireless lacked any sort of high-end feature to differentiate it from the slew of alternative wireless gaming headsets.
Since this headset is small enough to use outdoors, it would have been nice to get a feature such as ANC, but it’s sadly missing here. You also can’t toggle or tweak the audio settings, which is a typical feature found with headsets at this price.
The microphone can be detached and attached easily enough, which I vastly prefer to flip to mute mics, and it can be muted by pressing down on the left earcup.
The battery life was pretty impressive, as I managed to get around 14 hours with the LED turned on from just three hours charging time. HyperX itself claims that you can get 13 hours with the LED on and 30 with it off.
Sound quality and microphone
- Audio was impressive, but cut out at the beginning
- Microphone capture was hit and miss
The HyperX Cloud Flight was a bit tricky to judge here, as the audio was very impressive and had a lot of depth, but I encountered a frustrating performance issue early on.
After my initial setup, I was able to play God of War for around 20 minutes before the audio started to cut out quite noticeably for about 10 minutes. I turned off my PS4 and the headset dongle, and after that, I didn’t have any issues with the audio.
After the initial stumble, the audio was actually very impressive; the tonal balance was amazing, and I could hear the audio from other characters shift through the headset just from turning my character a few inches away from them.
I wouldn’t say it was too much better than the HyperX Cloud though, and unlike that headset, I felt I had to have the audio turned up quite loud to actually catch the smaller audio details.
In terms of the microphone, it was a similar issue of it not really working on my first try, as my friends on Discord commented that my audio would cut out on occasion, and at one point just stopped working.
Like before, I unplugged the headset dongle and that seemed to fix the issue, but it’s definitely something you should keep in mind if you’re thinking about buying this headset.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
You’re after a decent wireless PlayStation headset:
Looking past the initial issues, this is a decent wireless headset that delivers great depth and balance when gaming.
You want more for the price:
There are headsets that can do the same for cheaper, and headsets that do a lot more for a little more money.
Final Thoughts
Despite its sleek look and comfortable design, the HyperX Cloud Flight Wireless headset falls a little short, mostly due to the audio and microphone issues I experienced early on. The lack of Bluetooth is also a shame, while the lack of 3.5mm cable is odd at such as high price. It’s not an awful headset by any means, but it’s surprisingly outshined by the HyperX Cloud, which has very similar audio quality for a fraction of the price.
How we test
We use every headset we test for at least a week. During that time, we’ll check it for ease of use and put it through its paces by using it in a variety of games, as well as playing music in order to get the full experience.
We also check each headset’s software (if applicable) to see how easy it is to customise and set up.
Used as main gaming headset for at least a week.
Use with multiple games to test audio.
Also test the audio with music playback.
You might like…
FAQs
No, the HyperX Cloud Flight does not have Bluetooth. You’ll need to use the USB dongle for wireless use.
Yes, you can detach and reattach the microphone on this headset.
No, the HyperX Cloud Flight only supports PS4 and PS5.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
