(Pocket-lint) - If you’ve ne'er utilized a headset to crippled with, you’ve got a gyration coming – erstwhile you measurement into the satellite of high-quality crippled audio it tin beryllium hard to travel back.
Whether you privation it for single-player story-driven experiences, oregon to springiness you the borderline successful multiplayer deathmatches, unless you’ve got an astonishingly bully location theatre setup you’re going to announcement a large quality erstwhile moving to a headset.
However, galore headsets don’t enactment with each games console, and it’s important to look into which volition enactment champion for you. We’ve exhaustively tested a wide scope of headsets with our Xbox consoles, putting them done their paces and determining which you should see for your ain gaming setup.
Happily, each the headsets we've featured present volition besides enactment with the Xbox Series X and Series S, truthful you'll beryllium covered for next-gen gaming, too.
Our apical prime is the Steelseries Arctis 9X. Other fantabulous options are provided by the Xbox Wireless Headset, Steelseries Arctis 7X, Corsair HS75 XB and LucidSound LS50X.
How tin I link a headset to my Xbox?
It’s casual to hide but, erstwhile Microsoft released the Xbox One, its archetypal controller didn’t person a 3.5mm headphone jack. This meant you had to usage an adapter to link a wired headset via the controller, and you mightiness inactive person to if that’s the mentation of the controller you use.
However, much caller editions of the controller, including the newest that comes with the Xbox Series X and Series S, person that all-important jack to fto you plug successful much easily. Finally, you mightiness find that immoderate wireless controllers usage a dongle to link without cables.
Another little communal mode of connecting, but arguably the ideal, is done Xbox Wireless – the aforesaid modular that Xbox’s ain first-party controllers usage to link to your console. This makes for the astir coagulated connection, the easiest reconnecting, and has the added bonus of being guaranteed to enactment with the caller consoles erstwhile they're out.
In lawsuit a step-by-step usher is useful, though, travel these steps to link your headset:
- If your headset is wired, plug it into either the headphone jack connected your Xbox controller, oregon the Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter to get crippled audio.
- If it's wireless, plug successful immoderate dongles provided to your Xbox and crook connected the headset to pair.
- If it uses Xbox Wireless, property the pairing fastener connected the beforehand of your Xbox and hold for its logo to flash connected and off.
- Put your headset into pairing mode by pursuing the manufacturer's instructions, past hold for the 2 devices to pair. When they person paired, you should spot a headset logo to the apical near of the Xbox dashboard, on with a artillery indicator.
With that retired of the way, let’s dive successful and look astatine immoderate of our favourite headsets.
Our Top Pick
Pocket-lint
SteelSeries Arctis 9X
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For
- Extremely comfortable
- Great sound
- One-touch connection
Against
- Pretty expensive
SteelSeries takes the apical spot connected our database due to the fact that it nails the operation of convenience and prime that we’re looking for erstwhile it comes to a console headset. It’s a genius revision of the manufacturer’s apical headset, adding successful the Xbox Wireless modular to marque for superb connectivity.
This means it connects straight to your console similar a controller would (and that it volition beryllium capable to bash the aforesaid for the Xbox Series X erstwhile it releases), which makes for rock-solid connections and nary perceptible lag.
Plus, the headphones are truly nicely constructed and highly comfy to deterioration and, much than that, person easy the astir subtle plan we encountered successful our investigating (only Logitech's effort comes close). The microphone adjacent stores distant for erstwhile you’re playing solo.
Finally, the dependable prime is superb, particularly if you alteration Windows Sonic or, amended yet, Dolby Atmos for headphones. You’ll summation a existent vantage successful reaction-based multiplayer games, and beryllium afloat immersed successful single-player adventures. We can’t truly urge this headset highly enough, to beryllium honest.
Xbox headsets we besides recommend
Here are 4 different headsets for Xbox consoles that we tin recommend:
Pocket-lint
Xbox Wireless Headset
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For
- Impressive sound
- Solid comfort
- Great value
Against
- Somewhat mediocre microphone
Xbox precocious debuted its ain authoritative headset and it's a truly fantabulous bargain, priced precise sensibly but delivering premium sound.
You get ace casual connectivity to whichever Xbox you have, and afloat Dolby Atmos enactment if you've got a license.
Even without that, it sounds large and is bully and comfy to wear. Decent artillery beingness and a coagulated microphone circular retired the bundle nicely, making it a large choice.
SteelSeries
SteelSeries Arctis 7X
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For
- SteelSeries comfort
- Great sound
- Better terms than 9X
Against
- Still comparatively expensive
SteelSeries doesn't conscionable person the Arctis 9X, though - its astir caller summation to the Xbox lineup is the somewhat much affordable (although inactive premium) Arctis 7X, and it's a superb prime if your fund is simply a small lower.
The comfortableness is superb, and the headset is really highly akin to the 9X with a fewer somewhat lighter and little coagulated plan elements being the lone existent clue.
The sound, successful particular, is beauteous indistinguishable, and you person the aforesaid array of on-earcup controls for speedy changes.
Pocket-lint
LucidSound LS50X
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For
- Superb sound
- More comfy than it looks
Against
- A spot heavy
- Does request a dongle
The LucidSound LS50X is absorbing for a fig of reasons. Firstly, it's wireless with superb artillery life, but it besides has Bluetooth connectivity and tin beryllium paired with 2 devices astatine erstwhile and play audio from some astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic well.
Secondly, it sports decent drivers and faux-leather noise-blocking receptor cups with a comfy representation foam cushioning/liquid cooling gel premix that makes them a joyousness to wear.
Throw successful immoderate intelligent on-ear controls, 2 microphones (on built-in, 1 detachable) and a robust framework and you've got a earnestly bully headset.
Pocket-lint
Corsair HS75 XB
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For
- Really bully sound
- Solid physique quality
- Xbox Wireless connection
Against
- Not the champion price
Corsair's latest acceptable of headphones are its archetypal made specifically for the Xbox, and arsenic such, they've got Xbox Wireless for the easiest signifier of connectivity.
That's paired with massively awesome dependable that manages truly coagulated bass and wide highs to marque for a truly well-rounded experience. It's large for competitory gaming and much relaxed games alike.
They're besides comfy to wear, and made of coagulated high-quality materials, truthful portion a small pricey they're a superb prime for Xbox gamers.
Other products we considered
The Pocket-lint editorial squad spends hours investigating and researching hundreds of products earlier recommending our champion picks for you. We see a scope of factors erstwhile it comes to putting unneurotic our champion guides including physically investigating the products ourselves, user reviews, marque quality, and value. Many of the devices we see don’t marque our last champion guides.
These are the products we considered that yet didn't marque our apical 5:
- Razer Nari Ultimate
- Logitech Pro X
- SteelSeries Arctis 1 Wireless
- Razer Kraken X
- RIG 500 Pro HX
- JBL Quantum 600
- Corsair HS70 Bluetooth
How to take an Xbox headset
There are astir virtually countless headsets retired determination for astir consoles now, and the Xbox scope is nary different. To assistance you constrictive your options down, present are immoderate points to see earlier you marque immoderate decision.
Should you spell wireless?
A large question with headsets astatine the infinitesimal is whether you privation to beryllium untethered by cables - each of our apical picks are wireless, for a reason, but that doesn't mean you person to spell with 1 of them. There are superb options similar the Logitech Pro X which ditch wirelessness to get amended dependable prime for the price.
Given your controller apt has a 3.5mm headphone jack, you could easy spell wired and person a large time. It's up to your idiosyncratic taste.
Weight is all-important
How overmuch a headset weighs mightiness not beryllium the astir glamourous stat, but it plays a immense relation successful determining however comfy it is to deterioration for agelong periods. If comfortableness is cardinal for you, it'll beryllium worthy your clip to comparison weights truthful that you're not caught retired if your headset ends up feeling similar a chunky monkey.
How cardinal is simply a microphone?
Some of america lone request a headset truthful that we tin play multiplayer games with our friends and not beryllium near retired of the dependable chat channels. For others, it's each astir the single-player immersion. If you're successful the second camp, past you'll astir apt privation to guarantee that you get a headset with either a retractable oregon removable microphone, truthful that you don't person thing dangling successful beforehand of your look adjacent erstwhile you're not utilizing it.
What is Xbox Wireless?
Microsoft has made its ain wireless connectivity modular for Xbox, successful the signifier of Xbox Wireless, and it's superb erstwhile it's used. It means that your headset volition link to your console erstwhile it's powered on, without needing a dongle oregon immoderate different accessories.
Not each headset uses it though, for a litany of reasons. So, portion it's not a deal-breaker astatine all, it's worthy paying attraction to erstwhile you cheque retired merchandise listings.
More astir this story
Every merchandise successful this database has been tested successful real-life situations, conscionable arsenic you would usage it successful your day-to-day life.
For Xbox gaming headsets, that means utilizing it for an extended play of clip - not conscionable for single-player titles, but besides multiplayer sessions. We measure each elements of their performance, from dependable prime crossed antithetic genres to microphone performance.
Equally important is however the headset feels to wear, not conscionable astatine archetypal but implicit longer sessions and weeks aft its archetypal use, portion connectivity and easiness of usage are besides key. If the headset can't beryllium relied connected to enactment connected, oregon if its artillery beingness is beneath the advertised levels, that'll number against it. Finally, there's the evident question of terms - a headset mightiness dependable genuinely godly, but if it's prohibitively expensive, we'll person taken that into account.
We aren’t funny successful pointless fig crunching oregon extraneous details - we conscionable privation to supply an casual to recognize reappraisal that gives you an thought of what it's going to beryllium similar to use. And don’t for a 2nd deliberation that the products aren't tested afloat due to the fact that the reviews are concise.
We’ve been covering tech since 2003, and, successful galore cases, person not lone reviewed the merchandise successful question, but the erstwhile generations, excessively - close backmost to the archetypal exemplary connected the market. There is besides plentifulness of models we've considered that didn't marque the chopped successful each of our buyer's guides.
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Conor Allison. Originally published connected 14 May 2020.