The best gaming headsets have to juggle several jobs that most regular headphones don’t. Unlike wireless headphones, gaming headsets are designed to handle finer details such as distant reload sounds mixed in with booming explosions in game audio. They should be comfortable enough to wear for hours-long play sessions, and their mics should be able to pick up your voice clearly, for distortion-free streaming, competitive and cooperative play.
As a bonus – and especially for the more premium headsets in our list – you might want a gaming headset with a detachable microphone and a standard Bluetooth connection, meaning the headset can double up as your regular headphones for music and entertainment. This helps to justify dropping hundreds on some of the pricier models.
Many streamers will choose a gaming headset mic over a USB microphone, particularly on PC, as desk mics are more prone to picking up the thud of keyboard tapping and mouse clicking. Gaming headsets also have a unique advantage in that they let players move around in their gaming chair freely, without falling out of the optimal range of their desk mic.
Whether you’re playing fast-paced online shooters or sedate city builders, choosing the best gaming headset depends on your own preferences and the platform on which you play. You’ve a huge range to choose from, including flashy e-sports-inspired RGB headsets, gaming headsets from trusted audiophile brands, wired and wireless models, and budget headsets costing less than £20.
Wired gaming headsets will work anywhere there’s a 3.5mm audio port – such as the Nintendo Switch or your laptop – but Xbox players will need to choose a wireless gaming headset that’s been specifically made to work with Microsoft’s console. This is because the Xbox uses a proprietary wireless protocol, meaning PS5 and PC headsets won’t work on the console. Luckily, many of the most popular gaming headsets offer a “made for Xbox” version – so, just be sure you’re grabbing the correct model.
How we tested the best gaming headsets
We put the best gaming headsets through their paces over weeks of testing, paying attention to how they performed across many of our favourite new releases on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch. In Dragon’s Dogma 2, being able to hear clearly the constant nattering of your pawns in surround sound gives you a tactical advantage, while in the chilled-out city builder Cities: Skylines 2, we wanted to hear that dynamic soundtrack in as much detail as possible over the traffic noise, for example.
For microphone testing, we used Discord and based our results on feedback from listeners, as well as measuring and comparing audio quality and each mic’s passive noise reduction with recording software.
The best gaming headsets for 2024 are:
- Best overall – Turtle Beach stealth pro: £258.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Best budget buy – Corsair HS55 stereo: £67.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Best premium headset for PS5 – Steelseries arctis nova pro wireless: £315.25, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for Nintendo Switch – Turtle Beach recon 50: £19.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Best Logitech gaming headset – Logitech G pro X 2 lightspeed: £218.98, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for surround-sound – Sony inzone H5: £109.99, Amazon.co.uk