The HyperX Cloud Flight (its review here) is a very decent wireless gaming headset, but is priced relatively expensive. Now, the Cloud Stinger Wireless is released as an entry-level offering from HyperX. Can it tick all the right boxes or does it compromise too much? Let’s find out.
Unboxing
The packaging of the Cloud Stinger Wireless looks familiar with other recent HyperX products. The mostly white background is accompanied by some sharp red accent. You can see a photo of the headset at the front, along with a few key features. The headset is Discord-certified and claimed to have up to 17 hours of battery life and low latency audio.
Brief descriptions about the Cloud Stinger Wireless are located at the back, with 9 different languages.
The HyperX Cloud Stinger Wireless is compatible with PC, PS4 and PS4 Pro, and can work with various online voice chatting platforms, like Discord, TeamSpeak and Skype.
The headset and all its accessories are neatly packed inside a black plastic shell during shipping.
You get the usual HyperX support card and the paperwork for safety and regulatory information. A quick start guide is available, which can provide you some useful tips to use the headset. There are the wireless USB receiver and a 1 meter micro-USB to USB Type-A charging cable.
HyperX Cloud Stinger Wireless Gaming Headset
The Cloud Stinger Wireless shares the identical overall design and size as the wired version. Both feature a closed-back design, 90-degree swivel ear cups and integrated microphone. Instead of the red “HyperX” logo, the whole headset is black in color, while the PS4 edition has blue accent color.
A step-less volume wheel is located on the right ear cup. The power button, LED indicater and micro-USB port are sitting on the left ear cup. There is no 3.5 mm audio jack for wired connection, unlike the Cloud Flight.
The ear pad cushion uses HyperX’s proprietary memory foam and it feels soft but supportive. The drivers inside are angled to prevent your ears from hitting it.
The body of the Cloud Stinger Wireless is mostly made out of plastic, which is sturdy and durable enough. The steel-reinforced headband adds more rigidity to the headset, which also provides up to 12 steps of adjustments with thick padding on the top.
The noise-cancellation condenser microphone is not detachable, which is installed on a swivel joint on the left ear cup. It will automatically mute the microphone when it is flipped up.
The microphone arm is flexible and can be bend to move the microphone to the required location. Compared to the wired Cloud Stinger, the microphone arm is thinner and has a more similar design as the Cloud Flight.
The Cloud Stinger Wireless headset requires the included USB receiver to transmit/receive audio through 2.4 GHz radio wave. According to HyperX, the maximum wireless range is at 12 meters, which is slightly shorter than the 20 meters from the Cloud Flight. The receiver is as big as a normal USB flash drive, and can be used for PC, PS4 and PS4 Pro. It will handle both audio and mic input.
Review
Design
The Cloud Stinger Wireless’s molded plastic body in matte finish feels very solid and does not attract much fingerprints. The headset is extremely light, which weighs only 270 grams. With the amount of adjustments and swivel ear cups, you should not have any problems fitting it securely on your head. The ear pads’ cushion is thick enough to prevent creating unwanted stress points around your head, which I find very comfortable to wear even after a long gaming sessions.
Compared to the Cloud Flight (its review here), the power button on the Cloud Stinger Wireless is larger. Hence, it is easier to locate and press. The volume dial feels a bit too stiff to scroll, which may require some more time to break in.
Features
The Cloud Stinger Wireless works out of the box without any drivers installation in my computer. However, there is no software support for all the EQ customization settings, as well as battery information.
It is useful to quickly mute the microphone by simply swiveling it upwards. There is no 3.5 mm audio jack available on the headset for wired connection. Fortunately, it can still be used, while it’s charging via the micro-USB port.
Sound Quality
The two 50 mm neodymium drivers offers decent sound quality as a gaming headset with really punchy bass, and acceptable mids and mediocre highs. In games, like Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege, voice lines and footsteps are clear and can be accurately located without any issues.
The headset provides noise isolation passively by sealing your ears within the ear cups. Background noises are significantly reduced, but not as good as the Cloud Flight.
Microphone Quality
The integrated noise-cancelling microphone does reasonably well in voice chat, which is its main role as a gaming headset. The audio quality over Discord is clear and relatively clean, though the more aggressive compression, found in most wireless headset, is also here in the Cloud Stinger Wireless. For background noise cancellation, the mic can pick up keyboard noises occasionally, but not too often.
Wireless Range and Battery Life
During my day-to-day usage, I do not find any notable difference in wireless reception range between the Cloud Stinger Wireless and Cloud Flight. Both offer excellent audio quality without annoying lags, interruptions and signal drops. For your reference, I installed the USB receiver at the rear I/O of the PC.
Battery life seems to be in line with the 17-hour claim in medium volume. I got around 15 hours to 20 hours of mixed usage in around 80% volume, mostly watching YouTube videos and playing games. However, all the battery information is displayed by the tiny LED next to the power button. It would be nice if the NGenuity software can show the headset’s battery status, just like the Cloud Flight. Also, a USB Type-C charging port would be awesome for a 2019 gaming headset.
Conclusion
The HyperX Cloud Stinger Wireless is the second wireless headset from HyperX, which now joins to form a lineup with both entry-level and high-end headsets. It ticks all the right boxes for a standard gaming headset, and adds the wireless capability on top. It has sufficiently good sound and microphone quality, which in-game audio is clear and detailed enough.
Although The Cloud Stinger Wireless lacks some flashy gimmicks, such as RGB lighting and wired connection, it has a great combination of features and value. The wireless range is solid with fantastic battery life.
The Cloud Stinger Wireless is priced at $99.99 USD (MSRP) with a 2-year warranty. It is currently on sale for around $80 USD at the time of this review. For comparison, the Corsair HS70 wireless headset costs the same $99.99 USD (MSRP), which has very similar features. If you have a smaller budget, but still want to ditch the cable on your current gaming headset, the Cloud Stinger Wireless is a superb option to consider.
You can purchase the headset from your local/online resellers or the links below from Amazon or Newegg.
- Amazon US: HyperX Cloud Stinger Wireless Gaming Headset
- Newegg US: HyperX Cloud Stinger Wireless Gaming Headset
Thanks HyperX for providing us the headset for review. (Review Sample)
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