Summary
An often-overlooked part of many people’s gaming setup is the headset, but it’s an essential one if you play online games and if you play with friends a lot. Now, HyperX’s latest headphones are here, and they’re really good.
HyperX, which is owned by HP as one of its two gaming brands, has introduced its latest wireless gaming headsets, the Cloud Flight 2 and the Cloud Alpha 2. The new headset offers two different wireless connectivity options through both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connections. Perhaps the biggest standout from them is the fact that they have really good battery life. In Bluetooth mode, the headset can last up to 150 hours with the RGB lighting turned off, and up to 23 hours with the lighting active. When using the low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connection, you can expect up to 100 hours of playtime with the LEDs off and up to 20 hours with them on. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery takes less than 3.5 hours to fully charge. The Cloud Alpha 2, which is more expensive, can last a whopping 250 hours.
As far as audio goes, with the Cloud Flight 2, we have angled, dynamic 50mm drivers that are custom-tuned and should provide pretty good audio quality—a lot of HyperX’s stuff is typically mid-range to entry-level, but it should still be pretty good. The headset has a frequency response of 20Hz-20kHz, an impedance of 32 Ω, and a sensitivity of 103.5 dBSPL at 1kHz. The total harmonic distortion is rated at less than 2%. The Cloud Alpha 2, on the other hand, has 53mm drivers, an impedance of 64 Ω, and a sensitivity of -40dB at 1kHz. Both headsets include a detachable 10mm unidirectional boom microphone for clearer voice chat during gaming and a built-in omnidirectional MEMS microphone in case you don’t want a boom mic hanging from one of your earcups.
Going deeper into connectivity, we have a 2.4GHz wireless USB dongle, Bluetooth 5.3 (the Cloud Alpha 2 takes a step back here with 5.2), and an “Instant Pair” feature available for select OMEN gaming laptops that doesn’t require a dongle. The device supports SBC and MPEG-2 AAC Bluetooth codecs. It features removable magnetic earcup plates with full panel RGB lighting, and you can save a lighting profile onboard using the HyperX NGENUITY software. It also has memory foam ear cushions and a plastic frame; the earcups can rotate 90 degrees, and the steel sliders should be as durable as they get.
You even have convenient onboard controls located on the earcup, allowing you to switch between wireless modes, manage media playback, and adjust volume without interrupting your gameplay. A dedicated button also allows for a quick toggle of the lighting to conserve battery life.
The Cloud Flight 2 will be available from $130, while the CloudX Flight 2, which is the Xbox-specific model, starts at $140. The Cloud Alpha 2 is considerably more expensive, starting at $300. The Alpha 2 should become available this month, and the Flight 2 will be available from October, with the Xbox model going on sale in December. They should be available fromHP’s online storeand theHyperX website, among other retailers.
