HyperX Cloud Alpha Gaming Headset Review

Premium Performance On a Budget

Any gamer knows HyperX. They’re a common household name, that’s if your household consists of serious gamers?

HyperX falls under the same category as brands like Razer or Logitech. They specialize in gaming gear for serious gamers. They all offer different variants of gaming gear, from premium all the way down to budget gaming gear.

The HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headset falls into the gaming on a budget category. It aims to provide solid performance at an affordable price. However, sometimes at this price range, some reduction in quality might be made, or some basic features get left out.

So, how does the HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headset fair?

Design

For a gaming headset, the Alpha Cloud headset is on the smaller side. Its design is also less striking and more subdued than some of its competition.

The black headset looks stunning with the red accents and minimalistic design. And the headset feels sturdy and doesn’t come off cheap at all. The frame is aluminum and provides a lot of stability. The ear cups are soft and comfortable, and wrapped with a matte finished vinyl. With all vinyl earpads, you can expect some extra heat, but not so much that it becomes uncomfortable.

The headset has a decent grip that doesn’t feel like it’s crushing your skull, yet not loose that you feel like it will drop with any sudden head movement.

All the parts of the headset are removable, great for the long term. You can replace the microphone, cable, and ear cups if needed. Unfortunately, HyperX doesn’t include an extra pair of earpads in the box.

The boom microphone slides onto the headset easily and can be adjusted without much fuss. There is a pop filter already on the microphone for some extra clarity.

The headset is analog, which is very much still a staple of gaming headsets. The headset also has an in-line controller for volume and microphone adjustments.

Sound

The HyperX Alpha Cloud leaves an enormously favorable first impression. At this price range, we expected average to decent sound; instead, we were stunned with excellent sounding drivers that rival more premium devices.

The headset proves to be a jack of all trades in the sound department. Whether you’re watching YouTube or Netflix, playing games, or blasting your favorite music, the headset always delivers stunning sound quality.

The daily hustle of life won’t sneak into these headphones. People passing by, chatting, or doors opening and closing won’t be a distraction. The headset also surprisingly doesn’t leak much noise. Great if you’re shooting away at zombies while your other half is sleeping.

The frequency response shows a very flat frequency range. This means the headset plays music the way it was originally mixed. Add to that great noise isolation, and you’ve got a stellar pair of great sounding headphones. The untampered frequencies also mean you get a clear sound and no audio masking taking place.

Playing games, you get the boom of the bass because of the great isolation. The headphones provide decent stereo sound with some great spatial awareness. Footsteps can be head clearly when playing FPS shooters, and the roaring of a V12 engine in Dirt Rally 2.0 makes your palms sweaty and heart race.

Microphone

The microphone sounds fine. However, it is clear that more time was spent on the sound of the headset than the microphone.

The microphone suffers from a common issue on budget headsets. People with deeper voices might find that their voices sound different. This is because the microphone cuts a lot of the low-end frequencies and boosts the mid frequencies.

This is to make sure that plosive sounds don’t distort the microphone, whilst boosting the mid-range helps emphasize the frequencies that allow people to understand the conversation better.

Who Should Buy The HyperX Alpha Cloud Gaming Headset?

This headset has all the basics tuned to perfection. It doesn’t provide anything extra or flashy like wireless capabilities, active noise cancelation, or voice assistant integration.

It doesn’t need to.

HyperX knows that all those extra add-ons are just distractions. To make a great headset, you don’t need to add more features, but nail the basics. That’s exactly what they do.

We encourage you to take the HyperX Alpha Cloud into consideration, even if you are shopping for headsets way above the price range of this one. Headsets like the Logitech G Pro X offer very little extra for quite a bit more expense. Rather spend that extra cash on a decent gaming keyboard or mouse.

HyperX Cloud Alpha Pros & Cons

More Great Gaming Options

Looking for some other choices? Why? The Cloud Alpha is a fantastic choice. But maybe you want to spend some more? If so, check out our reviews of the Beyerdynamic Custom Game, the Playstation Gold Wireless, the Logitech G432, or the fantastic Razor Kraken.

Round-Up

The HyperX Cloud Alpha sets the bar so high for budget gaming headsets, that it’s miles ahead of any competition.

The headset provides amazing sound, isolation, and durability without overcomplicating things. You won’t find any bells or whistles here, and that’s a good thing. What you see, is what you get. The HyperX Cloud Alpha is a gaming headset in its best and purest form.

Happy Gaming.