Decision
Priced at Rs 5,990, the HyperX Clouded Stinger S is a decent pair of mid-range wired gaming headsets. They have a balanced sound profile that packs a punch to bring life to action sequences in games. They’re comfortable for long periods of use, and work well with all mainstream consoles. The microphone is superb, and good for use even in noisy environments. The biggest drawback is the software, which offers absolutely nothing in the way of customisation, but at least you’re getting 7.1 surround sound at this price range.
HyperX Cloud Stinger S detailed review
Here we have the HyperX Cloud Stinger S gaming headset for review. It’s a wired, software-enabled 7.1 surround sound gaming headset, and another budget to mid-range offering from HyperX’s already versatile lineup of gaming headsets. Priced at Rs 5,990, it’s got a lot of competition from the likes of Logitech and Corsair, so let’s take a closer look at these headphones to see if they’re worth picking up.
HyperX Cloud Stinger S: build and design
Let’s start things off with the build and design. The HyperX Cloud Stinger S has a design that is very similar to the Cloud Stinger. They’ve both got completely black plastic bodies, but instead of the red accents on the Cloud Stinger, the Cloud Stinger S has gray accents. The second difference is the microphone. While the Cloud Stinger’s microphone can be removed, the Cloud Stinger S’s microphone is non-detachable, and has a flip-to-mute feature.
Talking about the build quality, as we mentioned above, the Cloud Stinger S has a completely plastic body, except for the metal plate inside the headband. The earcups are made of faux leather, and are quite comfortable even after prolonged use. There’s also faux leather on the underside of the headband, where it rests on your head. The earcups hinge when flexed, and the headband itself feels a bit cheap and flimsy. Finally, the wire has a soft-rubbery layer, that is, it is not braided, but rather thin.
We found the Cloud Stinger S to be quite comfortable to use. The earcups didn’t feel too tight or put too much pressure on our ears, and we didn’t feel like a lot of heat was trapped in our ears. On the other hand, the climate at this time is quite pleasant, so it can be different in summers when the climate is hotter. The headphones feel quite secure on our heads, however, they can be shaken very easily by tilting your head or by rapid movement, which should be a rare situation for most. Unfortunately, the HyperX Cloud Stinger S isn’t suitable for those with smaller heads, who will struggle to get a good seal from these headphones.
The Cloud Stinger S is also very light at 275 grams, which certainly contributes to the Cloud Stinger S’s overall comfort. The earcups on the Cloud Stinger S are swiveling, which means you can face the earcups down and rest them on your neck when they’re not in. Use it for extra convenience.
HyperX Cloud Stinger S: Features
HyperX Cloud Stinger S features dynamic 50mm neodymium drivers with a closed back design. They’ve got a frequency response of 18Hz-23kHz, which is much wider than the typical 20-20kHz. The impedance on these headphones is 32 Ω, which means it should have no trouble being powered by mainstream consoles, and should be good enough to work with smartphones too, unless, of course, you want 7.1 surround sound in this case. Let’s lose
These headphones also have onboard volume controls as well as a volume slider that is present behind the right earcup. As for connectors, we have a 3.5mm unijack, along with a USB adapter, which is essential for using 7.1 surround sound.
Finally, coming to the microphone, we’ve got a polar pattern uni-directional, noise-canceling microphone. Which is also flip-to-mute, a feature we love and would love to see all headphones adopt.
HyperX Cloud Stinger S: Performance
The HyperX Cloud Stinger S has a beautifully balanced bright-leaning sound profile. This is quite common in gaming headsets, which basically means that action scenes in games pack a little extra punch. Thanks to its balanced profile, the Cloud Stinger S is also good for listening to most genres of music. However, there is no EQ or sound optimization of any kind in these headphones. Also, the sound quality largely depends on the fit and condition of the headphones. If, as we mentioned above, your head is small, then the lack of a good seal will affect the sound quality. Similarly, a slight change in the position of the headphones can change the sound you hear.
The HyperX Cloud Stinger S has average soundstage performance, even with 7.1 surround sound turned on. It’ll get the job done when playing FPS games, but there are definitely better options when it comes to more detailed and accurate soundstage performance. Noise isolation in the Cloud Stinger S is also poor, with most outside noise passing through unless you turn the volume up to max. Due to which leakage occurs again and again. The leakage isn’t much, and is only really noticeable at louder volumes.
Another problem we faced was with the volume between the two cups. There were no issues when controlling the volume via the onboard controls, however, reducing the volume via the Windows system settings would reduce the volume in the right cup significantly, while the left cup was still quite loud. This can be extremely annoying, and the only solution we found was to leave the Windows volume at maximum and control the volume via the headset’s onboard controls.
Finally that brings us to the HyperX Cloud Stinger S’s microphone, which we really had no complaints about. Voice clarity is great and picks up voices easily. The noise canceling on the microphone is excellent, making it easy to pick up even in noisy environments, while reducing or eliminating background noise.
HyperX’s NGENUITY software leaves a lot to be desired. With the HyperX Cloud Stinger S, its sole purpose appears to be toggling 7.1 surround sound on and off. That’s it. The headphones’ firmware can also be updated here, but no other settings or sound customizations can be found.
HyperX Cloud Stinger S: Verdict
Priced at Rs 5,990, the HyperX Clouded Stinger S is a decent pair of mid-range wired gaming headsets. They have a balanced sound profile that packs a punch to bring life to action sequences in games. They’re comfortable for long periods of use, and work well with all mainstream consoles. The microphone is superb, and good for use even in noisy environments. The biggest drawback is the software, which offers absolutely nothing in the way of customisation, but at least you’re getting 7.1 surround sound at this price range.