HyperX Cloud Revolver S review: "A solid mid-range performer that fails to pull away from the pack"

The gaming headset market is incredibly saturated. There are countless brands competing for the best gaming headsets list, each one with multiple products on offer. This is definitely the case with HyperX headsets, which lists an array of headsets o their website, and has many entries in the internets best PC headset for gaming lists - to name but one platform or judging criterion. 

Sitting where it does, with a retail price of $140 / £140, the HyperX Cloud Revolver S needs to stand out to make a case for itself: so does the Cloud Revolver S do enough?

Design

As is the case with all HyperX products, the Cloud Revolver S looks the part. This is a headset designed aesthetically for gamers, with a smooth matte black finish over the bulky ear cups and a white accent surrounding the logo on both sides. This sort of design can often split opinion: if you’d rather have headphones that are lowkey then this won’t tickle your fancy, but if you tend to prefer the devices marketed mainly to gamers, then this will be right up your street.

One long braided USB cable protrudes out of the left-hand ear cup and connects to a remote, which has both sound and microphone volume buttons on. In the middle of this is also a 7.1 surround sound toggle – more on that shortly. The biggest drawback here is how long the cable is; if you’re sat close to your PC or console, the almost 3m long cable becomes a bit of an irritant. You can bundle it up with a clip on the back of the remote, but it makes the left side noticeably heavier.

Performance

As I mentioned at the start, there are so many gaming headsets that offer exactly what the Cloud Revolver S puts on the table. As a result, this headset is, in short, nothing special. The audio sounds absolutely fine: footsteps and enemy gunshots in Valorant were easy to locate with spatial hearing, the roar of the engine while playing Forza Horizon 4 sounded impressive, and felling trees in Valheim stayed just as therapeutic with the ambient sounds in the background. But while this is fine, it also makes it hard to recommend as world-beating or particularly special.

On the other hand, the noise-cancelling closed-back design is truly excellent. It really is one of the best headsets available if you don't want to hear anything else going on around you - though talking to friends online can often feel like you're yelling as a result.

One of the main selling points of the HyperX Cloud Revolver S is the 7.1 surround sound on offer, which – as mentioned above – can be turned on and off with the press of a button. This should be great on paper, but unfortunately, the 7.1 surround sound is quite lacklustre. It’s really not much of an upgrade – you can audibly hear the sound change in quality, but while some aspects improve, others get worse, and I certainly didn’t find it easier to play competitive games with the 7.1 enabled.

It’s also worth noting that while this headset is comfortable for long periods and the memory foam headband helps it to feel like you’re wearing an actual cloud, the inner ear cups are lined with leather. This is fine during the colder weather, but as we all know, leather or leatherette isn’t the most breathable of materials so can get uncomfortable during the warmer months, or if you play games in a particularly warm room. Something to bear in mind, though it likely won’t be a dealbreaker for most.

One other note is that if you’re using the detachable microphone on Discord, make sure you disable echo cancellation and noise reduction in the Discord settings. The microphone sounds like garbage until you do this, at which point it becomes much more listenable for your friends. Unless you want to rumble them, of course.

Overall

I have been a bit lukewarm to the HyperX Cloud Revolver S, but this is not a bad headset by any means. It just doesn’t innovate enough to set itself apart from the crowd, and so can be summed up as aA solid mid-range performer that fails to pull away from the pack. If you have the budget for a new gaming headset, chances are my answer would be sure, get this one – if it’s on sale. If it’s not, then it might be best to case around to other brands like Razer headsets, Turtle Beach headsets, Sennheiser headsets, or others.