My colleague Cameron Faulkner called the HyperX Cloud II Wireless “among the most comfortable headphones I’ve worn.” Today, HP announces its successor – Cloud Third Wireless – and I am happy to say that he is better at everything.
When I heard that the new Cloud III Wireless was going to deliver Four times the battery life At 120 hours versus 30 hours, I thought there must be a problem.
It is rare for a product to improve
But after hours of comparing Cloud II and Cloud III side by side and back to back, I haven’t heard, seen, or felt either yet! The new headphones for PC, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch cost $20 more, weigh an extra ounce, and not everyone will appreciate the extra padding—but they have the same balanced, powerful sound Cameron lauded, with a host of improvements.
For example, it now not only charges via USB-C, but also has a wireless USB-C dongle, which I was surprised to find that it has more, not less, The wireless range plugs into the same port on my gaming PC, where the 2.4GHz signal can easily be hacked through an extra wall in my house.
The company says you no longer need a detachable microphone foam filter because it has its own mesh — and sure enough, the Cloud III picked up much less noise when I pointed a fan at each, and even rated my speech intelligibility quite a bit higher. (Both mics still sound fine for consumer headphones, though they both have very low register volume.)
The power button is now larger and more oblong, so it’s easy to find by feel — and a tap tells you the estimated battery life remaining. “90% battery,” a female voice just told me. (And yes, you can still activate microphone monitoring by long-pressing the mute button.)
And for my large head, at least, the slightly shallower metal arms put a little more pressure on my skull than concentrating their grip near my jaw.
However, there are still trade-offs. There’s no denying that my Cloud III review unit has thicker ear cups that create a bit more pressure, more isolation, and a slightly smaller soundstage, which I don’t prefer. This is probably why the Cloud III feels like it has minimal bass, too. The Cloud II is a bit more airy and cooler on the ears, and it felt a little easier to pick out the instruments in my music test suite in back-to-back tests.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if both headphones had the same 53mm drivers tuned in exactly the same way – they just sound the same. They’re both equally loud at 50 percent, and they both distort the same way if you move them too high.
Cloud III Wireless isn’t the ultimate in comfort, sound quality, or features. We’re still waiting for it to provide a balance between game and chat, preferably with two premium PC speakers, and I’d like ear cups that swivel so I can wear them all day. But HyperX has a great balance of comfort, style, and sound that just got better. If I don’t need the game/chat credit, I’ll probably buy one when the Arctis Pro Wireless eventually expires.
The Cloud III Wireless should go on sale today for $170. Cloud II Wireless was still available as of last night For $113 on sale (usually $150).
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