Just as most gaming headsets come in a few different variations, HyperX’s Cloud III headset wasn’t going to be the end of the story. Enter the HyperX Cloud III Wireless. This model comes with a tidy uptick in price from the $99 of the wired model to $169 for the privilege of living free from cables. That’s a sizable jump, but comes with a handy feature for what was already a great headset. Let’s see how it stacks up.
HyperX Cloud III Wireless – Design and Features
The HyperX Cloud III Wireless is a straightforward, untethered headset. It uses a USB-C transmitter to connect to gaming PCs or consoles, though not Xbox, and there’s no wireless base station or fancy, low-profile dongle. Beyond coming from a product line with some serious heritage, this headset’s big claim to fame is its monstrous battery life, rated at an astounding 120 hours. That’s a bit shy of the 300 hours HyperX boasted on the Cloud Alpha Wireless, but still no slouch when a flagship gaming headset like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless offers just 22 hours on a charge (albeit with ANC active).
If you’ve seen the HyperX Cloud III headset already, then you’ve just about seen the HyperX Cloud III Wireless. The two headsets are externally identical with one exception: where the wired headset’s cable attaches, there is instead a power button.
This also means the HyperX Cloud III Wireless is continuing the design language the brand set several product generations ago. The headset features simple, curving cans with metal backings held on large, Y-shaped yokes made of sturdy aluminum. The yokes extend from a simple headband that has no gamer ostentation, even omitting HyperX’s two-color stitching. Instead, the headband, like the plush ear cups, is covered in a gentle faux leather. The headband and ear cushions are also padded well. As simple as it looks, the headset is rugged and doesn’t groan when bent or squeezed. This is one I wouldn’t worry too much about stuffing into a bag.
The clamping force of the headset isn’t substantial, but keeps the cans in place well enough and threads the needle between too loose a fit and high-pressure discomfort. Even after many hours of wear, I’m not rubbing at sore spots on my head or around my ears.
HyperX has really pulled off a feat here, delivering huge battery life while keeping the headset light enough to remain comfortable. After all, anyone could have given a headset a thousand hours of runtime by strapping a car battery to it, but then it’d be unwearable.
The headset’s microphone is a detachable, boom-style mic that is easy to misplace, unlike flip-to-mute mics or the even-better retractable mics. On the plus side, it has excellent flexibility and holds its position well, making it easy to get situated in an optimal spot. It has an integrated filter – no cheap foam at the end – and includes a red mute indicator LED toggled by the mute button on the left earcup. The right earcup includes a volume dial that communicates with the connected system to control volume, so you don’t end up having separate headset and system volumes.
Handily, the headset has clear voice prompts, letting you plainly know when the headset is connected, disconnected, and how much battery is left (tapping the power button has the headset tell you battery percentage). That’s a lot better than the abstruse beep and bips a lot of headsets opt for.
HyperX Cloud III Wireless – Software
The HyperX Cloud III Wireless supports some light configuration with the Ngenuity software for Windows. This does unfortunately mean the DTS Headphone:X Spatial Audio enhancements for the headset are really only available for Windows users. Of course, PS5 gamers will get Tempest 3D. The software enables microphone monitoring on the headset – something that actually worked for this wireless model despite failing on the wired model. It also comes with a few equalizer presets and the option to create your own 10-band EQ settings.
HyperX Cloud III Wireless – Gaming and Performance
The HyperX Cloud III Wireless headset won’t leave you wanting for volume. The 53mm drivers blast out sound. At about 50% volume, I can sense the hearing damage in my future. They comfortably block out external sound at lower volumes while providing adequate audio.
The sound is a bit bass heavy, and that bass can be somewhat muddy. Bass lines in music don’t sound as clear as they might on better headphones, but some of the impact is still there. Mids and treble notes come through well, though they don’t ring out with the angelic voices I’ve caught from other headsets like the Audeze Maxwell. Still, the quality has been good enough for me to wiggle along to my favorite tunes. The soundstage is a bit tight, though, so busier tracks like those on Of Montreal’s False Priest album, which I use as a baseline for all of my headphone testing, can get a little claustrophobic and fail to let each instrument really stand out. That made the low drums in Coquet Coquette fall flat, especially since they were playing in the already muddy bass range.
Now, that’s with the virtual surround sound disabled. For music, I found it further muddied the sound and made the treble feel like it was coming through a wall before reaching my ears. Virtual surround played much better in games.
In the chaotic fray of Battlefield 2042 – a game that I still haven’t fully adapted to the soundscape of – I was able to get sharp enough positional audio that would alert me to flanking enemies. In one match, fully aware another enemy was working their way toward me from behind, I was able to keep trained on an entryway that enemies were pouring out of until the last second and then still got the drop on that flanker. Getting useful positional cues from headphones is a crucial ability in games where you can’t always rely on your sight. Hearing which direction an enemy is moving just over a barrier helps with pre-aiming and can turn a gunfight into easy pickings.
I’m not listening for the precision of bass lines in games. So in a firefight, the boom of the explosions all around me isn’t really bogged down by the muddiness that affected music.
The virtualized surround sound has some undesired behavior. I encountered it in Overwatch 2 on the wired model, and ran into it again in Battlefield 2042 on this wireless model. Sometimes, it just can’t figure out how to process the signal right, and it ends up spitting out a digitized mess that sounds like the game is just glitching out. It’s always brief, but it’s hard to miss. Fortunately, positional cues are readily apparent even without the DTS processing turned on.
Fortunately, it hasn’t been the transmitter causing trouble. The headset doesn’t struggle to stay connected even in an environment crowded with wireless signals. The compact dongle even continued to transmit about as well as any I’ve tested, passing through some thick plaster wall and reaching me some 30 feet away from my computer.
The HyperX Cloud III Wireless’s microphone may be the same one found on the wired version, but its performance is not quite identical. Wireless headsets have a lot of data to transmit, and the incoming signal is often playing second fiddle to the outgoing signal. This leaves the voice recording from the wireless headset diminished compared to the wired headset. It’s nearly as good, but there are some subtle compression artifacts and there’s a little less fullness to my voice
