HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Core - Review
Hyper X, which once upon a time was solely owned by the well-known brand Kingston and came to be known as their gaming division, has been releasing headsets since 2014, their products are generally considered of premium quality and most of their gaming peripherals receive critical acclaim. The gaming headsets that fall under the Hyper X branding are usually considered to be premium headsets with a matching price to boot, however today we will be looking at the more budget orientated Hyper X Cloud Stinger 2 Wired Headset.
Taking a look at the box the Stinger 2 boasts many features such as DTS Spatial Audio, 50mm drivers, easy access audio controls, crisp clear in game sound and a noise cancelling Mic. To be honest that’s a surprising amount of features for a budget headset with a price tag of around $90 AUD. Open the box and you will find the headset itself with a 2 meter attached cable ending in a 3.5mm 4-pole connector, a 15cm splitter cable, a foam mic pop protection filter, the instructions, a support card and another card that offers 2 years of free Dolby DTS X via a scratch off redemption code, once again surprising additions for what is considered a budget headset. It is only once you pull the headset out of the packaging and start to look at the quality of them that things start going slightly downhill, worryingly the Stinger 2 is built completely out of plastic, which at this price you would probably expect but the plastic itself and the overall construction of the headset feels flimsy at best and after using similarly designed headsets in the past I can almost bet that durability issues will start to read their ugly head with this headset after less than 6 months use, even if they are handled with kid gloves, they just feel very flimsy and overall are not very nice to hold and the choice to go with an attached wired connection rather than having a detachable cord will also lead to durability issues.
Comfort wise it is a totally different story, and it is here the Stinger 2 really shines, I prefer headsets with minimal clamping force as I find too much force starts hurting my ears after a while. The Stinger 2 has just the right amount of force to assure you they are going to stay on your head without trying to squash your skull. The ear cups also fit great over my normal sized ears thanks to the memory foam cushioning, with the only issue here being the durability issues that will arise from not using leather on the cups themselves. The headset also has a fair amount of adjustability for differing head sizes and also fits well when wearing glasses. Rounding out the design of the headset is a flip down mic that mutes itself when in the upright position and also a volume control wheel under the right ear cup, the flip down mic itself is one of the less flimsy pieces of the headset and gives a nice satisfying click when you raise or lower it.
Sound wise the Stinger 2 does its job in acceptable fashion especially when it comes to volume as this headset can be turned up pretty loud if you need to drown out noise that might be happening in the room around you. There are no issues with volume at all, they do sound quite muddy though and most of the time in games such as Call of Duty where hearing footsteps is critical you might have a hard time distinguishing the direction other players are coming from even with DTS enabled. As far as bass goes the levels are acceptable when listening to music but the headset seems to lack the nice punch of bass produced by higher end headsets especially when it comes to gaming audio such as explosions or gunfire. The sound definitely doesn’t come anywhere near the quality of higher priced headsets but the audio that is presented here is acceptable especially bringing the price point into consideration. The mic also does a pretty good job of amplifying sound and cancelling out background noise, I had no problems with my friends hearing me on discord even with a TV running at pretty high volume in the next room, there is a slight level of hum that can be heard via the mic but this is pretty much synonymous to most wired headsets. The only really disappointing thing about the sound quality is you are pretty much stuck with what you get, there are no equalization controls to speak of here so you can’t boost the bass, treble or mids.
There is an old saying “you get what you pay for” and though this does apply in this situation especially when it comes to the overall cheap feeling construction of the Stinger 2. On the other hand, there is also surprising value for money here when you consider that you get 2 years access to Dolby DTS X and that there is also a pretty nice quality splitter cable thrown in the box, though this could do with being a bit longer than the supplied length. I am not a fan of wired headsets myself, especially ones with non-detachable cables as I always feel like I am one step away from forgetting I have them on and dragging my PC off the desk via the cord if I get up to move around the room.
If you are like me though and can’t stand wired headsets, then I would suggest that you up your budget by another $40 or so and go for the wireless Cloud Stinger Core headset as this offers pretty much the same features and quality with the added bonus of being wireless. What is offered here at this price would certainly suit somebody who is just getting into gaming or someone who just wants a cheap but serviceable pair of cans to take with them on the road to use while gaming in their hotel room, for the price you can’t really go wrong.
The Score
7.5
Review unit provided by HyperX
The Pros
+Comfortable with no fatigue even after many house gaming
+Surprising value for the price
+Volume levels are great and overall sound quality is fine
+Mic does a pretty good job with noise cancellation and clarity
The Cons
-Cable is not detachable
-Overall construction feels flimsy leading to durability issues
-No way to adjust or equalize the sound profile
