Nothing compares to playing a game and soaking in the rich audio. Speakers can’t do it justice without being a nuisance, but headphones can enhance the gaming experience by fully immersing you into the game.
A good pair of headphones must have great build quality, soft padded materials, adjustable pieces, surround sound or stereo, noise cancellation or dampening, wide range frequency response, well balanced audio frequencies, straightforward audio controls, graphic equalization options, and customizable configurations.
This article shows that you can enjoy all these features without breaking the bank. Below is a reviewed list, in no particular order, of the best headphones you can get for under $100, based on rated reviews from trusted reviewers like RTings, Headphones Compared, and HotRate.
So let’s go ahead and dive right in!
1. HyperX Cloud Alpha Gaming Headset
The HyperX Cloud Alpha is a brilliantly designed gaming headset made of plastic and reinforced aluminum that fit together beautifully. It features expandable headbands and nicely padded ear cups that are hinged so they can move inwards to fit the ears snugly.
This headphone is comfortable and suitable for long gaming hours. It comes with a detachable boom microphone with excellent recording quality and is no slouch in both quiet and noisy environments.
The HyperX Cloud Alpha utilizes a 3.5mm wired connection which makes it compatible with several other devices, thus it has no battery life concerns. It has a pretty basic volume control and microphone switch. This headset reproduces audio notes with a deep bass and great, balanced mid-range sound.
Pros:
- Premium Design
- Booming Bass
- Low Latency
Cons:
- No Surround Sound
- Not Wireless
- Muddled Treble
While the HyperX Cloud Alpha lacks surround sound, it offers stereo sound through its powerful set of dual-chamber audio drivers that create booming bass and crisp audio with less distortion at high volume.
It comes with a lot of accessories, including replaceable ear pads. The HyperX Cloud Alpha is available for sale on their official website, Cloud Alpha, and on Amazon.
2. SADES SA-819 Gaming Headset
The Sades SA-810 is a high-quality, lightweight headset that is equipped with a detachable, omnidirectional microphone with a premium noise canceling feature that transmits high-quality recordings.
This is the cheapest headset in this list, and it is really comfortable with well-padded, luxurious leather ear cups that cradle the ears nicely and innovative slider headbands to accommodate a wide range of comfort settings.
It has 40mm high-performance neodymium magnet speaker drivers with low latency designed with maximum sensitivity for clearer and crisper capturing of sound with punchy bass and accurate mid-range tones. Its 3.5mm wired interface is compatible with several other devices.
This headset offers efficient sound isolation with its noise reduction properties so that you can hear things more clearly and with more depth. The integrated microphone also has high-end properties. It comes with a built-in audio equalizer that does a great job of balancing out the audio levels and a frequency response rate of up to 20,000 Hz.
Pros:
- Low Price
- Ambient Noise Isolation
- Low Latency
Cons:
- No Surround Sound
- Not Wireless
- Subpar Headband Quality
The Sades SA-810 is compatible over a wide range of devices, and it offers great value for money with its acoustic positioning precision that improves sensitivity and clarity. It is available for sale on several platforms including Amazon and eBay.
Interesting Post : Best PS4 Headsets Under $50
3. Sennheiser GSP 300
The Sennheiser GSP 300 is a closed-back headset with a thick padded, aviation style split headband and comfortable memory foam cushioning on the ear cups which reduce stress on the head. It is comfortable for long gaming sessions by utilizing an innovative hinge design method.
The GSP 300 is equipped with a broadcast quality, noise-canceling microphone that minimizes background noise, and a short boom arm that cuts out breathing sound for clearer in-game communication. To mute, simply lift the boom arm, and you’re off the air!
It utilizes a 3.5mm wired interface with excellent stereo almost similar to surround sound. The audio quality is tweaked to reproduce sounds accurately with punchy bass and balanced out audio with a frequency response rate of up to 26,000 Hz.
Instead of being part of an inline control pad, the GSP’s audio controls are located on the ear cup of the headset, which makes it very easy to locate the audio controls and simple to operate during intense gaming sessions.
Pros
- Slim and Premium Build
- Excellent Microphone Quality
- Accurate and Powerful Audio Quality
Cons
- Low-Quality Audio Input Cord
The Sennheiser GSP 3000 Series gaming headset is available for sale on their official website, Sennheiser and on Amazon.
Worth Reading : Best PS4 Headsets Under $100
4. SteelSeries Arctis 5 RGB Illuminated Gaming Headset
The Arctis 5 is a sleek, monochromatic headset with smooth, over-the-ear cups with RGB lighting around the cups’ back plate and a flexible Velcro headband.
You do not have to adjust two rigid, expandable rods to get a perfect fit, you just put the headset on, and it fits perfectly. T
The cups are well padded, and the fabric is soft and feels nice around the ears. It has LED lights that alternate colors, giving it a very futuristic look.
This headset has a simple control scheme, SteelSeries Engine 3 software, which we found to be relatively easy to use and is useful for games.
You have a volume wheel and a mic-mute button, which are very easy to use. Also, you can plug-in its dock to get more wired range and also gain access to a channel mixing knob.
They have a deep and powerful bass, good mid-range, and well-balanced treble. However, the headset performs differently across different users.
They are more suited for bass-heavy music and will satisfy most gamers. It also offers 7.1 Surround Sound for immersive audio experience.
The Arctis 5 connects via USB or 3.5mm audio jack, but either way, you have to plug a proprietary jack into an adapter. The USB adapter goes through an amp that controls chat volume.
Pros:
- 7.1 Surround Sound
Cons:
- Inconsistent Audio Quality
The SteelSeries Arctis 5 gaming headset is available for sale on their official website, SteelSeries and on Amazon.
5. ASTRO A10 Gaming Headset
Astro’s design here has a steel headband along the top with a flexible, rubberized cover, along with its familiar rounded rectangular cans at the bottom.
The Astro A10 has a limited button layout. There are no buttons of any sort on the headset itself, but the detachable 6-foot 3.5mm cable has a handy in-line volume dial for quick adjustments. You cannot turn off or reduce the microphone level.
The A10’s 40mm drivers pump out stellar and nicely balanced sound across the board.
The Astro A10s keep things simple with stereo sound, meaning you won’t find the kind of 7.1 surround sound seen on pricier headsets, which keeps the aural experience a bit less immersive than one would experience with some other devices, but that’s not a knock against the A10 – for the price, it’s solidly impressive.
Overall, the Astro A10 has a sturdy and durable design. They are comfortable, but a bit tight on the head.
The headband has a premium, sturdy feel and the microfiber-covered ear pads give it a slightly more high-end audio vibe.
Pros:
- Smart Flip to Mute Microphone
- Comfortable and Sturdy Build
- Impressive Audio Performance
Cons:
- No Surround Sound
- Quite Tight At The Top
The Astro A10 Series gaming headset is available for sale on their official website, Astro and on Amazon.
6. Turtle Beach: Ear Force Recon 50X Stereo Gaming Headset
The Turtle Beach Recon 50X is a low budget gaming headset. It has a moderately well balanced audio sound that is a bit muddled but delivers a punchy bass. They are also lightweight and have no latency for gaming and watching movies since they are wired.
The ear cups are fairly large, and they are decently padded. They also extend and retract to adjust to the size of your head. The headphones are very lightweight. It is easy to forget they are even there.
It comes equipped with a detachable microphone. It is attached to the ear cup through a standard 3.5mm mic port. They have deep and powerful bass, an even mid-range, and a decently balanced treble.
All the audio frequencies are relatively well defined. Even when things get loud, the sound does not degrade into a mess of distortion.
The Turtle Beach Recon 50x has a simple gaming control scheme. It also has a volume dial that is responsive and straightforward to use.
The dial has definite endpoints, so you know when you have reached the full volume by touch. It also has a very basic on/off switch for the microphone.
Pros
- Great Boom Microphone
- Good Audio Quality
- Great Value for Money
Cons
- Plasticky Build Quality
- Poor noise isolation
The Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 50X gaming headset is available for sale on their official website, TurtleBeach and on Amazon.
Also Read : Best Cheap VR Headsets For PC Gaming
7. VersionTECH G2000 Gaming Headset
The versionTECH G2000 looks a lot like the ones you see a lot of the eSports gamers wearing while they tear up the competition at arcades. It has LED backlights that will light up the ear cups and mic, making you look like a top gun. An additional USB cable powers the lights.
The ear cups on this headset are adequately padded with memory foam, which is soft and cradles the ear comfortably. The headrest, just like the ear cups, is made of synthetic leather material.
It also has a retractable headband to adjust to your comfort level. The headphones can be adjusted to fit most heads reasonably well. The ear cups are fixed so they cannot rotate or swivel.
The massive ear cups do a really good job of canceling out any outside noise, and because it utilizes a wired interface, it has low latency with well-balanced and accurate audio with fairly deep bass.
It has a volume controller and mute button on the cable, which is quite handy during intense gaming sessions.
It is also equipped with a unidirectional microphone which produces fair recording qualities.
Pros
- Great Value for Money
- Good Audio Quality
Cons
- Non Flexible Microphone
- The VersionTECH G2000 gaming headset is available for sale on eBay and on Amazon.
Conclusion
For a hardcore gamer, the importance of a good pair of headphones with premium boom mic cannot be over emphasized.
Hearing the sound effects and experiencing the game with the high-quality headphones listed above, will take your playing time to the max!
