• We hope you have a fantastic holiday season to close out 2025! Thank you all so much for being part of the Tom's Guide community!

Headset or Headphones for gaming?

XjatolX

Honorable
Dec 21, 2013
10
0
10,560
Would it be better to buy a gaming headset or good quality headphones of the same price?
 
Solution
Headphones in general. The only exception I make is if someone wants a wants a cheap headset, which always leads me to recommend the hyperX cloud or cloud II. The reason being is that it is actually a good headphone that has a mic slapped on and is rebranded. It's also sometimes cheaper than the headphone it's based on (Takstar pro 80), so that to me makes it a no brainer if you're on a tight budget.
There's nothing special about "gaming" headsets other than marketing. A good headphone from companies like AKG/Beyerdynamic/Audiotechnica/Sennheiser who all have 60+ years of audio engineering is a better choice. My personal favorite for $150 is AKG's K612 since it has fewer weaknesses than Sennheiser's HD558/598 (much less bass roll-off, can actually hear sub bass) and audiotechnica's AD700X/900X (hit/miss comfort).
 
Headphones in general. The only exception I make is if someone wants a wants a cheap headset, which always leads me to recommend the hyperX cloud or cloud II. The reason being is that it is actually a good headphone that has a mic slapped on and is rebranded. It's also sometimes cheaper than the headphone it's based on (Takstar pro 80), so that to me makes it a no brainer if you're on a tight budget.
 
Solution