The Best Xbox Headsets for the Ultimate Gaming Experience
Staff, Courtesy of Microsoft
From its inception, Xbox has distinguished itself from its competitors by offering robust, seamless online gaming. During the mid-2000s, online console gaming was synonymous with Xbox Live and Microsoft’s included Xbox 360 gaming headset. But looking back, the Xbox 360 headset, and most other gaming headsets, were tiny devices with poor sound quality.
Luckily, times have changed since then, with new headsets providing impressive, immersive sound and microphone quality. We’re here to share some of the best of the best, and help highlight great headsets to pair with Xbox Series X and S.
Best Xbox Headsets
What to Consider
When it comes to picking out a great headset for Xbox, keep a few things in mind.
Connectivity
Xbox does not support Bluetooth headphone connectivity, so don’t expect just any pair of headphones to work with the system. Most available gaming headsets for Xbox fall under three categories: wired, 2.4Ghz, and Xbox Wireless Connect.
Wired headsets are simple and usually more affordable, plugging directly into the 3.5mm jack on most Xbox controllers. Wireless headsets are pricier, but more flexible, and come with 2.4Ghz or Xbox Wireless Connect (sometimes both). Headsets that use 2.4Ghz wireless must connect via a (usually) included USB dongle plugged into your Xbox. Wireless headsets with “Xbox Wireless Connectivity” can connect directly to an Xbox system without any extra equipment.
Other considerations are typical for any pair of headphones: namely comfort, sound quality, mic quality, latency, and battery life. When purchasing any pair of headphones, decide which of these elements is most important to you, and go from there.
How We Selected
Many of these recommendations come from significant personal use. For the products we couldn’t test ourselves, we performed intensive research, reviewing content from expert sources like Soundguys, Wirecutter, The Verge, CNET, Tom’s Guide, DigitalTrends, and others, as well as thousands of consumer reviews from online storefronts like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. As for the products themselves, we evaluated them on sound quality, mic quality, design, and price.
