These Are the Best Xbox Series X/S Gaming Headsets in 2025

You can ask anyone who has used the Audeze Maxwell if it’s worth its price tag, and you’re going to get the same answer: It’s a resounding yes, including from me. It sports a sleek, nondescript design akin to many audiophile-style pairs of headphones and performs just like one as well. Sometimes I need to break away from the misconception that wired is always better for sound quality, especially when the Audeze Maxwell proved me wrong.

Its 90mm planar magnetic drivers jump out from the spec sheet – and while bigger drivers doesn’t always mean better, this is one case in which the audio experience matches the driver size flex. Overall clarity, balance across frequencies, and a rich natural audio profile make this high-end headset stand out from the rest of the pack. While the aforementioned SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro is the one I recommend overall for its robust features, it’s hard to compete with the Audeze Maxwell purely in the audio department.

That said, while the Maxwell is comfortable, it does land on the heavier side of gaming headsets. It’s built like a tank, but if you’re OK with that, then it’s more of a non-issue. It comes with a 2.4GHz USB-C wireless receiver, which makes it a great candidate for the Switch 2 when playing handheld as well. When you get a great mix of sound quality, battery life, and features such as toggleable noise isolation, it’s easy to justify its high price.

After testing a lot of gaming headsets, it's no small feat that our review of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is a perfect 10 out of 10. Noise distractions are unavoidable, especially if you live with roommates or in a bustling metropolis, so grabbing a headset with powerful noise cancellation like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is vital. On offer is a hybrid noise-canceling system with four mics that adjust based on what you’re listening to and what it picks up in your environment. Improved earcups also help with sound isolation, and a simple button press activates a transparency mode to reveal what's happening around you.

With SteelSeries latest, we see the biggest design shift since the start of the Arctis lineup with now telescoping arms on its adjustable headband to better accommodates larger head sizes. The earcups are also slimmer and sleeker, giving off less of a gaming headset vibe and more of wireless headphones look. And one of our favorite features remains intact with a few upgrades, the hot-swappable rechargeable battery system.

SteelSeries recently announced a new white edition of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, adding a bit more comfort and slightly better ANC while keeping everything else we love about the headset the same.

The latest headset from Razer took me by surprise with how much it genuinely improved over its previous model. With the new BlackShark V3 Pro, you get a rare combo of top-notch audio performance, long-term comfort with sports mesh padding, and powerful active noise cancellation. Even with the sports mesh upholstery on the earpads, which typically doesn't create as good of a seal for natural sound isolation compared to leatherette, it is impressively strong at blocking outside noise through ANC. While many other headsets come with some noticeable distortion with ANC enabled, the BlackShark V3 Pro still comes through with clean and detailed sound quality. So, if ANC is of utmost importance, Razer is doing it better than most here.

The Xbox model of the BlackShark V3 Pro comes in a black scheme with green stitching to match the platform's aesthetic, and it looks fantastic. More importantly, its expansive feature set helps it stand out from a crowded lineup; wired analog audio, Bluetooth, ANC, great microphone clarity, fine-tuned EQ profiles, solid battery life, smart implementation of 3D audio, sensible onboard controls, and the lowest latency (on paper) from a wireless headset thus far. Razer paid attention to the little things, and it paid off in a worthy flagship product.

There was a lot to praise in my recent review of the BlackShark V3 Pro, even though it comes in at a whopping $250 at retail price. It has a fairly balanced audio profile, but can really sing with punchy bass and clean mids when tuned right, which was apparent in the many rounds of Call of Duty Warzone I played when I was reviewing it. When you stack it against the likes of the Audeze Maxwell and SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro recommended above, it easily competes with those high-end juggernauts, making it one of the top gaming headsets for Xbox and one of Razer's best yet.

With a little tweaking in its settings, the Xbox Wireless Headset provides rich sound quality well-suited for gaming, whether it's for competitive multiplayer or cinematic single-player games. It’s the most straightforward solution for a headset on Xbox consoles, and its sleek design and simple user experience are indicative of that. Those who gravitate towards bigger or looser headsets may have trouble getting it to fit right, but the dense padding makes for great comfort across long sessions. The key improvements with this new model, albeit marginal, are in battery life and microphone quality – while these may seem like minor upgrades, this updated version of Xbox’s official flagship headset is still has a strong foundation to make for an incredible value.

We tested and reviewed the Turtle Beach Stealth 500, and thanks to its reasonable price tag, balanced sound, and simple connectivity to the Xbox Series X/S, the headset claims the top spot on this guide. Sure, the design isn’t revolutionary, but we found the unibody build easy to contort to fit our head while remaining lightweight and durable. Unfortunately, the ear cups aren’t adjustable and the headband can’t extend. Still, the stretchable strap inside the band makes for a secure fit and the plush padding on the earcups kept the headset comfortable on our reviewer's head for hours.

The Turtle Beach Stealth 500’s fantastic sound quality is the main reason to grab this headset. It outperforms many other budget headsets, delivering a well-rounded audio performance with a clean bass and decent mids and highs – as long as the volume isn’t too loud. Even in action-packed games with tons of sound effects, we found the headset handled everything with ease, and positional audio, like footsteps and helicopters overhead, was discernible for a leg up in competitive shooters.

Should there be a need to change the sound profile of the the headset, Turtle Beach’s Swarm II app makes it easy to swap between a few audio presets, and the desktop version takes the customizations further. Given you’ll be playing on Xbox, a button is available on the earcup for simple switching between four audio presets. We found the Signature Sound was the best preset for well-balanced and bold audio in most games.

If you’re after a wired headset, look at some of our other picks, as this one is exclusively wireless. Luckily, connecting to the Xbox Series X/S is made simple thanks to a low-latency 2.4GHz dongle. But the Turtle Beach Stealth 500 offers more versatility with Bluetooth 5.2 support, allowing you to listen on a PC, Nintendo Switch, a smartphone, and more. There’s even a button on the earcup for quick swapping between wireless modes. Plus, up to 40 hours of listening time with each charge will last through even the longest gaming marathons.

No matter which version of the HyperX Cloud headset you go with, you'll be getting a quality product. If you’re running on a budget and want to get the most bang for your buck, I always recommend the wired HyperX Cloud III, which can often be found below its $100 base price. It punches above its weight with impressive sound and mic quality and great comfort. Plus, it’s built like a brick house so it’s not going to fall apart through years of use.

Out of the box, the Cloud III impressed me with its build and durability – its aluminum frame can be flexed and contorted in any which direction without ever feeling like it’s going to break. Stretching the headset out to fit on your head is super easy and you can toss them on your desk without worrying about damaging them. It's built for comfort as well with dense foam earpads wrapped in a leatherette (just be aware it tends to get a bit sweaty), although its clamp force may be a bit much for some.

At the end of the day, it’s all about sound quality and the Cloud III handles various frequencies wonderfully. In my Cloud III headset review, I felt comfortable tracking enemy footsteps while playing a ton of Valorant and enjoyed the balanced audio in Final Fantasy XIV, which this more budget-friendly headset handled gracefully. Assuming you’re on a budget, you probably don’t want to spend extra on a decent microphone – luckily, the mic clarity on the Cloud III was equally as impressive.

While there is a wireless version of the Cloud III available, the wired model presents some of the best value and performance. Something like the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Pro is a current analog favorite, but since you're plugging into the DualSense when you're using a wired headset on PS5, it somewhat limits what you can get out of said headset. Thus, the Cloud III strikes the better value proposition.

Gaming earbuds are a fairly recent trend with the notable peripheral companies like Razer, Asus, and PlayStation making their own that are suited for games. It's tough because of the limited driver size and battery life, earbuds tend to make sacrifices in one way or another. But the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are so impressive because of how uncompromising these little rounded buds are.

On top of having solid foundations of sound quality, battery life, and long-term comfort, SteelSeries has one of the most robust software suites, which is easily controllable through a mobile app. This takes out the inconvenience of having to flip through PS5 menus to customize the earbuds, while also letting you access its 100+ custom-tuned EQ profiles easily.

Although there are a few minor inconveniences with how some of its quality-of-life features work (autoplay when taking it on and off, connecting through Bluetooth reliably), the GameBuds do all the important things extremely well. While you should definitely use these as your primary earbuds to listen to music on your phone, they really shine in games with the kind of bold audio experience you expect from a headset. For all that and more, I gave a 9 to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds in my review, and they'll pair nicely with your Xbox.

At $160, these have cheaper base price than the Razer Hammerheads I previously recommended. While I still think the Hammerheads have a very slight edge in sound quality, it's the battery life, software support, and overall comfort that make the GameBuds the best all around.