The HyperX Cloud Flight is a good wireless gaming headset. It offers a well-balanced sound quality and its decent soundstage and great imaging will allow you to pinpoint the position of your enemies accurately. They’re comfortable enough for long gaming sessions, but a bit less than the HyperX Cloud II and Alpha models. On the other hand, they are a bit more lightweight thanks to their plastic build. They come with a great detachable boom mic, which is very useful for playing with friends or online teammates. Their USB dongle for wireless usage is compatible on PC and PS4, but not on the Xbox One. You can also detach the mic and use the headphones wired for your daily commute, but they won’t isolate much noise and are leaky at higher volumes. On the upside, their battery life is great when the LED lights are turned off.
Pros
+ Comfortable design
+ Good audio reproduction
+ Great battery life (with LEDs off)
Cons
- Poor noise isolation
- Slightly leaky at high volumes
- Bass delivery varies significantly across users. Sensitive to glasses
Design
Type: Wireless over-hear (can also be used wired for audio-only)
Enclosure: Closed-Back
The HyperX Flight have a simple yet aesthetic style with a comfortable fit and easy-to-use controls. They are decently designed for mixed usage and offer features that gamers will appreciate. They have well-padded ear cups but they are not as comfortable as the Cloud II and Alpha. The main frame is metallic and should be durable enough for most use cases. The control scheme on the ear cups is simple and offers a volume wheel and a useful mic-mute button. Like most closed-back over ears, they are not very breathable or portable, but this shouldn’t be a problem if you use them at your stationary gaming station. They are also quite sleek looking with a simple all-black style with a small red accent on the ear-cup wires. The Flight can also be used wired, without the microphone or earcup controls, making them a more outdoor-friendly gaming headset.
Sound
The HyperX Cloud Flight is a good sounding closed-back over-ear gaming headset. They have an excellent bass performance overall with a good and balanced mid-range and decent treble response. Unfortunately, they are a bit inconsistent and very dependent on fit, positioning and getting an airtight seal. For example, people with glasses may hear a significant difference in bass compared to those without. On the upside, their decent soundstage for closed-backs and good imaging are very useful to pinpoint enemies’ positions and hear their footsteps when gaming. Their overall frequency response is also balanced enough to make them versatile and suitable for gaming, but also for listening to a wide variety of music genres and movies.
Isolation
Noise cancelling: No
The isolation performance of the HyperX Cloud Flight is poor. They can block a decent amount of sound in higher frequencies, but not really in the bass range, meaning engine rumbles won’t be masked. They also don’t reduce ambient chatter by a great amount. If you decide to use them outside or in public transit with a wired connection, then expect a good amount of noise seeping into your audio. Their leakage performance is only average, and it leaks a bit at higher volumes. However, this shouldn’t be too much of a concern if you’re getting the headset for gaming only or if you play alone in a room without too much noise.
Microphone
Mic type: Boom
The microphone on the HyperX Cloud Flight is great. The detachable boom mic makes voices sound full and detailed. Even in noisy environments, the mic does a great job at separating ambient noise and actual speech. However, the mic has a powerful and sensitive noise gate. Be sure to position the mic close to your mouth and speak loud enough to exceed the threshold of the always-on noise gate. Nevertheless, this microphone is excellent for gaming with friends or with online teammates as they will understand your call-outs very clearly.
Active features
Battery Life: 29.6Hrs (without LEDs)
Charge time: 3.6 Hrs
App support: No
Passive Playback: Yes
The HyperX Cloud Flight has a great battery life if you don’t care too much about LED lighting on your headset. They offer about 30 hours of playback when the LEDs are off, but that amount gets cut by more than half if you leave them always on. This number varies between the 3 settings for lighting. Unfortunately, it takes 3.6 hours to charge the headphones fully. They also don’t have a companion app for customization options. On the upside, they also support passive playback when wired.
Connectivity
USB dongle: Yes
Bluetooth: No
Wired: Yes
Wireless range: 38 ft
Latency: 20 ms
This gaming headset has above-average connectivity. It shines with a very low 20ms latency for a wireless headset, which is perfect for video content like movies and gaming; it is much better than most Bluetooth connection headphones. However, they only connect wirelessly via the provided USB dongle that’s compatible with PC and PS4 but unfortunately, not with the Xbox One. You can also use them wired with the included 1/8” TRS cable but the mic will not work on all platforms when wired. On the upside, the wireless range is quite good, and you can walk around a small apartment without losing the connection.
Who should buy it?
If you’re looking for a good wireless gaming headset with a great microphone and that is suitable for long gaming sessions, grab the HyperX Cloud Flight. They’re designed for gamers but are also versatile enough for outside use. The microphone is great for talking with friends or online teammates with a clear and detailed voice. The sound quality is also very good, and you’ll be able to hear enemy footsteps and pinpoint their position accurately. They’re comfortable for long gaming sessions and have a decent build quality but get beaten by the Cloud II and Alpha in that category. On the upside, they are wireless and offer more freedom to move around while gaming than the other two models. Unfortunately, they do not have mic support for consoles when wired and if you’re a fan of LEDs on headsets, expect your battery life to be cut by more than half. The headset is also sensitive to glasses, and there are a lot of sound variations depending on the fit. On the upside, the HyperX Cloud Flight is a great gaming headset that’s versatile enough for your daily on-the-go audio needs thanks to a wired connection.
To see all our measurements and our test results of the HyperX Cloud Flight, please go here.
