You’re a gamer through and through, but cables annoy you? Then the HyperX Cloud Flight S might be just the right gaming headset for you. Not only does it connect wirelessly to your PC or Playstation 4, it can also be charged wirelessly. For this purpose, the headset uses the widespread Qi technology, which is also used in many modern smartphones.
The features of the headset sound exciting at times, but what about the rest? Are sound, recording quality and comfort convincing? Is the battery enough for long weekend days? Our HyperX Cloud Flight S test has the answers.
| Driver: | dynamic, 50mm with neodymium magnets |
| Type: | Ear-enclosing, closed |
| Frequency range: | 10Hz-20kHz |
| Impedance: | 32 Ω |
| Sound pressure level: | 99.5dBSPL/mW at 1kHz |
| T.H.D.: | < 1 % |
| Weight: | 310 g |
| Weight with microphone: | 320 g |
| Cable length and type: | USB charging cable (1m) |
| Microphone: | electrolytic capacitor microphone |
| Polarization characteristic Microphone: | bidirectional, noise-suppressing |
| Frequency range microphone: | 50Hz-18kHz |
| Sensitivity microphone: | -40.5dB (1V/Pa at 1kHz) |
| Battery life: | 30 hours |
| Wireless range: | 2.4 GHz Up to 20 meters |
| Price: | € 15.98 * |
Isn’t there something missing?
After unpacking the white-red packaging, you have the headset, a USB receiver, a detachable microphone and a MicroUSB charging cable in front of you and ask yourself: isn’t there something missing?
No, nothing is missing. Although the HyperX Cloud Flight S supports wireless charging via Qi, no charging station is included. This must be purchased separately. Any standard Qi charging station works, which can be purchased at Amazon for about 10 Euro. Or you can use the HyperX ChargePlay Base, which costs 65 Euro. Even though two devices can be charged here, I would probably choose a cheaper alternative, because even Dual-Qi-charging stations are available from 25 Euro. HyperX has thus priced the accessories clearly too high. Let’s rather concentrate on the headset.
Plain or monotonous?
Some people like it fancy, but then the HyperX Cloud Flight S is the wrong choice. The gaming headset has a very restrained design. It is almost completely black, only the ear cups have a little “ray of hope” in the darkness. Here you can find HyperX logos, which serve as a “color accent”. But they are neither real rays of hope nor real colour accents. They do not glow and are white. If you like simple elegance, HyperX Cloud Flight S is the right choice for you. It blends inconspicuously into almost any environment.
Plastic with metal core
The HyperX Cloud Flight S consists mainly of plastic. Only the headband is made of metal, and is covered with plastic and imitation leather. The reason for this might have been the low weight. The headset’s workmanship is flawless and the plastic has a high-quality appearance. Nothing rattles and everything fits tightly in the place where it should be.
Plug it in and off you go
The HyperX Cloud Flight S is connected via USB. The supplied USB dongle is used for the wireless connection. This is compatible with PC and PlayStation 4. Other devices are unfortunately not supported. Due to its size and a missing compartment, the USB receiver cannot be stored in the headset for transport.
After the USB stick is inserted, the connection is established automatically and you don’t have to do anything else, you can start immediately. HyperX also provides a MicroUSB cable, but this is not suitable for data transfer, but only for charging. One can charge the headset while using it, but then logically needs two USB ports.
The range of up to 20 meters can be rated as very good, with walls in between the range decreases of course, so that with several old building walls in my house the range is less than 10 meters. But the rebuilding of the connection always worked without delay or connection problems.
There are no further connection possibilities except the radio connection. The HyperX Cloud Flight S does not have a jack plug or a Bluetooth interface.
Operation via buttons & software
Since there is no cable, all controls are located directly on the headset. Only the volume wheel is located on the right side.
The other controls are all located on the left earcup. Besides an on/off switch, there is also a button for 7.1 surround sound mode. The MicroUSB port (unfortunately not USB-C) is also located in the row of buttons.
But there are more buttons on this ear cup. These are not located on the edge, but on the outside. Preset are here: microphone monitoring, microphone mute, game chat balance (two buttons). The assignment of these buttons can be changed using the HyperX NGENUITY software.
The range of functions of the HyperX NGENUITY software, which can only be obtained via the Microsoft Store and can therefore only be used with Windows 10, is very limited. The only sensible use is to change the button assignment, if you need it at all. However, the software must then always run in the background, otherwise the standard assignment is active again. Since an equalizer or other additional functions are missing, I would not use the software. But who knows, if HyperX will deliver more, because the software is still in beta.
Firm fit, comfortable to wear
The HyperX Cloud Flight S has a relatively high contact pressure, which makes it sit firmly on the head. However, the contact pressure is not unpleasantly high, but just right.
The headband can be extended to fit different head shapes. On both sides an extension of about 3.5 centimetres is possible. In addition, the ear cups can be rotated by 90 degrees and tilted by about 20 degrees.
The padding on the headband, which is covered with artificial leather, is very thin and soft, but absolutely sufficient. The padding of the ear cups is thicker. This is about 2.3 cm. The inner dimensions of the ear padding are 6.5 x 4 x 2 cm, so that even large ears should have room. Due to the soft padding of the ear cups, the headset is also suitable for spectacle wearers.
Inside the ear padding there are four small incisions in the imitation leather. These ensure better ventilation of the ears, so that you will not get too warm ears even after several hours. I liked that very much.
Battery operated & wireless charged
The battery of the HyperX Cloud Flight S should be sufficient for a runtime of up to 30 hours. That depends on the usage volume, of course, but also on the reception. However, 25 to 30 hours are quite realistic. This is made possible by the absence of (RGB) lighting, among other things.
Nevertheless, there is an LED on the headset. This shows the current charge level. Between 90 and 100 percent, the LED is permanently green, below that it starts flashing, and below 15 percent battery status it is permanently red. The HyperX NGENUITY software can also be used to read out the battery status in percent at any time.
Charging the battery takes time. It takes about three hours until the battery is full again. However, since the headset can be used during this time, this is no problem. You might need a longer MicroUSB cable for this, as the one supplied is only one meter long.
However, it is more practical to place the headset on a Qi charging station again and again when not in use. We used the HyperX ChargePlay Base, which supplies up to 15 watts, for this. If you put two devices on it, the charging speed decreases accordingly. If you put the headset on it again and again, it will still be difficult to get the battery empty.
What is the sound of the HyperX Cloud Flight S?
HyperX specifies the frequency range of the gaming headset at 10 with 20,000 kHz. This corresponds to that of most gaming headsets. 50 mm neodymium drivers are used. This also complies with the standard. So it depends mainly on the calibration.
Unfortunately, the HyperX Cloud Flight S doesn’t have a superior sound despite its rather high price. Both the high and mid-range are unfortunately not very pronounced, so that the music played back sounds a bit monotonous. The bass, on the other hand, is much more pronounced, as you know it from many gaming headsets.
So even if the HyperX Cloud Flight S is not suitable for music, it is suitable for gaming. Steps in shooters, for example, are easy to hear and locate. However, this also works without 7.1 mode. This mode is not convincing, it takes out the bass everywhere, tones become higher and the sound reproduction therefore feels louder. However, the sound image becomes clearly flatter, which just doesn’t sound nice.
Since the HyperX NGENUITY software unfortunately does not offer an equalizer, readjustment is unfortunately only possible with third-party software. In any case, the hardware of the Cloud Flight S has potential, perhaps HyperX will provide a firmware and software update.
The microphone is cheated
According to the data sheet, the frequency range of the microphone is 50 to 18,000 Hz. Unfortunately this does not reach the PC. In our test recording you can see quite clearly that everything above 7,000 Hz is cut off. This is probably due to the wireless transmission, which would otherwise be overloaded.
Unfortunately, this results in a slightly nasal sound that reminds a little bit of old telephone calls.
Apart from that, however, the recording quality can be described as good. The voice is recorded clearly and distinctly, and background noise such as keystrokes is successfully suppressed. Although the microphone doesn’t have a pop protection, that’s not a problem either. But listen for yourself:
The microphone arm is removable if you do not want to use it. If the microphone is muted by pressing a button, a red LED on the microphone head lights up. This is not obtrusive and does not interfere. This is also due to the fact that the microphone boom is relatively short and therefore the microphone is hardly in view anyway.
Conclusion of the HyperX Cloud Flight S review
My impression of HyperX Cloud Flight S is mixed. I really like the wearing comfort as well as the simple look. Unfortunately, the sound of the gaming headset has to reap criticism. The sound reproduction is washed out and the recordings are cut off at 7 kHz. Both are of course extremely important with a headset. And since the HyperX Cloud Flight S costs a lot € 15.98 *, it should be able to master these core areas. If you add the Qi charging station, it even costs 240 Euros. There are much better wireless headsets for this. The Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless would be an alternative, which is at a similar price level without the Qi charging station. If you include the Qi charging station, it’s worth taking a look at the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless.
If HyperX doesn’t come back with firmware and/or software updates, I would rather use the alternatives mentioned above. But I also think that HyperX has the possibility to rework here.
HyperX Cloud Flight S
Workmanship
Comfort
Sound quality
Recording quality
Features
Value for money
83/100
The HyperX Cloud Flight S promises more than it delivers. For example, microphone recordings at 7 kHz are cut off and the sound reproduction sounds very detailed. Despite the high wearing comfort it is therefore not enough for a recommendation. Maybe HyperX can still make up for this by firmware/software updates.
