This is the comparison review of Steelseries Arctis 5 and the Hyperx Cloud Alpha headsets. Both the headsets look like headphones and come under the same price. You can easily get an idea about these headsets by this review.

Steelseries Arctis 5	Hyperx Cloud Alpha
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Extremely comfortable. Sleek aesthetics. Great audio. Sensible software.	Sleek, premium design. Soft and cushy ear cups. Impressive audio quality. Versatile cables.
CONS	CONS
So-so surround sound. Long, convoluted cables.	Ear cups can feel snug. Microphone picks up some noise.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Expert Reviews of Steelseries Arctis 5:

By Nag.co
the Arctis 5 is a comfortable gaming headset that delivers good in-game audio as well as ensuring that your teammates can hear your commendations and insults in perfect clarity. Oh, and it features RGB lighting – if that floats your…

By Techteamgb
Steelseries sent over their Arctis 5 and Arctis 7 gaming headsets for me to take a look at – let’s see if they are worth their price tag! Want one? 5’s: prourls.co/VY8Q 7’s: prourls.co/Ijdc – OverclockersUK Affiliate link: techteamgb.co.uk/ocuk – Want…

By Techpowerup
The SteelSeries Arctis 5 is available online for $100. Great audio performance, both for music and serious gaming SteelSeries Engine 3 software is easy to use and filled with useful features ChatMix Dial is a fantastic addition, one I’d love to see on…

By Videogamesuncovered
SteelSeries have created an excellent headset with the Artics 5 being able to deliver very precise sound with a range of different options in the SteelSeries Engine to customise it to your needs. The connections and cables are something which could be…

By Tom’sguide
The Arctis 5 offers great sound that you can fine-tune to your liking, a comfortable design and an impressive mic at a reasonable price.

Expert Reviews of HyperX Cloud Alpha:

By Pokde 
The HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headset is arguably one of, if not the best analogue gaming headset around and its performance is only limited by the device that you are connecting it to.

By GadgetsNow
The Kingston HyperX Cloud Alpha professional gaming headset is a great all-round headset built for serious gaming. For a price of under Rs 9000, the HyperX Cloud Alpha is a good choice for someone looking to buy a professional analogue gaming headset.

By TomsHardware
Although we don’t expect perfection from a $100 gaming headset, the HyperX Cloud Alpha’s sound quality comes close. Moreover, Kingston uses reasonably high-quality materials put together in a solid way. Our award is well-deserved.

By NLT
A truly magnificent headset for both gaming and music. Needs either rotatable or foldable earcups design and a hard shell case to truly be a portable headset that I can stuff in my bag and carry around. Overall, great comfort and great sound quality, comes with a decent detachable microphone too.

By TheStraitsTimes
The HyperX Cloud Alpha is probably the best value-for-money gaming headset in the market now.

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Steelseries Arctis 5

This is a wired headset and has many features for gaming and surprisingly it also works well for music and everything. The design and comfort and every other feature are pretty nice for the price.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

The design, comfort, and also the sound quality and every feature are great for gaming and also for any other works like music and watching movies. The only thing this doesn’t have is the software for this headset but all the settings are placed on board.

DESIGN:

Steelseries Arctis 5

The headband is a thick pliable plastic material that can bend when needed. The entire headset is made of the same material which is a matte grate that does is not attract fingerprints easily. I don’t think it would be breaking any time soon unless if you really go at it.

Both ear cups can rotate 90 degrees posteriorly but appear to be on a thick plastic hinge. I think if you put a significant force interiorly but they could break or if you drop them on a hard surface just the right way but outside of that, I think they’re solid. The ear cups also tilt mildly laterally which allows for better overall comfort depending on head shape. The overall weight is light.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

As far as branding, HyperX right up top. The red stitching and everything feels extremely premium. This is the aluminum materials, I mean these are made to withstand pretty much anything. Your left and right are marked on the inside part of the headband. it’s gonna be easy to tell your left because everything plugs into the left.

COMFORT:

Steelseries Arctis 5

The ear cushions on both ear cups are made from a breathable material that is soft and fleshy. This allows air to move easily between them preventing your ears from sweating. The depth of the cushions is pretty good where your ears shouldn’t be touching the driver. I have a medium to large head and have had no issues. I was able to wear them all day long.

I did notice that the top of the ear cups puts more pressure than on the bottom of the ear cups instead of being even throughout. The clamping force is light. The headband is how you adjust for small to large heads.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

The headband is really thick. This looks a lot like other HyperX headsets. Now, the ear cushions are a lot different but again still really release. These retail for a hundred dollars. So, for HyperX to call these the Alpha which you would think would be like the elite of for a pair of headset.

As like the name, this will feel like a cloud on your head. it will be very comfortable, I don’t have any issues regarding comfort. 

FEATURES:

Steelseries Arctis 5

They increase the cable length from the chat mixed dial to the headset. Increase the ear cushions have increased thickness for greater comfort and tweak the sound to provide deeper bass output.

On to the left ear cup from the top down, you have a mute button which is recessed when the mic is off. It feels mushy to the press then it is raised when it is muted which also highlights the LED on the microphone to notify that you were muted which you can also see out of the corner of your eye which is a nice little detail. Below that is a volume dial, it is plastic textured with moderate resistance and does not have individual clicks, it does Max and bottomed out.

There is the ECE 6 cable that connects your headset to the game/chat dial which then connects to your computer via USB. There’s a bit recessed which means the cable is secured fully, it goes in solid and will pull out if you were to yank on it in case of emergencies. Also, there is a shared port via 3.5 millimeters. In case you want your significant to hear exactly what you’re hearing. On the right ear cup, there’s absolutely nothing at all.

The game/chat dial feels good, it is lightweight and on the bottom, it has some sticky rubber material to keep it seated to your desk and not move. With how malleable and light the headset cable is this helps the dial not move. The actual dial moves easily, there’s a notch in the middle to notify you that you are at equal volumes. Overall, this headset feels solid.

The wire itself has a thin plastic sheet that is super malleable and light where I completely forgot that it was there and almost makes the headset feel wireless.

The software is simple. There are also little question marks that explain which each setting does. The UI is a bit dull aesthetically but overall is excellent. There’s your lighting that you can adjust if you want by clicking it then you can choose whatever you want to do adjust. You can go into a steady color shift, multi-color breathe, or just disable the illumination.

You’ve also got your live mic preview which when you turn that on, just shows you how loud you are. Don’t use this as a sidetone because that is a separate feature, this is severely lagging behind and almost to the point where it can really distract you because it’s probably a few whole second or two behind what you’re actually saying. Then, you’ve got your mic volume. So obviously, this would be off and then this is gonna be loud. There’s also noise reduction. So, this reduces the amount of background noise picked up by the mic and improves the clarity of your voice, this is a really cool feature because we all know that we have those teammates that always have a fan or their family running around.

The mic sidetone, this allows you to hear yourself because this is a closed-back headset which means most people are gonna be talking extra loud. So, you can turn this all the way up to high, and then you can actually hear yourself as if this were an open-back headset where you can hear your voice pretty well. They actually do a pretty good job, it doesn’t get super loud but it gets loud enough that you know how loud you’re talking. However, it does sound like your voice is a little more processed instead of natural.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

In the Box, I do want to point out that this basically says PC, ps4, Xbox One, Mac, Mobile, Nintendo Switch, and VR. So, anything that you’re looking for a headset for, this is supposed to be like the one solution for it all.

The company says that it’s dual-chamber drivers. This gives you a lot more base impact than what you’re used to especially with anything HyperX it’s done before. It’s hard to top the sound from the other HyperX headset. Now, another thing that is completely new with this, there is nothing plugged into this headset. These are completely like everything can be unplugged, the part where you put your microphone, the part where you put the headphone cable, everything is detachable this time. So, if anything does happen to your cable, it’ll be a lot easier to replace. Anyway, these things pretty much can last you forever.

On top, there are the air portholes. So that when you’re listening to music, this allows more openness in the sound which if you’re used to gaming, you know that that is really important. You don’t have that closed-end sound. This is probably going to be really hard to beat when it comes to sound. The cables that are always on the inside that worries me because even though the main cable is detachable, these are not. If you pull these out, you’re kind of screwed.

For PC users, you see that you have your split cable. So that for your microphone and your headphone input, it already splits it off that is a very nice plus. Then for people that are going to use it for everything else. Now, this is for your switch, and your ps4, your Xbox one, you plug it in and all your controls are on the wire itself. You have your mic mute, your game volume, it’s all just built-in and it is a very nice thick braided cable. Again with HyperX this really isn’t a surprise that as far as the materials you’re getting, these really always outshine all other companies.

MICROPHONE:

Steelseries Arctis 5

It supports a discord a certified clear cast bi-directional microphone which according to them is widely recognized as the best mic in gaming. The company claims that the retractable discord certified, clear cast microphone delivers a studio-quality voice clarity and background and annoys cancellation. I think they go a little over the top with their marketing.

I think it does sound good and a lot better than most other headset microphones but as the people that I talk to during my apex legend games, all said that I sounded good but it’s not studio quality.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

There is the microphone that easily plugs right into there and this is very bendable and adjustable to how you want it to be. As you can tell it comes through really clear. It is a noise-cancelling mic, so you do get also the windscreen to keep the popping sounds. It’s also a huge plus getting the windscreen to be able to keep some of the popping sounds out whenever you’re talking.

I did notice as far as bass tones, it doesn’t really pick up really low bass tones but again it’s extremely clear. So, while gaming this is a really good solution but maybe not the best solution if you’re going to be doing YouTube videos. Again, this is a $99 headset with incredible sound and a really good microphone.

SOUND:

Steelseries Arctis 5

For a $100 headset, these provide great sound. They have a very flat EQ which means that you aren’t going to get a whole lot of excitement with them. Lows are a bit muddy, congested, and muffled. The bass lacks punch depth and texture but is present. The mid sound good but also lack depth and texture highs, I have no problems with but at times sound a bit sharp. Sounds overall aren’t fully accurate and sound mildly processed due to lacking depth and texture.

The soundstage feels close. The imaging directional quality and separation is great and like a lot of other headphones. I think for FPS shooters, they do a solid and great job, mostly because the directional quality is fantastic but it is hard to hear the nuances and the gun sounds, also all sound relatively the same.

When a lot of things are going on, you are able to hear the different sounds and the directions which they are coming from which most headsets can’t do. For single-player gaming, they also did pretty well. You aren’t hearing a lot of the nuances for the game but the directional quality makes you feel like you are part of the world. For general use, the same holds true with everything I just mentioned.

Overall for music, it is pleasant. I think most people will enjoy it, it specializes mostly in vocals, imaging, and separation, instruments usually blend together in the background and do not sound accurate but sound good. They lack depth and texture and is also a bit muffled with slight muddiness. Surprisingly, songs that have a ton of things going on usually sound better than those with just a few.

The overall sound is solid for the price point. Most will greatly enjoy them as it is an upgrade if you are coming from a less expensive headset. However, if you’re an audiophile, I don’t recommend them as you likely won’t enjoy the sound as it lacks accuracy texture and depth but for this price point, this is good.

In the software, you also have your option to toggle on DTS headphones. So, you can either have it off which turns off all this but you still can do your equalizer or you turn it on and it allows you to have different profiles such as studio game and cinema and then you’ve got your stereo profiles that can adjust virtual speaker placement for two-speaker audio. You’ve got your bass enhancement that if you want to go high or none and then if you want to boost how well you can hear other people’s voices, you can increase that.

We’ve got your five-stage equalizer starting from the low end and then moving up into the high end then you can also do different presets. So, custom, flat, performance, emergent, entertainment, music, and voice. Then, you’ve got your dynamic range compression and is going to be your lows and then moving on to your highs, and when it’s on the opposition that means your explosions and stuff like that are going to be a lot louder than your footsteps. However, you can equalize that out. So, all of your sounds are the same so footsteps and explosions sound almost exactly the same.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

It just gives you amazing sound, great separation for a closed back. Now, it’s not open back, so everything’s not completely like spaced out but for a closed-back headphone, it’s amazing what it was able to do to kind of break up all the different things going on around. Because of the dual drivers, bass and explosions can feel it. So, like you want to hear footsteps and all the little things, you’re able to pick it all up and it just it sounds amazing.

Now, as far as listening to music, this is where it really surprised me because I really like bass but I definitely don’t like it when you’re losing other things in music. This thing was picking up things in music but giving me bass and impact and everything.

The impedance level on these is like around 65, so they’re really easy to drive on whatever you’re gonna use them on, you won’t have any problem getting loud volume. These things get your piercingly loud, I had no issue driving these and again with my PC and with music, it was so much fun to listen to. This works with all the genres of music like hip hop and especially the bass is very good.

It doesn’t feel like over bloated or exaggerated maybe a little but you’re not gonna hear that kind of bass and the mids and trebles the way that you are and only spending $100.

WHICH TO BUY?

The price of both the headsets is the same but this does have different features. So, you have to decide it yourself by seeing the whole review. If you’re a PC gamer and want all the luxury like RGB and software, then Arctis 5 will be great for you. If you want a headset for multiple consoles and work well for all and have a decent look then Hyperx Cloud Alpha will be good.