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HyperX Cloud Mix
HyperX gaming headsets are known for a few things: They’re comfortable, they sound good, and often, they’re pretty stylish. With a white and rose gold color palette, the newest release of the HyperX Cloud Mix definitely brings the style.
Editor’s note: This review was updated on March 3, 2022 to include additional alternative recommendations and a microphone care based on the results of our reader survey. Thanks for voting!
Who is the HyperX Cloud Mix for?
- Gamers who want a headset that works on PC and console, and like the idea of something with a little more style.
- Twitch streamers looking to finish off a themed color aesthetic—you know the ones.
- At-home workers who want something comfortable enough to wear for a whole day, and maybe want something a little less gamer-y.
- Anyone looking for a switch hitter to go between gaming and on-the-go listening.
What is the HyperX Cloud Mix like?
Right away, you’ll notice the very different look of this model of the HyperX Cloud Mix. Yes, HyperX, like Razer and other gaming peripheral makers, has started targeting more than the edgy gamer look. The company has always stuck to a slightly more restrained aesthetic in its gaming headsets, but bringing rose gold and pastel white to the party invites people who want something that makes more of a fashion statement. Don’t let that fool you: inside there’s actually a pretty solidly constructed headset.
The HyperX Cloud Mix is a closed-back stereo gaming headset, constructed on a metal frame wrapped in thick cushions. The headphones feature 40mm dynamic drivers, and thick leatherette ear pads. Not only does the Cloud Mix feel very solidly constructed, but it’s also extremely comfortable—for long gaming sessions, it’s a dream to wear. The leatherette isn’t ideal for gamers with glasses, but the cushions are soft enough that it shouldn’t be too big of an issue.
This headset is compatible with just about every kind of device, to varying degrees. First and foremost, it’s a gaming headset that can connect to consoles and PC via 3.5mm. If you need to ditch the wires and connect via Bluetooth, you can fire up the wireless feature and choose between SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX Low Latency codecs. We prefer AAC and aptX Low Latency around here, mostly because they offer the best audio quality, depending on your device (AAC for iOS devices, and aptX for everything else).
However, this isn’t a wireless gaming headset. Consoles across the board don’t support Bluetooth audio, and when you’re using the headset’s wireless functionality, the detachable boom mic doesn’t work, so you’re stuck with an inferior internal one.
When you’re using it wirelessly, this headset is really meant for connecting to a phone and maybe a laptop. Additionally, you can’t even use the two modes at the same time, something headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Pro already offer. If you’re plugged into your PC via 3.5mm, the Bluetooth controls are completely unresponsive—you can’t even use the power button.
Does HyperX include accessories?
The HyperX Cloud Mix comes with quite a few additional bits and bobs. In the box, there’s the headset, its detachable 3.5mm cord, a 3.5mm extension and splitter for PC use, a detachable boom microphone, a short USB charging cable, and a white carrying bag.
How good is the battery inside the HyperX Cloud Mix?
While in Bluetooth mode, HyperX claims the Cloud Mix can last up to 20 hours of playback time on a single charge—in our testing, it did even better. Often, when we test battery life, headphones come up a little short. We test at a slightly higher volume (-75dB) than many people use, and so power drain is a little higher. Despite, the HyperX Cloud Mix blew past the 20-hour mark, lasting a little over 26 hours on a single charge.
Using the HyperX Cloud Mix over Bluetooth?
The HyperX Cloud Mix supports wireless connections via Bluetooth, but unlike a lot of gaming headsets with Bluetooth support, it can’t handle simultaneous wired/wireless connections. In fact, you won’t even be able to pair the headset to a Bluetooth device without first unplugging the detachable 3.5mm cord and boom mic. After that, hold the power button for around five seconds, until the LED indicator alternates between red and blue, meaning the headset is in pairing mode. Then just find the HyperX Cloud Mix on the Bluetooth menu of your desired device and pair with it. The onboard controls will let you adjust volume, answer calls, and play music.
Gaming on the HyperX Cloud Mix
The HyperX Cloud Mix offers a totally passable gaming experience. The headset is really comfortable, so I had no issues wearing it for extra long gaming sessions. This is a stereo headset, which is totally fine, though it might irk Fortnite obsessives. In most situations, I had little difficulty picking up rough positional audio cues in games like Dauntless and Overwatch, and Overwatch‘s 7.1 conversion feature works quite well too.
Because the headset uses a 3.5mm connection when gaming, I never ran into any compatibility issues, especially given there’s a splitter included. It didn’t matter whether I was using Discord while playing League of Legends, or playing The Outer Worlds plugged into a PlayStation 4 controller—it all worked like a charm.
How does the HyperX Cloud Mix sound?
This article’s frequency response and isolation charts were measured with our old testing system. We have since purchased a Bruel & Kjaer 5128 test fixture (and the appropriate support equipment) to update our testing and data collection. It will take a while to update our backlog of old test results, but we will update this review (and many others!) once we’re able with improved sound quality measurements and ANC performance plots. These will be made obvious with our new chart aesthetic (black background instead of white).
Thank you for bearing with us, and we hope to see you again once we’ve sorted everything out.
To be completely frank, I was really expecting the HyperX Cloud Mix to sound better. Coming from the same company with stellar sounding Cloud Alpha and Cloud Orbit—headsets on opposite ends of the price spectrum, no less. This seemed like it’d be a slam dunk. In fairness, this headset doesn’t sound bad—it’s merely just targeted for a specific set of games (first-person shooters).
The HyperX Cloud Mix offers pretty accurate sound in the bass and mid ranges, and slightly de-emphasized highs. This isn’t all that strange, as many headphones drop in the same range to avoid natural resonances in the ear.
This means you won’t have an issue with bass boosted to ear-shattering levels—something with which many gaming headsets struggle. However, if you’re using voice chat, you might not hear some parts of speech as clearly, like sibilant sounds, which can be subtle, but make a big difference in natural-sounding speech.
In music, this means the sounds of cymbals and some strings might sound a little quieter than intended, but you shouldn’t have any issue with bass lines drowning the rest of a song (at least when it isn’t supposed to). Antigua Supermarket by Engelwood is a good example of this. There’s a very faint rhythm guitar line running throughout, and despite the relative quiet of the whole song: it’s still a little too hard to hear.
The HyperX Cloud Mix offers pretty good isolation for a gaming headset. It doesn’t approach the levels of ANC, but the headphone pads are thick and getting a good seal is very easy. In the home, this should isolate you pretty well from most of the noises you’d run into, like a TV blaring in another room or the whirring of a fridge down the hall. When you’re walking around, this won’t block out the sounds of traffic (probably a good thing) but it won’t be drowned out by them either.
How is the microphone?
The Cloud Mix’s detachable microphone is pretty average for a gaming headset, with a notable de-emphasis on the low end of the audio spectrum and significant boosting of the highs. The boosted highs typically cover the range of sound where sibilants occupy, making them louder to keep people’s voices sounding natural. However, the de-emphasis of the low end means people with very deep voices might sound a little distorted, and mic will struggle to accurately capture and output variations in low tones.
If you’re hoping for a more professional-sounding streaming experience, you may want to pick up an external mic like the HyperX Quadcast or another USB microphone to up your game a bit. While it’s an investment to be sure, if you want better audio quality: you need something other than the mic on the HyperX Cloud Mix.
HyperX Cloud Mix boom mic sample
HyperX Cloud Mix internal mic sample
How do you think the boom mic sounds?
Should you buy the HyperX Cloud Mix?
Probably not. You could do better, but you could do a lot worse too.
The HyperX Cloud Mix has a lot going for it, but it’s just a little bit off in a few ways. It’s extremely comfortable, built on a nearly identical frame to the HyperX Cloud Alpha, yet it sounds comparatively worse. It’s got pretty fantastic battery life, but you can’t really use it wirelessly for gaming.
The HyperX Cloud Mix is a good headset, but it seems like it’s being pulled in too many directions to perfectly cover any of its bases. If you want something that connects to your phone wirelessly and still works for gaming, and you don’t mind it being a little on the average side, have at it. But who wants to spend $200 for just average?
What should you get instead?
At just shy of $200, there are tons of great alternatives. The Beyerdynamic Custom Game offers better sound, customizable bass output, and much better mic. For $50 less, the SteelSeries Arctis 7 offers a slew of additional features, and consistent wireless functionality across a number of platforms. The Cloud Alpha sounds better, and it’s under $100. Alternatively, you can buy a refurbished version of the HyperX Cloud Mix through the Amazon Renewed program, which will run you just under $140.
If a Bluetooth enabled gaming headset is what you’re after, there aren’t many options out there, but the JBL Quantum 800 offers all the same features as the Cloud Mix, plus it’s wireless and has surround sound and noise canceling. For a long time, pretty much the only other product of note was the Audeze Mobius, which is basically the best gaming headset on the market—it also just happens to be $400 USD. However, that’s been changing over the last year. Headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis 9, Razer Kaira Pro, and the EPOS Sennheiser GSP 670, and the EPOS H3PRO Hybrid all offer comparable features, with simultaneous Bluetooth and USB wireless connection support. In fact, we even did a vs article the Cloud Mix and the GSP 670.