Plantronics/Poly headsets have great microphones because they're meant for use in call centers. Most gaming headsets do *not* have this much focus on the microphone, for good or bad.
Also, on-ear gaming headsets don't exist in today's market.
razer blackshark v2 hyperspeed would be my *personal* recommendation... they are under 300 grams, they have a well-padded headband and earcups, and to be honest the mic works well for what it is - a gaming headset.
Also, they're not horrifically expensive. [$70 on Amazon US.](https://www.amazon.com/Razer-BlackShark-HyperSpeed-Wireless-Headset/dp/B0CF3LHQSM)
Mic quality on wireless headsets is almost universally trash. This has a lot to do with the available low power & low latency audio codex sounding terrible rather than necessarily any issue with the mic itself. This is especially true if you're using Bluetooth, as Bluetooth itself only offers a limited select of codex options, and they're *all* bad.
I'll say the Razer headsets seem to have the best mic audio quality when it comes with being used over Bluetooth, but I suspect they're doing some EQ on the audio before passing it to the codex to get these results, so the audio sounds muffled.
For example, here's a recording RTINGs did of the Razer Barracuda Pro over Bluetooth.
[https://www.rtings.com/assets/pages/g98IP9Sz/bt-pc-sam.wav](https://www.rtings.com/assets/pages/g98IP9Sz/bt-pc-sam.wav)
And here's that same audio recorded via the included USB dongle, which is significantly better.
[https://www.rtings.com/assets/pages/g98IP9Sz/anc-low-sam.wav](https://www.rtings.com/assets/pages/g98IP9Sz/anc-low-sam.wav)
But for comparison, here is that audio recorded using the Drop PC38X, a wired headset.
[https://i.rtings.com/assets/products/TpkyHznu/drop-sennheiser-epos-pc38x/sam.wav](https://i.rtings.com/assets/products/TpkyHznu/drop-sennheiser-epos-pc38x/sam.wav)
As you can tell from the PC38X, the quality of the Razer Barracuda Pro leaves a *lot* to be desired, and while that is one of the best Bluetooth mic options, hey obviously didn't include an especially fantastic mic.
The last option I'll link to is the Razer BlackShark V2 HyperSpeed Wireless.
[https://i.rtings.com/assets/products/5RFY1aQB/razer-blackshark-v2-hyperspeed-wireless/sam.wav](https://i.rtings.com/assets/products/5RFY1aQB/razer-blackshark-v2-hyperspeed-wireless/sam.wav)
This is nearly as good as the PC38X! And if you're looking for wireless with a good mic, this is the one I'd suggest going with. And I'd recommend it over the BlackShark V3 at least going by the results RTINGs got.
[https://i.rtings.com/assets/products/EE9WRXkG/razer-blackshark-v3-pro/sam.wav](https://i.rtings.com/assets/products/EE9WRXkG/razer-blackshark-v3-pro/sam.wav)
Some other reviewers have noted the the V3 Pro initially had a firmware issue that made it sound much worse, and the firmware upgrade fixes that. This page talks about that a little, and includes some recordings of both the V3 Pro and V2 Pro.
[https://www.streamtechreviews.com/blog/blackshark-v3-explained](https://www.streamtechreviews.com/blog/blackshark-v3-explained)
They like the V3 Pro over the V2 Pro, but personally I think the V2 Pro still sounds better, and very similar to the V2 Hyperspeed. It seems like they likely use the same mic across all of the V2 line, but only use a similar quality mic to the V2 in the V3 Pro, while the V3 X Hyperspeed and base V3 use a lower quality mic.
The V2 Hyperspeed is also $70 right now, with the V2 Pro being just over $100. Less or about the same as the V3 X Hyperspeed, and less than the $250 the V3 Pro goes for.
...
Fractal also put out a headset recently, the Fractal Scape, that has had a lot of people very impressed with its mic quality. Unfortunately, if you don't like the Arctis comfort, the Fractal Scape are supposed to be even worse. And while better than most headsets, or even the Razer Barracuda USB dongle quality, it is still clearly lacking compared to the BlackShark V2 or V3 headsets.
If u looking for budget then razer hyper speed v2 around (140 euro), i was sceptic but i used a sony ps pulse elite and that is nothing compare to hyper speed it has really good bass, warm and bright sound quality absolute best in this category. Also the connecting i have no issue with the RAZER but the SONY PS PULSE ELITE oh my boi. It’s okay for ps5 but it has really cheap materials not okay for 150 euro the ear cuffs draw the moisture it will end very soon in the end bad quality pieces for a relatively lot of money. Bass is not enough WITH EQ u can messing with the tones but it wont be perfect i tried a lot of combination sometimes the lows where too loud and bass pushed down other sounds lastly I wanted connect to tv and it paired but i had a really weird muffle noises, and stuttering every few seconds awful in conclusion. In the other hand Razer had everything that i expected I’m using an airpods pro 2 for iphone. The tricky part was u need to connect with a PC and after u have done every step with software update u ready to go it was just 10 minutes. To me the audio quality is my sensitive part but this headphone is absolute amazing for the money. Convenient, Very good sound quality in overall. Connection no issues whatsoever u want to use. A little tiny adjustment missing u cant see the battery life but it doesn’t matter around 3 hours charging u get roughly 70 hours battery life tell SONY 27 is PAST. I just recommend!! 10/9
I have had the gen 1 since launch. Still fine. Even the micro usb hasn’t broken yet somehow. Just bad luck. I think they’re built fairly well, just a lot of plastic.
As someone who owns all three of these, I would not buy them again, the issue with the Pulse Elite is when I navigate menus, I can hear low frequency tone rings (I don't know the correct terminology for this audio anomaly), it's more noticeable during quiet moments during games and is extremely annoying.
The issue with Steel Series is the ear cups aren't large enough or shaped in such a way that completely seals itself against the sides of my head leaving openings to external noise. Also, the head band is too smooth and fails to stay in position when I tilt my head, it has literally slid off my head before just by looking down, also the wireless range is very poor, I can't walk 5 feet from the transmitter before it starts cutting out, the sound is good though.
My first headset was a Razor Blackshark v2, I thought I could find something better than that and after purchasing 5 different headsets, the Blackshark v2 with the fabric/memory foam ear cups and fabric/memory foam headband is not just the most comfortable headset I've ever worn (I could wear it all day and experience no fatigue or discomfort) and it puts out the highest quality sound out of all of them, the ear cups are big enough to completely seal itself against the sides of my face preventing external noise from getting in, the battery life is so good on this headset too I usually play 4 hours a day and I charge it like once every 2 weeks, and the wireless range is incredible I can walk anywhere in my home and the signal never cuts out.
rz_x3
