HeadphoneOverreview

HyperX Cloud III

The successor to a gaming-headset legend: nearly everyone likes wearing it and talking through it, and no one agrees on whether it has any bass.

32 sourcesUpdated
$58Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

Check price on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
HyperX Cloud III

The short version

What to know.

A wired closed-back gaming headset. Comfort is the firm consensus (+1.6, strong), with warm leatherette the one common caveat. Sound is where sources split. Bass runs 46/54 between 'plenty' and 'missing', and two measurement rigs differ by about 10 dB at 100 Hz: the one that used the 3.5 mm plug shows a mid-bass hump, and that reviewer says the USB dongle flattens it. Overall tonality leans 62/38 towards 'balanced' over 'thin and uneven'. Both rigs show a dip near 3–4 kHz and a rise at 6–8 kHz, and treble divides 40/60 between 'smooth' and 'sharp'. Imaging leans positive at 78/22, with Hardware Canucks the loud dissent. Press calls the frame sturdy, while owners report dead or quiet mics and software faults. Most reviews rate the mic above the Cloud II's and agree that HyperX's virtual surround and NGENUITY app disappoint. Value depends on price: 61 % call it good at $100, and 39 % would wait for a sale.

About this product

The wired Cloud III (3.5 mm plug plus a USB-C dongle). Not the Cloud III Wireless or Cloud III S Wireless, which share the look but measure differently.

The Cloud III replaced the Cloud II in May 2023, eight years after that headset became the default recommendation for a sub-$100 gaming set, and it arrived under HP, which bought HyperX from Kingston in 2021. It keeps the steel band, aluminium forks and memory foam, and changes the rest: angled 53 mm drivers, a new tuning, thicker pads, controls on the cups and a much larger detachable mic.

HyperX lists it at $99.99, though it mostly sells nearer $60. The tuning change is what people argue about, and owners coming from a Cloud II are often the loudest voices in the argument.

A good fit for

  • Long sessions where comfort matters most
  • Moving one headset between PC, PlayStation, Switch and Xbox, using the 3.5 mm plug where USB isn't supported
  • Competitive players who prefer restrained bass and don't want it covering footsteps
  • Buyers paying about $60 rather than $100
  • People willing to use an equaliser, with third-party tools if the HyperX app misbehaves

Think twice if

  • You loved the Cloud II's punchy bass and want more of the same; the Cloud Alpha is the HyperX most reviewers point to
  • Bass-heavy music or big cinematic rumble is the priority
  • You run hot and dislike leatherette
  • You want a replaceable cable or spare pads in the box
  • You'd rely on the mic for work and can't risk the owner-reported dropouts
  • Virtual surround is the reason you're buying

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

9 / 12topics divide opinion
comfortdetailisolationbassmidstrebletonalitysoundstageimagingdynamicsbuildvalue
1 Strong agreement2 Mostly agree9 Divided opinions

Common ground7

  • Very comfortable for long sessions, with a light clamp and thick memory-foam pads
  • Leatherette pads run warm, and no velour alternative comes in the box
  • The new detachable mic beats the Cloud II's, though several reviewers find it records quietly

Points of contention10

  • Bass: deep and plentiful vs missing, a split that follows the 3.5 mm vs USB path and possibly a listener's previous headset
  • Mids: clear and natural vs recessed or masked
  • Treble: smooth next to a Cloud II vs sharp, hissy or tiring taken alone

A closer listen.

12 topics · 9 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Bass

Leans criticalDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment23 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split, close to evenly: one camp hears deep, powerful bass and the other hears almost none. Every direct comparison puts it below the Cloud II and Cloud Alpha. The split lines up with connection, since the rig measuring the 3.5 mm plug shows a mid-bass hump that the USB dongle reportedly flattens, and it may also reflect what listeners came from.

Measured

GadgetryTech's KB006x rig, on the 3.5 mm plug, shows a hump around 80–150 Hz: +7.8 dB at 100 Hz relative to 500 Hz and +7.5 dB against its HD 6XX, falling to +1.8 dB at 50 Hz. RTINGS's HMS II.3 curve has no hump: 3–7 dB under its target from 20 to 200 Hz, and −6.9 dB at 100 Hz against its Cloud II. SoundGuys measures a 'noticeable lack of sub-bass'.

vs. listeners — The rigs differ by about 10 dB at 100 Hz, and connection is the likely reason. GadgetryTech measures the 3.5 mm plug and says the USB dongle reduces the hump. Les Numériques says the uneven bass is worst on the mini-jack and eases over USB, and SoundGuys hears the dongle cut the low mids. RTINGS's curve resembles the flattened version, though its test connection is member-locked. Some readers praising and some criticising the bass may simply be using different plugs.

Where it splits
bass is missing or too flat54%

“However, their default sound profile lacks bass, making the audio less full and immersive.”

RTINGS
bass is deep and plentiful46%

“The Cloud III has an excellent bass response, which is deep and powerful, and can be felt even in the lower ranges where it can’t be heard.”

Tom's Hardware
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Design

Type
Closed-back over-ear
Drivers
1 × 53 mm dynamic (angled, neodymium magnets)
Microphone
Boomcommunity-sourced

Electrical

Impedance
64 Ω
Sensitivity
100 dB/mW≈ 111.9 dB/V
Frequency response
10 Hz – 21 kHz

Connection

Cable
Fixed, 1.2 mcommunity-sourced: detachable cable
Plugs supplied
3.5 mm, USB-C (DAC in plug)

Physical

Weight
308 g
Released
2023-05

The USB-C plug is a separate 1.3 m dongle cable that the 3.5 mm plug feeds into; it changes the tuning. Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from cdn.cs.1worldsync.com, hyperx.com. Microphone, detachable cable not published by the maker — community-sourced from hands-on reviews: tomshardware.com, lesnumeriques.com, gamestar.de.

Follow the evidence

Sources 32

1–6 of 32 sources

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 6

  1. A read of where reviews and owners stand as of November 2026. Most professional reviews date from the 2023 launch, when it cost $100; it now usually sells near $60.

  2. How it sounds depends on how you plug it in. The 3.5 mm plug and the USB dongle are tuned differently, and an equaliser or a DTS app changes it again, so two owners can be describing quite different headsets.

Where to buy Product & retailer links

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.