Scored on 138 verified owner verdicts, from 1,474 comments read across 1 community
TL;DR
Most owners land on the Cloud III as a strong value pick once they dial in a custom EQ (NGENUITY, Equalizer APO, or DTS presets), repeatedly describing the transformation from flat/muffled stock sound to something they call amazing, paired with comfort that many rate above the older Cloud II. A meaningful minority, though, is frustrated that the headset needs that EQ work at all, criticizing the out-of-box tuning as dull or watery and pointing to shaky positional audio in competitive shooters. Recurring gripes also target NGENUITY's software (resetting EQ settings, broken DTS:X, random volume drops) and a handful of owners who compare it unfavorably to older HyperX models like the Alpha S or report clamp-pressure discomfort and wire failures that led to returns. Overall sentiment skews positive, especially at the roughly $40 price point, but it's clearly a headset that rewards owners willing to tinker with EQ software rather than one that impresses everyone straight out of the box.
53% of 138 verified owners recommend the Cloud III, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
1,474 comments reviewed · scored on the 138 clearest verdicts
53%
Recommend
73 owners
31%
Neutral
43 owners
16%
Don't recommend
22 owners
Last 6 months:45% recommend(55 recent verdicts)→ holding steady vs older reviews
Source
Breakdown
Score
N
Counted in the score
Reddit
53%
138
Reviewed, but not counted — and why
No clear verdictiGood-to-know notes — setup, tips, and things to watch for. We use them for the pros, cons, and who it's for, but they don't reflect a definitive opinion on the product, so they're never counted in the score. See the 'Good to know' section below the quotes.Setup, tips & quirks
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149
The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. is shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.
What owners like
Custom EQ profiles (via NGENUITY, Equalizer APO, or DTS Sound Unbound) turn a mediocre stock sound into something owners call amazing, with many saying it saved them from returning the headset · 16 · 12%
Comfortable for long sessions, with several owners saying comfort is noticeably better than the Cloud II despite the added weight · 8 · 6%
Strong value at the roughly $39-40 price point, called the best bang-for-buck wireless gaming headset in its class · 6 · 4%
Microphone quality is a clear step up from the Cloud II · 4 · 3%
Wireless model delivers long battery life and low latency that owners don't notice versus wired · 3 · 2%
What owners flag
Out-of-the-box sound is flat, muffled, dull, or watery until owners apply an EQ · 12 · 9%
Directional/positional audio in competitive FPS games (footsteps, gunfire location) is weak or inconsistent for some owners · 6 · 4%
NGENUITY companion software is buggy: EQ settings randomly reset, volume drops unexpectedly, and DTS:X built-in support is widely called broken · 5 · 4%
Some long-time HyperX owners feel sound quality and build have declined compared to older models like the Alpha S and Cloud II · 5 · 4%
A subset of owners returned units over comfort (clamp pressure, sore headband) or durability failures (wire shorting out) · 4 · 3%
Who it's for
A great fit if
Budget-conscious gamers wanting solid comfort and sound around $40-130
Competitive FPS/CS2 players willing to apply EQ or NGENUITY presets for footstep positioning
Wireless users who value long battery life and low latency over long sessions
Owners comfortable tweaking EQ APO or NGENUITY software to fix the flat out-of-box tuning
Look elsewhere if
Anyone expecting great sound straight out of the box with no EQ tweaking
Audiophiles or music listeners who found the default tuning flat, muffled, or thin
Buyers needing reliable stock directional/positional audio without extra software setup
Synthesized from what Cloud III owners say — not a spec sheet.
Top quotes, sourced
1,474 reviewed · 138 shown
Sentiment
Sort
Reddit▲ recommend
“Thanks for this, I was about to return my wireless cloud 3s headset,compared to my old Logitech g-pros the sound direction in FPS games was terrible”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“Sound quality trash, straight cheap plastic headphones, and now to top it off they are poisoning you. The only good thing about them is their noise cancelling features work well.”
Reddit— neutral
“I had too many problems with the headset itself: the EQ settings kept resetting, the volume would randomly decrease, and sometimes the headset would go into sleep mode during games.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“Glad my wire shorted out/broke after 5 months of use, went back to my 7 year old pair of Astro A40’s that I have never had an issue with.”
Reddit— neutral
“I can definitely feel that delay. I’ve played over 3000 hours with a regular wired headset and just switched recently, so maybe the sudden change in sound is making me notice it more. I’ll see how it goes”
Reddit▲ recommend
“Absolute game changer. I’m runnin your JM-1 preset with the Cloud III wired and holy shit the difference when bypassing is insane.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“I can't pinpoint shit...my friends always giving me crap now cuz they can easily tell where someone is and I'm fking lost sometimes.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“Can also atest these sound amazing compared to anything wireless in the price range aside from Fractal maybe.”
Reddit— neutral
“The Cloud 3 simple needs a little nudge in the subbass and in the lower treble, but is a much nicer "base" FR to work with than the old Cloud 2.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“All these EQs that people are praising saying they're audiophile material just don't sound good to me.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“I finally feel like I have found something that neither a headset for 50 euros nor 300 euros could give me.”
Reddit— neutral
“noticed the mute button is loose, like it moves when you touch it even if not pressing it and that makes an annoying sound in your ear”
Reddit— neutral
“Very uncomfortable both material and shape wise mainly. Audio isnt bad but directional audio is pretty much non existent”
Reddit▲ recommend
“The Cloud 3 (no S) is absolutely fantastic, and a headset I would buy again if something happened to mine”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“I've had clouds from the first clouds to the alpha wireless but the quality really has dropped.”
Reddit— neutral
“I think they're alright for the price, though I paid much more than they cost now as of writing this in November 2025.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“Bro just got the headset and it does sound flat. Just did what you said and it sounded so much better.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“my 8 year old stinger headset is still better sound than this one. Just returned it.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“you saved my life. youre a god to me, you understand? these headphones were so flat sounding before”
Reddit— neutral
“i love the sound but It works fine on Bluetooth but with the dongle it keeps audio pausing and having cracking sound”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“Return them…..sound quality and mic monitoring is atrocious in comparison to the 2.”
Reddit— neutral
“i got the cloud 3 wired which with eq presets gives a really good sound but not as good as the alpha”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“The cloud 2 worked perfectly but cloud 3 gave him that issue right away”
Reddit▲ recommend
“Gaming headset wise, 40 dollars for cloud 3 are an excellent price and highly recommend in general.”
Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.
Redditⓘ good to know
“You can bypass the purchase of dolby atmos, which I personally found not as crazy as they'd have us believe, by clicking on windows headphones, enhancements, virtualization, concert hall.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“Don’t use NGENUITY’s built in DTSX, it’s shit. You have to use the one from DTS Sound Unbound, which you can get on the Microsoft Store for free.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“My advice is to update them with NGenuity, then uninstall it and install EqualizerAPO, grab the rexommended EQ profile from AutoEq and enjoy”
Redditⓘ good to know
“I just use the Realtek equalizer and work perfectly fine for me.. here is my EQ for Realtek Audio Console. Bassboost EQ: 31 +8 62 +5 125 +3 Everything else flat on 0. Edit: I'm using the headset via 3.5mm jack. Never tried with USB.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“I notice with the EQ feature in NGENUITY the audio distorts when there's heavier bass. I have used EQ APO also with the Cloud II, not just with the Cloud III. Though installing EQ APO, makes DTS X and the EQ in NGENUITY not working anymore.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“The non S does not have built in mic and bluetooth connectivity, slightly less battery life. Otherwise very similar.”
