The best gaming headsets are on sale this holiday season, and we're here to help you find the best deals on a new pair of cans. Peripherals like headsets are in the perfect price range to make great gifts as we head into the holidays, plus they can be great compliments to make sure you're getting the most out of the best gaming PCs as you upgrade.
Headsets make for a perfect way to get high-quality audio without spending big on a surround sound setup, plus they're borderline necessary if you live in a crowded place. Some also come with nice extras, like noise cancellation, which you can't get on speakers or soundbars. And the built-in microphones make for an easy way to communicate with teammates and coworkers.
Some content even sounds better on headsets than any other kind of listening device. Take ASMR, which is often recorded with binaural microphones meant to mimic the human ear. Listening to this type of content on a good headset can make it sound like the speaker is right there in the room with you.
All these benefits and use cases mean there are a lot of different types of headsets out there, so we're making this list to help you separate the good from the bad as you shop for a gaming headset deal.
Specs to Look For: Gaming Headset Deals
Wired or Wireless? - Wireless lag arguably doesn't matter as much for headsets as it does for other gaming peripherals, since the only input you'll be making with them is via your voice. Still, it's never fun to have lag so extreme that your audio and video are out of sync. With more wireless headsets communicating over 2.4GHz and above, that's now less of a concern, but you'll pay more for the privilege.
Active or Passive Noise Cancellation? - There are actually two kinds of noise cancellation out there. Passive noise cancellation is similar to what earplugs or some earmuffs will give you, in that the headset's construction naturally blocks outside noise. Active noise cancellation, meanwhile, uses microphones on the outside of the headset to produce an inverse sound signal to cancel unwanted noise out.
Type of microphone - Microphones built into headsets usually won't cut it for professional, stream-quality audio, but most are still plenty good for conversing with teammates and coworkers. The best of the best here are boom mics, with some having a bidirectional pickup pattern and others favoring unidirectional or even omnidirectional pickup patterns. Which will work best for you depends on your setup, so you'll also want to look into bass pickup and general quality, as well as bonus features like being able to store the microphone inside the headset or mute it just by flipping it up.
Haptic feedback - Haptic feedback is a rare feature starting to make its way into some higher-end headsets. Think of it as rumble, but more advanced and for your head. This can provide greater immersion, and with the right software, can also accurately recreate the feeling of certain in-game events, like bullets flying over you. It's not to everyone's taste, but keep an eye out for it if you like to adopt new features early.
Gaming Headset Deals: Quick Links
- Amazon: Razer, HyperX headsets starting at $30
- Best Buy: Save up to $70 on Razer, Logitech, Astro headsets
- Razer: Up to $105 off Razer headsets
- Newegg: Up to 49% off Corsair, Logitech gaming headsets
Best Gaming Headset Deals
Best Productivity Headset Deals
Not all headsets are built for gaming. Here's some listening and productivity headset deals.
You can find even more savings at our best PC gaming deals page. We're also tracking the best monitor deals, best CPU deals, best SSD deals, best gaming laptop deals, best keyboard deals, best gaming mouse deals and the best PC hardware deals overall.
Makers and hobbyists will find sales by checking out the best 3D printer deals, best Raspberry Pi deals and best robot deals. If you're shopping for a graphics card, we even have advice on how to find the best RTX 3080 deals, best RTX 3070 deals and best RTX 3060 deals you can find in this challenging market.
