People tend to focus on sound quality and specs when choosing a headset, leaving comfort as an afterthought. We won’t commit the same mistake and will match quality and comfort in our list of the best gaming headsets for big heads this year.
Having a big head can make it harder to find a comfortable pair of headphones. Smaller models or ones that don’t offer proper adjustability can press on top of your head or onto your ears, making long gaming sessions more uncomfortable than they should be. Thankfully, manufacturers have taken big heads into account and there are plenty of headsets designed to deliver comfort to above-average top-floor sizes.
Best headsets (Quick list)
Best overall headset
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless
| Key specs | • Audio frequency – 10Hz-40kHz • Mic frequency – 100Hz-6.5kHz • Drivers – 40mm • Compatibility – PC/PlayStation/Xbox/Nintendo/Mobile • Weight – 12 ounces |
| What we like about it | • The best audio quality on the market • Top quality build for high comfort • Dual batteries ensure virtually infinite workflow • Simultaneous multi-platform support • Full platform compatibility |
| What we don’t like about it | • Mic quality is a bit lacking • High price |
| Today’s Best Deals | • View at Amazon • View at Walmart • View at Steelseries |
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is not just the best headset for big heads, but also our pick for best overall headset in 2024. It offers everything you’d expect from a product priced so high, and there’s very little you can fault here, besides the price of course.
The adjustable padded leather headband combined with the puffy earbuds ensure that both your ears and your head will be at ease while gaming. The headset has a distinct premium quality build that you will gush over as soon as you take these out of the box. By far the most unique high-tier feature you’ll find here is the ability to listen and communicate with two different outputs. You can, for example, talk to your buddies in Discord on your phone while gaming on your console at the same time. It’s the type of cool we love to see at premium price levels.
The general consensus is that the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless provides the best audio quality of any gaming headset currently on the market. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about its microphone. It’s not terrible, but it’s the one gripe we have with this headset.
You can get different versions of the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless for different consoles. This includes an Xbox-compatible headset, which is immensely popular among Xbox fans. The Nintendo Switch is also supported.
Finally, our personal favorite feature—dual replaceable batteries. It sounds simple, and it is, but it also makes life simple, and that’s a trait we love in our gaming gear. You can swap one battery in for the other to keep using the headset for infinity, or more realistically until one of the batteries stops working. SteelSeries offers batteries separately, so you can stock up and make that infinite loop a reality.
We can heap even more superlatives on this product, but we have four more to go through, so we’ll stop here. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is a worthy continuation of the Arctis series and our pick for the best gaming headset in 2024, big head or not.
Best wired headset
HyperX Cloud II
| Key specs | • Audio frequency – 10Hz-23kHz • Mic frequency – 50Hz-7.5kHz • Drivers – 53mm • Compatibility – PC/PlayStation/Xbox/Nintendo/Mobile • Weight – 11.6 ounces |
| What we like about it | • Velour earpads are exceptionally comfortable • High quality punchy audio • Full platform compatibility |
| What we don’t like about it | • Mic sound is decent, but unremarkable • Old model, some risk of becoming outdated |
| Today’s Best Deals | • View at Amazon • View at Walmart |
In what could be a somewhat controversial pick, we’re recommending the older HyperX Cloud II over the newer Cloud III. In truth, the name and visual design is the only common thing between the two. There’s some subjectivity in which one you would prefer, but for our money, the older headphones feel much better.
For starters, the Cloud II comes with the super comfortable velour earpads that are a blessing in warm weather. The headband is otherwise the same, but why give up additional comfort?
On the performance front, the Cloud II produces a punchy sound that, for lack of a better word, really makes you feel like Batman. The microphone is also quite good, though it oddly lacks that punch we talked about, as if HyperX forgot to include the low register during development. It serves its role just fine for gaming purposes nevertheless. Connectivity is top notch, matching PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as Mac and mobile devices.
Overall, the HyperX Cloud II is a great pair of gaming headphones that keeps going strong even after the release of its “updated” version. You and your big head will be happy to plug these in and enjoy your favorite games for hours on end.
Best wireless headset
Logitech G733 Lightspeed Wireless
| Key specs | • Audio frequency – 20Hz-20kHz • Mic frequency – 100Hz-10kHz • Drivers – 40mm • Compatibility – PC/PlayStation/Nintendo • Weight – 9.8 ounces |
| What we like about it | • Among the most comfortable headsets on the market • Good battery life • RGB lighting |
| What we don’t like about it | • Audio and mic quality is good, not great • RGB could be an issue for users with glasses • Limited platform compatibility |
| Today’s Best Deals | • View at Amazon • View at Walmart • View at Logitech |
The Logitech G733 Lightspeed Wireless headset is another great performer that comes with a couple small caveats. One of them you should be accustomed to by now—the mic quality isn’t spectacular, but once again, it is serviceable. The other one is an issue Xbox users have to face now and again—this headset does not work with Xbox consoles.
The G733 covers all other major platforms, including the Nintendo Switch with a USB dongle, and stands out with a design that’s screaming gaming headphones, with its sharp edges, large rectangle earpads, and last but not least—RGB lighting. If you’re into that sort of design, you’ll love these.
The greatest achievement of this headset is how comfortable it is for all head types despite having very minimal adjustability. You can only slightly raise or lower the headband, but the memory foam earpads and the very light build make up for it tenfold.
The 7.1 surround sound audio is not as good as that of the HyperX Cloud II, but it’s not bad either. The best way we can describe it is unremarkable, yet dependable. We also want to mention the battery life, which hits 20 hours with the RGB on and 30 hours with the RGB off. That’s more than most gaming headsets offer, though presumably you’d want your RGB headphones to have the RGB on at all times.
The Logitech G733 Lightspeed offers superb comfort and a distinct gaming design with good audio and mic performance, with a decent battery life to boot. It’s the best wireless headset for big heads in 2024, aside from the much more expensive Arctis Nova Pro.
Best gaming headset for consoles
Razer Kraken
| Key specs | • Audio frequency – 12Hz-28kHz • Mic frequency – 100Hz-10kHz • Drivers – 50mm • Compatibility – PC/PlayStation/Xbox/Nintendo/Mobile • Weight – 11.4 ounces |
| What we like about it | • Trademark cool design • High quality mic • Full platform compatibility |
| What we don’t like about it | • Audio quality is good, not great • Price varies greatly between colors |
| Today’s Best Deals | • View at Amazon • View at Walmart |
The Razer Kraken is built to cover all your needs, including those of your head. It is, of course, fully compatible with PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles, as well as mobile. It has a highly flexible aluminum headband that can be stretched enough to cover a small baby head to toe, plus gel-infused ear cushions covered with cloth and leather for comfortable long gaming sessions.
Razer is a master of cool gaming design, and the Kraken is no exception. Despite being a medium-priced product, it doesn’t look like it, with its large round ear cups, slick leatherette headband, and a mesh design on the outer suede of the cups.
In terms of performance, the Razer Kraken might have the best mic on this list. The output isn’t particularly loud, but it’s clear, as clear as you can hope from a gaming headset. The audio quality is somewhat akin to that of the Logitech headphones. It could sound like the lows and highs are pushed toward the middle sections, leading to a good, yet unremarkable sound overall.
The Razer Kraken excels in connectivity and comfort, which is why we picked it for this section. It doesn’t have any major drawbacks, so if you want a jack-of-all-trades headset that can connect to each of your devices, this is the one for you.
Best budget headset
Senzer SG500
| Key specs | • Audio frequency – 20Hz-20kHz • Mic frequency – 100Hz-10kHz • Compatibility – PC/PlayStation/Xbox/Mobile • Weight – 6 ounces |
| What we like about it | • Good audio and mic quality • Good platform compatibility • Very light |
| What we don’t like about it | • Headband adjustment doesn’t inspire confidence • Unproven manufacturer |
| Today’s Best Deals | • View at Amazon |
If you’re on a tighter budget, you start looking at what is able to do the best job for the least amount of money. No gaming headset in 2024 matches this criteria better than the Senzer SG500 Surround Sound Pro Gaming.
This headset employs a rather weird headband adjustment in the form of a metal wire. It serves its purpose, but it leaves us wondering why Senzer didn’t go for a more conventional approach. Regardless, your head size should fit quite well in the SG500. The ear pads are soft and puffy, covered in leatherette, and are detachable, which isn’t the case with some cheaper headphones.
You might expect audio and/or mic quality to suffer greatly at this low price point, but there’s a reason we propose these headphones. The audio is in no way comparable to the 10 times more expensive SteelSeries Arctis Nova, but it’s in the wheelhouse of the two times more expensive Razer Kraken, for example.
The microphone has similarly good quality, especially when taking price into consideration. Just looking at it from a pure performance standpoint, it provides a relatively clear and balanced sound that’s more than suitable for the uses of a gamer.
You don’t have to make any major compromises with the Senzer SG500, and you can’t ask much more from a budget gaming headset. It’s hard to find better value at this price.
How we created this list of gaming headsets
As we mentioned, you have to try a headset to truly get to know it, so first and foremost, we used our collective headset experience as a pillar for the list. Then we branched out and took into account professional reviews and how they match the public opinions on outlets like Amazon, as well as our own impressions.
To discern the best from the rest, we were looking at comfort levels, including the headset’s materials, adjustability, and padding, their audio and microphone quality, and lastly, their connectivity and additional features, like the SteelSeries’ interchangeable batteries for example. These factors helped us create this list of the best gaming headsets for big heads.
Top things to keep in mind before buying a gaming headset
Headsets for big heads are evaluated like regular sets, with the obvious distinction being how comfortable they are for folks rocking a larger temple. The specs to pay attention to are the headset’s size and weight, adjustability options, and various comfort enhancers like ear and headband paddings.
Other than that, you’d want the same from any gaming headset—good sound and microphone quality, and good connectivity. That last bit is the main difference between a gaming headset and regular headphones. The latter are rarely optimized for gaming connectivity, and you might have to buy additional gear to use them with some platforms. Gaming headsets are also optimized for in-game audio instead of a more traditional audio approach that you’d find in studio headphones.
There are objective measures to judge a headset, but the truth is that more than any other gaming component, you can truly know if a headset is right for you by trying it on. If you have the opportunity to go to a physical store and try out some models yourself, don’t hesitate to do it. It’s the best way to assess a headset’s comfort level.
We’re not a physical store, but we’ll try to help you find the best headsets for big heads nonetheless. We’ve prepared a wide variety of products that should cover any type of gamer’s audio needs. Take note that most custom equalizer software works only on PC, so we will be focusing on stock performance only to not confuse or mislead gamers on other platforms.
Published: Mar 5, 2024 05:08 pm