The Corsair HS55 is a great choice when looking for a premium quality sounding headset that looks good and doesnt break the bank. The sound quality is awesome, whether its the voice chat of your squad mates or the music from you favorite games or just the footsteps of the enemy in your match it all sounds great on this headset. The headset is light and the soft padding is comfortable, so no worries about feeling like your head is getting squeezed by a tight fit or feeling irritated after a few hours of wearing them. I'm a huge fan of the aesthetics of this headset, the Carbon (black) color and minimalist/sleek design make it a very good looking headset. The compatibility of the headest makes its easy to use on whatever device your using, I tested the headset on my Alienware M15 and PS5, and had no issue with audio or connectivity on either device. It is a wired headset so if for some reason you dont have a 3.5mm audio port on your device, maybe you're using an ultra slim pc ir whatever, the headset also has a USB to 3.5mm adapter so that you can connect it. Overall, I highly recommended the Corsair HS55 and its my main set for my gaming on my PC.

My desktop setup features a Corsair keyboard, mouse, and mousepad, and I have been quite satisfied with them. Now, I can complete the set, hoping that the HS55 will be a worthy addition. Aesthetically, I enjoy the matte black finish. It attracts no fingerprints or smudges, and the radial-reflective cups remind me of a vinyl record. Also, the subtle branding compliments the sleekness. Although this is a “gamer” headset, it does not feature any RGB, which I am thankful for once, as I can take it to the office, or use it on business video calls. Since the HS55 are made almost entirely of plastic, except for the headband’s slider, it feels very much like a budget set. The headband does not have a lot of flex, and the swivels seems plasticky and slim. I am a bit concerned about durability in the long run. The pleather covering the headband and ear pads feel of decent quality, though, and I absolutely love the volume rocker; it feels great and it’s in a good place. The mostly plastic build allows for the set to be quite light and comfortable to wear. The plush headband padding and the memory foam earpads are super soft, and my ears never touched the inside drivers or rubbed against the pads. There’s good clamping, but it is not headache inducing. After wearing them for a long 4 hours of gaming, the only issue I had was that the sides did get somewhat hot and a bit sweaty, so be prepared to clean them up after an exciting session. The HS55 are very versatile when it comes to connectivity. Of course, I was able to connect them to all my consoles via the 3.5mm jack on the controllers or handheld. One major feature is that these cans come with a USB-A sound card, which allows for simulated Dolby Audio 7.1 surround sound when plugged to a PC (via Corsair’s iCUE software). The volume rocker is independent from the device, so volume must be set first on the source, including PC. Out of the box, I was pleased with the default sound signature. Using the 3.5mm cable, I would describe the sound as more mid-forward, rather than bass heavy. However, the bass was still impactful enough and had enough “umph” to make action-adventure games and content exciting. As I mentioned, the mids are pushed slightly forward, making dialogue, background music, and ambient sounds feel more natural. The treble was also slightly pronounced, and that added clarity and a sense of accuracy. The channel separation is excellent, making figuring out where sounds come from much easier (left or right). The soundstage is a bit limited in my opinion, but still expansive enough to picture sounds’ distance and positioning. The headset seems to be tuned more for action-competitive games such as FPS and racing, where directional cues and clarity are most important. Plugging in the USB-C card, the sound signature improved noticeably. The 50mm drivers became much louder. Just in case the default sound is not to your liking, you can adjust the EQ, or activate Dolby Surround via the downloaded iCUE software. Dolby Surround is handled very smoothly with the HS55. It does not overload the bass nor mute the mids. It makes watching content and playing one-player games more pleasurable in my opinion. When it comes to music listening, they are simply alright. There is some lack of clarity and some distortion at higher volumes and while they may not satisfy those critical listeners, I found them quite enjoyable for causal listening to a BGM channel while I work. Now, the microphone may be the star of the show. While the mic’s design language may not win everyone’s approval, as it hangs a bit awkwardly when out or lifted, and is not as flexible, it certainly delivers in call quality. The mic captures my voice loud and clear, making my voice sound natural and full. While people could still hear my mechanical keyboard, it did not become distracting. Perhaps a dedicated mic may be better, this is the next best thing. Plus, the lift-to-mute works well and sidetone is decent. My only wish is to have had a game/mic volume control rocker. In the end, this is a fantastic budget gaming headset in my opinion. While it does not feature all the bells and whistles, it does not need them, as it checks all the right boxes: comfort, audio, and comms.

had high hopes for this headset as everything else from Corsair I have is great. Unfortunately, as soon as I took it out of the box, just feeling it felt cheap. The plastic feels cheap, and the ear coverings feel cheap, so an extremely poor impression to start. The one pleasant thing about it is that it is light, so I was wondering if it would sound any good as other light headsets I have had do not. That sound was the one bright spot. I am not an audiophile, but I have had back ear buds or headphones and know when they do not sound right to me. I was surprised that when playing games it actually sounded decent, and I tried out a few vidoes and it was fine too. Outside of the general build quality feeling cheap, the other odd thing is how you connect it to your PC. It essentially has a 3mm plug like you use headphones that are not for a PC, but then an extra USB plug that you plug in there. The nice thing is I can use the headset on other devices, but for me at least I usually just play and don’t take my PC headset away from my PC. Due to this setup, iCue and the ability to control the headset really doesn’t do much. Sure you see the headset in iCue but you cannot do anything with it outside of see it there. Overall its not a horrible headset but if you’re looking for a PC gaming headset there are better options out there. If you want to use it for PC and other devices, this is OK, but that’s not the way I use it.

The Corsair HS55 Surround headset is a huge bargain for a PC gaming headset. You don't get a lot of fluff at this price, but Corsair has made sure you get everything you need to get a quality audio accessory. The HS55 at its core is a stereo headset with a USB dongle which unlocks Dolby 7.1 sound processing via the Corsair iCue software. For devices like the Nintendo Switch you can plug the headset straight into the headphone out and get great stereo sound. The good: The surround experience is excellent and the overall sound quality of the Corsair HS55 is far and away the best I've heard anywhere close to this price. There's plenty of bass but not so much that things seem unbalanced, and the midrange and highs sound great, as well. Too many headsets at low prices just focus on overly boomy bass, to the point their inexpensive plastic designs can't handle the rumble and end up adding reverb and rattle to the sound. Not the case with the HS55.The mic got great reviews from my coworkers when I used it for meetings in the last few days, as well. Comfort is very good with soft cushions that don't put a ton of pressure on my glasses, as well as a padded headband with the same soft foam. The bad: Not much to complain about, but the biggest complaint I have is the relatively short cable. It's about 2 meters and I wish it was at least a half meter longer. Another complaint that doesn't affect me as I already have a Corsair keyboard, but having to download iCue just to control the surround and EQ settings is a pretty hefty software package to download if you have a smaller SSD and slow internet. So that's something to keep in mind if you want to use the surround dongle. Definitely a two thumbs up product for me. If you want a big step up in sound quality from competitors at low prices, I can't imagine going wrong with the HS55.

For anything that has a 3.5mm port, these are just straight out headphones with a mic. Simple volume knob and flip up mic. The padding is comfortable for hours. I have been mostly using them while playing in VR as the attached rubber cord keeper helps keep the excess wire out of the way. The rest of the features come on a PC when using the USB to 3.5mm adapter and with iCue software installed. There you have voice prompts when features are enabled/disabled, adjust the equalizer and take advantage of Nvidia Broadcast technologies provided you have an Nvidia RTX2060 or higher. Overall sound quality is decent, it sounds very balanced. It doesn’t have the “ear tickling lows” that I have had on other sets, even with the bass boost equalizer setting in iCue. But, it’s not like it is missing as you can certainly still hear the difference in range. Even noticed in one game I have been playing, a sound effect I wasn’t noticing on my other headset that was a very faint metallic sound on certain events. In using an audio test I was able to still hear the voice at 66 dB below full sound which is pretty impressive as my hearing might not be able to hear much less than that anyways. If you like simple wired headphone/mic with the ability to get 7.1 Dolby style effects on a PC, this is certainly one I would consider.