The best PS5 headset in 2023

Sony Pulse 3D headset
(Image credit: Future)

The best PS5 headset can make the world of difference to your gaming experience. With the power to immediately accelerate your new console setup, choosing wisely is recommended - but leave the heavy lifting to us, as we gather the best PS5 headset deals on the market right now. Read on for our favorite headsets, with reviews from our hardware experts backing up our choices. With options to suit all budgets, here are the best PS5 headset deals going right now. 

As much as we love the visual experience provided by the top TVs, sometimes we really want to feel the noise and the best PS5 headsets can add an incredibly immersive gaming experience. After all, gaming headsets aren't just built for comms in online multiplayer nowadays, and they can increase a single-player experience exponentially. The best gaming headsets put such an emphasis on high quality, immersive audio these days, it's only right that your PS5 is offered the same treatment.

This page is packed with the best PS5 headsets to give you all the best options and you're in safe hands as we've been testing headsets for years. You'll also want to stay on top of the best PS5 wireless headsets too if you're only interested in cutting the cord.

The best PS5 headsets in 2023

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The best PS5 headset

Specifications

Acoustic design: Closed Back, over ear
Drivers: 40mm Neodymium
Weight: 337g
Compatibility: PS5, PS4, PC, Switch, Mobile

Reasons to buy

+
Incredible SteelSeries audio quality
+
Awesome DAC/hub with great options
+
Superb build and design
+
Excellent connectivity options
+
Ingenius battery solution

Reasons to avoid

-
One of the most expensive premium gaming headsets going

It's our favorite gaming headset overall, and the best option for PS5 as well. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is a force to be reckoned with, boasting incredible audio, fantastic additional features, and a comfortable form factor to boot. All that luxury comes at a price, but if you're just after the best PS5 headset - and will splash out to get it - this is where you need to be looking. 

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is hands down one of the best headsets I've ever tested, and it deserves our top score.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Review

We almost fell in love at first sight. A sleek design and suave aesthetic means these cups look the part - and so they should. At $349.99 / £329.99, you'll want these cups to speak to their price point at first glance, and we certainly weren't disappointed when opening the box. Not only is everything finished with a robust build quality, but the additional extras like a swappable battery pack and dual connectivity packed in truly elevate this experience even further. 

The Nova Pro Wireless is a fantastic sounding headset for all games and media, but it is a headset whose audio is surrounded in excellence in every area: the design and build is supreme and sleek - and one that means you can easily use these as your daily-driver headphones; the connectivity is wonderful; the mic ir rich and clear; and the feature set and base station are so good at allowing customization and tweaking so you can get the perfect setting no matter what you're playing. And the battery solution is also ingenious! The base station charges one removable battery while you use the other, and you can plug it in via USB-C to charge it too. 

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P replaced my official Sony Platinum headset; the Arctis 7P+ replaced my 7P, and now, the Nova Pro Wireless has replaced the 7P+. It's just so good, and swats away the competition.

Read more: SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless review

2. Razer Kaira X for PlayStation

The best cheap PS5 headset

Specifications

Acoustic design: Closed Back, over ear
Drivers: 50mm Razer TriForce
Weight: 283g
Compatibility: PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Switch, Mobile

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent audio quality
+
Comfortable fit
+
Good value

Reasons to avoid

-
Ear cups get a bit hot
-
A little quiet by default

Razer's first PS5 headset is a solid one. Launching with an 'X' variant like the Barracuda means it's not the full-blown premium Kaira for PlayStation that we get first but the Kaira X for PlayStation is still a worthy contender for those looking for great sound for the $60 / £60 mark - which is exceptional value in our eyes.

And this point is a key factor in what makes this headset great: the value is really excellent, and the bang for buck is great. In our testing we found the sound quality provided by Razer's TriForce 50mm drivers within the headset to be predictably excellent and uncompromising - full bass, rich middles, and tight, exquisite highs. What's more, the mix and surround sound revealed themselves to be pretty great to us too for this price point. The mic is solid but doesn't quite have the warmth and overall richness to more premium headsets.

Yes, the Kaira X for PlayStation is a wired headset and this is a big reason that this is a budget option, but it's a braided cord, has a strong right-angle connection, and is the ideal length for having enough slack but without being overly long. 

For the price and as a simple wired headset, we can't recommend this excellent Razer PS5 headset enough.

The best PS5 headset for most players

Specifications

Acoustic Design: Closed Back, over ear
Drivers: 40mm
Weight: 295g
Compatibility: PS5, PS4, PC, PSVR

Reasons to buy

+
Official companion accessory
+
Potential of Tempest 3D AudioTech
+
Easy to use
+
Very comfortable

Reasons to avoid

-
Built-in microphone could be better 

Sony's official PS5 headset is, unsurprisingly, a top performer and has consistently been one of our favourites. Sharing the same design language and aesthetic that the PS5 and its accessories have, the Pulse 3D headset maintains a subtlety in its form - there's no extruding boom mic, and all the tech is discreetly hidden - this is the first major impression we got in testing. 

After hours of Miles and Astro, I'm happy to report that my ears are never on fire or begging for release from their new PlayStation prison.

PS5 Pulse 3D headset review

Underneath the stylish frame, however, you'll find all the necessary tech to immerse yourself in the PS5's Tempest 3D AudioTech, with the Pulse 3D headset being the best way to get the most from your new console's audio. The headset delivers gloriously rich and detailed sound as you traverse Astro Playroom's noisy noisy platforms, and gives multi-layered audio detail in the roar of combat in Miles Morales. 

However, it is in the quieter moments that the Pulse 3D headset and the PS5's Tempest audio magic really blew us away: spaceships zoom past your head in Astro, or footsteps' exact direction of travel being discernible in Miles Morales. There's a reason that this is the official headset, and we can see from our testing and hands-on that Sony invested in it. The results are awesome, and it is absolutely one of the best PS5 headsets - and it's at an aggressive price point too!

Read more: PS5 Pulse 3D headset review

The best mid-range PS5 headset

Specifications

Acoustic design: Closed Back, over ear
Drivers: 50mm Razer TriForce
Weight: 365g
Compatibility: PS4, PS5, PC, Mobile

Reasons to buy

+
Great audio quality
+
Very comfortable
+
Haptics are excellent
+
Solid design

Reasons to avoid

-
Dearer than some of its closest competition
-
Mic is a bit tinny and thin

If you're looking for one of the latest and greatest from one of the best in your hunt for a PS5 headset then we can absolutely recommend the Razer Kaira Pro for PlayStation as a terrific choice.

The headset shares a lot with the Kaira range generally that we saw rolled out for Xbox prior to the PlayStation range, and, as a result, looks similar, while maintaining a white and black colourway to match the console. One of the biggest selling points to us, however, is the inclusion of Razer's newest haptic feedback tech. The inclusion of this blew us away in our testing and makes this Razer headset standout as a a set that will add and enhance immersion.

The rumble of gunfire is particularly immersive, and when you turn the haptics up to their full power, it really is something else to behold.

The haptics only requires the existence of audio frequency to work which is impressive, but we found the one drawback wit this to be that your teammates and friends speaking to you will also set them off which is a little annoying - perhaps the next generation of haptics will be able to tell between in-game audio to enhance and chat audio to ignore...

But when the haptics in the Kaira Pro teamed up with a DualSense, our gaming experience was taken to a different place and made for a truly exciting ride and immersive experience (you can turn them off if that's not your bag). Then you'll 'just' be treated to the Kaira Pro's excellent audio quality that really does a brilliant job from the deepest of booms to the highest-pitch notes. 

We found that the mic could be better despite extensive testing with my friends saying I was a bit tinny and thin sounding, but this isn't too much of a detractor on what is an exceptional PS5 wireless headset.

Read more: Razer Kaira Pro for PlayStation review

The best PS5 headset for audiophiles

Specifications

Acoustic design: Closed back, over ear
Drivers: 90mm planar neodymium
Weight: 490g
Compatibility: PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, mobile (Xbox variant available)

Reasons to buy

+
Premium luxury build materials and design
+
Impressive 80 hour battery life
+
Massive soundstage makes for excellent immersion
+
Crisp AI noise isolation on mic
+
Incredible detail and balance across a range of genres

Reasons to avoid

-
Volume and chat mix dials are too close together

The Audeze Maxwell, with its 90mm planar drivers, is a stunning piece of kit. If you're after the widest soundscape for the most immersive PS5 audio, this is where you need to be looking. Following on from the success of the Penrose and Mobius, the Maxwell kicks things up a notch with boosted battery life, greater sound quality, and a more premium build. That makes its $299.99 / £319 price point a little easier to swallow - if you're an audiophile after a high end experience you'll be set with these cups.

The Audeze Maxwell offers the best audio I've personally heard from a gaming headset, and it doesn't top the price charts.

Audeze Maxwell review

The main draw is those drivers. For the uninitiated, a planar design differs from the traditional dynamic cups many players are used to. Rather than using a cone shape to vibrate and produce noise, this is a flat sheet under the hood, giving both higher and lower ranges much more room to breathe and producing a far wider soundstage overall. In practice, that means incredibly immersive gameplay across everything from open world adventures to the more claustrophobic echoes of The Last Of Us Part 2. Not only that, but we were able to accurately locate directional audio cues in a split second, identifying not just direction but distance and even the obstacles between us in some cases. That makes the Maxwells an excellent buy for both competitive players and solo adventurers alike. 

On top of that excellent sound quality, you're picking up an 80 hour battery life and plenty of onboard controls (though the chat mix dial is a little too close to the volume for our comfort). The SteelSeries above does still represent a better package overall with its swappable batteries and multi-console setup, but if you're going purely for audio quality we'd heavily recommend placing your investment here. 

Read more: Audeze Maxwell review

The best multiplatform PS5 headset

Specifications

Acoustic design: Closed back, over ear
Connection: Wireless
Cable length: 2m
Drivers: Turtle Beach Nanoclear 50mm
Weight: 454g
Compatibility: PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch, Mobile

Reasons to buy

+
Fantastic console compatibility
+
Great sound quality
+
Comfortable during lengthy sessions

Reasons to avoid

-
Superhuman Hearing can be off-putting

If you're after a PS5 headset, but don't want to be locked out of other future consoles (or PC play), the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 MAX should be your go-to. This is the most widely compatible headset we've had our hands on so far, offering a plethora of connection options to suit PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile - all without faff. That means easy switching if you've got a multi-system setup, and future-proofing should you decide to branch out with a new device. 

We usually see multi-platform headsets conveniently forgetting to offer a wireless connection on Xbox or packing Bluetooth for mobile use. That's partly why we're so enamoured with Turtle Beach's latest device - but there's also the audio quality to consider. 

Not only is the sound coming out of these cups crisp and clear, but the success of the Dolby Atmos shines through no matter the system. We enjoyed rich, deep audio during our testing, a sound profile which maintained its quality whether pumped through surround sound or a more neutral profile. 

Unfortunately, there's no EQ settings to play with despite the companion Audio Hub app. That's a little disappointing considering the $150 / £150 price point, but everything sounds so great out the box we were willing to forgive. 

Read more: Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 MAX review

The best PS5 headset for glasses wearers

Specifications

Acoustic design: Closed back, over ear
Drivers: 40mm neodymium
Weight: 299g
Compatible: PlayStation, PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch

Reasons to buy

+
Very comfortable for long-term wear
+
Comfortable for glasses wearers
+
Solid sound quality
+
PS5 aesthetic

Reasons to avoid

-
Wired cable can't be detached 
-
Plastic feels a little cheap

The Sony Inzone H3 was part of Sony's move in to the PC space, but after going hands on with the cheapest device in the range, we're confident this model will rule over the wired PS5 headset space for some time. It's a no-frills experience at a fair price, all while offering that classic PlayStation aesthetic and a supreme level of comfort. While that cable unfortunately isn't detachable, causing us a slight concern for portability, everything has a solid connection to it. 

Donning a pair of glasses and diving into a long FPS session, we were surprised at the level of comfort on offer. There was never a single pinch from the chunky headband and lightweight plastic cups, with an almost weightless quality to the frame overall. That's excellent for anyone looking to play, but also see, in comfort. 

All that comes with excellent audio, and a precise directional system that held up across a range of games in our testing. While the mic dropped its noise cancelling properties during some moments, it also offered crystal clear audio during chat. 

Read more: Sony Inzone H3 review


What can I use as a headset for PS5?

Extending one of our other answers here, the great news is that almost anything that resembles a headset or pair of headphones can be used on PS5. So if you need to save up from scratch to get a premium set, then you can still be safe in the knowledge that your old wired set can do you a great service in the meantime.

The only type of headset which is unlikely to be compatible is a straight-up Bluetooth set of headphones. Even Sony ones. It's often the case that you won't be able to just pair a Bluetooth set, so you'll have to revert to an audio cable in this scenario too.

Should I buy a headset for PS5?

This is a strong question, and actually relates to all players. Of course, if you play online with friends or competitively then a PS5 headset is a no-brainer; you absolutely need a headset with great audio and microphone.

However, we are inclined to suggest that all players should consider a PS5 headset given the importance and excellence of game audio nowadays. It was during the last-generation of gaming that this particularly came to light and it is no truer when it comes to PS5 headsets. The audio immersion you get in single player games, as well as multiplayer, with a PS5 headset is second to none - despite the wizardry that the console's Tempest 3D audio engine can do with TV speakers and surround sound systems. T get this audio excellence direct to your brain with even the most budget PS5 headset, means that it's an essential PS5 accessory in our eyes.

Is any headset compatible with PS5?

The great news is that an unbelievable number of headsets are indeed compatible with PS5! In fact, it'd be easier to tell you which ones aren't. However, for clarity, any headset that has a wired 3.5mm jack connection, a wired USB connection, or almost any headset that uses a Bluetooth dongle will be compatible with a PS5. As a result, this opens up a world of possibilities when looking to get some audio givers for your PS5. What's more, any compatible and connected headset will get you all the benefits of the PS5's Tempest 3D Audio engine.


If you're looking for a visual upgrade then check out our picks for the best gaming TV and best TV for PS5 right now, and if you're looking for audio on the go, then check out our best headphones guide.

Rob Dwiar

I'm the Commissioning Editor for Hardware at GamesRadar+ and have been here since the hardware team's inception in late 2018. I'm also a writer on games and have had work published over the last six years or so at the likes of Eurogamer, RPS, PCGN, and more. Day to day, I take care of a whole host of gaming tech reviews, buying guides, and news and deals content that pops up across GamesRadar+. I'm also a qualified landscape and garden designer, so I do that in my spare time. I'm also an expert on the virtual landscapes and environments of games and love to write about them too, including in an upcoming book on the topic!

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