HyperX Cloud Stinger Core review: Quality that doesn’t sting the wallet

Last updated: Nov 11, 2019

The HyperX Cloud Stinger Core deliver impressive speaker and mic fidelity, plus it'll take an especially epic ragequit to harm them.

Strengths

Quite decent speaker audio.
Microphone output is rather crisp.
Does extreme yoga to fit all head types.
Can take a beating /angry twisting /rage-biting.

Could be better

Microphone not detachable.
Two-thread cabling to both ear cups.
Console-neutral colouring would have been better.

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Comfort, durability and convenience, all at a low, low price: that's the mission statement of this console gaming headset by HyperX. For reasons I can't explain its attempts to do so have been named: Cloud Stinger Core, though I'd put my money on a word generator somewhere set to “edgy gamer nouns”. The Stinger may be nonsensical in some ways but it's hard to deny that the performance and features it offers for a mere 70 bucks makes perfect sense.

Design

Fabric ear cups aren't quite as plush as the memory foam of the original Cloud Stinger
3.5mm cable provides compatibility with a wide range of devices

In a first for the HyperX brand of headsets, what we have here isn't of an angry black and red styling. This is mostly because the Cloud Stinger Core has been boxed and designed to attract a specific breed of player – the Blue Man Group of console gaming: the Sony PlayStation crowd.
Don't be fooled by the navy accents on this unit, as this headset is very much platform agnostic. In terms of connectivity, you've just got a four-pole 3.5mm cable that's 1.3m in length and universally compatible with a wide range of devices. It played perfectly well with all of the test systems I hooked up to it (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and my workhorse Sony Xperia). In fact, it sounded much richer on the Nintendo Switch compared to a PS4. I honestly couldn't tell you why.
You certainly won't be given cauliflower ears with these, thanks to the comfort of textured fabric ear cups. Mind you, those of you paying close attention at home will have noted that this is a downgrade from the pleather encased memory foam of the previous model (the Cloud Stinger). You're getting passive noise isolation with these, too, which means they don't do a bad job of blocking out the world around you, purely because they seal in around your ears. If you have an especially loud, anti-gaming significant other, I'm sorry to say these won't silence the worst of their moaning.
All in all, the Stinger Core isn't bulky for a gaming headset and is quite low weight at 215g. I appreciated its understated plastic design, subtle logos and just the overall fact that it doesn't look like some of the obnoxious and aggressive gamer earmuffs out there. It feels nice and robust in your hands, too, thanks to a steel band threading its way from cup to cup. You can twist it to your heart's content – possibly after coming second in a thirty-minute round of Fortnite – and it'll return to form with impressive resilience (as if to say "here's one more thing you can't do well").

Performance

40mm drivers offer decent audio quality for the price
Mic audio is equally respectable

Bottomline first: you usually get what you pay for when you choose to go with a budget model over, say, a $300 Turtle Beach alternative. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the 40mm drivers in this Stinger Core (and, once again that's 10 fewer than the last version). You'll be getting a decent amount of punchy bass for your buck. Sounds in the high range are crisp and the mid-level stuff doesn't sound muddy or tinny.
The microphone is up to snuff as well. The prerecorded tests I did sounded great in subsequent playbacks and my usual online crew offered positive feedback, too. Apparently, they had zero issues hearing me "cursing like a sook over team losses which were wholly attributable to my own lack of skill". Thanks, guys.

Features

Plenty of adjustment options for different head sizes
In-line controls aren't quite as easy to access as the regular Cloud Stinger's on-ear controls

When it comes to wrapping these around your bonce, the Core's adjustability is pretty fantastic. If your mug is long – of a Homer Simpson “fishbulb” design – you can rely on extendable steel sliders to make these more vertical. Wide loads aren't a problem either. You'd have to have some serious cranial gigantism to thwart the horizontal stretch and bend of these bad boys.
Beyond that, you have a bendable microphone on your left ear cup that pivots upwards and away when not in use for online abuse. Unfortunately said mic doesn't mute when you do this (a feature stripped from the previous model).
The volume control has also changed from an ear cup slider on the old Stinger to an in-line dial along the wire (a simple mute slider has been added there, too). It's also important to note that the cabling on the Stinger Core splits above this in-line and goes into both cups. Some people prefer a less tangly one cup solution. I wasn't too fussed with this route.

Verdict

By and large, the performance and comfort you're getting here are well worth your hard-earned money. The Cloud Stinger Core is perfect for two types of buyers: for a casual gamer looking to get the job done well on the cheap, or a parent looking to buy a reasonably-priced, fairly indestructible set of cans for their offspring. Basically, if you have hyper children, think HyperX because at this low-tier price point you're not going to find anything that does the job better than these things.

HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Gaming Headset

The HyperX Stinger Core delivers high-quality audio and plenty of versatility at a very affordable price.

Buy at Kogan

Specs

HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Gaming Headset

Where to buy

Build

Wired/Wireless

Wired

Weight

215g

Speaker Driver

40mm Neodymiummm

Frequency Response

20Hz - 20kHz

Ear Cushion

Over-ear

Microphone Type

Boom mic with noise cancelling

Colours

Black

Connectivity

Connection Type

3.5mm

Cable length

1.3m

Features

RGB Lighting

Detachable Microphone

In-line Controls

Volume, Mute

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Adam Mathew

Adam Mathew is a writer for Finder, specialising in video games and TV. He's been the editor of magazines such as Ultimate Nintendo and Official PlayStation AU. His words may also be found in IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku, Red Bull, Game Informer and AusGamers.

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HyperX Cloud Stinger Core review: Quality that doesn’t sting the wallet

The HyperX Cloud Stinger Core deliver impressive speaker and mic fidelity, plus it'll take an especially epic ragequit to harm them.

Strengths

Could be better

What's in this review?

Design

Performance

Features

Verdict

HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Gaming Headset

HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Gaming Headset

Specs

Build

Connectivity

Features

Latest technology headlines

Adam Mathew

Ask an expert

HyperX Cloud Stinger Core review: Quality that doesn’t sting the wallet

The HyperX Cloud Stinger Core deliver impressive speaker and mic fidelity, plus it'll take an especially epic ragequit to harm them.

Strengths

Could be better

What's in this review?

Design

Read our full review of the HyperX Cloud Stinger Core's design

Performance

Read our full review of the HyperX Cloud Stinger Core's performance

Features

Read our full review of the HyperX Cloud Stinger Core's features

Verdict

HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Gaming Headset

Specs

Build

Connectivity

Features

Adam Mathew

Ask an expert

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