HyperX Cloud II Wired Gaming Headset

The Cloud II has outlasted most of what launched alongside it, and the reason is dull and good: an aluminium frame that does not creak, memory foam that does not flatten, and a closed 53 mm driver that puts footsteps where they belong without needing software.

Plug the 3.5 mm lead into a controller or a phone and it behaves as an ordinary wired headset. Plug the included USB control box into a PC instead and it adds virtual 7.1 surround, with volume and microphone mute on the box rather than buried in a menu. The noise-cancelling boom detaches. Six months of warranty.