There are so many gaming headsets out there, but how do you choose? Amazon reviews are either fake or unhelpful, and trying all these headsets out yourself isn’t a workable option unless you hate the environment. That’s why we are here to do the work for you. We tested out five best gaming headset under 100$, and we are here to tell you which one’s the pump and which one’s dump.
Audio Technica ATH-PDG1 Best and Cheapest Headset
Audio Technica ATH-PDG1s is one of the best gaming headset under 100$ and it is for $81 and 19 cents. Right away, you’ll probably either love or hate the retro-futurism aesthetic of these things, but the build quality is quite good. They don’t creak, the plastics aren’t too cheap, and the continuous headphone adjustment is consistent.
Is this headset comfortable?
The velour earpads feel very soft and comfortable, as long as your skin isn’t so sensitive that the rubbing irritates you.
Comfort-wise, they’re one of my favorites of the bunch due in large part to their lightweight. Watch out, though, if you have sticky-outy ears because you might find that the ear cups are a bit shallow and that your ears rub against the driver’s inside, which is always uncomfortable.
What are the features of the Audio Technica ATH-PDG1?
This gaming headset is all analog, using various 3.5-millimeter jacks and adapters to power its drivers, rather than going the USB route, like all the other headsets in this roundup.
Overall Quality of the Audio Technica ATH-PDG1 as gaming headset under 100$
- Sound quality is pretty good overall, but if I’m nitpicking, the low mids and the bass can be a bit muddy, and the high end tends to distort a tiny bit once you’ve turned it up. The bass is present, but I wouldn’t quite describe these as punchy or the cleanest around.
(I’ll have another recommendation for bass heads in the rest of my article).
- Overall, the sound profile makes them a solid all-rounder for gaming, with a decent sound stage for hearing enemies all around you.
- The mic is better than most. It’s got a warm tone, and it’s easy for people to understand what you’re saying. The biggest downfall with this headset is simply the fact that being open back, it bleeds sound into the room around you.
A tiny little volume knob on here. It is a pain to adjust. Hope you will love this gaming headset under 100.
Arctus 5 Pro from SteelSeries
Coming in next from the gaming headset under 100$ at 84.99 is the Arctus 5 Pro from SteelSeries. These have RGB, so obviously they’re the best, and you should buy them.
What are the features of Arctus 5 Pro from SteelSeries?
The Arctic 5 has more going for them than looks, though. The foam earpads breathe very well, and the excellent head strap is adjustable so that you can strike a perfect balance between solid grip and comfort. I like this adjustable suspension design.
The mic on the Arctus 5 is also decent, but nothing exceptional. Points, though, for being retractable.
Overall Quality of the Arctus 5 Pro from SteelSeries
- The Arctus 5 falls a bit short when it comes to sound, with a muddy low end and a naturally bright sound that makes hearing footsteps in-game difficult compared to the other headsets.
- They don’t sound bad, and they can be EQ’d used the SteelSeries Engine 3 software, but they are near the bottom of the pack of what we have here.
Razer BlackShark V2
This wouldn’t be a gaming product roundup without a Razer product, would it? The Razer BlackShark V2, oh this big head, comes in at 89.99, and it comes in strong.
What are the features of Razer BlackShark V2, the gaming headset under 100$?
The aviation look with razor styling could be an acquired taste for some people, but the build quality is excellent. They use foam everywhere for breathability and comfort, and they have just the right amount of clamping force to stay on your melon, even at those extreme, “I just dropped something on the floor” kind of angles.
Overall Quality of the Razer BlackShark V2?
- Razer Synapse is automatically loaded when plugging in the BlackShark into a PC, so no additional work is needed to get an installer downloaded.
- It gives you more extensive EQ options than any other headsets but using it wasn’t even necessary. The BlackShark V2 on its own already has solid tuning out of the factory, with the best clarity out of the bunch.
Although in-game, the sound didn’t feel exceptionally out of this world. There wasn’t any wishing for things that weren’t there. It just works.
Its only real downfall is the microphone, which can sound a bit distant and kind of just sucked on discord in particular. It’s still usable, and It’s just a blemish on an otherwise fantastic contender.
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2, one of best gaming headset under 100$.
In my opinion, these look like the cheapest, despite costing $99.95. These are wireless, with acceptable range and a USB-C cable in the box that’s so short that it’s practically impossible to charge them at the same time as using them.
What are the features of Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2?
If you have average-sized or more oversized ears, these will probably be extremely uncomfortable after just a few seconds. And if you have anything but a tiny head, these will be unpleasant to wear for anything longer than 15 seconds.
Is this headset comfortable?
That’s if you’re not playing anything yet. Once turned on, the high end is harsh, the low end is muddy, and the stereo profile is exaggerating, meaning it’s easy to tell which side of your head things are coming from, but it’s hard to know if something is directly in front of you or directly behind you.
X-Box Wireless Headset
It’s coming in at 99.99, or as I like to say, a hundred bucks. This is a pretty solid headset overall.
What are the features of X-Box Wireless Gaming Headset?
- They’re lightweight due to being made out of high-quality plastic, and the significant volume dials on the side are super intuitive and easy to find.
- They’re comfortable, though I wish they had a breathable fabric on the ear cuffs instead of the complete leather material. I don’t hate it either. They’re friendly and cushy.
Your mileage may vary, but getting these set up on our MSI laptop was a pain. It was a frustrating pain. We had to jump through many hoops and Bluetooth settings and in the sound control panel to get the gaming headset (under 100$) to use its proper speaker channel instead of the Windows 10 hands-free speech nonsense that drastically reduces audio quality.
But once that’s dealt with, this headset does sound passable. Though the high end is a bit washed out and the bass is somewhat loose, in games, you can quickly locate people from their footsteps and gunfire, and it’s all about the games.
And the microphone too is all right. It matches the gaming headset overall. Decent comfort, decent wireless functionality, and decent sound. 100% meh. Although it has to be said that it had 15 hours of battery life, that is nice, and you can connect them to your X-Box and your phone simultaneously, which is pretty cool.
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Corsair HS60 Haptic.
These are currently $111.99 on Amazon, but they’ve recently been going on sale for about 99.99, so we thought we’d chuck them in any way, you know?
What are the features as gaming headset under 100$ of Corsair HS60 Haptic?
- Sound-wise, these are a pretty solid pair of cans.
- No musical instruments sound washed out or left behind, and, living up to the haptic name, these have punchy, powerful, but not overpowering bass.
- Game audio sounds excellent, but sometimes it’s a bit hard to tell which ear a sound is coming out of, probably the most significant downside with these.
- Rounding up the experience, the microphone is also quite clear.
However, one issue of note is that while testing, the headset randomly stopped playing audio and started playing wide noise both through the microphone and headphones, creating an unforced experience for everybody.
It only happens once reset, and you have to fix it, but it is not working.
We recommend the gaming headset under 100$, the Razer BlackShark V2 as a good all-rounder. Or the Corsair HS60 Haptic if you need extra bitch.