Music, gaming, Netflix, and sitting at our computers is what many of us are planning for as fall approaches and soon after brings winter.
Even though I have a pair of speakers on my desk, I tend to wear my headphones for gaming or watching content. There’s that feeling that you are in your own environment, you can feel like you are there in the show or actually role-playing the character in your game.
What better than to grab a headset that is fair in price, but rocks some of the best sounds on the market? During the last two years, Kingston has introduced a headset and priced it very competitively. From USB flash drives to SSDs, the brand has really made a name for itself for great quality and superb products without you having to break the bank.
Known as the Cloud series, a new entry into the group has emerged. The Revolver is a gamer-inspired headset that uses red stitching and a comfortable fit to ensure that you have an excellent gaming experience.
This is Kingston’s third revision of this branded headset. Is the third time the charm? Being compatible with PC, Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, Mac, and Mobile, let’s find out how well they did.
Welcome to my review of the Kingston HyperX Cloud Revolver headset. Throughout this review, I will be discussing the following topics: the design, functionality, and my final thoughts. A special thank you to Kingston for providing me with this headset.
Design
In past reviews, I have been a pronounced fan of the Kingston HyperX Cloud I and II headphones. The metal frame design, followed by soft-touched plastic gave the Cloud headphones a feeling that they were worth hundreds of dollars.
For their third revision, the Revolver is a gamer-inspired headset that reminds me of a theme you may see on Gears of War products. (Funny side note: When I first got the Revolver, this was the only design/color available. Now, Kingston offers a Gears of War variant.) Also, the name “Revolver” seemed like an interesting choice for a brand that has remained nameless other than its revision number (I & II).
The Revolver headset is constructed out of a steel frame, but unlike its predecessors, the Revolver’s frame is exposed and this does make it more flimsy. On both the Cloud I and II, the frame was incorporated into the headband which added strength.
While placed on your head, the headset tends to stay put without much flexing. However, if you apply flexing force then they will twist. A pulling force also flattens the steel headband. Even though the headset’s frame regains its original shape after flexing and pulling, I would have liked to see a thicker steel frame for improved durability. There is also an increase in plastic bits found on the Revolver’s design. Both ear cups are braced by a red circle with an X back plate. The best description of this design is that of an aircraft engine intake. Surrounded by the red flared circle is Kingston’s HyperX logo, also in red.
Kingston made the great decision to continue using their excellent memory foam pads on the Revolver. Both the ear cups and headband are generously padded with soft foam. This foam is by far one of my favorites on any headset I have reviewed. On the Revolver, it’s comfortable, fits my head’s contours, and breaths well. Even the top headband is acceptably padded for long periods of usage. Inside the ear cups is a fine mesh.
Being a gamer-inspired headset, the Revolver comes with a detachable microphone. Beforehand, the Cloud I and II used a thin, easy to adjust, microphone that would bend to nearly every position. Additionally, there is a pop filter on the end that didn’t alter my voice whatsoever. On the Revolver, Kingston changed the microphone to a rubber body that doesn’t bend like it did on previous models. At the end, the pop filter is presumably incorporated into the end, but as I will discuss below, the capture quality of the microphone could be better.
The Revolver used a two-staged cable design. Attached to the headset is a short three-foot cable that can plug directly into a 3.5mm headphone jack. Or for additional length and microphone connectivity, there is a seven-foot braided cable that had an inline mute and volume wheel. At the end of this cable are your 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks. One gripe I had about the cable is that the inline mute could be improved. It’s easily activated by sliding and if you are sitting in a dark room it can be very difficult to tell if your microphone is muted. There is a red bar that is shown when muted, but it’s a dark color and is not illuminated.
Finally, the adjustment mechanism on the Revolver is an automatic adjustment design. Instead of preset locations, the headband is on a sliding rail that either increases in height or decreases. This allows the headphones to be a perfect fit for whomsoever wears them. Furthermore, the ear cups are adjustable so that you can get a firm fit around your ears.
Functionality
For a company that mainly sells flash storage devices, their speaker craftsmanship is superb. Kingston once again made an excellent sounding headset.
Inside the Revolver are 50mm drivers that push out a great sound. Listening to my Pandora radios, I was very pleased with how everything sounded. Levels were spot on and it was comparable to my Beyerdynamic MMX 300s.
Music and gaming were both loud and audible, even at low volume. Connected to an Asus soundcard with Dolby Headphone and 7.1 Virtual Speakers turned on, I was impressed with how it sounded. Matched with the lightweight design, it was as if the headphones were not on my head and the sound was just being pumped right into my ears.
When playing heavy bass, this headset can rock your head. With low volume, the bass is strong and very present. There won’t be any mistaking when hearing a tank round or a grenade in your game.
An issue I discovered was that the noise cancellation was very lacking and I’m not talking about the noise cancellation to the outside world. When I normally review headphones, they have a tough time keeping the music/games volume inside the ear cup. This is known as leakage and sound leaks out; not very desirable if you are in a quiet or public place. The Revolver doesn’t have a leakage problem, in fact, it barely seeps out of the ear cups even at very high volume and close proximity. My original annoyance was that I could hear many sounds around me. I use a keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches in them, which aren’t supposed to be loud, but I can easily hear the key presses while listening to music. Then, a TV with a football game in the other room was still audible. This is because the Revolver uses an semi-open cup design and there are holes in the ear cups that act as an air vent. The purpose of these air vents is to improve sounds and gameplay. While this certainly isn’t a deal breaker for the headset, it’s something to be aware of.
Kingston advertises that the Revolver uses a four-pole 3.5mm cable. While this is true, the four pole connectivity is only found on the short three-foot cable attached to the headset. It’s great when connecting to an Xbox controller, but not so much for the PC. When you use the extension cable you get three-pole plugs. (Technical note: A four-pole 3.5mm jack adds controlling features to the connected device, like a pause feature on a phone. Additionally, it also contains left, right, and ground channels just like a three-pole.)
Coming to an end, we have the detachable microphone. Unfortunately, this microphone doesn’t have a lot going for it. It’s bending capabilities are fair, it’s large, and not very appealing to the eye. For the voice quality, I found it to be fair as well. When using TeamSpeak the microphone would drop my voice and many times I had to increase my speaking volume so that the receiver wouldn’t have to constantly say “What?” This headset is also TeamSpeak certified along with many other chat programs. To describe how I was sounding, I was told by a friend that I must have had a blanket over my microphone. I did test this microphone with two different computers and the results were similar. That said, there is the possibility that I received a bad microphone, so your results may vary.
My Final Thoughts
Being Kingston’s third revision of a great headset, I think they did an excellent job. The sound quality was superb and matched my $350 headset that I use every single day. Build quality of the Revolver could be better with a stronger frame and cutting back on the Gears of War theme may help advertise the product those who are not heavy gamers, but nevertheless it’s still pleasing. Even with a lacking microphone, for only $119.99 I still think it’s worth the price. Finding a swappable or replaceable microphone is an option if your results are the same as mine. I am still happy with how they performed and ecstatic on how they sounded.
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