How we rate headsets
In short: we don’t test headsets ourselves. We collect spec sheets, other people’s test results and customer ratings, put them in context and say where every number comes from.
Four sources, kept apart
- Manufacturer data
- Spec sheet, battery, weight, connections, platforms
- Technical data comes from the product spec sheets of a large price comparison site, which are based on manufacturer information. Battery figures are the manufacturers’ lab values – with ANC and high volume they are often shorter in daily use. When a value is missing we leave it out instead of guessing.
- External reviews
- “Avg. reviews” (out of 100)
- The average of the scores given by magazines and review sites, converted to a 100-point scale. The number of underlying reviews is always shown next to it – an average of a single review carries little weight.
- Customer ratings
- “Customer rating” (out of 5)
- The average star rating from buyers as collected by the price comparison site, with the number of ratings. We show it on the page but don’t mark it up as review stars for search engines, because the ratings aren’t ours.
- Our calculations
- Rankings, pros & cons, headset finder
- Everything we add ourselves is an evaluation of the three sources above – not a hands-on test. How each evaluation works is explained below.
How the lists are ordered
Which models belong in a list is decided by a fixed filter on the spec sheet – say “wireless with a boom mic” or “under 50 euros”. The order within the list comes from popularity at the price comparison site, review scores, customer ratings and the number of retailers. It is recalculated on every data run. The buying guides below the lists are written by hand.
With the sort and filter controls above each list you can reorder it yourself, for example by price or battery life.
How pros and cons are made
The pros and cons on product pages are derived from the spec sheet, compared against similar models: over-ears against over-ears, wireless gaming headsets against each other. “Long battery life” therefore means long for this kind of headset. We only compare where there are at least 20 comparable models. A spec sheet says little about sound, microphone quality or comfort – the external reviews are the better source for that.
How the headset finder recommends
The finder first removes what doesn’t fit: models over your budget, with the wrong form factor or connection, and models that demonstrably don’t work with your console (Bluetooth-only headsets on PS5 or Xbox, for example). It ranks the rest by how many of your wishes they meet according to the spec sheet and by the same data as the lists. Instead of a percentage it shows which wishes are met and which aren’t. If there are too few matches it relaxes constraints and tells you which.
Prices
We show the lowest online price, always with the date it was recorded. Prices are not updated continuously. If a price is older than 45 days we say so – the retailer shows the current price.
How we make money
Links marked with * are affiliate links. If you buy through such a link we earn a commission – as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. There is no extra cost for you. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Found a mistake?
Spec sheets aren’t free of errors, and sometimes a value is missing. Let us know – the contact address is in the imprint.