The Xbox Series X/S wireless headset receives a number of improvements. The latest edition now supports Dolby Atmos and promises over 20 hours of battery life. However, it will also be $10 more expensive than the existing version it will replace on store shelves.
It’s been three years since Microsoft released its first-party wireless headset for the Xbox Series X/S. For only $100 it was a decent and very affordable overall packagebut things have evolved over the past few years and the new, updated version will take advantage of these improvements to hopefully deliver an overall more immersive audio experience across the entire ecosystem of Xbox device platforms, including PC gaming handhelds and smart -TVs that can stream games natively.
Here are the main improvements and additional features announced today:
- Dolby Atmos at no additional cost
- Up to 20 hours of playtime
- The microphone has been upgraded with improved auto mute and voice isolation
- Now features Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth 5.3 is faster and more stable and should cause fewer problems connecting different devices. With party chat moving to Discord and other platforms, the Xbox wireless headset can still operate seamlessly across console channels and smartphone audio channels (at least in theory). Dolby Atmos support should also add a new layer of spatial audio that could be great in games like… Hellblade 2For example.
However, saying “no additional costs” is a bit misleading. While the overall $10 price increase for the device could simply be due to inflation, at the end of the day it’s clear that while the entire package is better, it’s not free. One of the cheapest gaming headsets (at least for Xbox, since they don’t work well with other consoles) is now a little cheaper.
It is far from the first price increase in the gaming sector this fall. We already have that saw that Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions have been increased before Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Sony recently added $5 off sticker price for new DualSense controllers. Of course, if you don’t mind sounding like you’re shouting games from inside a trash compactor, you can always dust off that old Xbox One chat headset.
