HyperX Cloud Earbuds BN7S2AA

The HyperX Cloud Earbuds III S Red nails comfort with a 95th percentile score and a featherlight 27g build. But the calls score of 23 out of 100 and a total of 37.5 out of 100 make this a tough sell. You're buying a great fit wrapped around a mediocre earbud.

Let's start with what this thing does right. The 14mm driver pushes sound quality to the 62nd percentile, which is solidly middle of the pack. You won't be blown away, but you won't be reaching for the EQ either. The real star is comfort, at the 95th percentile. With ear tips from XS to L, HyperX nailed the fit. At 27g, you'll forget these are in your ears during a long session.

But the mic is where things get rough. The omnidirectional MEMS mic sits at the 40th percentile, and our calls score of 23 out of 100 backs that up. For a product marketed as a gaming companion, that's a problem. Connectivity lands at the 35th percentile, build at 34th, and ANC at 31st. The wired connection is reliable, sure, but there's no active noise cancellation to speak of, and the build feels like it's priced to match the budget category.

Stacked against the competition, the Cloud Earbuds III S Red has a clear identity crisis. The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro and Sony WF-C700N both bring wireless convenience and actual ANC to the table, which this HyperX simply doesn't have. The Nothing Buds 2 and Soundcore P31i offer better all-around packages for similar money. Where the HyperX wins is comfort, that 95th percentile is no joke, and the wired connection means no latency for handheld gaming. But the SoundPEATS H3 and others in this range beat it on sound, build, and mic quality. You're trading a lot for that comfy fit.

Pricing is all over the map depending on where you shop. In the US, you'll see USD 45 to USD 60 across two listings, a USD 15 spread that's worth paying attention to. Newegg has the better deal at the lower end, so don't overpay for the same red earbuds. In Europe, the spread is EUR 8, running EUR 52 to EUR 60 across four listings in Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. The budget score of 46.2 out of 100 suggests you're getting exactly what you pay for, and not a cent more.

The HyperX Cloud Earbuds III S Red lands in a weird spot. Comfort is genuinely best-in-class, sitting at the 95th percentile in our database, which is wild for a budget wired earbud. But the total score of 37.5 out of 100 tells the real story: this is a one-trick pony, and that trick is fitting in your ear really well.

You get a 14mm driver, a single omnidirectional MEMS mic, and a 27g build that disappears once it's in. The wired connection means zero lag and no batteries, which is great for handheld gaming. But the gaming score of 37.7 and a calls score of 23 out of 100 suggest HyperX spent the whole budget on ear tips and forgot about everything else.

Skip these if you care about call quality or build durability. The calls score of 23 out of 100 is one of the weakest we've seen in this category, and the build quality at the 34th percentile means these won't survive much abuse. If you need something for work calls or daily commuting, look elsewhere. The ANC at the 31st percentile is basically nonexistent, so noisy environments will bleed right through.

If comfort is your only priority and you're gaming on a handheld where wired zero-lag matters, the HyperX Cloud Earbuds III S Red makes a case for itself. The 95th percentile comfort score is genuinely impressive, and the 27g weight is a real advantage. But the calls score of 23 out of 100 and the gaming score of 37.7 out of 100 are hard to ignore. For most people, there are better options at this price point that don't ask you to sacrifice sound, build, and mic quality just to get a good fit.