Should you still buy a gaming headset in 2022?

techradar.com:

Gaming headsets are one of the most common accessories you’ll find being sold in both physical and digital stores, and that's for a good reason. While peripherals such as gamepad controllers, keyboards and mice are often locked into specific systems (or at least may need a workaround to work across all platforms), gaming headsets are used across almost every current generation of consoles, as well as gaming PCs.

This makes them easy to sell to folks who are buying their first system, be that a PS5, an Xbox Series X (or Series S), or new PC gamers. Heck, even the Nintendo Switch can support a gaming headset when in docked mode, despite not being a platform known for competitive games that benefit from live communications. 

Thing is, even the best gaming headsets will typically offer convenience over quality. Audiophiles will need to splurge on something seriously expensive if you want something that can rival the quality of a semi-decent pair of headphones, and even the best microphones built into these gaming headsets pale in comparison to relatively cheap USB microphones.

That convenience is nothing to sniff at of course – if you enjoy gaming on a couch then setting up a more dedicated solution is more of a pain than it’s worth, unless you’re planning on streaming to platforms like Twitch or YouTube. I say this because the quality of your audio is one of the most important factors in live streaming as nobody wants to listen to someone who sounds like they’re talking from inside a box. Radio and TV presenters sound that good for a reason after all.

As such, the following advice probably won’t come as a surprise, but if you’re buying a new system for yourself or a loved one and you know this will be set up on a desk or table,