Corsair HS35 SURROUND v2 Multiplatform Gaming Headphone

Floating headbands are a game-changing design choice when it comes to comfort. However, when it comes to CORSAIR products, they’ve only been present on our HS80 and HS80 MAX headsets, which may be too expensive for some. So, we decided to fit a floating headband into our budget lineup with the HS35 v2, allowing the comfort benefits to trickle down, so to speak.

The advantage of a floating headband over a traditional one is that the elastic nature of the band distributes the weight of the headset more evenly. This means that the headset feels lighter than it normally would and can really extend the time it takes for the user to feel fatigued.

Additionally, because of the elastic, it can self-adjust to a certain extent. For example, those who intermittently wear hats will know that a normal set of headphones must be loosened slightly when wearing a hat, then tightened up after the headwear is removed.

Not so with a floating headband, as the elastic provides enough slack to cover the effective head size increase that comes with wearing a hat. People who don’t wear hats will think this is pointless, but the hat enjoyers out there already know that this is a really strong side benefit of the floating headband design. Of course, you can still manually adjust the headband if you need to.

One of the strongest benefits of a headset that uses a 3.5mm jack is that it results in basically universal compatibility. No drivers, no proprietary USB codecs, just slap the 3.5mm jack into the PC, phone, console, or controller and you’re done. (It’s worth noting here that the HS35 v2 is compatible with PS5’s 3D Audio with or without the USB dongle that comes with the HS32 SURROUND v2.) Speaking of which, let’s talk about that dongle and the benefits of going with the slightly more expensive SURROUND variant that ships with it.