Corsair HS60 HAPTIC Headphones Review

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC Stereo Gaming Headset are gaming-oriented headphones. They look similar to the Corsair HS60, but the 'Arctic Camo' design surrounding the ear cups offers a unique look. While they come with a boom microphone, you can remove it for a more casual look.

These headphones are comfortable. They're comfortable enough to wear for longer gaming sessions without feeling a lot of fatigue, as the ear cups and the headband are well-padded. However, they're quite bulky, and they feel a bit heavier than the Corsair HS60, which some listeners may not enjoy.

The controls are middling. There's a mute/unmute button, which feels clicky and offers audible voice feedback so you know when you change the setting. There's also a haptic bass slider wheel on the right ear cup and a volume wheel on the left ear cup. The haptic bass wheel has notches to help you know when you've reached the minimum or maximum setting. However, the volume wheel is infinite, so you don't know when you're at max volume.

Update 05/19/2021: We have tested the breathability of these headphones.

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC have mediocre breathability. They trap in some heat, which could make your ears warm over time. While they shouldn't make you sweat more if you're wearing them while gaming at home, it may bother you if you're wearing them during physical exercise, although they're not intended for this purpose.

They have disappointing portability. They're big and bulky, so they may not fit easily into your bag. Also, they don't fold into a more compact format, which can be disappointing.

These headphones don't have a case or pouch.

These headphones have an impressive build quality. The body is mostly made of plastic, with aluminum-like hinges. There's faux leather padding on the ear cups and the headband, and a braided cable. Overall, the materials feel quite solid and durable.

These headphones are fairly stable. They shouldn't fall off your ears during casual gaming sessions. However, they aren't suitable to wear during low-intensity workouts, as small shakes can cause the headphones to move around.

• Corsair HS60 HAPTIC Stereo Gaming Headset
• Detachable boom microphone
• Manuals

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC have a bass-heavy sound profile suitable for listening to thumpy, punchy music genres like EDM and hip-hop. You feel the deep thump and rumble from sound effects in action-packed video games, too. However, vocals and lead instruments may sound a bit weak or distant.

Note: We tested these headphones on the low Haptic setting, as these results were closest to our target curve. You can see the compare results from the Low, Medium, and High Haptic settings here.

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC have disappointing frequency response consistency. The bass and treble delivery are inconsistent, so they may perform differently depending on their fit, seal, and positioning.

These headphones have reasonable bass accuracy. The range is overemphasized, so you really feel the deep thump and punch in action-packed scenes. However, audio can also sound boomy and muddy. You can also use the haptic bass slider to add more bass if you like.

These headphones have good mid accuracy. The low-mids are overemphasized, so vocals and lead instruments can sound cluttered and muddy. However, the mid-mids are balanced, so vocals and lead instruments are still present in the mix. Also, the dip in the high-mids can make those same instruments weak and distant.

These headphones have satisfactory treble accuracy. Vocals and lead instruments may not be very clear due to the dip in the low-treble. The peak in the mid-treble can make sibilants like cymbals sound harsh or piercing.

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC have decent peaks and dips performance. The peak across the high-bass and low-mid ranges can make audio sound muddy, boomy, and cluttered, while the slight dip in the mid-mids nudges vocals and lead instruments towards the back of the mix. The dip in the high-mids can make those same instruments sound weak or distant. The uneven low-treble can make instruments alternately harsh or veiled, while the peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants piercing and painful.

These headphones have very good imaging. Their weighted group delay falls mostly below the audibility threshold, resulting in a mostly tight bass and transparent treble. Also, the L/R drivers of our test unit are well-matched in amplitude and phase response. However, there's some minor frequency mismatch, so objects like footsteps or voices in the stereo image may not be accurately placed or localized. Note that these results are only valid for our test unit, so your experience may vary.

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC Stereo Gaming Headset have a fair passive soundstage. There's some interaction with the outer ear, which helps create a spacious and open soundstage. However, it doesn't seem as open or speaker-like as that of open-back gaming headphones.

These headphones support Windows Sonic Spatial Audio, but we don't currently test its performance.

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC have a decent weighted harmonic distortion performance. At normal listening volumes, there are a few peaks in the treble range, but most of the audio reproduction is clean and pure. Fortunately, there isn't a large jump in THD at max volume, except for in the low-mid to high-bass range. However, this may be difficult to hear with real-life content.

These are the settings we used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when using these settings.

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC have poor noise isolation. They struggle to block out bass-heavy noises like bus and plane engines as well as the sound of people talking nearby. They perform a bit better against background noise in the treble range, like the hum of AC units.

Their leakage performance is mediocre. If you listen to audio at higher volumes, people around you may be able to hear it even if you're in a noisy environment, which can be annoying.

Update 05/19/2021: Thanks to user feedback, we tested whether the haptic bass bleeds into the mic. In order to do this, we calibrated the headset to 100dB, and ran three sweeps using the haptic bass at low, medium, and high strength. We also did two passes while streaming high-intensity gameplay in order to recreate real-life use of the headset and mic. You can see our results here. The mic picks up the haptic bass, particularly when using this feature at medium to high settings. For people on the other end of the line, this feedback sounds like vibrations from a controller or as if your TV's speakers were on in the background. However, this doesn't change the scoring of our results.

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC have a detachable, flexible boom microphone.

The microphone's recording quality is impressive. Your voice sounds deep and full-bodied to your teammates on the other end of the line.

The mic's noise handling performance is amazing. Even if you're gaming in a lively home environment, whoever's on the other end of the line should be able to understand you.

These wired-only headphones don't require a battery.

Like the Corsair HS60 PRO SURROUND, these headphones are compatible with Corsair iCUE software. You can use the software to access a graphic EQ and presets, which lets you customize the sound profile to your liking. You can also adjust the microphone levels and sidetone.

These headphones are wired-only.

The Corsair HS60 HAPTIC Stereo Gaming Headset come with a USB-A audio cable that offers very low audio latency. As a result, they're suitable for gaming over a wired connection.

You can plug these headphones into your PC or PS4 controller for full audio and microphone compatibility.

These headphones aren't compatible with Xbox One consoles.

These headphones don't have a dock.