My ~10 year old laptop is on its last legs due to the case starting to fail, so I finally bit the bullet and invested in a new gaming laptop (Lenovo Legion 7).

I'm not a serious gamer anymore, and most of the gaming I do now is on the Xbox Series X anyway. This laptop will be used for web browsing and streaming video 90% of the time. But I wanted the ability to play the occasional newer game on PC, including stuff like Baldur's Gate 3 where mouse + keyboard is a better option than controller, or for PC/PS5 exclusive games that aren't available for Xbox.

The built-in speakers are decent, but being a laptop they are never going to be great (or certainly anywhere near my Sonos Atmos system in my living room). However, I figure a decent headset could help with that, so I'd like to invest in a mid-tier quality headset for use when gaming on this laptop, or potentially for things like plane rides to watch movies using this headset.

Since it's not something I'm going to be using 24/7, I'd like to keep it around $100.

Audio quality and surround/positional audio effects are more important to me than mic quality, since I rarely ever play multiplayer with active chat and I don't ever plan on livestreaming.

Compatibility with my Xbox Series X would be a plus, so I could use it with that as well as times, but not an absolute requirement.

Knowing nothing about gaming headsets, I started doing a little research last night, and based on that limited knowledge am currently leaning towards the Razer Blackshark V2 (~$90), with the Corsair HS65 or the HyperX Cloud III being the slightly cheaper (~$70) alternatives that seemed to stand out.

But what would you recommend? Also, pros/cons of wired vs. wireless?

I’ve been disappointed with Razer products in general as they don’t last. Keyboards, mice, one head set, and the Razer Phone 2. My Hyper Cloud II headset is still going.

Astro A50 work with Xbox and PC.

Excellent set, but not the cheapest. Default settings are excellent, but if you are an audiophile you can use the Dolby app and go nuts too.

I love mine. Bought a set for my son too. I use mine just on my Xbox, my son uses his on PC and Xbox.

Sorry... I didn't read your post well.... You wanted to stay at $100.

Turtle Beach does make make some good sets in your range.

Rogue you have an email

You rock, Lord Vaalic.

My wife thinks highly of Blue Parrot. I don't game so I have no direct knowledge.

I've got a pair of HyperX Cloud Alpha that I've had for about the last x2 years. They've been fantastic. Comfortable in longer gamins sessions. Good audio. Etc. I grabbed a pair right around $70 off amazon.