The OXS Storm A2 is a gaming headset that piqued my interest when I was presented with the opportunity to review it. On the one hand, it looked like it offered some solid features that ticked a lot of the right boxes for an all-rounder. But on the other hand, there were aspects to it that left me wondering whether its near-$130 price tag is justified.
Fortunately, I have been able to test the Storm A2 for myself to see if those minor reservations turned out to be nothing or if they ended up being justified. I cover it all and more in this comprehensive review.
Design and Build Quality
When it comes to design, the OXS Storm A2 doesn’t scream “gamer” at you, but honestly, that’s a big plus in my book. The version I tested comes in a steel-like grey and black combo, and rather than being loaded with the usual RGB trim, this headset feels sleek, understated, and quite refined. In my opinion, you can just as easily wear it out and about like a normal pair of over-ear headphones without looking like you’ve stepped out of a LAN party.
The materials feel pretty great, too. You’ve got a metal headband for durability, matte plastic ear cup housings to keep weight down, and plush leatherette padding both on the headband and around the earcups for comfort. Nothing feels flimsy or like it’ll snap on you, and the mix of materials strikes a good balance between sturdy and wearable.
Flexibility is also solid. The headband has enough give to comfortably fit a wide range of head shapes and sizes without feeling like it’s clamping too hard, or like it's about to snap. That flexibility also adds a bit of confidence that this thing will last through daily use.
What I also really appreciate is the approach to onboard controls. Instead of cramming in every function imaginable, OXS has gone for four simple, distinct buttons. You get your volume controls and power button on the left earcup, each one shaped slightly differently so you can tell them apart by touch alone, while the right cup features a button to toggle the ANC and EQ presets.
Overall, I think the Storm A2 is pretty spot on design-wise. It seems like it has been built to last while also being clean and unflashy enough for daily use outside of your gaming setup.
Connectivity and Compatibility
The OXS Storm A2 comes well-prepared on the connectivity front, at least on paper. You’ve got four options: Bluetooth 5.4, a USB-A dongle, a USB-C dongle for 2.4GHz low latency, and a straightforward USB-C wired connection. This means it’s officially compatible with PS4, PS5, PC, Switch, and mobile devices, covering pretty much all the bases (bar Xbox) you’d expect from a modern headset.
What I really like is the clever little design with the USB-A and USB-C dongles. They actually stack into each other, which not only saves space but also keeps everything neat and in one simple package. Using the dongles is also simple — plug one into your console or PC, power on the headset, and you’re good to go.
That said, I did run into some headaches when testing Bluetooth connectivity. I just couldn’t get it to work properly, as the headset didn’t show up at all on my phone, and while it appeared on my laptop, every attempt to pair failed. I tried multiple times, but it never connected successfully. Maybe this is a firmware issue, or something blocking the connection on my end, but it’s definitely worth flagging, as I feel a lot of people are going to run into a similar issue.
Comfort and Fit
The OXS Storm A2 does a lot right in the comfort department, though it isn’t flawless.
Let’s start with the positives: the cushioning on both the earcups and the headband is incredibly soft and squidgy. For me, the top of the headband is often a pressure point with most headsets, but here it felt well-padded and surprisingly comfortable.
Weight-wise, the headset comes in at around 285 grams on my scales, which is fairly standard for gaming headsets in this category. It’s not feather-light, but it’s not a brick either, though compared to some rivals, it does lean slightly to the heavier side. Weight distribution is handled pretty well overall, though, so it doesn’t feel like the headset is dragging you down.
Where I did run into some issues was with heat build-up. Because the earcups clamp quite snugly around your ears (helpful for the ANC), there’s basically no airflow. This means your ears will warm up fast during long gaming sessions, as they did for me. I had to take breaks while using it, which interrupted gameplay somewhat.
As for adjustability, the headset offers a modest range of extension settings. However, the mechanism felt quite stiff, and it was a little awkward to adjust while actually wearing it. Once I got the fit that suited me best, though, it stayed put and positioned the earcups comfortably where they needed to be.
Audio Quality
Right, time to get to where things really start to matter. Put simply, the OXS Storm A2 delivers a pretty solid audio experience overall, with a few standout strengths, but also some minor drawbacks.
It comes with two distinct sound modes: Surround Mode with Xspace, which creates an immersive 360-degree soundstage for cinematic titles and open-world games, and Standard Mode, which dials things back to deliver more balanced audio for FPS, MOBA, music, and more.
Inside, the headset houses 40mm drivers, which punch well above what you’d expect for the price. The sound is bold, with plenty of presence across genres. Playing FC 25, as I did, the crowd ambience in stadiums felt authentic, while in Rainbow Six Siege, which I also played, gunfire and tactical cues came through loud and precise.
One thing I noticed, though, was with volume levels. Out of the box, the default volume was very loud when the headset was paired with my console, and even when dialed down to the lowest setting, it still felt a touch too high. This isn't a huge issue, but not being able to turn it down to a nice, comfortable, quieter setting is, or at least was, for me, slightly annoying.
Next up, we have the aforementioned Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), which felt pretty impressive. It blocked out a lot of background noise without completely isolating me from my environment, which I preferred. However, the difference in quality of the sound when ANC is on vs. when it's off is quite stark. With ANC active, the sound felt flatter, which is fine if you don't plan to use ANC all the time, if at all, but not great if you need ANC to block out distractions while gaming.
Alongside ANC, OXS includes a Passthrough mode, which is great if you need to stay aware of what’s happening around you. Sound leakage is minimal as well, though people nearby will hear a faint trace of your audio, but nothing too disruptive, at higher volumes.
When putting the headset through frequency tests, I found the bass performance was strong, going as low as around 25Hz before dropping off. However, I didn't really feel like the Storm A2 delivered very powerful bass, which is worth keeping in mind if you're looking to, say, use this headset for music as well as gaming.
Treble performance wasn’t quite as strong, topping out at around 15,000Hz instead of pushing toward 20,000Hz like higher-end headsets. That said, the mids are clear and steady, so dialogue in games, as well as music, comes through quite cleanly.
In terms of gaming performance, positional sound is decent, helping you pick out footsteps or enemy fire in titles like Fortnite. However, fast shifts in sound sometimes feel a little flat, with less smoothness between frequency changes compared to some other headsets I've tested in the past.
Microphone Quality
The Storm A2 packs a 5-microphone array for precise and natural voice pickup in a detachable boom-like mic that features advanced noise reduction and wind suppression. The idea is to keep your voice clear even if you’re in a noisy environment, which is something any gamer who’s tried to call out plays over the sound of a keyboard or background chatter will appreciate.
In practice, I was impressed with the clarity. Voices come through clean and natural, without that muffled, compressed sound you sometimes get from budget headsets. The noise reduction seemed to do its job well, cutting out a good chunk of background noise without making my voice sound artificial or distorted.
The boom mic itself is highly flexible, which is a big plus. You can bend it into just about any position to get it closer to your mouth, or shift it away if you don’t want it right up in your face. However, one thing to be aware of is that it attaches via a 3.5mm jack, and while that makes it easy to remove altogether, it also means the mic can come loose a little too easily if you keep adjusting it.
Battery Life and Charging
OXS claims an impressive 70 hours of playback time here, which puts it right in line with, if not slightly above, many of its rivals in this price range. That’s nearly three full days of constant use, so unless you’re grinding marathon sessions daily, you’ll likely only need to recharge it once a week, if that.
Now, I’ll be honest: I didn’t sit down with a stopwatch to test that 70-hour claim, but in my time using the headset, I never once ran into battery issues. The real reassurance, though, comes from the play-while-charging support. If you do happen to run out of juice mid-session, you can just plug it in and keep going without missing out.
As for charging speed, this is where things are a bit unclear. OXS doesn’t make any bold promises about fast charging, and I couldn’t find much detail online either. I assume that it charges at a fairly standard rate, and while that’s fine for most, it would have been nice to see some transparency here. Still, given the decent playback time, you won’t be reaching for the cable often, which makes this less of a deal-breaker.
Price and Value
At $129.99 (£129.99), the OXS Storm A2 sits around the mid-tier price range, with it not exactly budget-friendly, but not premium either.
At this price point, competition is fierce, with headsets like the Razer BlackShark V3, HyperX Cloud III Wireless, and the highly-rated (by our friends at Stealth Optional) SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5, with them all sitting just $20 higher on average. And honestly, those rivals do bring a little extra to the table. The BlackShark V3 has bigger drivers, the Arctis Nova 5 boasts a high-bandwidth chipset with 32KHz/16Bit audio, and the Cloud III generally outperforms the A2 across most categories, at least on paper.
That said, spec sheets don’t always tell the whole story, and in practice, the Storm A2 held its own pretty well during my testing. The sound quality was immersive enough for gaming, the ANC did a solid job of cutting out distractions (even if it slightly flattened the audio), and the headset was comfortable to wear, aside from the heat build-up in the earcups. Add in strong battery life and low-latency wireless options, and you’ve still got a competent all-rounder.
The issue is less about performance and more about value positioning. For me, if the Storm A2 came in at around $20 cheaper, it would easily stand out as a great buy in this category. At its current price, though, I’d call it reasonable value for money — good, but not exceptional, and perhaps worth considering only if you prefer its understated design or specific feature set over its rivals.
Pros and Cons
Here’s a clean breakdown of the pros and cons of the OXS Storm A2:
Pros
- Sleek, understated design that works outside of gaming setups
- Flexible fit with solid onboard controls
- Multiple connectivity options, including a low-latency 2.4GHz dongle
- Decent audio performance with immersive Surround Mode
- Strong ANC and useful passthrough mode
- Impressive 70-hour battery life with play-while-charging support
Cons
- Bluetooth connectivity issues (failed to pair with phone and laptop)
- Ear cups trap heat, leading to discomfort in long sessions
- ANC flattens the sound profile noticeably
- Bass lacks punch, while the trebles are limited to ~15,000Hzthe
- Value is only “reasonable” at the current $129.99 price point
Final Verdict
The OXS Storm A2 is a bit of a mixed bag, though I'd say it leans more towards the good category.
On the one hand, you’ve got a sleek, understated design that doesn’t scream “gamer,” strong durability, and an impressive 70-hour battery life that’ll outlast just about anything else on your desk. The audio is solid too, even if the bass doesn’t exactly blow you away and the treble tops out earlier than I’d like.
ANC is useful, but it does flatten the sound a bit, and comfort takes a hit thanks to the earcups heating up during long sessions. Bluetooth also didn't work during my testing, which holds it back if I can't get it to work in the future.
At $129.99, it’s decent value, but not a must-buy. If it were $20 cheaper, I’d call it an easy recommendation. As it stands, it’s good, just not great.
