SteelSeries Arctis 1 – All-Platform Compatibility – For PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch & Lite, Mobile – Detachable Clearcast Microphone (PlayStation)
ARCTIS 1 PLAYSTATION
Game Everywhere
The Arctis 1 is an all-platform gaming headset that doubles as your on-the-go headphones. With a detachable microphone and sleek low-profile design, enjoy the award-winning performance of Arctis no matter where you are.
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Tuned to Reveal Every Detail
The soundscape of Arctis emphasizes subtle, critical sounds to give you an advantage.
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ClearCast detachable microphone
The Arctis ClearCast bidirectional microphone has superior noise cancellation and clarity.
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On-ear controls
Make easy adjustments on the fly with intuitive controls right on the headset.
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Steel-Reinforced Headband
Built to last with a steel-reinforced headband that easily adjusts to fit all head sizes while remaining lightweight and durable.
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AirWeave Ear Cushions
Athletics-inspired performance fabric AirWeave ear cushions keep your ears cool and dry.
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SteelSeries Mice
Our award-winning gaming mice feature the best optical sensors, RGB illumination, and are compatible with PC and Mac.
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SteelSeries Keyboards
Every SteelSeries keyboard is built to last. Our top gaming keyboards feature industry-leading mechanical switches, per-key RGB illumination, and are all compatible with PC and Mac.
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SteelSeries QcK Mousepads
Designed for performance and durability, SteelSeries’ best-selling mousepads come in a wide variety of styles and sizes, so everyone can find a mousepad perfectly suited to their needs.
SteelSeries has fueled the gaming industry for over 15 years by creating innovative new products, designed specifically for esports and passionate gamers everywhere.
| Dimensions: | 18.46 x 8.73 x 18.87 cm; 288.1 Grams |
| Model: | 61428 |
| Origin: | China |
First headphones in decades and i found them comfortable to wear and clear sound. im not a gamer or an audiophile, but for basic usage i do enjoy using them.
The charge lasts for ages, well at least for my usage.
i bought a second pair for my son for gaming and he loves them as they are wireless he has more freedom to move around.
Purchased these on a black friday deal, so it was managble to buy them and im not dissapointed with the quality or the amount of additional cables should i need them
The sound quality is much much better than others make out online – the connectivity isn’t 100% there are some slight issues with maintaining full audio playback but it is only for a second that you lose connection before it comes back. Connecting to Xbox was simple and foolproof. Being able to completely customise how you want the headphones to perform is exactly why I love SteelSeries – would definitely recommend for someone who wants a high performance headset without the huge price tag
Ive been using this headset on a daily basis now for a few months and I have zero complaints, they are comfortable to wear, sounds d great and just tge right amount of noise cancellation for me. I can hear my partner chatting next to me but can turn her down if needed 🙂
Wow. I thought I’d take a chance amd splash out. I will never look back. Best set of ears I’ve ever had . Light ro wear. Amazing settings controls and mic. Charge quick amd last 20 hours soild gaming.
This headset is great for gaming and out of all of the headsets that I have owned this is by far the best headset I have owned. The sound quality is very detailed and very immersive, sometimes I actually feel like I’m in the game. The volume control is amazing as it is very to easy to adjust the volume.
The quality of this headset is absolutely incredible for the price, it fits perfectly and feels secure. When wearing these they aren’t overly heavy, but they do have a premium feel to them. Although they aren’t premium at all! Honestly really taken back by these, I actually had the steelseries artic 7 and I feel the 7P+ is the perfect upgrade. Absolutely love the fact I can use these on my PS5 & PC, definitely recommend connecting to PC first for the firmware update.
Headset is decent quality, sound and material. Only downside is the ear cups are abit shallow so can cause pain on your ear after a bit, helps with a hood on but not ideal, saying that you can position them to feel more comfortable.
Bought these to use with PS5. They look great. Sound great and feel great. Easy set up and linking to PS5. Pull out mic and really stylish. Glad i opted for these over official sony ones.
pleasantly surprised by these, they are light, comfortable and have a very good battery life. The sound has a lot more “treble” than i am used to (coming from razer krakens) so after a bit of EQ faffing with the Sonar software has made it better to listen to, the mic is serviceable but i use a Rode mic so dont really have the use of them i just wanted a decent wireless headset, i did get them on offer for 125 and feel like they are worth that, full price? not so much, would recommend if you are looking for a good wireless headset with decent battery life and half decent sound
I was looking for a wireless headset after using wired for so long. I originally bought the Razer blackshark from amazon expecting the 2023 version but instead was given the 2020 version and the microphone was terrible and the 2023 version was out of my price range.
I bought this headset for less than what I originally spent on the Razer 2020 BS and it is better in every way.
The microphone on this is far better out the box but can be improved once you install the steelseries sonar software. The sound on the headset is fantastic and is very comfortable as well.
I can move about my living space without the headset disconnecting and the battery seems to be accurate to be about 25-30 hours.
Would definitely recommend.
Quite lightweight, good sound and provides good directional feedback in ear. Can get quite warm as closed back and are not open headphones. Good customisation available for audio mixing. Mic also good
Battery lasts quite a bit, the mic is good and it sounds good, overall quality is good, not the comfiest but still comfortable, quite expensive though as competitors such as turtle beach provide good quality for lower prices
I Bought these, after a lot of indecision & procrastination, over the newer model as the reviews for those were a bit “meh”, to free me from the tangle of cable, and to enable fairly swift change from PS5 to PC.
Over what I was using (Hyper X, these were great too), the sound quality is like listening to speakers instead of headphones – by this I mean there is depth (at least while using the Steel Series Sonar App, haven’t tried on PC without).
3D Audio is great on PS5 (haven’t tried on PC yet), only tiny downside there is you’ll need to plug in the included transmitter/receiver dongle, which is hardly a problem. I was a bit dubious, although even the PS5 set up app is pretty clear as to where things are coming from, but in Call of Duty Footsteps, gunfire etc. all seem to be coming from where you’d expect in the 3D environment, rather than just left or right.
Gaming is brilliant, Listening to music just blew me away & prompted me to write this review.
PROs:
Audio Quality, well balanced
7.1 Virtual is awesome
Gaming is great
Music listening is amazing
Sonar App is good,
Head strap adjustment was a doddle
all the controls are sensible size & well positioned
CONs:
not sure if I can connect to iPhone (but don’t really care as I have other devices for that)
a tad expensive, but I don’t mind paying for quality when it delivers.
haven’t come across anything yet that has given cause for concern.
Tried alot of headphones over the years and always seem to have issues with battery life and comfort. THese Arctic 7P+ Finally tick the boxes. 30 hours battery life, compatable with PS straight out the box and comfort of the the ear pads are excellent. Would highly recommend these to anyone looking for a great pair of headphones and dont want to pay through the roof for them. Also, using steelseries software you can tweak the sound EQ and save preset to headphones.
so after a few months of using I’ve noticed that the battery is not as good as it used to be maybe getting 10-12 hours use on full charge on low volumes for 200 id expect a bit longer personally also i don’t know why on such an expensive headset they wouldn’t have usb type c it does annoy me a little, although the comfort of these headphones are phenomenal along with the quality of sound although sometimes for in game chat my audio is noticeably poorer than when i use discord all in all a great headset and would recommend if on sale.
The design is very smart; mainly white with a couple of black and blue accents.
The way it sits on the head makes it very comfortable and it can be easily adjusted.
Really good button placements make it fairly quick to get familiar with the headset thus easy to adjust settings without looking.
Audio quality is fantastic: Dialogue being clear, decent audio range, nice bass and 3D audio works very well too (superb for games like CoD).
I got instant compliments when I switched to this headset; my friends said my voice was crisp and easy to understand.
I LOVE the sidetone feature and how easy it is to adjust the sensitivity.
With the battery life lasting around 30 hours, makes this headset very reliable.
Neutral:
Quite an odd shape for the wireless dongle; it’s a bit impractical and I don’t get why they shaped it in such a way.
Cons:
When the dongle is inserted to the PS5, the console automatically thinks a headset is connected even when the headset is not powered on, so you have to manually switch over to TV audio on the PS5 or unplug the dongle.
This review is based on usage with an Xbox Series X via Xbox Wireless Protocol and a PC/Phone via Bluetooth
Pros:
Excellent sound quality
Direct Xbox connection with Wireless Protocol (same as Xbox Controller)
Dual Input via BT&XBWP simultaneously works well
Premium materials
Excellent battery life
Cons:
Can sometimes randomly stutter and turn off, either immediately after turning on or after a period of usage
Cup brackets can snap internally and become flimsy/click, potentially affecting usage while being worn
Ear cups are not too deep, so bigger ears will touch the speaker covers
Honestly the best and most comfortable headset I’ve ever used with the “gaming” label. These are very very high end in every way. For example they make the Sony PlayStation Gold headset feel horrible.
I have larger ears and this headset is honestly the most comfortable one I’ve ever worn. The cups are a good size for a man’s head and also have soft material rather than plastic feeling leather or faux leather. The adjustable strap makes it possible to fit all heads and hairstyles or hats.
Honestly if you need a gaming headset this is up there. I have also used this with my gaming laptop and the audio works perfectly.
Haven’t tried the paid Xbox audio yet as the included software/profile works great but for audio files there is an extra paid service for true 7.1 but I haven’t felt it was needed even slightly.
Don’t bother with the official Xbox one’s. Get these and don’t have buyers remorse. Also being able to use with pc and Xbox with Bluetooth without a dongle makes them 10/10 🙂
Previously had a pair of DT770 pro’s which where great however I was getting annoyed with them being wired, finally decided to try out a pair of wireless headsets.
Did a bunch of research and found this pair was pretty much the best mid range headset for gaming, sound quality is great, it has the lowest latency that I could find in a headset anywhere, very comfortable, decent battery life.
I’ve used it for just under a week now and I’m very happy, every forum I looked through regarding wireless headsets was always filled with people recommending steelseries headsets and now I understand why. It feels high quality, the sound is identical, if not better in terms of bass than the DT770’s (I’m in no means an expert in sound stuff, just sounds better to me).
On a full charge the battery easily lasts for a full day of gaming/watching netflix etc. I’d recommend doing what I do though and plugging the charger in whenever you’re away from your PC for more than a few mins so it’s constantly topped up.
Haven’t experienced any real downsides, the headset strap is easily adjustable, and though the velcro part of the strap doesn’t seem to offer much wiggle room in terms of adjusting, the velcro holds on well to just the strap material itself so no issues there.
I don’t really use the mic as I have a quadcast on a boom arm, but I did test it a fair bit and whilst it’s not the best mic, it’s definitely a solid 7/10, you’d have no issues at all with using the mic as a daily driver.
Overall I’d give this headset a hearty 9/10, was a bit weary of the price tag but considering the pure quality and well thought out design it earns it. And from what I’ve read via reviews etc. I have no doubt this headset will last for a very long time.
in my opinion these are great headphones but im in no way a person who knows much about audio but i think theyre really comfy sound great and have a great battery life. only gets 4 stars due to the scare i had of them breaking but i think it was just user fault but i dont know. i had to hard reset them and they “work” again but they might not have even been broken to start with. personally i love them, just maybe watch them for the first month for refund if needed, i have 5 days left before i cant and im gonna be watching them and see how they do.
Headset is good and comfortable, good sound and all, no issues with it when its working.
The only thing i hate about it, is that when my battery runs out, almost 90% of the time it wont work after, even when connecting it to charging cable, it simply wont start charging, or it will and when i try to turn it on after charging for some time, it will go in random broken mode where the power led isnt on, but the mic mute led will be on and it gets stuck in this. After that i need to spend like 30 minutes fixing it by pressing the factory reset button, but since it wont always work, i need to repeat the process like 10 times until it does. The only thing the customer support were able to help with was “do factory reset” and I’ve opened 2 tickets about the same issue already and after that i just found it pointless. It is really furstrating having to always keep battery in check out of fear that the headset one day wont just turn on and having to remember every time i leave it to turn it off is a drag. Its wireless for a reason and battery running out should break the whole headset. I am wondering if to give 3 or 4 stars just because of this issue i keep encountering.
This issue aside, headset is 5/5 for me (when you get it on sale for at least 120 and under, as earcups are shallow and will need some extra money to buy a replacement, but i already had one so it was no biggie for me), and since this the only minus i have with them is the battery issue, which honestly sometimes just makes me want to throw the headset out of the window and buy something else instead, so I am giving it a 4/5.
Got this on a like new from Amazon warehouse.
Got a bit of a tangle on the pricing but that is not the point in this review.
Moving onto the review.
Box is easy to get into. In there I found only a headset and a micro usb cable.
My use case is use Xbox wireless dongle to connect to PC for gaming and Bluetooth for work calls.
Xbox wireless dongle connection is simple. Start pairing on dongle and hold power button on headset for 6 seconds. Paired immediately. Zero drop or lag on a 2 hours session on Destiny 2.
Bluetooth connection is similar, but turn on headset first then hold Bluetooth button for 6 seconds. Showed up immediately on my Google pixel. Minimal drops (counted 3 times over 8 hours).
Sound quality wise, there is quite a bit of bass. Good for shooting games I guess. Also pretty good for the RPG music scores.
No report from my work colleagues on not hearing me clearly so I presume mic is working fine.
This ticked all the boxes for me.
I can foresee the hinges on the rotator is likely to break in the future. Time will tell how it long lasts.
For now I ll enjoy the headset.
I have now had this headset for 4-5 years and its still working strong.
What “bad stuff” happened within theses years:
I had to replace ear cushions once (but thats on me). Quite a big drawback is if you want to buy ear cushions from SteelSeries themselfs and you live in the UK, the Shipping cost is WAAAAY too much, luckily after a couple of emails to SteelSeries support for my first replacement i got a free set of ear cushions with free shipping is so great. I even used this free shipping to buy a another spare ear cushions and cable with my own money just to be future proof.
The right ear hinge did break a bit, making it swivel the ear cup a bit more then usual and volume wheel is not as smooth has it once was but to be fair thats after me dropping it at least 4 times over the years so I think thats way and its still all working.
The head strap is now completely gone out of shape but I still feel comfortable wearing it.
What I liked:
The natural isolation is good enough to keep focus on what you are doing but not so much to block someone across the room saying something to try to grab your attention or the noise from someone knocking on the door (is a good thing in my case).
The volume and mute controls are so good when using discord or in video calls, the professional style makes it look great wherever or whatever you are doing, the retractable micphone has been so handly.
What I don’t like:
You may have a different experience, say that I could only wear this continuously for 6 hours max (or so) until I feel pain around my ears from the pressure of the headset ear cups and I HATE any proprietary anything (unless their is a good reason) and their cable is one from them so to make sure I won’t have a unusable headset because of a broke cable and brought another cable just in case. If they haven’t change it yet CHANGE IT! to a 3.5mm jack (I know it has a 3.5mm jack port but unsure what the functionality of that port can do, this still doesn’t excuse having their own proprietary cable/port in the first place).
Final words:
Great in 2019 and still being great today, worth the money but dislike not being able to buy replacements from the official store due to the 20 (or so) shipping cost. This is still not perfect so I still recommend looking elsewhere and see your options that are out since 2019.
Pros:
– Microphone. Nice and clear, dedicated mute button, and easy to deploy/retract. Never had an issue of friends being unable to hear me in Discord.
– Sound. It’s a gaming headset, and it makes games sound good. It’s not the highest audio tier because that’s not what you’re paying for.
– Audio mixing. The ability to mix between “chat” and “game” is a amazing feature and I wish more headsets had this! I can very easily balance the audio from discord and the game I’m playing on the fly, which has become such an integral part of how I play games now I’m not going to go back to a single audio channel solution anytime soon. I thought it would be a bit of a gimmick but turns out the be the best feature.
Battery. Lasts in my experience 20 hours without a charge, which for someone like myself that is online for maybe 4 hours an evening is perfect as I can charge it pretty much once a week. Not had it die on me yet!
Cons:
– Not for big heads. My head is apparently a little larger than most, and therefore I have the adjustment strap adjusted all the way to the end, in fact I’ve only got half of the velcro attached! I haven’t noticed this to be uncomfortable, however if I knew this in advance I wouldn’t have purchased this.
Verdict – It’s a great headset and the audio mixing isn’t just a gimmick but a major plus point, however sadly I can only recommend this to people with smaller or “normal” sized heads 🙁
The headphones connect well to everything PS5, MacBook phone etc. The sound quality is really good. I wish there was a phone app to tweak the sound settings like turtle beach have. You have to connect to a computer to alter the settings.
As already mentioned, the big downside is the comfort of the ear pads. The material is scratchy and itchy, on the skin on the side of your face. I noticed that after a wearing them for a little while 15-20 mins they started to feel uncomfortable. I don’t suffer with any allergies or skin sensitivity whatsoever. The ear pads are actually slight too small for me. I don’t have big ears but after a few hours these begin to become painful/achy. I reached out to steelseries via twitter and had no reply at all.
I’m probably going to end up having to spend 20 on a better set of ear pads, which isn’t great when I’ve only just bought them. They are not the most expensive headset around but they aren’t exactly cheap either. I’ll probably opt for cooling gel ear pads if I’m forced to upgrade.
I’m confident these will be more comfortable once I have some third party ear pads but I wish I’d known beforehand and could have factored the extra cost into my decision to buy. If you’re going to buy these, see if you try them on somewhere first.
Las almohadillas son bastantes comodas no son de plastico ese barato que tienen muchos auriculares que se pela al tiempo o da calor en las orejas.
I’ve found the headset to be very comfortable with pin sharp audio. It has been the best headset I have used.
Bought these when they dropped in price to 25 and I’ve been really impressed with the audio quality.
The build feels a little cheap but then that’s what you’re paying for if you get a pair of these, and as long as you’re not a child likely to launch them across the room the next time you get eliminated in Fortnite then I’m sure the build quality won’t be an issue.
Very comfortable and very good sound and mic, for the price. I bought these for my daughter to use on her PC and Xbox to play and chat with friends on Discord, they were 27.99. I already owned the Arctis 5 so I thought these would be worth a try. She’s very happy with them and the mic works very well.
Elegant design and top notch sound quality good for fps and bass dosnt distort when listening to dnb on full volume. Hopefully stand the test of time but so far so good.
Bought them for work, all good. Can’t say anything about gaming, never tried.
Got this for the kids so they can play ps4 quietly. It does the job and the kids find it comfortable and easy to use.
perfect for videocalls.
mic quality superb. For videocalls.
Sound super clean.
Strong quality.
The second one in the house. The kids are happy.
niveaux son franchement rien a signal je suis pas un audiophile mais j’ai eu pas mal de casque gamer d’on mon dernier le g733 a quant mme 150 euro) et le son ces ce qui m’apport le plus et la pas dus.de base j’utilise le logiciel Dolby Atmos sur tout mais casque et sur call off Duty Vanguard ou Warzone j’ai pas t dus voir surpris de la qualit audio pour moi il t juste parfait ni trop de Bass ni trop d’aigu et la on et videment pas sur du Bose a 3 ou 400 euro quoi que ce genre de casque et plus pour de l’coute musical mais tous a pour dire que niveau son a 40 euro on trouve je pense clairement pas mieux ailleurs et quant on achte un casque le rendu audio et la chose la plus importante en tout cas pour moi.
le confort rien a dire le casque et lger et ne me drange pas plus que a mme aprs 1 ou 2 heur d’utilisation.
sont plus sera videment son cot sobre et le fait de pouvoir rabattre les couteur en cas d’inactivit et videment son micro dtachable qui nous permettra si on veut l’utilis pour ce dplac avec en balade.
pour conclure ils aurait opt pour une petite tlcommande pour rgl le son et le mute du micro directement intgr au cble et non sur le casque en lui mme aurait juste t parfait pour moi donc au finale oui je recommande ce casque mais a voir si il tiendra dans le temp genre 1 ou 2 ans serait correcte. et merci au gens qui auront eu le courage de lire mon avis jusqu’ la fin
Ps pour la petite anecdote j’ai reu le casque avec le raccord de cble pc manquant et Amazon comme a son habitude service client le plus efficace au monde ma de suite recommand le mme casque reus le lendemain et ce fameux cble raccord pc micro t toujours pas prsent et aprs inspection de la boite on s’aperois qui sont tout simplement retir ce raccord du produit qui je prcise t bien prsent au lancement sur le march de ce mme produit donc au finale il te vende un casque Gamer avec un micro inutilisable sur pc.
Un sonido emvolvente genial 10/10, se nota mucho la cencelacin de ruido en el microfono, las almuadillas no dan calor y el microfono es un 9/10. Lo mejor es su diseo, sonido, comodidad y mas importante su precio.
Compr estos auriculares porque estaban reacondicionado (pero sin uso) y con promocin me salieron casi regalados,poco ms de 13.
Adems de que me gusta la marca y tengo el ratn de la misma.
Habitualmente uso unos Havit (chinos) que compr por 24 creo recordar.Asi que ms baratos que estos Steelseries.
Comparando los dos indico los detalles que marcan la diferencia entre uno y otro.
-Calidad de construccin y materiales:
Para mi ganan los Havit con mucha diferencia.Pesan ms,eso s.Pero es que llevan bastante ms metal que los Steelseries.Eso le da una sensacin de calidad y resistencia superior.
El cable de los Steelseries es de goma,fino y no lleva el adaptador de pc.Es decir,solo trae un Jack 3,5mm para consola o mviles.
El chino lleva dos conectores independientes,para audio y micro e incluye un adaptador a un solo Jack para consola.Ademas su cable es ms grueso y recubierto.
-Ergonomia y comodidad
Tengo una cabeza pequea y los Steelseries cerrados al mximo me bailan.No es que se me caigan,pero no se me cien a la cabeza como los Havit.
Los controles de volumen y apagado del micro en los Steelseries van en el auricular izquierdo,algo que a m no me resulta demasiado cmodo.
En los Havit va en el cable lo que hace que sea ms accesible.
En las almohadillas ganan,para mi gusto los Steelseries.Son de una tela fina y cmoda y los hace menos calurosos que los chinos.
Los dos se adaptan bien en cuanto a giro.Siendo los Steelseries de rotacin horizontal y los Havit vertical.
-Sonido y micro
Para mi suenan los Havit mejor,sobretodo en cuanto a graves,adems de un peln ms de volumen.
Los Steelseries no van mal,las cosas como son.Cuando estas jugando tampoco te paras mucho a apreciar est diferencia.
Los dos llevan micro desmontable y de una calidad similar.Si acaso me quedo el Steelseries por esttica ya que los Havit llevan la tpica espuma que los hace ms feos.
En definitiva,estoy contento porque me han salido muy baratos,pero si los tuviese que pagar a su precio normal me decantara por otras opciones.
Buscaba unos auriculares econmicos multiplataforma y eleg estos Arctis, estoy bastante contento por varias cosas:
– Almohadillas de tela y no “piel”. Son ms frescas y suaves adems de que no se pelan rpido.
– Jack de 3.5 para poder usarlos tanto en Xbox, PS, Switch, tablet, telfono… Un todo terreno.
– Buena esttica, sin luces, diseo simple pero efectivo. Tamao y peso perfectos para mi.
– Sonido bastante bueno, incluso el micrfono se escucha claro aunque algo bajo.
Cosas a mejorar:
– Cable un poco ms largo.
– Deberan aadir el separador de audio para que se puede usar el micrfono en pc sin necesidad de comprar uno. Por suerte tena de unos auriculares antiguos.
En definitiva, unos auriculares con una muy buena relacin calidad/precio. Los recomiendo.
I bought them as a budget option and have been enjoying them quite a bit. I wear glasses and it does at one point become a bit uncomfortable but aside from that, microphone quality and sound quality are very good.
Me he comprado estos cascos ya que me cargu los Logitech G332 por un, en mi opinin, mal diseo (tiene una pieza de metal dentro de una de plstico que rota 45 para mayor comodidad y que se adapte a tu cabeza. A la larga, eso casca, y se te quedan colgando).
En cuanto a estos, son unos cascos la verdad que muy cmodos, y tienen una buena estabilidad en cuanto a que no se te caen o que te aprietan demasiado.
El sonido es alucinante. Pilla los bajos como ninguno. La pega que le veo un poco el micrfono. En este apartado los Logitech se llevan el punto, pero tampoco por mucho. Lo que s est bien guapo es que se pueda quitar, aunque para unos cascos que dudo que alguien los saque a la calle, no le veo el sentido, a no ser que te pilles un micrfono a parte.
Nada, espectaculares. Si tienes un poco ms de budget, pllate estos, que de momento, a m al menos, me van de lujo.
Los compre de oferta por 26, no hay nada mejor a ese precio, buen sonido posicional (Warzone), comodos y buen micro.
A su precio normal hay mas competencia
Son muy cmodos, calidad de sonido ms que decente para el precio que tiene. Volumen no demasiado alto, pero ms que suficiente para el usuario medio.
Tuve un problema por una pieza que faltaba en el embalaje, me puse en contacto con atencin al cliente de SteelSeries y me suministraron la pieza inmediatamente y sin coste alguno.
Lo he estado probando media hora jugando al Spiderman en mi Ps5, y he tenido que poner los auriculares al volumen mximo, y aun as me segua pareciendo flojo. Entiendo que no son unos altavoces de 300 y no le voy a pedir 5.1 y dems virgueras, pero el tema del volumen me parece que es un mnimo que cualquier altavoz debera cumplir, valga lo que valga.
Pensando seriamente en devolverlo.
EDIT: Fallo mo, encontr la solucin aumentando el nivel de volumen de los altavoces desde la configuracin de ps5. Fue error mo y me pareca injusto dejar una review que no se corresponde a la realidad. Subo a 4 estrellas. Los auriculares son normales, correctos para el precio que tienen, me costaron 26.
Estaba buscando auriculares para vdeoconsola, pero no quera gastar 100 como valen la mayora que dicen ser de calidad.
Encontr estos en oferta y me decid por las buenas crticas que tiene la marca.
A falta de hacer pruebas ms intensivas, estoy encantado con la relacin calidad/precio.
Para juegos en general, se escucha fenomenal. Adems, puedes extraer el micrfono, por lo que no estorba si eres principalmente jugador solitario.
De momento, muy contento.
Nota: La versin para Playstation no viene con conector Y. Tenedlo en cuenta antes de comprarlo.
Hay algn usuario que comenta que desde Steelseries le dieron uno. En mi caso solo me han dicho que en este modelo no viene.
Sound quality is overall good, no issue with game or party sound, pretty easy to control which and what you’d like more using the scroll wheels.
The issue arises with the connectivity, and oh dear is it bad many times mid game the headset turns off the audio from both party and game? Not sure as to why since the headset is still on and should be working, leading me to believing it has a difficult time at certain moments keeping its connection with the Xbox. Once you turn the headset off and on again it works again since it reconnects with the Xbox, a very frustrating thing since yeah whilst it is a Bluetooth device, it seems to have greater connection with my phone Bluetooth (iphone) compared to the Xbox (haven’t had the headset disconnect from my phone randomly like it does with the Xbox yet). This actually links to a positive of the headset which is that it can connect to both the Xbox and your phone at the same time, allowing you to watch a video on your phone whilst playing both your game and speaking to your friends on party chat. Other than that I think that I’ve honestly had a better experience with a wired connection purely due to connection sake. The ear cups are comfortably same goes with the stretchy belt, was skeptical at first but it was definitely an improvement from my older headset which put a lot of pressure on my head over long gaming sessions.
Also the Battery is very strange it would seem that the battery depletes at a really fast pace from full charge but then it has really efficient battery towards the orange marker (30% left) strange as I find the last 30% to last the same if not slightly longer than the starting 70% of battery.
Overall I would really consider if the price is good for you honestly it was a little disappointing for me since at the price since I thought I was getting very good quality headphones at a pretty high price when comparing to other headphones however like I mentioned above it has its nuisances.
If you don’t mind the connectivity issues I recommend, however I am also unsure about other brands since this is the first Bluetooth headset I’ve owned so maybe this is a general thing about Bluetooth headsets especially for gaming.
Replacing plantronic Rig headset that broke on me with these and the comfort is so much better. Sound quality is marginally worse but hopefully these wont snap in half like those did after 2 years of use. Suppose only time will tell.
Noise cancellation on these are good. I feel that the ear cups themselves block out a lot of background noise and only very loud noises breakthrough. I wasn’t primarily looking for noise cancellation so can’t complain about this.
Sound quality is very good on these headphones. Did require some setting up in the SteelSeries application but once finished tweaking they sound amazing.
Noise cancellation on these are good. I feel that the ear cups themselves block out a lot of background noise and only very loud noises breakthrough. I wasn’t primarily looking for noise cancellation so can’t complain about this.
Sound quality is very good on these headphones. Did require some setting up in the SteelSeries application but once finished tweaking they sound amazing.
I would have given this 5 stars, but I’m marking it down, because when I sit down on the porcelain, the microphone cannot pick up the noise of my plop….it gets muffled unless I really push one out and give myself a hernia or eat Indian food for a week. So I am marking it down.
Highly Recommended.
I would have given this 5 stars, but I’m marking it down, because when I sit down on the porcelain, the microphone cannot pick up the noise of my plop….it gets muffled unless I really push one out and give myself a hernia or eat Indian food for a week. So I am marking it down.
Highly Recommended.
Lo llevo usando para gaming y multimedia desde aproximadamente 2 semanas y por ahora perfecto.
Son muy cmodos y tienen muy buen sonido envolvente.
La calidad de los materiales se ve muy buena y tienen un acabado elegante. Cuentan con un control que desde los cascos puedes subir o bajar el sonido y mutear el micrfono lo cual lo hace ms prctico. El micrfono se escucha bien y es extrable
Por plantear alguna mejora, que incluyera un divisor para conectar tanto el micro como el sonido.
Habe mich, nach ca. 4 Jahren mit in-ears, entschlossen wieder ein normales Headset auszuprobieren und wollte kein billiges und kein absurd teures Headset dafr kaufen. Mit knapp ber 50 erschien mir das Arctis 1 als guter Mittelweg und ich bin bis jetzt (ca. 2 Monate) nicht enttuscht worden.
Im folgenden versuche ich die Vor- und Nachteile separat ein wenig aufzuschlsseln.
Verarbeitung/Qualitt
+ metallverstrkte Bgel
+ keine scharfen Kanten, wackelige Teile oder Klappern in irgendeiner Form
+ Material ist matter Kunststoff, der ausreichend stabil dimensioniert wurde
+ Polster am Kopfbgel schn weich, aber stabil
+ macht insgesamt einen hochwertigen Eindruck
Funktionen/Design
+ geringes Gewicht
+ gutes, weiches Stoffpolster an den Lautsprechern, ausreichend dick und sehr angenehm an Kopf und um die Ohren, auch ber lngere Zeit
+++ fr Brillentrger gut geeignet, da die Kopfhrer nicht auf die Ohren und damit auf die Brillenbgel drcken
+ Lautstrkerregegler und Stummtaste am linken Hhrer und nicht als Knubbel am Kabel
+ variabel verstellbar, passt sich durch zwei bewegliche Achsen gut an
+ fester Sitz, ohne zu drcken
+ auch fr groe Kpfe und groe Ohren geeignet
+- knnte im Sommer recht warm drunter werden, Frhling war aber kein Problem
– beim Auf-/Absetzen verstellt man mit dem linken Daumen oft die Lautstrke
– keine Ahnung wozu man die beiden Lautsprecher 90 nach hinten drehen kann, aber nur 10 nach vorn
Mikrofon/Sound
+ klarer Sound, kein Rauschen oder Knistern
+ ordentliche Lautstrke, aber kein bersteuern
+ Mikrofon abnehmbar, Klinke 3,5mm
– Ton ist im allgemeinen aber manchmal etwas zu dnn, als wrde ein wenig die “Kraft” fehlen (meine alten in-ears hatten mehr Bass und gefhlt mehr Kraft)
– Kabel ist viel zu Kurz / fr den PC unterm Tisch braucht man eine Verlngerung
– der Klinkestecker beinhaltet Mikrofon und Ton in einem, d.h. am PC braucht man einen Adapter, der aber nicht beiliegt
/// Mikrofon habe ich nicht getestet, weil zum einen das entsprechende Kabel fehlt und ich es wegen meinem externen Mikrofon nicht brauche.
Insgesamt bin ich mit dem Arctis 1 als reiner Kopfhrer bislang absolut zufrieden. Selbst ber mehrere Stunden ist es noch angenehm zu tragen und der Sound ist besser als erwartet. Ich htte mir aber ein bisschen mehr Bass gewnscht.
Dass der Klinkenstecker Mikrofon und Ton in einem ist, ist an sich absolut ok und gut fr Smartphone- oder Notebooknutzer. Aber dann keinen Adapter fr getrennte Anschlsse beizulgen, fr die normale Nutzung an einem PC, verstehe ich absolut nicht.
Fr den aktuellen Preis von ca. 50 Euro macht man aber sicherlich nichts falsch, wenn man einen guten, geschlossenen Kopfhrer sucht.
Good headset, love the deep bass and the detachable mic
Satisfait du produit, le son est excellent, le confort est vraiment parfait. J’aime particulirement la matire utilise pour les oreillettes .
Pros
– Once setup the sound is really crisp and clear with balanced mids and bass.
– battery easily lasts 18 – 20 hours between charges
– I can walk around my entire house with the headset still connected – so easy to go make a sandwich or get a drink between matches.
– mic is clear and is one of the better wireless mics I’ve heard.
– the software is generally light on resources so won’t slow your games down
– the chat/game mix feature is a life saver and really helps you make small adjustments or even mute entire channels without issue.
– no rgb (if you don’t like that)
Cons
– you really have to set the sound up to get the most out of it. Out of the box sound was very tinny with next to no bass for me
– the volume knob is easily knocked and can cause some crackle
– no rgb (if you like that)
– battery is not replaceable like the arctis 9
Pros
– Once setup the sound is really crisp and clear with balanced mids and bass.
– battery easily lasts 18 – 20 hours between charges
– I can walk around my entire house with the headset still connected – so easy to go make a sandwich or get a drink between matches.
– mic is clear and is one of the better wireless mics I’ve heard.
– the software is generally light on resources so won’t slow your games down
– the chat/game mix feature is a life saver and really helps you make small adjustments or even mute entire channels without issue.
– no rgb (if you don’t like that)
Cons
– you really have to set the sound up to get the most out of it. Out of the box sound was very tinny with next to no bass for me
– the volume knob is easily knocked and can cause some crackle
– no rgb (if you like that)
– battery is not replaceable like the arctis 9
I use these for Call of Duty so i can hear foot steps etc. For the money there a good headset with a detachedable mic that can bend however you want it. Nice comfort with controls on the right ear headphone. With option to turn off/on mic.
Moin, habe das Headset jetzt vier Wochen und bin damit sehr zufrieden. Das Preis Leistung Verhltnis ist in Ordnung und msnbekommt ein gut verarbeites Gert. Aber darauf zu achten ist die Kopf Gre!! Hat man einen kleinen Kopf knnte es nicht passen!!!
It is decent for the price. It has good sound and good comfort for the head but the cable is really short, I needed to buy an extension cable just for the headset but other than that it’s good.
Very robust headphone that fits comfortably over the ear. Great quick plug and play mic. Works well with PS4 and Switch.
Trs bon casque pour 50, qualit du son normale (rien de spcial), et bon micro mme si il capte les bruits de fond. Le micro amovible est un avantage, mais il manque la rallonge/adaptateur qui fourni sur le site officiel du fabricant (pour le brancher un PC).
Lger, meme si je le ressens quand il est port. Coussinets trs doux.
Really amazing headset I’ve always wanted a set of steel series these were perfect for gaming and use as normal headphones worth every penny
Die Kopfhrer sind sehr bequem, nicht zu anstrengend fr die Ohren.
Das Kabel ist nur 1,20 Meter Lang und ein extra Splitter-Kabel wird auch nicht mitgeliefert.
Beim Hersteller direkt zahlt man ein paar Euro mehr und erhlt mehr.
Allerdings wurde mir von Amazon eine Gutschrift fr diesen Fehler erstattet.
Die Mikrofon- und Kopfhrerqualitt ist im Vergleich zum Preis perfekt, auch dass man ein Mikrofon extra nachbestellen kann – sofern es kaputt geht – finde ich gut und Nachhaltig.
I listen to a lot of music and at first was disappointed with the overall sound quality compared to the Hyper X 2’s I replaced them with. They sound fairly weak and flat out of the box but after installing the Steelseries Engine software I used these EQ settings to get a more lively and powerful sound, both in games and while listening to music (find picture attached)
I recently had the opportunity to try out the new Logitech Pro X Wireless headset and after 24 hours of use I ended up going back to the Steelseries 1 Wireless, I could get it to sound better and it was a lot comfier for me due to how light it is and how well it sits on the head.
Overall a great buy for anyone that’s looking for a well priced wireless gaming headset, just make sure to play around with the EQ to get the most out of it.
I listen to a lot of music and at first was disappointed with the overall sound quality compared to the Hyper X 2’s I replaced them with. They sound fairly weak and flat out of the box but after installing the Steelseries Engine software I used these EQ settings to get a more lively and powerful sound, both in games and while listening to music (find picture attached)
I recently had the opportunity to try out the new Logitech Pro X Wireless headset and after 24 hours of use I ended up going back to the Steelseries 1 Wireless, I could get it to sound better and it was a lot comfier for me due to how light it is and how well it sits on the head.
Overall a great buy for anyone that’s looking for a well priced wireless gaming headset, just make sure to play around with the EQ to get the most out of it.
sounds great
comfortable
looks nice as well
MUST BUY for 40! 🙂
The ear cups are comfortable and I like the swivel
i bought this headset because i wannted to begin gaming and the sounnd and feel can suparse even beats i highly recommend this product to anyonne
Purchased these so I would have a dedicated pair of wireless headphones for my XBOX X. Previously used Sennheiser Game One (wired). But time and time again the jack port on the controller would end up cutting out the sound. So wireless it was. I looked at numerous products, bought a set of Plantronics RIG 800LX, they were DOA so returned them. Then I looked at gaming DACS to use with my Sennheiser. No dice as feedback was they were great but didn’t work with XBOX chat (unless using on your phone?) So naturally ended up looking at top of the range solutions. So AS50’s were my next port of call. Numerous reviews with people trashing them and others saying they were interstellar sound. My finger must have hovered over the purchase button numerous times. I thought no, 300 quid for some headphones just not paying it.
BUILD QUALITY & AESTHETICS
So I looked at Steelseries. Various products and many reviews later I opted for the 9x. For my first steel series headset must say very impressed with it. Build quality is excellent, A metal headband frame, with a velcro adjusted elastic support band (this comes into contact directly with your head). Almost like a ski goggle band. I think these can be swapped out for other designs if you like to change things up.
The ear cups are closed cup design (I’m used to the soundstage of open back) I prefer open back but these are great at reducing sound bleed so if playing in a room with other people it prevents others hearing them. The microweave cushion is very very soft and so comfortable long gaming sessions and no ear-ache from headphones pressing on your ears (you can buy velour or pleather replacements) . I imagine that depends on the size of your ears. But as a whole my ears fit within the ear cups. As per the headband you can change up the design on the outer part of the cups (purchased separately). Closed cup also prevent external sound getting in, not completely but enough. The earcups swivel so they can be laid flat on a table/shelf when packed away, which is a nice design feature.
The battery life states 20 hours which is pretty accurate. I do have quite long gaming sessions at weekends, 3-4 hours during the day and possibly another 5/6 in the evening. So a single charge will hold. However you will need to keep on top of it. The XBXOX dash has an icon on battery along with the controller.
SOUND
The sound itself, at least to me is very good. I’m no audiophile but for gaming they work well. I use DOLBY ATMOS (sonic works just as well) with them and no complaints. There are 4 presets; Flat, Bass Boost, Smiley, Performance. I tweaked these to my liking, as we all look for something different in sound. A lot of people say the sound is poor on these until they tweak the profiles. In all honesty the ‘Smiley setting’ is a happy medium. You will however need to plug these into a Laptop or a Computer to adjust EQ within the ‘Steelseries Engine software’. If you don’t have a computer to do so the smiley setting is the all round setting. Nice clarity and not too muddy bass. I have sensitive ears from years of diving so keep the bass quite neutral. Which is also why I prefer open back headphones.
MICROPHONE & EAR CUP CONTROLS
The Microphone has an adjustable wire neck which coils up into the ear cups. Unlike other gaming sets where you flip the MIC boom up to mute the mic you have a button on this set. The mic has a red LED which illuminates once muted. If I am totally honest the MIC works and is very sensitive. However I think it could do with a foam microphone cover as it can be a little too sensitive. You can adjust this in the Software as well as the side tone. The sidetone allows you to hear yourself through the MIC, this is great so you don’t end up shouting whilst using the MIC. As mentioned close cup headphones reduce the sound around you this includes your own voice.
The Headphone volume is a small dial on the right earcup. The layout of the dials is clear and after a few uses you will navigate to them with ease. It is functional and works but from a design point of view, the actual dials could be bigger and less sensitive. More like click on each volume level would be better. Every time I take off the headset it is always at a different volume. So it is easy to move it by accident. A minor gripe but a gripe none the less. The EQ presets are on the right ear cup these are a single click of a button. You get a clear beep in the ear ranging from one to four to indicate the appropriate profile.
The headsets works on the same tech as the XBOX X controller and pairs the same. It also powers the XBOX X on when the headset is powered up. The bluetooth works parallel to it so you can receive calls or listen to music via phone or ipad. This is a feature I didn’t think I would use much but have actually really started to use it more with Lockdown. I stream music from my phone whilst training. Works really well, connection wise it is seamless and have no issues at all.
The Chat volume/Game volume ratio is on the left earcup and this is a great feature. You can adjust the balance of the two on the fly. So if you have someone in your chat who is really quiet you can increase the chat bias or vice versa.
Overall I would say this is a really good headset, now and then when powering on the connection can be a little funny. But nothing a headset restart doesn’t fix. This isn’t all the time maybe one every ten times I use it. The sound quality has a fair bit of depth and can be adjusted to your liking, coupled with Windows sonic or if you wish to buy ATMOS. There isn’t much between them really. But they do make a difference and some games specifically support ATMOS. The price point, hmm I would say yeah maybe a little steep but they do have some decent features and wireless is great coupled with bluetooth. If you can pick them up for 150 even bette
I own several pairs of superb headphones for music, and reference – and every time I don a set of “gaming” headphones they tend to feel like a toy – that said, I felt these warrant a review.
The build quality on the Arctis 9X are great – the sound quality is also very nice, but at this price point – you expect that. Different pre-sets subtly change the sound from more natural, through to some that are more bassy which are good for movies – but on the whole, they don’t have any gimmicky features like my old turtle beach set, which branded “saturated midtones that make my ears bleed, as a trade off for hearing footsteps louder” as “Superhuman hearing” or something similar.
Connectivity:
On my Xbox One X – I don’t think these have ever dropped out other than one time I forgot to charge them.
Whilst my One. was being repaired, I temporarily re-used my old regular Xbox one. I noticed a fair few dropouts, needing me to turn the headset off and on again.
– This was an issue I had read in some reviews after buying the headset, and I was concerned – I was never able to recreate the issue until I used an OG Xbox One, so in my personal experience. Perfect on the OneX – frustrating on a standard Xbox One.
Volume: 10/10
They are not deafeningly loud, (except in COD – which has the worst sound mix of a game ever.) but they definitely dont suffer with being too quiet. If they don’t go loud enough for you, then you’ve probably already done some damage to your hearing.
Sound Quality: 8/10
Comparing them to a set of high end reference headphones is unfair, they don’t reproduce a huge wide soundstage, with intricate highs mids and lows, however… after burn in – ive found that they perform better than most closed back headphones I own, the mids are far clearer on these for example, than on HD25s, HD280Pros, or aiaiai DJ headphones.
Overall – I was surprised at how good these sound.
Comfort: 10/10
Aside from a pair of AKG702s i own – which is like wearing a pair of pillows on your head – these are the most comfortable headphones I own. I can play games in them for hours on end, and then settle into a movie before taking them off. Being over ear they are comfortable as they dont put pressure on you, the elasticated headband makes a clever snug fit to your head, without being tight – and they are heavy enough that you trust them not to fall apart, but not so heavy that they induce fatigue.
Sound isolation: 8/10
No complaints here, the isolation is really good, so if someone is sleeping next to you, and you are watching tv – you probably wont disturb them unless you have it cranked right up, or take them off to break the seal to your head.
Battery Life: 10/10
Incredibly long battery life. Since covid kicked in and we’ve all been working from home, ive had these on all day every day almost – as they pair to your phone to be a bluetooth headset too. There is an indicator light that changes colour depending on how much battery you have left.
Connectivity: 9/10
Being able to play games and listen to music off your phone, or take phone calls whilst gaming is almost seamless (with 1 caveat ill address in the downsides).
Microphone: 10/10
I’ve had several people join parties and query what mic I have because its so clear, they assume im using a dedicated mic like streamers use. It’s also very easy to mute the mic with the button just behind your right ear, and the mic has a light on it so you can see in your peripheral vision if you are muted.
Price: 6/10
I paid 130ish for these on Amazon in the sale. There are better “headphones” available for that pricerange, but in terms of gaming headsets, I dont know. they are feature rich, with a long battery life, and great reliability, but for 190 that they are currnetly listed at, Id rather they were more than just a gaming headset, which they could have done with some aesthetic changes – which would have pushed this score up to a 9 or 10.
Ergonomics: 7/10
On either headset cup at the back,there is a jogwheel, the left one changes chat+game mix (very useful when your super loud friend crashes the party) and the overall volume on the right one. The chat mix also has a marker point for the mix at 50:50 that you can feel without looking. The power button is convex, and the bluetooth/answer call buttons is convex. Without looking, you can easily feel exactly what is what.
In principle – everything about the design is perfect.. Until you lean back against the sofa/pillow, and the jogwheel catches the seat/pillow behind you, and either turns the sound off, or cranks the volume to the max.
Placing these controls under the earpieces, or on top of them instead of at the back would have made them perfect.
Aesthetics: 6/10
They nearly got this perfect, the earcups are minimally styled, and the matte black looks sleek – however they have a truly gharish green pattern to the headbands that makes them look a bit childish. It is also a real shame that the microphone doesnt sit flush when it retracts into the headset. This would be the difference between them being a set of headphones that never leave the house, and being a set of headphones that never leave my side… I just dont want to be on the tube in a set of headphones with a boom mic, and a gharish pattern on the headband.
Charging: 7/10
The problem I have with the charging isnt that it takes long, they seem to charge really fast! The issue is that if you are using them and put them on charge without turning them off, I dont really understand what they do.. but it doesnt seem to charge. Ive found that once i finish using them I either have to turn them off, then plug them in, or plug them in, and immediately remove the charger, and plug them in again. This could be by design so that when you first plug a usb in it works to connect to a PC or something, but it does mean that occasionally if you forget, you can plug your headset in – but it doesnt charge. Once you realise you need to see the slow pulsing light to know its charging, then you’ll probably be ok.
Overall: 9/10
My first headset from this company, due to the build quality I cant see myself replaceing them any time soon, and if in the same position again I wouldnt hesitate to get these. If you are looking for a great gaming headset thats comfortable to wear, these are my shout.
If you want a set that doubles up as something you would use as wireless headphones out and about – the non-detachable/hidden mic might put you off, as it did me. If you are less vain than I am, then youll have a nice sounding set of headphones for your travels too. 🙂
PHYSICAL OVERVIEW AND IMPRESSIONS:
Out of the box I was impressed with the look and feel of the headset, the ear cups feel very comfortable and I appreciate that they’re fabric covered and not imitation leather which I’ve found tends to disintegrate rather quickly.
The adjustable top worked great for me, I was able to find the perfect level of comfort with only a minor adjustment out of the box. It maintains the size you set the headset at perfectly so you won’t need to keep altering it.
The Microphone being retractable and also adjustable to any position around the left side of your face is really a nice feature and the Microphone includes a light visible in your peripheral vision which only shines when you have the Mic muted (using the tactile button on the rear of the left ear cup) this is a nice touch.
The headset feels quite light considering it contains two large drivers, batteries and no doubt a lot of electronics. SteelSeries have done well to choose construction materials and methods that are light so that there is some weight budget left over for those heavier electronic components.
With those good aspects out of the way there are a few downsides to the physical parts of the headset which I will now list.
1. It doesn’t have a USB-C charging port and instead opts for Micro USB.
2. There are so many buttons and dials on the ear cups (both sides!) that you will almost always click a button or move a dial inadvertently when putting the headset on or off. This is annoying especially if you put them back on only to have the volume now set much higher than before.
So with that out of the way lets get to the meat and potatoes. How do they sound, what’s the battery life like and how good is the wireless performance.
OUTPUT SOUND QUALITY:
Firstly sound, out of the box these sound like garbage. And I’m not mincing words here, they sound very tinny and everything you listen to sounds like it’s coming through an FM radio. I’m no audiophile and I only own one other pair of headphones which are strictly intended for music but even I can tell that these sound very poor out of the box.
But it is mostly fixable. Firing up an application like EqualizerAPO (Free and Open Source) and searching online for an appropriate Equaliser profile (or dialling one in yourself if you’re feeling adventurous) changes the sound quality on these immensely. It’s like a night and day difference. They really do go from sounding bad to sounding great. Not excellent or perfect, but great.
MICROPHONE SOUND QUALITY:
The microphone is the main reason that I needed such a headset to begin with, to be competitive in online games you need to be able to converse with your team mates. I play my games in quite a noisy room and so a Microphone close to my mouth with some kind of noise cancelling was paramount.
In this regard the headset delivered exactly what I wanted. I recorded myself speaking and it sounds to me crystal clear. It will of course pickup wind noise if you have a fan blowing directly at your face but that’s to be expected. Overall I’d give the Microphone audio quality a solid 8 out of 10 and the noise cancelling is more than adequate.
Something to note here is if you install the SteelSeries 3 software you can set it so that the headset will broadcast what it hears on your Microphone directly into the headset so you can hear yourself talking. This is a must-have feature for a closed back over-ear headset like this one which will assist you in talking at a normal sound level to your team mates. I found this worked without any kind of discernible delay, it’s a faultless implementation.
The last thing to mention about the Microphone is that the headset does have a dial on the right ear cup which allows you to adjust the mix between the system/game sounds and the chatter from your team mates. This feature relies on the game or software you’re using being able to send game/software audio to one audio source and the chat audio to another.
For the games I play we use Discord chat which is able to send the voice chat to the chat channel of the headset and then any game I’m playing can target the game channel. These audio channels are clearly defined in all the software you use once you install the SteelSeries 3 software and this is a clever feature for quickly adjusting your audio balance without having to minimise a game to alter audio settings and it too works faultlessly.
BATTERY LIFE:
The headset boasts 24 hour wireless battery life and I’ve found that to be a completely accurate statement. The battery life is great and if the headset does happen to run out of power you can simply plug it in with the included cable and keep using it while it charges.
The headset doesn’t get noticeably warm even while being used during charging so the only inconvenience to charging it while playing is the cable dangling down your left side.
WIRELESS PERFORMANCE:
Whenever purchasing a wireless anything (Keyboard, Mouse, Headset etc) it’s often been the case that the manufacturers stated performance and range estimates are wildly optimistic. It seems most companies idea of testing consists of placing the product in an open field with no other wireless transmitting devices or perhaps any trace of civilisation at all.
So it will come as no shock to say that the stated 12 meters is likely only possible with a direct line of sight between the headset and its transmitter/receiver unit. I found through obstacles (one floor or a single wall) the range is about 3 to 4 meters.
But I will say if you’re staying in line of sight of the transmitter/receiver or you’re within those 3 to 4 meters the sound quality (when adjusted as noted above) is perfect. It suffers from no drop-outs or quality degradation. That is to say the bitrate remains high and the latency low.
So I have no concerns about the wireless performance of the headset for any of its stated usage scenarios (PC or Gaming Console). If you’re in the same room as your gaming machine you shouldn’t have any problems at all.
CONCLUSION:
I like this headset a lot when taking its cost into consideration and while its out of the box sound quality is poor after a few tweaks to your audio equaliser it does sound great. I think the price at 119.99 (as of review) is about right for this headset. Just keep in mind you may only be able to adjust your equaliser settings on a computer. You may not have that capability on a games console like an XBOX or Playstation.
Now if you were to spend that same amount of money on a wired headset you will definitely get better sound quality (especially out of the box) but the convenience that the wireless feature provides is to me at least, worth the sound quality sacrifice.
If there was one addition I would like to see in the package it would be some kind of carrying case. Just a drawstring cloth bag to store the headset in when not in use to keep it from getting dusty would be a nice value addition in my opinion.
PROS:
+ Good value for a wireless headset with Mic
+ Great sounding microphone
+ Tactile buttons that are easy to feel for
+ Quite light and feels comfortable for extended play sessions
+ Great wireless performance
+ Great battery life
CONS:
– Out of the box sound output quality is very poor
– Volume dial placement can lead to unintended adjustments
– No USB-C port on the headset for charging
BAD: (Because it’s not that bad)
These ARE NOT actually 7.1 (which I knew) but simulated. However, at least in windows, they only show up as a 2 channel device, which means some software will downmix the audio to the headphones, losing detail. I’m hoping this is fixable in future software.
I can’t be certain if this is why the surround isn’t as good as other DTS headphones that do show as multi-channel but for this price and what I’m using them for (gaming, some music, some Netflix) there is an acceptable difference with simulated DTS on.
The microphone suffers a little from being a bit too happy at picking up high frequency ‘S’ sounds, whch is typical of most noise cancelling mics I have tested. I don’t know if this is tunable in the software but if it is, I promise to try and remember to update this review.
The software isn’t really helpful for set-up, perhaps there is a manual there somewhere but some tooltips would be nice!
GOOD:
Let’s start with the EQ presets. I should hate them but coming back to price, and that EQ is hard (for some) the ‘out of the box’ software EQ settings are really rather good! The EQ is fully adjustable, even from a preset, so you can fine tune it.
The chat/voice game mixer is also fantastic in the way it works. In the operating system, you actually get two devices, one for the actual game/video/windows sound and a mono device that you can set discord/teamspeak/mumble/skype (etc) to use. After that, the dial on the headset is a fader which you can then put the bias from full game to full voice comms.
The microphone is very flexible and gives a good range of placement and the noise cancelling really does seem good. What’s also fantastic is the microphone mute is a proper on/off type pushbutton, rather than a press to toggle.
The extra band that suspends the frame is elastic and very comfortable, I don’t feel the weight of these headphones on the top of my head that much at all. Also, the foam of the ear pads isn’t too hard, so I don’t feel pressure on my ears (and I’ve not got small ears, and also wear glasses and I’m not feeling my ears pressed into the glasses but outside sound is nicely removed)
There is a ‘live preview’ feature available in the software itself, which is useful for setting up your levels, rather than having to do this in the operating system. However, this lets you know what your operating system hears, there is a small amount of latency. So there is a ‘party trick’ in the software. A feature called ‘Mic Sidetone’ routes the microphone directly inside the headphones, with 4 levels from off to high, meaning you can test, or always get to hear yourself, without needing to set this in the OS)
On the subject of controls, you can adjust the auto power off setting from the software from 5, 10, 30, 60, or 90 minutes and, of course, disable this function)
A quick final note, the software allows you to save multiple configurations, which means you can fine tune your audio environment for different usage (games/video/video conferencing) and recall these settings quickly, rather than needing to find a ‘one setting for all’ or having to tweak the settings every time!
GREAT, but how do they sound?
Well, they don’t sound like a 400 set of headphones and they have no right to at this price! However, even without all the extra utility and gaming features, the sound is better than some playback only headphones I have bought at this price and up to the 200 mark. If you’re happy (and able) to play around with the EQ settings I think you’ll find a sound that fits what you want, I certainly have and in a fairly short space of time. I’ve already done some gaming, movie play back (Star Wars Episode 2 sounded really good after a couple of minutes creating a movie profile) and made my brain light up with some Prodigy, Disturbed, and Beethoven (yes, I’m that nerd!)
Final Notes:
The USB sound card is very clean, I’m not seeing any noise coming through that shouldn’t be there. The USB cable for this is about 1.5m so is long enough for anywhere I need it, without having too much cable to worry about. It also has a fairly effective anti-slip rubber ring on the base. There are line in and line out ports, which I have yet to test, so no idea if this just plays to/from the headphones, or if that sound goes in/out of the operating system as well.
You get an OK length USB charge cable, which is just long enough for me as I have my PC close to my chair but if you need something longer, go buy a good long Anker cable for it. You also get a ‘smart phone’ 3.5mm (if you’ve still got a phone with a 3.5mm) that connects stereo and mic to a usb input on the headphones, meaning you can go analogue if you need to (but again, I’ve not tested this as I don’t really need to)
VERDICT
Well, when my wife finally gives up on her Logitech ‘real DTS’ headset, she’s already said she wanted a pair of these and while I’d happily let her pay more, or buy her something more expensive myself, I think we’ll be owning a second pair of these in the not too distant future, so yes, I’m very happy with them!