SteelSeries Arctis pro wireless evaluate: A high-end gaming headset with years of experience

What's in a name, anyway? No critically, SteelSeries really wants to place that historic adage to the examine. again in 2013 i tried out the SteelSeries H instant—a top rate $300 headset with swappable batteries, a cumbersome however eminently advantageous base station, and respectable audio (for the time). Then the H instant was quietly rebranded as the SteelSeries Siberia 800. Then SteelSeries released the Siberia 840, the same headset but with delivered Bluetooth aid.
And now it goes through its latest name-change, becoming the SteelSeries Arctis seasoned instant. It's still north of $300, nevertheless facets the identical swappable batteries and base station. pretty a whole lot every little thing else has changed, although—for the better.
brand-new seem to be
Conceptually, it fills the same role as the Siberia 800, but the Arctis pro wireless is a considerable remodel, bringing SteelSeries's high-conclusion headset in lockstep with the rest of the existing Arctis lineup. In different phrases: in case you've viewed the Arctis 5 or the Arctis 7, the professional wireless may still appear standard.
truly, SteelSeries took the Siberia's ancient floating-headscarf design and reworked it with new materials and a sleeker profile. When the Arctis line turned into first unveiled, there changed into a lot of talk about "activewear," and while SteelSeries appears to have backed off that message, the result is an identical. The headband is a skinny metal sheet with ski goggle-like cloth as padding.

SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless

IDG / Adam Patrick Murray
It sounds bizarre but it's highly relaxed. The greatest issue with floating scarf designs is that they usually feel both too tight, causing an aching sensation on the correct of the top, or (greater often) they feel like they'll fall right off. The Arctis professional wireless, like the Arctis 7 earlier than it, straddles the line—it's reassuringly tight, however also delicate and supple satisfactory for all-day put on.
The circumstance's really superior with the Arctis seasoned wireless. The Arctis 7 used a steel band for the simple constitution, which became potent however surprisingly heavy. The seasoned wireless swaps to an aluminum band, which should still prove just as long lasting but with less weight moving round on your head.
The best seize is the scarf runs just a little small. I'd wager I have a beautiful standard-sized head, or at least I don't always run into dimension issues with headsets, however I run up against the limits of the Arctis pro instant. if you're huge-headed (actually, no longer metaphorically) you could wish to look in different places.
in spite of everything, it's absolutely new territory for SteelSeries's upscale headset. The H wireless had a comparatively tame, mall-electronics-boutique kind of appear to it. The Arctis professional wireless is much greater enjoyable, whereas nonetheless protecting the understated branding and swish look of a excessive-end device.

SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless 

IDG / Adam Patrick Murray
transferring to the Arctis aesthetic also ability ditching the old H instant's circular earcups. eventually. With the H wireless, I always discovered the counsel of my ears brushing towards the top and bottom of the padding. The Arctis professional wireless strikes to generously sized ovals, and is leagues more at ease because of this.
The simple performance of the H wireless incorporates over, though. The right earcup is topped with the aid of a magnetic cowl. Pry it off and also you'll see a battery compartment. At any element you'll have one battery within the headset itself and the other slotted into the base station, the place it's recharged.
It's a special function for which I nonetheless have a gentle spot. It's also, to be honest, an increasingly useless characteristic—SteelSeries's own Arctis 7 lasts up to 24 hours nowadays, as do many different competing headsets. The chance that you'll run out of can charge if you're diligent about plugging to your headset every evening? in reality nil.
but we're no longer all the time diligent, and running out of battery mid-video game is a ache. Most times, it capability your wireless headset turns into temporarily wired as you stay up for it to recharge. With the Arctis professional wireless, you just yank out the old battery (each and every lasts up to 10 hours) and put the brand new one in. Seamless.

SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless

IDG / Adam Patrick Murray
the bottom station's nonetheless terrific too. The key is it's a helpful instant receiver, no longer only a accepted dongle or a branded showpiece. along with a battery indicator, the entire performance companies construct into application—chat combine, EQ, surround sound—is conveniently adjusted during the LED display on the front. you can both use the knob on the bottom station itself or use the controls on the specific headset. The extent wheel doubles as a click on wheel, permitting you to navigate the Arctis pro wireless's menus from throughout the room.
large time saver? probably no longer. I've all the time discovered it a reasonably captivating-looking container notwithstanding, and heaven knows I may use fewer crap software utilities in my existence. It also opens the headset as much as a wide range of devices. We're keen on PCs right here at this website, but the Arctis professional wireless will additionally handle 3.5mm aux indicators and optical signals, each out and in. With Bluetooth aid also built in, the Arctis professional wireless should connect to relatively much any modern gadget you personal, and then some.
$300 sound? Eh
The Arctis professional instant sounds manner more desirable than its predecessors, too. No shock there—when reviewing the Arctis 7 remaining yr, I referred to it sounded better than the Siberia 800. I'd actually hope that the Arctis pro would display an identical strides.
Audio was not ever the H wireless/Siberia 800's potent swimsuit notwithstanding. It become a mid-tier headset with a high-end rate, bolstered via a slick battery charging system (or "gimmick") and various different area of interest excellent-of-existence facets. I cherished definite points of it, however the Siberia 800 became more and more challenging to recommend because the $150 wireless tier greater these past few years.

SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless 

IDG / Adam Patrick Murray
The Arctis pro instant is a great deal more convenient to advocate, or at least is an improved headset. Is it twice nearly as good because the Arctis 7 and competing headsets in that price range? No. but SteelSeries has made advancements throughout the board.
the key: It simply sounds lots higher. My biggest quibble with the Siberia 800 became that even at average-to-excessive volumes it lacked oomph. It sounded skinny, underpowered. The Arctis professional instant has a fuller, richer sound, more all-encompassing. It has presence in a means the Siberia 800 in no way did, and a lot more quantity headroom in addition.
That talked about, lots of the Arctis 7's missteps lift over. here's basically a mid/treble-heavy headset, and no quantity of EQ could get the bass quite where i wanted. I'm someone who in fact likes a cleaner, subtler low-conclusion, and even so, the Arctis professional wireless felt practically anemic on that front. The impact is in particular said in track, the place bass and kick drum constituents get lost in the combine.
The effect is less reported in video games, because the combine is always less complicated. nonetheless, you'll observe it sometimes with explosions, as they lack the booming remarks you may get from other headsets. Cranking the EQ brought about the low end to get muddy as an alternative of loud though, which is simply as undesirable.
It's no longer a bad-sounding headset. quite the contrary: much less bass-heavy tune and games sound impressively clear and precise. but just like the Arctis 7, the Arctis professional wireless feels simply barely more advantageous than standard—not what you want from a headset that costs well-nigh twice the competitors, and indeed twice the price of SteelSeries's different headsets.

SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless 

IDG / Adam Patrick Murray
The one saving grace is the microphone. like the Arctis 7, the Arctis pro wireless uses a bidirectional microphone. That changed into a spoil from tradition when it become first implemented. Most headsets use unidirectional mics, then do noise canceling in utility. SteelSeries went bidirectional since it both has a tighter pickup sample and is stronger at filtering out history noise.
And it really works. With our Arctis 7 overview, I blasted tune through an external speaker whereas recording into the microphone and was amazed how naturally my voice got here through. I ran the equal check with the Arctis professional wireless, and the identical outcome—it cuts out very nearly all the music, and my voice comes through crystal clear. SteelSeries could now not have industry-leading audio constancy, nonetheless it's nailed the microphone a part of the equation.
base line
The SteelSeries Arctis seasoned instant is in a peculiar region, as is the Astro A50 at the present time.
outlined in this article
As gaming headsets go, they're each fairly amazing—the A50 has a slight side in audio best, the Arctis seasoned wireless has the better microphone and base station capabilities, both are super at ease. but they're additionally $300 headsets in an era where $one hundred fifty headsets just like the Logitech G533, the HyperX Cloud Flight, and sure, even SteelSeries's own Arctis 7 have mostly closed the hole.
[ Further reading: The best gaming headsets ]
The Arctis seasoned instant is simpler to suggest in 2018 than its ageing Siberia 800 predecessor, but SteelSeries is cannibalizing its personal sales here by means of offering a headset with ninety % of the high-quality at 50 % of the price. not a foul circumstance to be in as a company, however now not great in case you're the Arctis seasoned wireless either.
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