SteelSeries Arctis 3 – All-Platform Gaming Headset – for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, VR, Android, and…

So first off… I can’t comment on battery life, but it’s advertised 24 hours without charge? So if that’s true… 5 star, but 4 star until tested.Otherwise, simply 5 star. The fit is AMAZING. I have a big head… most headset are OK, but never really TRULY perfect… these are so soft, and at the same time incredibly snug around my big ol ears.Sound quality (tested mostly on PS4) is great. Compared to my G430 Logitech, insane. AND… 100% wireless on PS4 & PC. XBOX i think still needs a cable to the controller (peasants) but us Sony boys… pure… cord free… sound. And with the most recent firmware update, volume is a non issue. Max volume on PS4 = a comfortable 50% on the headset dial volume control.PC offers the 7.1 software control that i’ve yet to test, but if my $35 off brand Sentey’s can do it, I’m sure Arctis will deliver.Hands down the best thing I’ve ever had to date. For PC & PS4, this is 110% worth every cent I spent.Comfort, Quality, Sound, Compatibility… all 5*.

I was excited to get another headset from Steel Series, My old one I have had forever and I loved it so much… I had the SteelSeries Siberia v2 and broke my heart when it started to act up and not work anymore. To be fair though I had that headset for almost 3 years and I took very good care of it.This one? Well I was super happy to find a headset that had the air weave cushions for the ears… Leather is SOO SOO hot… these are super comfortable, and I love wearing them… but theres a catch… The strap on the top to “adjust” it so it fits everyone? well it doesnt… The headset constantly slips off my head since its too large for me, the velcro isnt really adjustable. If I tip my head back even an inch it just falls off. Ive tried to adjust it and it just cant be fixed..Now for the mic, it is not clear my old one was super clear and I sounded like myself. Now? This is not clear at all, its tinny and I sound distorted.. I am so very disappointed but I have no choice but to stick with them since I cant get my hands on another set of Siberia for cheap ( ish )Next thing I absolutely HATE about this headset, its the wire… Its split into three parts, two if you are using it with PC like I am. You have a wire that goes from the headset to the middle of the full length of the wire.. You connect it there to a button that is so sensitive that if you bump it even a little, it messes with the sounds. Lowering the sounds of some things and making other things louder. I get thats its function, but its soo so so so sensitive. That is my third point of what I hate about this headset… The button in the middle of the wire. Its fine that its there, but why is it so easy to move? Just bumping it with my elbow? or it brushing on my arm? come on…I wouldnt recommend these to anyone. I would shop around… This is a bad headest imo… and rather expensive ( which I dont mind because I pay for quality I would be fine with the price if the product wasnt so badly designed.

Wireless Headsets I went through before keeping this one: (problem from memory in parentheses)HyperX Cloud Flight – Bought/Returned (pressed ears slightly?)Corsair HS70 – Bought/Returned (pressed ears)Corsair Void Pro – Tried in-store (pressed ears)Logitech G533 – Tried in-store (clunky, harsh cups)Razer Nari – Bought/Returned (heavy)Astro A20 – Tried in-store (pressed ears)Sony Gold Wireless Headset (late 2018 updated version) – Tried in-store (pressed ears)Bluetooth aptX Headsets (we’ll get into why later if you’re interested):TaoTronics TT-BH036 – Bought/Returned (latency)Avantree HT4189 – Bought/Returned (latency, clamping force, pressed ears)Comfort:This is the most common reason I returned/did not purchase many of the previously mentioned headsets. I apparently have a very weird head. I’m super sensitive to shallow cups (ears stick out causing pain if pressed for a long time) and clamping force (big head causes headaches if squeezed for very long). Heavy headsets can still “squeeze” my head due to weight on top of my head even if they don’t have much clamping force on the sides. Due to this, I feel confident that I am as critical as it gets as far as headset comfort goes. The Arctis 7 was kept because it did not cause discomfort when wearing for many hours. There is a caveat: As it comes in the box, it has too much clamping force for me. Luckily, the headband is made out of “sheet metal” and an adjustable strap. The strap can be loosened to let the headset contact as much of the top of your head as possible (distributing weight to remove pressure points). The metal band can be bent backwards to reduce how hard it squeezes your head. I found a forum post somewhere made by an acclaimed Steelseries employee who advised this, so that is what I did, and it worked great. Just be gentle, do it a little at a time, eventually it will be perfect! There is no padding on the interior of the cups which scared me as I usually need it, but these cups do not touch my ears somehow so it is not required.Latency:This is more of a side note for the bluetooth headsets. Most everyone knows that bluetooth headsets will have higher latency than headsets with proprietary wireless transmitters. What some don’t know is that there is a variant of bluetooth protocol that aims to correct this, it is called “aptX”. To use it, both your transmitting and receiving devices must be aptX enabled. I will admit, the latency was very low for the aptX bluetooth headphones. When watching videos it was unnoticeable, however when playing an FPS, it was very very soft but it was there. Switching over to my wired headset confirmed this. If you are going for a wireless headset for gaming, you currently must get one designed for it. The Arctis 7 does not have noticeable latency, nor did any of the other gaming headsets I tried.Speaker Quality:I’m definitely not an audiophile but I have higher than average taste in sound. This headset sounds nice. I have not played with the EQ, but I may try to turn up the lows a little bit.Mic Quality:It’s wireless, and a gaming headset, so it is what it is. It seems to pick up more depth to the sound than other mics, your voice won’t sound as flat, however I suppose this comes at a cost on background noise cancellation as it seems a little more prevalent in this headset than others.Construction:This is one of the more well-built units I’ve got my hands on. Time will tell how it holds up, but the build quality seems upper-tier.Battery:I can’t comment on this, but I highly advise that you get some magnetic micro usb cables. Basically, the cable becomes two pieces. You plug a little micro usb dongle in your headset and then you can connect the corresponding cable any way around. The dongle and cable magnetically snap together. Makes plugging the headset in so easy that you won’t ever be conflicted with “should I fumble with the connector or should I skip charging for now and just do it later”. Any time I set the headset down, I charge it, because it’s super easy to do so now. Therefore I will never be able to comment on batter life.If you too are plagued by comfort issues, and maybe do not want to go wireless just yet (cost being the only reason I can think of), I would highly recommend the HyperX Cloud Silver. They’re not cheap but they are worth it. To this day they are the most comfortable headset I have ever worn, with good sound and great build quality.

I’m going to keep it simple:~ Super comfortable! I’m extremely sensitive to clamp pressure and get headaches *my head is on the larger size. These are by far the most comfortable, light weight and i can play for 5+ hours without fatigue. Ear cups, weight, clamping force all pass.~ Sound! Very accurate and well balanced, almost the designed for FPS shooters. Mid’s are forward and bright, and for FPS shooters you can hear gun shots in right and left ears clearly. Only grip is that compared to other headsets, the volume could be stronger. I’m about 85-90% on volume as with other headsets I’m about 60-70.~ Battery! Solid, i get 15+ hours no problem…..I charge ever few days. You can also use the headset wired while charging and they provide a additional cord for 3.5mm plugs.~ Wireless signal! Strong and clear, goes through 1 bedroom and when i take bathroom breaks, no loss of signal.~ MIC is clear! Simple, retractable and clear. Love the red light while muted.~ Software is nice! Easy to use, and adjust presets and other adjustments. I use stereo for gaming and DTSx for movies.

I purchased the Arctis 3 2019 edition wired headphones. I am thrilled with these for the price. The sound is comparable to my v-moda crossfade LPs, maybe a little more boomy on the lows but not too bad. They were like 1/3 of the price though. They feel solid, but not too heavy which is good for long sessions. I use them for gaming and work conference calls which can last a long time.I find them extremely comfortable. Some people say if you have a large head they are not comfortable or the velcro strap is not long enough. I have a pretty big head…i use all but the last 2 or 3 pegs on a snapback. They fit me just fine. I guess if you have a watermelon head, beware they could be a tight fit.

Bought these for my teenagers for gaming but also for general use for their devices and think they’re a great value for the price. They are well made – better than others I’ve bought them in the past for a similar price-, comfortable and have good sound quality. I like that the microphone detaches so they can be used to listen to music or watch videos. I haven’t bought Steel Series before. Will definitely buy again,

Please do not buy these for your child for a present. You won’t return them, and they will be stuck listening to an overpriced marketing gimmick that sucks. If you did buy these for your kid ask them to be honest with you. If they say they enjoy them..buy them a differentI honestly believe steel series pays all those review sites to list their product in the top 10. I am a hard core gamer, a hardcore bass head, and an amazing sound seeker.K. That’s out of the way. I will compare these headphones to a pair of Astro A10’s that I bought for my gaming pc with an after market top of the line sound blaster sound card to push them. On my PC the A10’s have excellent Bass and overall Sound, and their max volume is way louder than I can handle. I never reach max, not even close. I used both headsets on my PS4 Pro. The astro a10’s have to be plugged into the contoller using the 3.5mm jack on the controller. Whereas the Arctis 7 uses its hdmi bluetooth wireless dongle to connect to the PS4.Comparison: Same sound. Any change in sound was so negligible that I would say both headsets are trash, ON THE PS4. The A10’s couldn’t get enough power to do anything even when I MAXED OUT the volume. I believe the same problem applies to the Arctis 7. There wasn’t enough ooomph to push them.Arctis 7: what I did to set them up:1) Downloaded and installed the steel series engine on my pc, and installed the latest firmware.2) Tweaked and played with the steel series engine ‘equalizer’ (it’s a pathetic piece of software) to get better sound. I did get it, but it was still trash.3) Googled for other peoples settings to use on the equalizer..didn’t find much. Apparently, it’s not a very popular thing to do; Post your equalizer settings.Pros:1) Long battery life for me. I’ve been playing God of War all weekend and haven’t had an issue with running out of charge. I’m a grown man though so my sessions only last a couple hours before I go do something else.2) Comfort- They are so light and so comfy you forget you even have them on. you could potentially step in the shower with them on.3) Nice design overall.Cons:1) All those nice pros don’t make a good headset for gaming.2) There is no bass. These are not the headphones for you if you enjoy Battlefield Games, God of War, or watching movies with booms. You will not feel like, ‘i’m in the movie/game’.3) Highs are weak, or maybe they’re overpowered as you’ll hear the sound of the explosion nicely, but you definitely wont feel it. Have Kratos do a Slam into the ground and you’ll hear the sound nicely, but you wont feel the slam, at all. Kratos must be the weakest fool in the Universe.4) Max Volume. The max volume cuts off about 3-4 notches short of being loud enough. They are quiet headphones.Suggestions: For the playstation 4. Buy a headset with a DAC or a mixamp. The playstation 4 is incapable of pumping out good sound. This Arctis 7 wireless dongle (with built in equlizer software for you pc) is very weak, underpowered, and is incapable of pumping out good sound.Products I’m looking at now to solve my headset issue:1) Astros with mixamp2) Steel Series Pro with DACHaven’t tried either of those products, but I’m about to. Good luck. PLEASE don’t buy these for a kid.

I love this headset. It has a great sound profile with really good high and low end. It’s on the neutral side out of the box but that’s what I prefer in headsets and with the computer app you can customise your sound profile as you like it. Overall it isn’t the best sounding pair of headphones ever made but it’s really dang good.The headset offers excellent passive noise cancellation by forming a good seal around your ears. Which is excellent because I usually have a fan running in my game room and it’s nice that it doesn’t overpower the headset as the fan is quite loud.I find the headset to be very comfortable as well, I’ve seen some reviews complain about comfortability so I don’t know maybe I have small ears or something all I know is as a glasses wearer this is one of the few over ear headsets I can wear for long periods without discomfort.The microphone quality is some of the best I’ve ever heard from a non XLR mic and the background noise filter on the clear cast mic is excellent to the point where all my friends I play with have been unable to hear much background noise at all.The build quality is also very good I love that the headset has a steel band To reinforce it. It makes the headset feel very durable and is crazy flexible.Battery life is also excellent.However the headset isn’t perfect. I can not for the life of me understand why it doesn’t have independent chat and audio controls at this price point it’s really not ideal.The headset should be Bluetooth for mobile devices the fact that I can’t use this headset wirelessly without plugging in a dongle is again not ideal at this price point and Bluetooth isn’t that expensive.This may be subjective but one reason I stuck with Turtle Beach for so long despite the issues with them is the built in mic monitor (the ability to hear yourself in the headset when you speak). I can say with 100% certainty this feature is underrated and I really miss it.Most glaringly though is that this headset charges using Micro USB and not USB C. This headset features a USB C dongle yet charges via a completely different port. It is really frustrating to see manufacturers continue to use this unreliable and inferior interface to charge devices. Not to mention just think of how much more quickly the headset could charge if it used USB C. Let Micro USB go the way of the dodo and go extinct please.PROS:Great sound.Excellent noise cancellation.Comfortable (for me anyway).Great microphone quality.Build quality.Excellent battery life.CONS:No independent voice and audio controls.No Bluetooth.No built in mic monitor.Charges via Micro USB instead of USB C.

Honestly I’m conflicted because all the things I’ve read about the reviews I feel the opposite.I was comparing these to the HyperX CloudX.The sound quality was bad. There was no real separation between the highs and lows and even the directional sound was hard to tell. Whereas other reviews stated Arctis was better.The ear cuffs were very comfortable and kept my ears cool in comparison to the leathery HyperX. Also they’re big so there’s no issue with pressure on your ears. They also did a good job keeping sound out.Now for the mic all the reviews I read said it was the worst part about this set. But from what my game chats said they hear me very crisp and clear and didn’t pick up as much background noise as the cloudx even with it’s cover. Also my favorite part is that the mic is retractable.It’s kinda funny looking with the two bands over your head. But that’s not the big issue here. Overall, ehh buy them at a better price than $70

After vacuuming up the cord of my very old Razer Cacharias (?) headset, it finally declared its death when my Discord group mentioned I was cutting in and out, and so it was time to replace my headset. For a very terrible 3 months, I bought a discount headset with plasticized ear cups, and while I could hear and communicate, it was very uncomfortable. I was looking into other Razer alternatives but didn’t really feel as if their features were as interesting as the Steelseries, and I also had a few recommendations for Steelseries from others. Attach to it RGB function (my tower is needlessly fluorescent) and I decided to plop down the funds for this wired version. I’ve never been a fan of wireless, just something about connection and not having to worry if the wireless is up in a clutch moment is just my style.The headset is very stylish. I’m a small person, with an average size head and average but slightly pokey-outey ears. The fabric and the stretch fabric on the headset is very comfortable and breathable. It angles just a touch forward when I wear it, which is not noticeable after a few minutes. The retractable microphone works very well, and my raid leader says I’m very crisp – definitely not the case with my knockoff cheapo headset.Length of the plug leading from the headset to the dial toggle is very generous, as well as from the dial toggle to the computer. Due to USB hogging I have to use the top of my tower USBs, but no problem at all, very forgiving in length. I haven’t had it fall out yet but I’m not headbanging while raid healing. The dial toggle is very cool! I can use it to easily mute out game noise if there’s an issue, or vice versa if everyone is just talking about nothing and I want to tone them down. At neutral, it’s equal for both.RGB functionality is initially a bit complicated looking but is through Steelseries’ app that you can download, and you can make separate profiles. I have a violet/blue shifting thing for my Tauren Shadowpriesting and have several other profiles – glowing gold for my paladin, green for druid, etc. And there are sound function toggles.Sound is great, crisp, and no reverb at all. The surround function at least in World of Warcraft is excellent and positionally is usually great, although for some reason sometimes when I’m mounting up on a specific mount the sound will originate more to the left, but, this isn’t always, and maybe is a function of my setup.I especially like this for Youtube progressive house mixes, bass turned up! The noise cancellation is not really cancellation, but the muffling is enough that it takes out more ambient noise. I live by a freeway though, so there’s nothing killing that noise. Definitely softer.I really like this headset. I would recommend if you’re in the market, give this a good try, I hope mine has a lot of life left in it. It’s a lightweight headset and the cords are fairly lightweight but give you great range.Also a good wow factor, if anyone is watching you game, and I can make it match my tower RGB, hah hah. The little things, eh?