SteelSeries Arctis Prime Arctis Prime: Phenomenal Headsets That won’t Break the Bank.
SteelSeries isn’t fiddling around; instead, they chose to bring the frame of a high-end gaming headset to an affordable price.
The SteelSeries Arctis Prime headset is the newest member of the Arctis family, and SteelSeries decided to make a low-cost entry that benefits gamers greatly.
Even though it lacks some extra features seen on the best gaming headsets, those features won’t bother eSports players since Prime was designed with eSports in mind.
Although the SteelSeries Arctis Prime gives up a few features in order to attain its low price, its priority on offering superb sound quality still makes it a remarkable value for money.
Design: SteelSeries Arctis Prime Review
The SteelSeries Arctis Prime headset shares the same design language as its siblings, but it has a more minimalist appearance. Just like how Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
If you love RGB and flashy stuff, you should look somewhere else because the Prime doesn’t have any RGB or flashy color accents. Instead, it is a mature fella who takes itself seriously. Still, I am in love with their solid black design, and the dark grey SteelSeries Logo makes them hit the good spot for me.
Another cool thing that I liked was that the speaker plate was removable, meaning you could design it to your own liking, or even replace them by purchasing an additional set of plates that are designed by different artists.
The leatherette-coated ear cups were indeed comfortable, but they generated quite a bit of heat, so if you use them on a hot day, I would recommend taking breaks, unless you have some good air conditioner to counter the heat, but on the bright side, it will certainly keep your ears warm on cold winter days. With that being said, the soft leatherette earcups proved to be great for noise cancelling. Obviously, not ANC level, but I was happy with them eliminating car horn sounds and laundry noises.
Also, the left ear cup of the Prime has volume controls built in.
As for the headband, it utilizes aluminum alloy and steel, allowing it to be extremely robust, way better than the plastic we see on most headphones. While it is robust it still remains a lightweight steel frame, the same that you find in higher end arctis headsets.
But yeah, overall they look good, feel good, and cost “good” cheap.
Connectivity
Looking past the ear cups, you will find a range of buttons and ports, the same stuff that you find on most gaming headsets. There is a volume rocker, a textured mute button, a micro-USB for the audio cable, and a detachable 3.5mm cable, which proved to be a great travel and protection feature.
Microphone:
Just like its predecessors, the SteelSeries Arctis Prime gaming headsets features a retractable microphone, which is a cool thing and I wish more companies would take note of it. It is easy to pull and put back, and it sure does sound good. Your friends on CS: GO won’t miss any calls from your side. Besides that, this makes the Arctis look like standard headphones when not in the game, making them viable even for office use or daily activities.
Still, I will let you know that it picks some background noise, it can’t completely cancel ambient noise, but still, it is nothing too groundbreaking, it won’t annoy the opposite party.
Unbeatable Sound quality for the Price, Performance
The SteelSeries Arctis Prime gaming headsets, borrow the high-end drivers we have seen on the Pro line, the Neodymium 40mm, which has a frequency response of 10 to 40,000 Hz.
Overall, they have great sound quality that is balanced in most aspects. I know it isn’t at the same level as you might find at a higher price, but for a budget pair of headphones, I don’t doubt that the SteelSeries Arctis Prime is a great contender. I can go as far as say it is one of the best options currently.
In-Game:
You can pretty much use those headphones on any gaming platform, be it Ps5, Nintendo Switch, PC, and so on.
Jumping into games, the SteelSeries Arctis Prime sounds wonderful. Thanks to providing crisp and clear sound, it brought me to the action without making my ears suffer in the process. Using the Arctis to play some CS: GO, I heard every bit of action taking place, from footsteps to gunfire, making it easier for me to spot where the C4 was planted. What’s more, it gave me great pinpoint accuracy. I could hear enemy players moving on midfield from under in Mirage.
Moving to Overwatch, the Primes still didn’t fail to provide me with a great cinematic experience with action and the voice lines of the characters being clear and impactful. The only “downside” was hearing Genji’s annoying voice so clearly when he kept spamming “I need healing.”
- Unbeatable Value for the Price
- Stylish and Comfortable
- Robust and Portable
- Excellent Sound quality
- Not really feature-packed
- The microphone was a bit on the quiet side
- No RGB lights
Final Words and Conclusions
SteelSeries Arctis Prime does perfectly what SteelSeries made it to do, offering great sound quality at an affordable price. Even though it doesn’t quite beat the best of the best, it sure easily outperforms pricier competitors.
There’s a good saying from an Italian philosopher, “Don’t Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good.” The Prime is the definition of that quote. It doesn’t offer any fundamental bells and whistles, but still, it is a wonderful option in the sea of gaming headsets.
Who is it for?
I’d aim the Arctis Prime towards gamers that are into esports titles like CS: Go and don’t want to break their bank with pricier options.
People who work at home or, why not, even in the office, thanks to their minimalistic design,
And to be honest, I’d recommend them to everyone who wants to experience the Arctis lineup without having to go through the more premium options.
Those are great headsets for competitive gaming and their versatility adds to any game.
Further Reading
Perhaps a large number of you are also interested in microphones. You may learn about some amazing microphone stands designed specifically for the Audio Technica At2020 by reading this article.
If you have a limited budget, check out this post where you may locate some affordable immersive audio interfaces before moving on to some incredible microphones in affordable price as well.
And if you’re interested in headphones that resemble earplugs, see this article.
Composer & Audio Engineer
I’m a composer and audio engineer crafting sonic magic. Combining my skills in rhythm, harmony, and sound synthesis to create the ultimate auditory experience.
