SteelSeries Arctis 1 Xbox Gaming Headset Black

I was expecting a pair of headphones that were prioritized around comfort, not sound qualify and as far as I've seen I was wrong. The top headband is amazingly comfortable and is usually a feature that you don't see on budget headphones. The sound quality is comparable to my sony wh-1000xm3's which are $400 and even if you don't like them, you can change almost everything in the GG app. Another great feature is the retractable microphone, its great for travel and makes the headphones not look like an eyesore.The only downside to the headphones is the hard clamp force, but overtime they will hopefully loosen. So far after a week's use these are amazing headphones, not just for the price. Solid 4.5/5

Had this for a few weeks now and really loving it, I used to have a wired Hyper X Headset which I really loved but wanted to go wireless and this is an outstanding pick!I'm using this on PC btw.Pro's:Great sound quality and sound stage (can head foot steps really clearly in games)Easy to use features on the headsetWas plug and play, no issues at all with set up on my PCGreat battery life!Great mic that is just as good as my wired Hyper X one, my friends on Discord could not tell the difference.Con: (cause there's only one)Some wireless headsets/ earphones have a audio notification when you power them on or off (e.g someone saying "Power on" or "Power off"). And this just has some beeps that aren't intuitive about what's going on. But all that aside has a ... MoreHad this for a few weeks now and really loving it, I used to have a wired Hyper X Headset which I really loved but wanted to go wireless and this is an outstanding pick!I'm using this on PC btw.Pro's:Great sound quality and sound stage (can head foot steps really clearly in games)Easy to use features on the headsetWas plug and play, no issues at all with set up on my PCGreat battery life!Great mic that is just as good as my wired Hyper X one, my friends on Discord could not tell the difference.Con: (cause there's only one)Some wireless headsets/ earphones have a audio notification when you power them on or off (e.g someone saying "Power on" or "Power off"). And this just has some beeps that aren't intuitive about what's going on. But all that aside has a power on/off indication light so you can always check that too.Very very small negative on a excellent headset, well worth the money.

Great Budget Headphones

I’ve used these on both my PC for zoom meetings and with my PS4. The outer portion of the headphones is plastic making them lightweight. At this price point, I’d expect plastic. The mic sound quality was pretty good too. My friends say they can hear me perfectly without any static or noise distortion. The mic is removable, which is nice for when I’m playing a solo game. The sound quality of gaming and zoom were quite surprisingly good. I’m no audiophile but I do know when something sound good (but not amazing). I’m not going to be thumping hip hop bass with these things but for gaming they’re great at this price point.

Ok for kids

If you are looking for an immersive sound experience, these aren’t your headphones. That being said, they do what they say they’ll do. You can hear the sound on all the gaming platforms and the mic works well. I do like that it’s a retractable mic so when not in use it goes back into the ear piece. My friends said they could hear me well on it. The on-headset controls work as expected and they are slim and lightweight as advertised. If you’re looking for a decent-ish headset for your kid, this might work. Otherwise, spend the extra coin and get a more expensive headset by the same manufacturer. I have an older, more expensive, pair of steelseries headphones and the difference in sound is night and day. These are hollow, tinny and “just not good” as my husband put ... MoreIf you are looking for an immersive sound experience, these aren’t your headphones. That being said, they do what they say they’ll do. You can hear the sound on all the gaming platforms and the mic works well. I do like that it’s a retractable mic so when not in use it goes back into the ear piece. My friends said they could hear me well on it. The on-headset controls work as expected and they are slim and lightweight as advertised. If you’re looking for a decent-ish headset for your kid, this might work. Otherwise, spend the extra coin and get a more expensive headset by the same manufacturer. I have an older, more expensive, pair of steelseries headphones and the difference in sound is night and day. These are hollow, tinny and “just not good” as my husband put it. I wouldn’t expect headphones at this price point to rival the spendy ones, however you get what you pay for. We tried these with the new Xbox and pc gaming (World of Warcraft) and had the same experience with both systems. These will be going to our 10 year old, who doesn’t care about the sound quality as much as we do.

Ollie's review of STEELSERIES Arctis 1 7.1 PlayStation Gaming Headset - Black

Pros: Good quality build, pretty good sound. Ability to switch the mic off or remove it completely. On headset volume control. Price (£20 when purchased)Cons: Cable seems short. It's quite a small headband, probably suited for 10-16 Yr olds (it's a good fit for my 13yr old). Good that mic can be removed but this makes it easy to lose. Usual price is high (£40). Difference in quality between this and the Arctus 3 is noticeable and the 3 is bigger for adults

PC user - Defective? Returned after 1 week

I really liked the sleek design and comfort of these headphones, so I tried to make them work for a week before returning them today. The deal breaker for me was the frequent snap, crackle, and pop sounds I was getting while streaming on Twitch. My old wired headset didn't have this problem, so I reviewed the Steelseries headset/mic and OBS bit rates and made sure the mic was fully plugged in. I tried a couple other things, but the only one I refused was setting the sound EQ to flat in SteelSeries GG (product management app) because it honestly sounded much worse in comparison to "music" mode. For $100, I should be able to use different EQ settings at the very least!! PROS - Sleek design. The reason why I picked the Steelseries vs. other options at Target. - VERY ... MoreI really liked the sleek design and comfort of these headphones, so I tried to make them work for a week before returning them today. The deal breaker for me was the frequent snap, crackle, and pop sounds I was getting while streaming on Twitch. My old wired headset didn't have this problem, so I reviewed the Steelseries headset/mic and OBS bit rates and made sure the mic was fully plugged in. I tried a couple other things, but the only one I refused was setting the sound EQ to flat in SteelSeries GG (product management app) because it honestly sounded much worse in comparison to "music" mode. For $100, I should be able to use different EQ settings at the very least!! PROS - Sleek design. The reason why I picked the Steelseries vs. other options at Target. - VERY comfortable ear cups. Would not hurt my ears after 5-hour gaming or TV sessions. I also have 5 piercings per ear so this was very impressive and the main reason I didn't want to give up this headset. CONS - Medium difficulty setup. After downloading SteelseriesGG and pairing the headset to my PC, the audio worked - but not the mic. I followed the Steelseries FAQ to troubleshoot, and it did not work. It somehow started working when I went to Sounds > Properties > Listen and check marked “Listen to this device” (not mentioned anywhere on Steelseries and random reddit threads). That brought the mic to life, and I was able to uncheck the box and save. - Confusing battery life LED indicator. It often would not update with the correct color indicator. For example, I would charge it to Green and then it would be Yellow as soon as I turned it on to use the headset. - Minor snap/crackle/pop issues in voice chat (Discord) and audio (listening to TV shows). My friend told me it wasn't bad, but sometimes my voice sounded choppy in Discord. Sometimes there would be audio lag. It wasn't the end of the world, but it was noticeable. - Garbage SteelseriesGG program. Whoever made this app needs to go back and work on it. You need this to set up the Bluetooth dongle pairing and in the future for viewing the battery life icon or changing EQ settings. However, the program never properly terminates after you close it, even after you've turned off your PC. I would have to run it as administrator and terminate all duplicate tasks 3x to get this app to even launch and load. And it's not even the regular .exe launcher! I had to dig around Program Files for another version of the app launcher and pinned it to Start. Finally, I wondered if the problem was my hardware - could I be maxing out my USB bandwidth? I picked up a HyperX Cloud Flight (wireless 2.4 Hz USB) on the same day after returning the Steelseries. Surprisingly, I did not have any issues. I even put the HyperX USB in the exact same USB 3.0 slot as the Steelseries USB Bluetooth dongle. Therefore, I am inclined to think the Steelseries USB was either defective or low quality.

Perfect for gamers

If you are looking for good and functional headphones then yes this is the one for gaming purpose. Microphone is good, comfortable to use and nice block size. Can be used for multi purpose even other thanfor gaming. With Nintendo this headset works greatand is also adjustable. this Arctis Nova 1 is a lightweight headset with noise cancellation working very well. dont forget this is not Bluetooth headset, asthis was designed to be wired headset , Bluetooth feature cant be named here. Ease and comfort of using for hours at a stretch.

Phenomenal headset

This is, by far, the best headset we’ve ever had.It surpasses the Nova 5, 7 and Pro.The sound quality and profile for the price point is far beyond anything I could have predicted.Now, would I buy these for listening to music solely? No. But I’d listen to music with them now and then. They’re a bit base heavy and the treble is blah, so I wouldn’t use them for that, but they’re good for gaming. You can hear footsteps in games and they fit the ears well.On that note, let’s discuss comfort. These are COMFORTABLE. Comfortable for me and my kids. That’s hard to find in a single headset. They ear cups and adjustable headband blew me away. The ear cups lay flat (they call them fold-flat) against the head and neck when not in use.We love that the mic is fully ... MoreThis is, by far, the best headset we’ve ever had.It surpasses the Nova 5, 7 and Pro.The sound quality and profile for the price point is far beyond anything I could have predicted.Now, would I buy these for listening to music solely? No. But I’d listen to music with them now and then. They’re a bit base heavy and the treble is blah, so I wouldn’t use them for that, but they’re good for gaming. You can hear footsteps in games and they fit the ears well.On that note, let’s discuss comfort. These are COMFORTABLE. Comfortable for me and my kids. That’s hard to find in a single headset. They ear cups and adjustable headband blew me away. The ear cups lay flat (they call them fold-flat) against the head and neck when not in use.We love that the mic is fully retractable and that the cable is detachable.I like that there’s a separate cable for PC hookup as well.Such a versatile headset in so many ways.You can’t go wrong with this steelseries Arctis Nova 1 headset.

They're ok. For the price, I expect better.

Cons: 1) Mute is not a true mute. If you mute but talk loudly, the mic still pics up the sound. 2) the left earpiece falls off regularly it's attached by a tiny screw, similar to the kind for a pair of glasses and the screw constantly backs out and then the headset falls apart. I have to regularly tighten it to avoid this. 3) inconsistent mic quality. I'm often told I sound far away even with the mic right near my mouth. I have tried different mic positions. 4) Headphone jack on earpiece goes straight down near shoulder/collar area and catches a lot on clothes when turning my head. Pros: 1) comfy headset. Doesn't make my ears hot or give me a headache. 2) good output sound quality.

best entry level keeper headset

The headphones themselves sound awesome and the mic sounds really good for what it is. The drivers are great and have no problem hitting lows, punchy or sustained bass, which is what I look for in a headphone. They sound like they should be in something two or three times the price. I honestly think they sound better than my old sony dj headphones, mdr-v700's. and they were over $150, however they prob block out more background sound since the cups are vinylish. the cups themselves on the steel series are not vinyl or anything that gets hot and uncomfortable, its something like a thicker type of cottonish stuff with some light foam like stuff for padding. I can wear them for hours and not have heat or comfort issues. I got them so I could have a mic while playing ... MoreThe headphones themselves sound awesome and the mic sounds really good for what it is. The drivers are great and have no problem hitting lows, punchy or sustained bass, which is what I look for in a headphone. They sound like they should be in something two or three times the price. I honestly think they sound better than my old sony dj headphones, mdr-v700's. and they were over $150, however they prob block out more background sound since the cups are vinylish. the cups themselves on the steel series are not vinyl or anything that gets hot and uncomfortable, its something like a thicker type of cottonish stuff with some light foam like stuff for padding. I can wear them for hours and not have heat or comfort issues. I got them so I could have a mic while playing iracing. having a volume control and mic mute right on the left ear is very convenient. The mic is also detachable so it can just be headphones only. You cant find a better headphone even if you go up another 25 bucks. You can save a couple bucks and get the 20 or 30 dollar headphones but I consider those disposable since they are basically dollar store stuff with small drivers and no