SteelSeries Arctis Prime Gaming Headset Review

SteelSeries breaks their own value curve and gamers win

Alex Rowe
7 min readSep 11, 2021

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Photo taken by the author.

Do you want to pay $80 extra dollars for RGB lighting and a USB volume dongle to go with your gaming headset? SteelSeries now hopes that you do, but if you manage to avoid this pitfall within their product lineup and look a little deeper, you’ll instead get one of the best deals in gaming audio.

The Arctis Pro and I have a long history. I ranted online when it was first announced with a hi-res audio marketing focus, in spite of the fact that zero games used hi-res audio at the time. That hasn’t changed in the intervening years, either.

However, when the headset actually launched, I loved it for its breathtaking accurate sound, reasonable comfort and build, and many connectivity options. I also enjoyed the even-more-expensive wireless model, though I’ll admit it’s not targeting a very large demographic with its exorbitant price and the battery life isn’t up to industry standards.

Now, SteelSeries has released the Arctis Prime, and it blows the entire Arctis Pro lineup out of relevance. Sure, it doesn’t come with some of the bonus extras or audio processing boxes you’ll get from the more expensive models, but this is the exact same core headset selling for just over half the price of the entry-level…

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Alex Rowe
Alex Rowe

Written by Alex Rowe

I write about gaming, tech, music, and their industries. Audio producer, video editor, and former magazine game critic. Look mom, I’m using my English degree!