At first we would like to thank SteelSeries for offering the Arctis Pro Wireless Gaming Headset for testing and reviewing.

 

About SteelSeries:

"From day one, SteelSeries has been focused on making high performance gaming gear used by the most demanding, top professional gamers worldwide and peripherals that provide superior quality and a competitive edge to gamers of all skill levels. We believe, as most gamers do, in winning, not trying!

 

What originally began with two people who recognized the need for superior, high-quality/performance gaming gear that would give gamers a competitive edge, has grown into a global leader in gaming and entertainment gear sought after for their high performance capabilities.

 

Fast-forward to today, and we’ve come a long way since our first glass mousepad. We have global offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, providing an integrated portfolio of products designed specifically for gaming. Fueling our growth is you, the gamer!

 

While we are proud of our technology and product innovation, we are even more excited about how these products are developed to meet the needs of gamers. Many companies may claim to develop superior gaming products but few actually do. Instead, they spend countless hours with lab engineers trying to force fit a new technology with bells and whistles and mediocre functionality for the end-user.

 

At SteelSeries, we develop our products with a small internal team and a vast network of technology partners, channel partners, game publishers, and gaming communities around the globe. We aren’t afraid of being challenged and implementing new ideas. Our main goal is to always to listen to the collective feedback of our professional gaming community.

 

We won’t bore you with cheeky slogans, trying to underline our authenticity as gamers. We fully acknowledge that the best professional gamers in the world know more about what they want and what will make them better, than we do. We are proud to be working with our partners, but we can’t take credit for their invaluable input and feedback. Instead we tell it like it is: they help us. We want to know what works and what doesn’t. For this reason, SteelSeries creates innovative solutions that provide a competitive advantage for all gamers.

 

Critical to our company’s success is also our reinvestment in the gaming communities and the individuals who support them. As a result, our corporate philosophy is to take a substantial portion of our revenue and put it back into the gaming community to help spur industry growth. We support our community in numerous ways, ranging from co-hosting tournaments like Iron Lady and King of the Hill, and supporting gaming competitions of all sizes, to promoting the top and up-and-coming gaming teams/organizations.

 

Put simply, SteelSeries does not claim to invent or reinvent the gaming industry. Nor do we focus on one specific product, copy other companies or follow the crowd.

 

Instead we leave it to you, the gamer, our customer/partner/inspiration, to decide if we are deserving of such declarations and accolades. What we do promise, however, is to remain committed to you. We will continue to work with you and the gaming community to make the best products possible and give you that competitive edge. We will continue to do our best to support the growth of the professional gaming industry and give back to the gaming communities. By doing so, we don’t just talk a good game, we win!"

Product Features:

 

High fidelity audio comes to gaming for the first time.

Hi-res capable speaker drivers and a lossless and lag-free wireless solution make Arctis Pro Wireless the only true wireless high fidelity gaming audio system.

 

Dual Wireless System

Two is better than one. The Arctis Pro Wireless features rock solid, lossless 2.4G wireless audio for gaming, combined with Bluetooth connectivity for mobile devices. Use both connections simultaneously or independently for maximum flexibility.

 

Lossless Wireless for Gaming

The Arctis Pro headset connects to the wireless transmitter base station via the proven SteelSeries 2.4G connection. This provides lossless and ultra-low latency wireless audio with up to 40 feet of interference-free range.

 

Never Be Tethered

Exclusive dual-battery system means never sitting next to an outlet to charge your headset. Keep one battery charged in the transmitter base station while gaming with the other in the headset.

 

Bluetooth connectivity

Manage your Bluetooth settings and even see incoming call information on the transmitter base station’s OLED display.

 

Hear everything with high resolution speaker drivers

The Arctis Pro headset features premium speaker drivers with high-density neodymium magnets that reproduce Hi-Res audio out to 40,000 Hz, nearly double what most standard headsets are capable of (22,000 Hz).

 

ClearCast bidirectional microphone

Widely recognized as the best mic in gaming, the Arctis ClearCast microphone delivers studio-quality voice clarity and background noise cancellation.

 

First in gaming to offer DTS Headphone:X v2.0

The next generation of DTS’ renowned surround sound, Headphone:X v2.0 immerses you in the action by delivering incredibly accurate positional cues without sounding like you’re in a tunnel. Lose yourself in the game as the audio comes to life all around you.

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

 

SteelSeries current wireless gaming headset flagship is the Arctis Pro Wireless model, which improves upon the Siberia 840 model by including dual Bluetooth + 2.4GHz lossless capabilities, Hi-res capable 40mm neodymium drivers and more!

 

The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, featuring the updated box-art; right from the top cover, we will learn that the product is compatible for both PC and PS4 consoles (we would also like to add here mobile devices):

 

 

 

SteelSeries has added a list of awards that have been received by the Arctis Pro line:

 

 

 

On the opposite area of the packaging, we will learn of the included cables and rest of the bundle, but also read a list regarding the technical specifications:

 

 

 

On the back side, we will get to see a photo of the complete setup and some more explanations regarding the hardware:

 

 

 

The headset is held secure inside the box, thanks to a custom black plastic mold:

 

 

 

Besides the Arctis Pro Wireless headset, we will also receive the base station with OLED display, but also a separate cardboard enclosure, that includes the rest of the accessories:

 

 

 

The Arctis line of headsets is renowned for being very comfortable thanks to the included athletics-inspired Airweave fabric ear cushions that house the Hi-Res audio drivers:

 

 

 

 

The outside covers are held with magnets and are easy removable; the lightweight steel and aluminum alloy components of the frame ensure a sturdy construction:

 

 

 

 

The included microphone is retractable and features a bidirectional noise-canceling pattern; from our tests via Skype conferences, we found it to be loud and clear. As an extra feature, the included red LED lighting signals when the mic is muted:

 

 

 

 

 

On the side of the left cup, we have plenty of interfaces:

 

-a proprietary connector for connecting to a Stereo, analog source via the provided cable

-a headphone share jack

-a micro-USB connector for charging and firmware updates

 

 

 

Moving further, we have the Microphone mute button, along with the Volume control wheel (that can also act as a joystick for the base station options):

 

 

 

On the opposite cup, we do have the Power On/Off button, but also the Bluetooth On/Off; the respective activity LEDs are present here as well:

 

 

 

The adjustable woven sky goggle fabric suspension headband can be adjusted as needed, depending on the head size:

 

 

 

 

 

Moving on to the base station, we can see a similar construction as the one that was shipped along with the Siberia 840; the top area does feature a debossed SteelSeries logo:

 

 

 

The sides of the station are made from shiny black plastic, which pick quite a bit of fingerprints; in the front, it comes with a control knob (that can be pushed inwards as well), a secondary (back) button, but also the OLED screen:

 

 

 

The right side comes with a slot, where we can insert one of the included rechargeable batteries, so we have one of it kept charged at all times:

 

 

 

In the back, it accommodates one Line-in jack, a Line-out jack, a DC-in port, a miniUSB jack, one Optical in and one Optical out; depending on the selected setup, connections will be done differently:

 

 

 

The bottom area of the unit does feature a large rubber foot, with the product code name, power rating but also serial number:

 

 

 

The cardboard box houses a lot more accessories:

 

 

 

Besides the manual, we will also get a small leaflet for feedback purposes:

 

 

 

 

Many connectivity cables are available, along with a microphone windscreen and an additional battery:

 

 

 

The mobile audio cable will be used to connect the headset directly to our smartphone or other devices that use the same jack type (microphone/headphone combo port):

 

 

 

The supplied USB cable will be used for charging the battery inside the headset directly, without removing it and charging at the base station:

 

 

 

The USB audio cable is used to link the base station to our PC/PS4, so it will be recognized inside the dedicated software (PC Only):

 

 

 

The Power cable does transform the base station into a charging device for the secondary battery, while the PC is off:

 

 

 

The Toslink optical cable is also available for connecting external audio sources (such as the PS4):

 

 

 

The supplied battery is Li-ion and is rated 1000mAh, 4.2V; from a single charge, we should get about 10 hours of use:

 

 

 

 

The included rechargeable battery can be removed in just a few seconds, thanks to the easily removable magnetic cover:

 

 

 

 

After the headset has been powered on, the white activity LED will start blinking:

 

 

 

If we do prefer using Bluetooth mode, a nearby activity LED is available for this one as well:

 

 

 

Besides the base station, we can also configure Arctis Pro Wireless via SteelSeries Engine 3 unified software; the system will be detected right away and it will also display the charging level of the headset battery, but also the one of the docked battery:

 

 

 

The audio signature can be configured by turning on DTS Headphone: X V2, choosing the EQ settings, enabling Volume Limiter, but we also have some Microphone-related options:

 

 

 

We have three surround profiles to work with:

 

 

 

Stereo profiles are available as default, for emulating a small room or a large room:

 

 

 

Several EQ presets can be chosen as well:

 

 

 

From the Settings tab, we are able to choose the time when the heatset should automatically turn off (if no sound is detected), enable Bluetooth auto-startup, Bluetooth calls, adjust the OLED Screen IDLE timeout, choose a screen-saver option for the OLED display, but also choose the OLED Screen brightness or the Mic mute LED brightness:

 

 

 

Headset Auto Shutoff Timers

 

 

 

OLED Screen IDLE Timers

 

 

 

Screen saver available options

 

 

 

We can enable certain plugins with SE3, in order to enhance the functionality of the product:

 

 

 

Profiles can be assigned to certain applications:

 

 

 

The new Arctic Pro Wireless headset is easy to set up, while the multitude of configuration options can be accessed either using the base station or SteelSeries Engine 3. Thanks to the chassis materials, the headset is quite light, while the adjustable woven sky google fabric suspension headband makes sure it will fit all head sizes and shapes. As the manufacturer does explain, only the Arctis Pro + GameDAC offering is fully Hi-Res audio certified, since the 2.4GHz wireless tech cannot support sampling rates higher than 48K. Even in this situation, we do find the same Hi-Res drivers as with the wired (GameDAC) version, while the 2.4GHz transmission mode used is lossless, for high-fidelity purposes.

 

After configuring the settings with our own preferences, we have found the headset being able to deliver a very good surround sound experience (thanks to DTS Headphone: X v2.0), with great bass as well. Besides that, the headset can be easily used in conferences such as Skype, thanks to its ClearCast bidirectional microphone, that features background noise cancellation as well.

 

The base station does feature the same stylish look as before, with an OLED screen and allows the user to perform the necessary settings from it or from the multifunctional Volume wheel placed on the headset, which also acts as a joystick. The Bluetooth addition is also welcome, because it adds more flexibility, by allowing the user to use both connections at the same time, or independently; when taking phone calls, the audio content volume we are listening on WiFi will be minimized as necessary.

 

The Arctis Pro Wireless headset can be picked up in both black and white versions (the base station is black for the white version as well) and the current orders will also receive a free Arctis Carrying Bag, along with a set of Arctis Leather Ear Cushions.

 

The headset can be found online for about 280 Euros.

SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless Gaming Headset is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to SteelSeries for making this review possible!