SteelSeries just about dominates the gaming headset market. Different firms, like HyperX, actually supply some superior merchandise, however with SteelSeries’ lineup as complete throughout all value ranges as it’s, it’s exhausting to think about shopping for a non-SteelSeries headset for all however a couple of area of interest conditions. Now, the corporate is again with one other providing — the SteelSeries Arctis 9x, which properly fills a kind of niches.
The SteelSeries Arctis 9x is being billed particularly as a gaming headset for the Xbox, however it has makes use of past that too, due to the truth that it might probably join by Bluetooth.
Nonetheless, at $200 the SteelSeries Arctis 9x does have some competitors. Is it value shopping for? We put the SteelSeries Arctis 9x to the take a look at.
Design
In the event you’ve used or seen some other SteelSeries Arctis headset over the previous few years, you’ll instantly acknowledge the general design of the SteelSeries Arctis 9x. It has the identical retractable microphone, identical adjustable headband, and the identical matte plastic construct as earlier headsets — all issues that we love.
The headset can actually be used on any head dimension, due to the adjustable headband. The headscarf attaches to itself utilizing velcro, and if the headset feels too small or too giant, might be simply adjusted. Not solely that, however as soon as it’s adjusted, you received’t want to regulate it once more except another person makes use of it.
On the left ear cup, you’ll get the retractable microphone, together with a quantity wheel to manage the combination between the sport chat and audio streams. On the correct ear cup, there’s a quantity wheel, a microphone mute button, an influence button, a Bluetooth pairing button, an aux port, and a MicroUSB port. We might have preferred to see a USB-C port as an alternative of MicroUSB — it’s 2019, and a brand new $200 headset shouldn’t function an outdated commonplace.
Usually, nonetheless, the SteelSeries Arctis 9x is a well-designed headset with a premium really feel — like all of SteelSeries’ latest gaming headsets.
Consolation
SteelSeries headsets have develop into recognized for his or her excessive stage of consolation, and the SteelSeries Arctis 9x isn’t any exception to that rule. There’s loads of padding within the ear cups, and the stretchy headband makes for a properly adjustable and comfy expertise.
The headset isn’t overly heavy both, which is at all times helpful in making certain that it’s usually a cushty match. We had been in a position to make use of the headset for hours on finish with out the headset getting overly uncomfortable.
Sound
As is normally the case in relation to SteelSeries merchandise, the headset sounded nice — for each gaming and music efficiency.
On the low finish, the headset gives respectable bass response, which is useful for explosions and crashes in video games, and kick drums and bass guitars when listening to music. The headset doesn’t go excessive with the bass — should you’re a severe bass fan, you might end up wanting extra, however for many customers the headset is succesful within the bass division.
The mid vary on the headset is fairly well-tuned, with what looks as if a slight excessive mid bump for in-game chat and different spoken phrase. That mentioned, the bump isn’t too pronounced — which is nice information for people who plan on utilizing the headset to take heed to music.
The excessive finish is fairly clear and detailed, making for a natural-sounding listening expertise. Highs are sometimes neglected throughout headphones, however SteelSeries has managed to keep away from that downside fully.
Microphone
The standard of the microphone is nice, although your mileage will range relying on how you intend on utilizing the headset. In the event you’re utilizing the headset wirelessly on the Xbox, you might fid the microphone high quality to be missing, however should you use it with an Xbox Wi-fi Adapter, you’ll discover that the microphone sounds good.
Efficiency
The SteelSeries Arctis 9x can connect with your Xbox, and they are often paired identical to you’d pair a controller. It’s a simple setup course of, and may make for a usually lag-free setup. The headset may also be related to some other machine by Bluetooth 4.1, and we discovered that they retained a reasonably good connection throughout listening — more often than not. We had some bother maintaining the headset related on a Mac, and the problem continued over two overview models. On a cellular machine, nonetheless, the connection was fantastic, and on a PC we had no points.
The headset additionally gives 20 hours of battery life, which is fairly good — although not unbelievable. The HyperX Cloud Flight headset hits 30 hours, whereas the SteelSeries Arctis three Bluetooth hits 28 hours. Nonetheless, the Arctis 9x’s 20 hours might be fantastic for many which are good at maintaining their units charged up.
Conclusions
SteelSeries has as soon as once more delivered an ideal product with the SteelSeries Arctis 9X. The headset appears nice, is ultra-comfortable, and sounds fairly nice too. In the event you’re an Xbox gamer and need one thing that you need to use together with your cellphone from time to time too, then the SteelSeries Arctis 9X is completely the best way to go.
Due to its high-quality and good worth, we’re awarding the SteelSeries Arctis 9X the Headphone Assessment Silver Medal.