I’ve always been a little wary of wireless headsets, having only ever heard bad things about how they’re expensive, require constant battery recharging, and provide iffy sound quality in contrast to wired headsets. Headsets in general can be pretty iffy, but I was proved wrong by the SteelSeries when I reviewed their Siberia Elite. You can read all about that here.
SteelSeries has allayed my fears once again with their own entry into the wireless headset market, the SteelSeries H Wireless. This thing is a beast, and I’m here to tell you all about it.
Specifications
- Weight: 0.6 lbs. (297 g)
- Wireless Range: 40ft (recommended)
- Battery Life: 11-16 hours per battery pack
- MSRP: US$299.99 (Amazon)
The H Wireless boasts lag-free uncompressed audio, with support for Dolby 7.1 surround sound, 11 to 16-hour battery life, and compatibility with PCs, Macs, consoles and mobile devices.The headset works just as advertised on the PC and PS4–it’s lag-free and the audio matches the quality of anything I’ve experienced with equally expensive wired headphones. The engineers at SteelSeries didn’t neglect the quality of the cans while putting the whole thing together. My doubts about the ability of a wireless headset (as opposed to a dedicated pair of headphones) to sound “just as good” flew out the window after using the H Wireless.
I’ve established that it sounds great, but how does it feel? I found it comfortable to wear over a pair of glasses for long periods of time–I’ve been using it while playing marathon sessions of Diablo 3 and Titanfall. The cool part about this was never having to take them off while going to the kitchen to grab a drink–the dubstep and trance I had playing in the background never stopped even as I took a break from the game.
I don’t care about how it looks, because I’m not going to be wearing a pair of wireless gaming headphones outside, but as a plus, it looks pretty slick in case you need to impress an audience on Twitch.tv.
Beyond the headset, there’s the receiver. About the same size as an Apple TV, the receiver comes with Dolby 7.1 support and a host of EQ settings, which I’ve used to improve the listening of my favorite tunes. Beyond offering a host of settings to mess around with, the receiver serves as a battery charger. Did I mention that the headset comes with two rechargeable battery packs? You can keep one in use while the other’s charging and vice versa. The small footprint of the device means it makes for a nice addition to my desktop.
Conclusion
The SteelSeries H Wireless is a fantastic headset. If you can spare the coin for the ease of use, audio quality, and convenience it offers, the H Wireless is definitely the way to go.
