Mid-Budget SteelSeries Gaming Setup Review

How Much Does it Cost?

All of these products have been on the market a little while now, so the prices are really great. Albeit, the stock is still erratic as are most things during lockdown. However, at £80 the headset may seem a bit expensive, but you get so many features and great device support for your investment. The keyboard is fairly priced, and the mouse is stunning for such a low price.

However, it would be unfair of me not to let you know that the wired version of this headset is now down to just £39.99 and that may be too good a deal to pass up. Albeit, if you really want wireless, that won’t hold much appeal.

• SteelSeries Apex 3 Keyboard – £59.99
• SteelSeries Rival 3 Mouse – £34.99
• SteelSeries Arctis 1 Wireless Headset – £79.99

Overview

It’s been nice spending more days and more time in general with a complete ecosystem. My desktop is often just a mess of whatever I’m testing that week. I change keyboards, mice, headsets all the time. Plus I have my own setup that I like that I switch back to. It rarely matches. Being able to enjoy SteelSeries only was a bit of a treat. What really stands out though is how the aesthetics all matched. It made my desktop look more complete and welcoming when I was working and gaming.

Build Quality

It’s all great, even on the affordable mouse, everything is built to a high standard. I’m actually surprised the mouse doesn’t cost more, but as I said before, that market is so competitive right now that £35 gets you a great mouse from almost every brand.

The keyboard looks just as good as the Apex 7 mechanicals that cost more than twice as much. I mean literally as good, they retain the same design overall but lack the OLED display, more advanced switches and lighting. However, to the untrained eye, they’re the same keyboard.

The headset is pure class throughout, it’s a premium headset, and it shows from the moment you take it out of the box, till the moment you turn it off at the end of a long nights gaming.

Should I Buy Them?

Well, this isn’t so much me saying “YES BUY ALL THREE” but I just wanted to see how they work, feel and look together to see if it would make a nice setup for a reasonable price to do my work through the day and play Elder Scrolls Online on a night. It worked really well. I think most people on a “budget” will want the much cheaper wired headset. However, if you’re looking for a keyboard and mouse that are kind to your wallet and kick-ass on your desktop, you’ll be hard pushed to beat these two.