SteelSeries Arctis 9 Wireless Headset Review

A Closer Look

SteelSeries struck gold with their headsets designs a couple of years ago and well… they stuck with that design. There are a bunch of headsets in their range that looks nearly identical to this one. Fortunately, it’s such a good design I’m 100% glad they haven’t changed it, as I still think it’s one of the best looking headsets on the market today.

The ergonomics are excellent too. You can turn the drivers completely flat to wear it around your neck between games. However, that pivot also ensures a comfortable and balanced fit around your ears. There’s a small amount of tilt to them too, all thanks to that lovely single arm mount that’s contoured around the top of the ear cup.

You get all the main controls built into the headset too, so you’ll spend less time mucking about with software.

One of my favourites is the chat and game volume mix. Tired of listening to your teammates when you really want to listen to the dialogue in the game? Spin the wheel. It works both ways of course.

There’s a power button and a Bluetooth button here. Keep in mind, it’ll automatically pair with its own dongle, the Bluetooth button is purely for hooking up your phone. That way you can take calls on your phone and still enjoy your game too. There’s a USB port for charging the headset, and there’s a small audio jack for the microphone boom.

There’s another wheel too, this one is for master volume control. So again, you can both adjust the mix and the volume, ensuring you always hear what you want to hear. There’s also a microphone mute too, ensuring your teammates only hear what you want them to hear.

The headband is a dual steel layer construction, so it’s pretty darn strong, but also has a good spring and flex to it. The headband its self doesn’t move though, and you actually adjust the headset using the big elasticated Velcro strap.

It’s a really simple but very effective design too. It’s really comfortable for me and I think they’ve made it slightly bigger too. Their models from two years ago were a little tight on my head even on the maximum setting, but this one fits great! Either that or my head has shrunk.

They’ve kept the design really simple too, with a funky monochrome pattern and simple logos. No flashy RGB and chrome logos here.

Overall, it’s just a gorgeous looking headset. It has a good weight to it, but it feels balanced and very well constructed.