Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsWired, Steelseries Arctis 5 Review
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2019
After vacuuming up the cord of my very old Razer Cacharias (?) headset, it finally declared its death when my Discord group mentioned I was cutting in and out, and so it was time to replace my headset. For a very terrible 3 months, I bought a discount headset with plasticized ear cups, and while I could hear and communicate, it was very uncomfortable. I was looking into other Razer alternatives but didn't really feel as if their features were as interesting as the Steelseries, and I also had a few recommendations for Steelseries from others. Attach to it RGB function (my tower is needlessly fluorescent) and I decided to plop down the funds for this wired version. I've never been a fan of wireless, just something about connection and not having to worry if the wireless is up in a clutch moment is just my style.
The headset is very stylish. I'm a small person, with an average size head and average but slightly pokey-outey ears. The fabric and the stretch fabric on the headset is very comfortable and breathable. It angles just a touch forward when I wear it, which is not noticeable after a few minutes. The retractable microphone works very well, and my raid leader says I'm very crisp - definitely not the case with my knockoff cheapo headset.
Length of the plug leading from the headset to the dial toggle is very generous, as well as from the dial toggle to the computer. Due to USB hogging I have to use the top of my tower USBs, but no problem at all, very forgiving in length. I haven't had it fall out yet but I'm not headbanging while raid healing. The dial toggle is very cool! I can use it to easily mute out game noise if there's an issue, or vice versa if everyone is just talking about nothing and I want to tone them down. At neutral, it's equal for both.
RGB functionality is initially a bit complicated looking but is through Steelseries' app that you can download, and you can make separate profiles. I have a violet/blue shifting thing for my Tauren Shadowpriesting and have several other profiles - glowing gold for my paladin, green for druid, etc. And there are sound function toggles.
Sound is great, crisp, and no reverb at all. The surround function at least in World of Warcraft is excellent and positionally is usually great, although for some reason sometimes when I'm mounting up on a specific mount the sound will originate more to the left, but, this isn't always, and maybe is a function of my setup.
I especially like this for Youtube progressive house mixes, bass turned up! The noise cancellation is not really cancellation, but the muffling is enough that it takes out more ambient noise. I live by a freeway though, so there's nothing killing that noise. Definitely softer.
I really like this headset. I would recommend if you're in the market, give this a good try, I hope mine has a lot of life left in it. It's a lightweight headset and the cords are fairly lightweight but give you great range.
Also a good wow factor, if anyone is watching you game, and I can make it match my tower RGB, hah hah. The little things, eh?
