SteelSeries Siberia V3 Review

Damage

Around the R1399.00 mark

What you need to know:

Available in a range of colours
1.2m cable
No volume controls
3.5mm audio jack
Extendable microphone

What we think you should know:

If you take your gaming seriously then I can’t say much more than what has already been said when it comes to the SteelSeries brand. They’re a powerhouse and seem to have found a winning formula when it comes to gaming peripherals. There is no sign of them slowing down and they seem to know what gamers want.

One of my pet peeves about gaming headsets is that they tend to be rather heavy set. I prefer light. Maybe it is the subconscious Cosmopolitan magazine messages I’ve been fed my whole life but I am not a fan of big and heavy.

On pulling the SteelSeries Siberia V3 headphones out the box I wasn’t all that impressed. They looked too “wirey” for my tastes but this would ultimately feed in to my need for “light”. I’m in the minority when it comes to my feelings in the looks department because I know gamers flock to get their hands on these headphones. Truth be told, I get it, they’re pretty freaking rad!

As a girl gamer it is probably my duty not to feed the typical stereotypes but, I do like to think I have some fashion sense and admittedly I use a rather crappy mouse only because it is filled with glitter and makes me giggle when it lights up. So I might not be the ideal candidate to comment on design and aesthetics. I was sent a pair of white SteelSeries Siberia V3s and I rather liked them in that colour as opposed to a standard black. You can also get them in pink, orange and an aray of neon numbers but the white, in my opinion, are the classier option. The plastic finish isn’t your typical dirt magnet so even after a few weeks of use they still looked fresh. I liked that.

Where this headset shines is when you wear it. It is as light as air and the “wirey” headband is quickly forgiven. The over ear cans sit comfortably without the usual pressure you expect from headphones and I’ve lost count of the amount of times I forgot I had these on. It did mean that I strangled myself with the cable a few times on leaving my PC to go get a cup of tea… which is possibly one niggle I had – I really do prefer Wireless and these are not.

There is a retractable bendy microphone which is fun to play with but I do worry about its lasting power. I like that I can bend it to suit my weird head shape but I thought the microphone was a bit quiet for my liking. I don’t like having to raise my voice when swearing at someone during a multiplayer.

A personal preference, but I would have preferred volume controls on the actual cans. From a sound point of view I was impressed. Sound is very subjective but I hate the bass heavy headsets that have flooded the market, the SteelSeries isn’t one of them and I like that (so does my head, after a few hours).

At the beginning of this review I said I wasn’t really a fan of the looks of the headset but as I sit here typing away and looking at them on my desk I’m starting to feel conflicted and I’m a little concerned my jumping opinion isn’t going to make sense. The SteelSeries Siberia V3 headset is designed to fit perfectly with how they feel on your head: Weightless. A bit like the boy you meet at the bar who you don’t notice the first time, the SteelSeries Siberia V3s end up being everything you were actually looking for in a gaming headset, and they’re actually rather good looking when you stare long enough… don’t do that at a bar, it’s creepy.