SteelSeries Elite Prism Gaming Headset Review

1. Introduction, Specifications, Pricing and Availability & Package
2. A Closer Look & How They Feel
3. The Listening Experience, 'Sound Card' & SteelSeries Engine 3
4. What's Hot, What's Not & Final Thoughts

TweakTown's Rating: 92%

The Bottom Line

SteelSeries has done it once again: created one of the best PC gaming headsets. The Siberia Elite Prism deserves to be on your head, now.

Introduction, Specifications, Pricing and Availability & Package

For PC gamers, SteelSeries is a brand I don't need to reintroduce - for everyone else, SteelSeries is a company that has been a staple of PC gaming headsets (and other gaming products) for quite some time now. The company hit major success with its Siberia headset, but since then, it has been all but quiet - until now, that is.

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A couple of months ago, the company teased its upcoming range of Siberia headsets, filling out the bottom end right up to the top. Today, we have the Siberia Elite Prism, a major upgrade on the fan favorite, Siberia.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability

Starting with the specifications on the Siberia Elite Prism, we have a well-rounded headset that is filled to the brim with features and a great list of specifications - something we have detailed below.

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SteelSeries has provided a headset with two speakers, with a Frequency Response of between 16-28,000 Hz, Impedance of 32 Ohm, and Sensitivity of 120 dB. We have a pull-out microphone, with Frequency between 100-10,000 Hz, Impedance of < 2.2K Ohm, and Sensitivity of -44 dB.

The company has provided a decently long 1.2m (4-foot) capable, with an extension cable of another 2m (6.6 feet) - this is one of the great things about the Siberia Elite Prism, it can have a short cable, or if you need it - an extended cable. It has two connectors: 3.5mm 4-pole, and 3-pole. These connectors are great, as they break away - so if you trip over your cable, it will disconnect - saving it from being yanked from your PC.

The Siberia Elite Prism is available in two colors: black and white. We received the one version for our testing.

SteelSeries has priced the Siberia Elite Prism at 199.99 Euros on its website ($249 USD), but it can be found on Amazon for as low as $199 - and at the time of writing, on sale for around $160. This is a great price, considering what we have here with the Siberia Elite Prism.

What's In The Box

Presentation is something that SteelSeries has done extremely well, so let's take a look at, around, and inside of the Siberia Elite Prism box.

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On the front of the box, we have a nice look at the headset itself, teasing "Siberia Design. Superior Sound" and that it is capable of Dolby Pro Logic IIx. We can also see in the upper right hand corner that the headset will work with Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and the PlayStation 4.

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That style and quality packaging continues onto the back, where we're hit with a bunch of details on the headset itself. SteelSeries explain the Siberia Elite Prism from top to bottom, as well as the gist of what its SteelSeries Engine software will do, at the bottom. In the bottom right hand corner, we're told about the box contents.

Even the sides of the packaging has a really nice touch to it.

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Inside of the packaging, apart from the headset itself, we have the USB cable, the extension cable, manual and a SteelSeries sticker.

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Opening the package up, we see that the headset is nicely protected inside.

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Out of its package, we have it on our headphone stand, with the box in the background.

PRICING: You can find the SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Gaming Headset - Arctic White for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Gaming Headset - Arctic White retails for $160.97 at Amazon.

Canada: The SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Gaming Headset - Arctic White retails for CDN$222.88 at Amazon Canada.

A Closer Look & How They Feel

A Closer Look at the Siberia Elite Prism

Now it's time to take a closer, more detailed look at SteelSeries' latest premium gaming headset.

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Here we can see that SteelSeries has put a lot of time and effort into the design of the Siberia Elite Prism, with some very comfortable looking earcups, with the design cues pulled over from the original Siberia headsets. A suspension headband has been used, with memory foam earcups for the ultimate experience in long gaming sessions.

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A closer look at that suspension headband.

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The memory foam on those earcups can be better seen here, but feel so much better on your ears.

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Here we can see the side of the headset, with the microphone pulled all the way out.

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And again, with the microphone recessed away.

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A closer look at that memory foam-based earcup.

SteelSeries has provided LED rings on the sides of the Siberia Elite Prism headset, with 16.8 million colors on offer. The company has also provided their AudioTrigger illumination effect, which is something new to the Elite series. You can pick an RGB color, and watch it pulse in and out based on the volume of music coming out of the headset. There's also a ColorShift and Breathing effect, both of which look really, really cool.

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Here's a shot of the Siberia Elite Prism with its blue LED with the lights off in my office - beautiful, isn't it?

How They Feel

I used the Siberia Elite Prism for around 3-4 weeks for my review, using them as my headset of choice for the entire time. I gamed on them, I worked on them, and I had my lunch breaks with them on. I played various games, listened to countless hours of music and watched many movies and YouTube videos with them on.

Not once did I feel uncomfortable, like some other headsets become after a few hours. I found as the hours went past, I didn't notice them there - they became an extension of me. The suspension headband stretches across my head beautifully, not compressing at the sides (your ears), which results in a not-so-comfortable experience, especially after a few hours of them being on your head.

The Listening Experience, 'Sound Card' & SteelSeries Engine 3

The Listening Experience

I've got to admit, after years of gaming and never owning a previous Siberia headset, I was excited. There's so much talk about the Siberia range of headsets, and while I've tried them out for hours on end when I used to work in IT retail, I had never personally owned one.

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I played 20-30 hours of Battlefield 4 with the Siberia Elite Prism, as well as Alien: Isolation, and loved every minute of it. Each bullet and explosion on the battlefield felt like it was right there, with it sounding nice and crisp.

There were no bad experiences with gaming, as even in Alien: Isolation, I could hear the individual footsteps of the main character on the ground. She wasn't wearing shoes or socks in the opening scenes, and the metallic flooring of the ship was making her feet sound incredibly realistic - something that the Elite Prism provided me with its amazing audio quality.

It's those little things that make headsets like the Siberia Elite Prism stand out from the rest, those minute little details that you wouldn't normally pick up on another headset.

When it came to music and movies, the bass that the Siberia Elite Prism pumped out was much better than I thought it would be. Tracks like PSY - Gentlemen had a nice thump to them, while scores from Hans Zimmer are nice and crisp, with great highs, and just as good lows.

The Included USB SteelSeries Sound Card

This is something that you don't get with most headsets, but SteelSeries has to go above and beyond their competitors. In between the headset and your PC, is a USB SteelSeries Sound Card, something that "unlocks Dolby technologies, microphone noise cancellation, illumination settings and more". It's a great tool, you can even plug any other headset up to it!

SteelSeries Engine 3 Software

SteelSeries provides, as a download, its SteelSeries Engine 3 software, which lets you configure your Elite Prism headset in more ways than one. Not only can you play around with the equalizer, but you can change the colors of the lights on the side of the headset, as well as update the firmware - which is a really, really nice touch, especially for a headset.

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Here we have the first part of the SteelSeries Engine 3 software, where you can have multiple SteelSeries products (such as keyboards and mice, or maybe another headset) and control them all from this one point.

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Updating firmware was something that was super-easy.

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Once the firmware is updated, you can begin tweaking your Siberia Elite Prism.

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Inside of the software, you have a bunch of options to play with: the LEDs on the side of the headset itself, turning Dolby Headphone on or off, the Equalizer with various presets (or your own custom one), mic noise reduction can be enabled or disabled, auto mic compression can be turned on or off, mic sidetone provides four different options, and mic volume can be played with.

You can even enable a live preview of the changes, so you can listen to your tweaks as you go.

What's Hot, What's Not & Final Thoughts

For those who want to sum up the entire review in a few points, the What's Hot and What's Not part of my review will help you. Skip right to this bit if you want a quick read, or if you want to find out what I found to be the most notable parts of the Siberia Elite Prism, we're going to jump into that right now.

What's Hot

Memory Foam Earcups FTW: SteelSeries - thank you for using memory foam earcups, they are absolutely glorious. I had the Siberia Elite Prism on for hours upon hours every day for my daily writing of news, and they never became uncomfortable.

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They Look Great: Let's face it: you're not going to buy a buy a PC gaming headset that looks bad, especially when you're sinking a good amount of dollars into it. Luckily, the Siberia Elite Prism look just as good as they sound.

Customization: SteelSeries allow for some great customization with the LED rings around the Siberia Elite Prism, and with 16.8 million colors to choose from, you won't get bored of changing the LED color any time soon.

Most Of All, They Sound Great: The SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism look great, they have some detailed customization and options, but most of all: they sound amazing. For the price, the Siberia Elite Prism is one of the best gaming headsets you can buy. From bullets to music, it does it all in premium

What's Not

Not So Great Surround Sound: I wish we had 5.1-channel surround sound here, or at least some really great surround sound effects, but we don't. You still get the sense of surround, but it's in no way near the levels I'd like.

Final Thoughts

This is a great headset for gamers, and from the shelf-full of PC gaming headsets I have, it is one of the best. SteelSeries has done PC gamers justice with the Siberia Elite Prism - from the great memory foam earcups, to the really adjustable suspension headband, it is all premium, folks.

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I was quite amazed at the quality of the headset, but from the outset, SteelSeries were out to impress me. If you're in the market for a new PC gaming headset, you truly owe it to yourself to at least try these out, and if you're an impulse buyer: I would have no problems recommending the SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism to you.

PRICING: You can find the SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Gaming Headset - Arctic White for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Gaming Headset - Arctic White retails for $160.97 at Amazon.

Canada: The SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Gaming Headset - Arctic White retails for CDN$222.88 at Amazon Canada.