SteelSeries 3H Gaming Headset

Reviews: Multimedia

Author:
Editor:
Sponsor:
Published:

Mark Korff
Kurtis
SteelSeries
Jul. 9, 2007

<< Home

Next >>

Introduction

For anyone that isn't heavily involved in competitive online PC gaming, "SteelSeries' might be a company that you're not all that familiar with. If you're familiar with Razer however, the SteelSeries story is fairly similar. Where Razer started to make a name for themselves with their high sensitivity gaming mice, SteelSeries built their reputation off of their highly durable gaming mouse pads.

Like Razer, now that the SteelSeries brand is something that can be leveraged within the gaming community, they're branching out and offering more gaming related products. Today we'll be taking a look at one of those products, the SteelSeries 3H Gaming Headset.

The 3H is actually only one of a number of different gaming headsets offered by SteelSeries, and aside from their in-ear model, it's their most compact and inexpensive offering to-date. Let's take a closer look and see if the 3H can compete in the crowded budget segment and offer good value for the money.

First Impressions

SteelSeries markets all of their headsets as "professional gaming headsets' and the 3H is no different in that regard, it's simply a smaller, and slightly more economical version of its 4H and 5H big brothers. The 3H doesn't come with any accessories, and is designed fairly simply. The earpads are a bit on the small side and are shaped like inverted teardrops, making for a slightly awkward fit on larger ears like mine. They will rest on your ears, there's just no way around that, so if you really don't like anything other than headphones that can encompass your entire ear then the 3H isn't for you. Luckily the 3H is extremely light, and the ear cushions are soft enough that ear fatigue isn't a huge issue unless you're wearing them for hours upon hours. The adjustable headband is made of a faux leather material, and the entire device collapses into a fairly small package for easier portability.

The integrated microphone has a pretty slick design. Instead of being detachable, or just bending out of the way for times when it's not in use, the 3H's mic simply retracts back into the left earphone. This is a nice solution since you won't lose this mic like you could if it was fully detachable, and when you're not using it, it's completely unnoticeable in the retracted position. The single cord that extends from the right earphone splits at the opposite end thus supplying both the headphone and microphone connections to your soundcard. Since the 3H is a budget product, SteelSeries didn't bother to include any accessories or include any form of built-in volume control or mute functionality.

<< Home

Page 1 of 3

Next >>

Page 1: Introduction & First Impressions
Page 2: Testing
Page 3: Conclusion

Subscribe to Headphones [more info]

Add Comment

0 User Comments

Add Comment

To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields.