SteelSeries Siberia 200 Gaming Headset Review

[FormatC]

The SteelSeries Siberia 200 is a lower priced version of the Siberia v2. We put this gaming headset through our test bed in the Tom's Hardware German lab.

SteelSeries Siberia 200 Gaming Headset Review : Read more

 

[LORD_ORION]

What's the warranty? If it's 1 year or less I'd expect it to fail.
Consensus has become that pretty much every "gaming" headset is a Piece of Crap, except for the HyperX cloud cores, and only because they are rebrands of TakStar's good heaphones.

 

[NinjaNerd56]

Just replaced a Logitech headset because the mic went bonkers and adds so much noise, it causes clipping.

Found a Corsair HS60 at the local Best Buy for $60. No drivers for Windows 10, and their website doesn’t think these headphones exist.

That said, they work fine in 10, and work with Windows 10 spatial sound and Dolby Atmos 7.1 setups. They do sound much better than the Logitech set, and the mic is apparently much better, according to my play group for Destiny 2.

 

[canadianvice]

I will say this: I will never buy a headset that doesn't mimic the Siberia's design. Regular headphones with the hard band are awful, but the Siberias are the only ones I have ever been able to wear for a significant (indefinite) amount of time without major discomfort.

The headband concept they have is fantastic. I'm currently rolling an Arctis, but my only gripe with that one is that it is not tight laterally, so it sort of slips around. Still great for comfort though.

As far as warranty goes, usually 1 year, but honestly, I still have my Siberia black/gold I picked up several years ago. The paint job has seen better days, but it still works just as well as day one.

I'll give SS due credit - their headsets are well designed and generally priced to their capabilities. The Siberia V2 will always hold a place in my heart and I still consider it the best headset (having made use of such things for over a decade) I have ever owned. Pity they downgraded the audio/mic on the rehash v3, but the 200s are still pretty similar IIRC.

 

[JQB45]

Expect those little steel cables holding the head band on to break with time. I repaired my (older model) head set once and about a year later they broke again. Right now I think I'll try to repair them again.

 

[canadianvice]

Expect those little steel cables holding the head band on to break with time. I repaired my (older model) head set once and about a year later they broke again. Right now I think I'll try to repair them again.

Do you just chuck your headset on the floor and kick it around a bunch when you're done for the day? I've had mine for like 4 years and it has not broken. The only headsets I've known to die autonomously are the Turtle Beach offerings, but if you're not treating it like crap most others should last just fine.

Honestly, there's not much out there that just "breaks" if you take proper care of it. I say this having bought a significant amount of low-cost Chinese stuff as well. Almost all of it works years later, despite paper thin cables and whatnot, simply because I don't thrash it around like some troglodyte in a cave.

 

[JQB45]

I consider myself to be a rather careful person. For example this laptop I am using currently is from 2012, it doesn't have a single scratch on it. Nor does it have any other physical damage. A previous headset I had I got in 2013 and it never had any problems. I eventually gave that set to my dad and he still uses them to this day.

 

[FormatC]

The OEM is the same as for older Kingston HyperX headsets and they are using a similar tooling. And my wife also killed this construction. The Siberia 200 is again a significant cost-down from the older tooling and to be honest - the older one was not perfect at all. But you get, what you paid for. You can be carefully as you want, the sun and UV will kill all this plastic bombers faster than you think. The maturing of all this parts is going fast.

I'm using since years high-end headphones with 10 years warranty and an availability for all their parts over 20 years. The only things, that I changed, were the ear pads after 5 years. Pay less but be not surprised, if parts will be damaged. It's an economical law

 

[-Fran-]

I've had these alongisde my main headset for "on the go" and they're amazingly good for the price. Their only fall (that reflects with a lot of use) is the padding. The padding gives in very easily, so you will need to replace the padding sooner than later.

Other than that, for the price, these are really hard to match IMO. Specially given how seamless they are when transitioning from headset to headphones; you can even use them in the open and they're perfectly "camouflaged" as a headset. Add an adapter for smartphone, and you can even use them as "handsfree", haha.

In terms of construction, they seem flimsy, but I've put them through some rough times and not a dent. The padding (again) is the only "weak" point I can talk about openly. Maybe I got lucky, I don't know...

Cheers!

 

[gamerguy319]

I would love to see more headphones along the lines of audio-tecnica m50x's and other at the $150ish price point.

 

[FormatC]

Stay tuned, the guys are translating now all the tests from the German site first. I also tested better headsets and have also a lot of new things in my pipeline.

 

[godnodog]

My 10 years old Siberia headset are still good to this day, best headset I ever bought, if it was not for some wearout of the headband tissue it would still look like it had at most 1year of use. The external sound board is just acceptable, nothing worth of notice.

 

[thinkspeak]

Would Love to see the Hyper X Revolver covered next since they are supposed to have a good response curve and "studio grade" speakers.

 

[FormatC]

I have the HyperX Cloud Alpha here in the pipeline