A Closer Look
Let’s take a closer look at the H-Wireless, and I will start with the packaging.
Just like the Siberia Elite is the H-Wireless a premium product, and Steelseries decided to give it a premium packaging. I really like the packaging it just feels cooler and more quality-like. There is a really strong cardboard box with a large Steelseries logo on it, like you can see on the picture below. wrapped in a colorful cover with a picture on the front some features on the side and some more information on the back.
This is the cool box that holds the H-Wireless and its accessories. When I got this I was really exited to open it up. So lets take a look at the insides of this box shall we?
Here you can see the H-Wireless headset and the transmitter. All the cables and accessories are located underneath. Let us take a look at the cables and talk a bit about them.
Here you can see all the cables (almost I was Using the USB) So you have a USB cable, a power adapter and 4 power plug ends (A European, an american one, a British one and an Australian one), an optical cable, an analog cable, a mobile cable and an Xbox chat cable.
Now about the setups:
PC: I find the the easiest option, because you can just connect the USB cable and start using it. The PC provides the necessary power to let the transmitter work and charge the battery. Then if you power of the computer you will not have an annoying light if you want to sleep. If you want to make use of the Dolby digital feature you do need to connect the optical cable but that is not very much work, just plug and play.
Xbox: For the Xbox you do need to connect the power adapter and then you can choose between the analog cable or the optical cable which I recommend using cause you can then make use of the Dolby digital feature. If you want to chat you have to connect the chat cable to the controller as well.
Playstation: For Playstation you need to connect the power adapter as well and choose between the USB cable or the optical, again I do recommend using the optical cable for the Dolby feature.
Mobile: for mobile devices like cell phones, mp3’s, iPods, iPads,… you will need to connect the power adapter in the first place and than connect the device with the mobile cable to the transmitter.
Now let us take a look at the transmitter itself, its a relatively small device but it has a great and slim design and some cool features.
Here you can see the transmitter, I personally really like the design of it, its simple with a black finish. A button and a presable wheel and a large display where you can see all the information, like the volume, the audio source it is on, the battery life and how the charging goes for the second battery and if the Dolby feature is on. With the H-Wireless there are 2 batteries included, one for in the headset itself and one in reserve but you can charge them in the transmitter, also see how full it is and if you the battery in the headset is depleted you just switch them and you can go further with game or with whatever you where doing.
Then there is not much more to talk about, llet us get to the actual headset itself then!
Like you did not already know, this is the Steelseries H-Wireless. The headset is entirely black with some orange in the stitching and the earcups. The earcups and headband are made of really soft leather for great comfort. I also find it way more comfortable then other headsets because its wireless, there are no cables holding you back or holding you fixed behind your PC or console. You just have the feeling of freedom! On the both sides of the earcup you can see “Steelseries” written on and above that you can see their logo, on the top of the headband there is “Steelseries” written on again but its simple you can easily walk around the city without people looking at you weird. But I don’t think anyone will do that cause you need the transmitter so…
Here you can see the left earcup with the Steelseries Lithium-Ion battery and like I already mentioned you will get an extra battery with the H-Wireless, what is really nice from Steelseries because when you are playing a game and your battery is empty then you need to stop playing and recharge your battery. And that is not fun at all so Steelseries as a gaming oriented company now that and they gave you 2 batteries, 1 for in the headset and the other one you can put in the transmitter to charge and when your headset starts to beep because it is almost depleted you can change it. In that way you never run out of battery life when dominating the battlefield.
Here you can see the two ports on the right side of the headset, the largest one is a share port here you can plugin your friends headset/headphone,.. so he/she can also listens to the same song you are. A very cool feature I also saw on the Siberia Elite. Then the small port is for the Xbox users as they need to connect the headset to their controller. Very nice from Steelseries to include that.
Then here you can see the power button, when on it flickers at a really slow pace, what I like cause to fast is a bit annoying in my eyes. To turn it on and turn it off you need press it for a couple of seconds. If you want to mute the mic you just need to press it and then a light on the mic will starts to glow.
Then about the microphone, the mic is like all steelseries microphones a retractable mic. And I just absolutely love those, you can not lose it and it never hangs in your way, unless you leave it hanging of course. the microphone is really flexible as well which is a good thing so you can easily adjust it.
So I think that wraps it up for the closer look, now let us take a look at the performance of the headset…
