The SteelSeries Arctis 3 headset is a really damn fine pair of gaming headphones (just check out my review to find out why). Today, they’ve announced a new model that incorporates a bluetooth along with wired connections that allows for simultaneous audio between your mobile and gaming devices.
The idea here is that you’ll be able to answer phone calls, and do other things with your phone/tablet, while still being able to listen to your in-game audio via the wired connection that plugs into the system. While this will work for any of your gaming consoles (and PC), this unique function makes it an ideal way to deal with the wonky voice chat on the Nintendo Switch.
So far, the Switch’s voice chat isn’t built into the system itself. As such, if you want to chat with friends, you have to do so via a mobile app with the headset plugged into the phone…if you want to listen to the GAME at the same time, you’ll need a splitter of some sort to divvy up the audio. In short, it’s a bunch of cords and connections that make something which should be simple (and fun in a game) a complicated affair.
Using the bluetooth feature on the new Arctis 3 means you can wirelessly connect to your phone and the Nintendo Switch app, while using the wired connection on the console to listen to the game. It doesn’t change the fact that the system is still weird, it does make it much easier:
Today, SteelSeries introduced a new Arctis gaming headset to the award-winning line-up, the Arctis 3 Bluetooth. This addition of Bluetooth allows users to hear audio from both Bluetooth sources and wired connections at the same time. Arctis 3 Bluetooth is designed for everywhere you game, with remarkable sound, comfort and style on all gaming platforms, including PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, VR and mobile.
Arctis 3 Bluetooth is now even more ideal for Nintendo Switch. Gamers can connect to their phones via Bluetooth to use the Nintendo Switch Online chat mobile app, while using the wired connection to hear game audio from their Nintendo Switch. This is the first headset with this type of compatibility for the Nintendo Switch.
The Arctis 3 Bluetooth also allows console gamers to connect with their friends and community on Discord’s mobile application over Bluetooth, while simultaneously listening to in-game audio from their Xbox One or PlayStation 4 over a wired connection. This connectivity allows gamers to take calls, join VoIP chat and stream music wirelessly over Bluetooth while hearing balanced and powerful game audio through the 3.5mm connection.
SteelSeries Audio Category Manager, Brian Fallon says, “This is the first time that you can simultaneously have wired gaming audio and wireless Bluetooth. Bluetooth is incredibly useful for connecting wirelessly to mobile devices for chat and music, but as most gamers know, Bluetooth has too much latency for gaming. That is why this is a wired headset for gaming and Bluetooth for everything else.”
“We’ve noticed gamers hacking away at blending console game audio and Discord voice for quite some time,” says Eros Resmini, CMO of Discord. “SteelSeries makes that whole process easy with this product and let’s more gamers use Discord with their friends.”
The Arctis 3 Bluetooth features SteelSeries’ low-distortion speakers to deliver incredible sound while gaming on PC, portable console and across mobile devices. Featuring the best microphone in gaming, the SteelSeries ClearCast mic is a retractable bi-directional system that delivers clear voice communication while acoustically eliminating all background and surrounding noise. The athletics-inspired AirWeave performance fabric ear cushions and exclusive ski goggle headband provide extreme and long-lasting comfort.
The Arctis 3 Bluetooth is available for sale now.
-Jordan
