GKick Hardware Review: SteelSeries Siberia V2 Frost Blue

September 14th, 2012 by Steve Perry

When it comes to gaming headsets, SteelSeries’ Siberia V2 has emerged as the standard-bearer not only of the SteelSeries line of headsets but also of gaming headsets overall. While there are likely headsets of various brands that may be better to some folks, the Siberia V2 has definitely been the “default” of gaming headsets for some time. One of the newest members of the Siberia line is the Siberia V2 Frost, a white and pale blue USB headset that carries the banner proudly.

First impressions of the V2 Frost are pretty straight forward as it already met two of the things I really like out of any gaming headset: extremely lightweight and utilizes the suspended headband style. If you aren’t familiar with that term, just think of any headset which has a fabric band that runs underneath the hard plastic of the actual headset, usually anchored to the earpieces by cords of some sort. You see it in all of the Siberia V2 models even though most headset manufacturers go with the solid headband style.

As far as comfortable, these things really deliver. The leather padded earcups are not only gentle but also provide excellent noise cancellation. Style-wise, the headset looks very nice, with a clean white and grey color scheme accented by large blue LEDs on either ear. And, as I said before, they’re super light. Deceptively light, actually.

Another favorite is the microphone design. Instead of the typical style of tilting up and down alongside one of the earcups, the V2’s mic is hidden inside the left earcup and can be pulled out – and flexed to nearly any degree – at a whim, or just tucked away when not in use. But enough with the look and feel, how good is it?

While the Siberia V2 will be a featured product as part of the GKick Great Gaming Headset Review feature, we can safely say that the sound quality is superb and thanks to the integrated USB soundcard, it provides some awesome audio quality even if you are lacking a high-quality standard sound card.

We ran the Siberia V2 through a few of its paces in games like World of Warcraft and while watching HD TV broadcasts, as well as tested the microphone during the recording of a recent podcast as well as over voice-chat software and while streaming over TwitchTV.

When it comes to output quality, the upgrade over a cheap office-type headset is massive. The rich sound puts the Siberia V2 up on a level that most headsets can’t touch, and there was no unusual peaking or static during complex sound events in Warcraft. While watching TV, the audio was crisp and clean and the provided EQ software gave us a bit of versatility to the soundscape.

As far as microphone quality, the Siberia V2 does a great job. The noise-cancellation is present throughout and even with the hum of an air conditioner or fan running in the background, the mic did an awesome job of filtering out the excess sound and providing clear, clean, high-quality voice capture. While not on the level of a studio microphone, it does a tremendous job at being a quality headset mic.

So far, the headset has performed admirably, though there are some concerns with the build quality of the in-line volume controls. Most headsets have a pretty strong and sturdy control, especially if it’s in-line, but the one on the Siberia V2 Frost definitely feels a bit cheaper than was expected. However, so far, there haven’t been any issues, but it definitely felt out of place on such a high-quality headset overall.

When it comes down to it, I can’t recommend the Siberia V2 line enough. The Frost is an awesome headset for any gamer, it looks great and the LEDs aren’t even much of a distraction to other players, though you can personalize and customize them (or turn them off completely) to your taste. Frankly, for the price, this is a tremendous headset and worth every penny, especially if you’re not looking to spend $200 or more on a top-tier audiophile headset.

STYLE: 9/10
COMFORT: 10/10
DURABILITY: 7/10
OUTPUT QUALITY: 8/10
INPUT QUALITY: 8/10

OVERALL SCORE: 9.5/10

Stay tuned for our GKick Great Gaming Headset Review feature on the SteelSeries Siberia V2 Frost Blue when we REALLY put it to the test and tell you where it excels and where it falls short in a wide variety of applications – COMING SOON!

Sam

I got these about 4 days ago. Love them! Only ever owned Turtle Beach X1′s in the past which I couldn’t stand comfort-wise. I used to have to wear a hood with the headset on top of it as it was so sore on my head (I assumed I was just weird). Bought a gaming PC about 6 months ago and last on my list was a headset as I was mic-less. Went for the Frost Blue V2′s and couldn’t be happier. So so comfortable, so light, sound quality is brilliant. Haven’t used the mic yet but I’m sure it’ll be great!