HARDWARE REVIEW

SteelSeries Siberia RAW Prism Review

by Luke Walsh, September 23rd, 2015

SteelSeries’ Siberia RAW Prism is part of their latest colour range, which advertises to gamers that they have the option of 16 million colours at their disposal. This gives them the ability to tweak and shape, for the exact hue they would like for the rings around the ear cups of the headset.

Like the entire RAW range, the idea is based around a budget. You get a product of similar design, but with downgraded specifications or less additional features. For those looking for a gaming headset without the massive price tag, they can be an enticing model to go in for.

The biggest difference with the RAW Prism from their other Siberia models is the headband design. SteelSeries have gone back to the normal ‘over the head’ design without the suspension type system the other Siberia’s have, which makes it a little heavier. I liked the suspension design but it did struggle to support someone with a smaller head, so the Prism RAW does give some gamers another option. Additional padding to the headband, and the same treatment for the closed ear cups makes for a nice soft fit. For what is a budget headset, comfort does not seem to be one of the features that has been downgraded to shed those pounds. After extensive use, like the previous models, the SteelSeries Siberia RAW Prism still felt great without the need to take it off to let my head breathe. It also did quite well with air flow, unlike other headsets that feel very warm around the ears after longer use, the Prism was cool and breezy.

The audio quality of the Prism RAW was quite a surprise, it did very well at producing decent sounds and was not too notability different to their more expensive models. There were some tinny sounds at the mid to hi-mid ranges, but for the price is a more acceptable slide on sound quality than if it was £100+. In a game such as Battlefield 4, you were able to hear footsteps behind you quite accurately and ambient sounds came through clearly. The bass however was not a show stopper, at higher levels it did not reproduce those deep sounds well, but along with other headsets in the price range it is something to be expected.

All of SteelSeries headsets have discrete mics, but the Prism RAW goes one step further and no longer has a retractable mic. What it has instead it is a small nub on the side of one of the ear cups. Although only a tiny part of the headset, it picked up most sounds fine but the quality could have been better. Much like SteelSeries’ Siberia V3 design, there are not in line controls for the headset, all sound has to managed through the game or the OS itself. Which means if you need to change the volume or mute the mic mid-game, prepare to alt-tab.

Part of the package which does show its budgetary constraints is the build quality. The Siberia Prism RAW is very plastic, it looks and feels cheap. Some might like the clean white science design, but where the sound performs above its price range, the build falls short with its creaky plastic look. Even though it has an extra feature of the lighting options for the ear cups with the SteelSeries software, buying a headset purely on colour availability is entirely up to you.

A USB connection is the only type of connectivity for the Prism RAW, so those who wish to use it with their phone or a sound card will be unable to do so. It could be part of the simplicity of the product to make it easy to use as possible with the PC, but it does hinder itself by being limited to the plug and play option.

The SteelSeries Siberia RAW Prism is a decent headset for the £40 price tag, and puts the money where it matters. The audio was clear with decent sound, and the comfort was up there for extended gaming sessions. It’s build quality could be better, but the cheaper components have to come from somewhere to keep cost down. If you can put up with the plastic look and feel, then this headset will do the job and produce the results you need at a price that won’t bruise your wallet.