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SteelSeries’s new Prime accessories are streamlined for high-level play

SteelSeries’s new Prime accessories are streamlined for high-level play

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Or for people who don’t need loads of features

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SteelSeries Arctis Prime and Prime Wireless
The Arctis Prime headset alongside the Prime Wireless mouse.

SteelSeries has announced the new Prime lineup of high-performance gaming accessories designed alongside esports athletes. They’ve been “designed to win championships,” but they seem fine enough for average people who just take their gaming time seriously, too. There are four new devices, including the wired Arctis Prime headset and three different Prime mice, and they all seem reasonably priced. One thing they have in common is a rather simplistic design that puts ease of use ahead of bundling in so many features that you accidentally hit the wrong button when the moment really matters. Each of these accessories is available starting today.

The $99.99 Arctis Prime headset has just a mute button and a volume wheel. The left ear cup also houses a retractable boom microphone that’s easy to pull out and push in with one hand. In terms of other features, the Prime headset plugs in with its included proprietary USB cable that outputs to your source via 3.5mm. Next to that, there’s a 3.5mm port located so you can share audio with a teammate sitting nearby.

SteelSeries Arctis Prime

SteelSeries changed up its ear pads to be better at blocking out sound. They’re more plushy now than previous Arctis headsets, and the faux leather covering gives them a high-end look. The elastic ski band SteelSeries is known for using hasn’t gone anywhere, and as expected, the Arctis Prime is a comfortable headset that rests gently on the top of your head. Each ear cup has magnetic plates that can be removed, in case you want custom ones.

The Arctis Prime has broad compatibility with PCs, consoles, and mobile devices with its 3.5mm jack. SteelSeries also includes a longer cable for PC players to use, which accepts the 3.5mm jack and splits it into dedicated headphone and microphone jacks. My time with this headset has been limited so far, but its sound performance seems to be on-par, if not slightly better, than SteelSeries’ other Arctis headsets in the $100-$150 price range.

SteelSeries Prime Wireless

Moving onto the three Prime mice, they look visually identical, though they each have some differences. At the top, the $129.99 Prime Wireless seems to be going after the same crowd who might be considering Logitech’s G Pro X Superlight. It’s similarly simple in design, though the Prime Wireless stands out with its especially high arch that caters to right-handed gamers compared to the Superlight’s ambidextrous build. This is an 80-gram mouse that has a USB-C charging port that supports fast charging, and SteelSeries claims its battery can last up to 100 hours. The company also claims that its magnetic optical switches are rated for up to to 100 million clicks. These switches have a pronounced click sound and feel — more so than mice I’ve tried recently.

SteelSeries Prime Plus
The Prime Plus has a bottom-facing OLED screen and a secondary liftoff sensor.

If you only trust the low latency performance of a wired mouse while gaming, the $79.99 Prime Plus might be for you. It has a similar design to the Wireless, but it’s 11 grams lighter in weight, and it has a secondary liftoff sensor that SteelSeries says allows for the “world’s lowest and most accurate liftoff”. In other words, this should prevent the pointer from moving when you need to quickly lift and reposition the mouse. The Prime Plus also has a bottom-mounted OLED screen that lets you toggle through settings like sensitivity, liftoff distance, illumination of the scrollwheel’s RGB LED, the mouse’s polling rate and more. This way, you don’t necessarily need to use SteelSeries’ GG companion software on PC to toggle your most important settings.

Lastly, the $59.99 Prime has the same weight, sensor, and magnetic optical switches you’ll find in the Prime Plus, but it lacks the secondary liftoff sensor and the OLED screen. If you don’t need those features, this is an affordable option if you’re a right-handed gamer who doesn’t mind a high arch in the middle of the mouse.

We’ll be testing these accessories more thoroughly in the weeks to come to see if they can fight for a spot in our roundups of the best gaming headsets and best gaming mice.