The SteelSeries PC Gaming Experience

Using a Complete SteelSeries Setup

There are lots of gaming-focused PC hardware companies and it has always been tough to determine which one has the best hardware at any given time and that changes as time goes on. The various chip shortages and supply chain issues everything has faced since 2020 also create complications I am sure. . . It might be chasing a dragon, but I’ve always wondered how each company might fare by only using its hardware and software in the hopes that one company becomes the go-to for PC gaming.

Following my coverage of the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Keyboard, I was given the opportunity to check out a full suite of SteelSeries items, creating the perfect opportunity to go all in and test everything through the lens of only using that set of gear. Equipped with the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless Headset, Aerox 3 (2022 Edition) Wireless Mouse, SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Mechanical Keyboard, a QCK Prism Cloth XL mousepad I picked up on clearance, and the SteelSeries Arena 7 Speakers I leaned into the SteelSeries ecosystem, utilizing the gear and the GG software client on my desktop PC and a Razer Blade 15 laptop, occasionally using a few items on the PS5 or Switch. Not only did I use only SteelSeries products while playing games but I also work from home and do a bit of audio production, which really put these items through their paces.

Let’s start with aesthetics. The all-black nature of these items fits into most environments but I’m rather fond of the texture of the plastics used. Every piece is soft to the touch and feels fairly durable, especially the Arena 7 speakers which I expect to last a long time. Out of each item, the Arena 7’s lighting adds a ton of personality to my desk but it was fairly annoying to rely on the Prism app within the GG client to sync up those colors. Similar to my thoughts on a few specific pieces, when it works, the SteelSeries collection of gear looks awesome and is a breeze to use.

However, there appear to be some issues with the GG client or the receivers used in the specific iterations of the hardware I was sent. Since November, a few 2023 models were introduced that fixed some general gripes so it’s kind of tough to put a definitive pin in my stance on the general state of SteelSeries’ PC hardware offerings. Anything involving the wireless dongles felt spotty, except for the Apex Pro Mini Wireless Keyboard strangely enough. Even on the PS5 I ran into sporadic sound interruptions using the Arctis Nova 7 headset. Yet, the headset sounded incredible while playing on Switch and connecting straight to the USB-C port on the handheld. There could be a firmware update to improve this but over the course of almost four months, nothing seemed to change. All in all, the GG software is organized well but I had frequent problems with it, and the Sonar sound suite. Trying to use my other sound equipment through Sonar was nigh impossible.

Being unable to trust half of the gear’s connection, I didn’t bother diving deeper into the more specific abilities of the GG apps and settings. The core functions just didn’t work as well as I had hoped, except for the Arena 7 and the wired Apex Pro TKL keyboard. That wired connection seems pivotal in making things consistent. I even tried pairing things down to only using the headset in mouse across several USB ports and on my laptop and still ran into weird, unpredictable occurrences.

Any of these pieces with a rechargeable battery suffered from needing to be constantly charged. I think this is a software issue as well because turning on battery-saving options seemed to improve things quite a bit but still hit well below the mark of what was promised on the SteelSeries website and the products’ spec sheets.

That said, when things were functioning as intended I really liked what I was seeing in SteelSeries and I will likely stick with a few items for now. I’ll likely replace the mouse and the headset but the amazing keyboards will absolutely be something I use as long as I can. The Arena 7 won’t be leaving my desk for a long time either.

All things considered, trying to utilize a SteelSeries-specific setup might still be a ways off as there is still a lot to be desired from the software side. That said, the foundation is pretty solid it just needs to work more consistently at the base level. Factoring in just how much I’ve struggled to utilize other software/hardware sets, SteelSeries performs better than most but just isn’t quite up to snuff for a full commitment.

Hopefully, SteelSeries will sweep the bugs out of their software and improve the usability of future devices but the various ways they have innovated certain items speak a lot for the future of hardware from this company.

Find reviews of each of these SteelSeries devices below or learn more on the official website. Each product was provided for the purpose of review. Forever Classic Games LLC does not have affiliate links with SteelSeries. Images are a mixture of photographs taken with an iPhone and official product images.

Apex Pro Mini Wireless Keyboard

Arctis Nova 7 Wireless Headset

Apex Pro TKL Keyboard

Aerox 3 2022 Edition Wireless Mouse

Arena 7 Speakers