SteelSeries Arctis 3 2019 Edition Wireless Headphones Review

The SteelSeries Arctis 3 are pretty much identical to the SteelSeries Arctis 5 2019 Edition when it comes to style. They have the same one-piece headband made from plastic that doesn’t look as well-built as higher-end Arctis headsets. However, this model still has the signature self-adjusting ski-band headband design from SteelSeries. On the other hand, they don’t have any RGB lighting. The headset is designed the same way as the rest of the Arctis lineup with large cups and a simple design.

These headphones are as comfortable as the other Arctis headsets. The padding on the cups is soft and feels nice on the skin. The cups are wide and deep, meaning most ears should fit inside them. The headband is an adjustable ski band like most SteelSeries headphones we’ve reviewed so far and it distributes the weight of the headset well. Unfortunately, they can feel a bit tight to some, especially people with larger heads. Some may feel the frame of the headset resting on the top of their head, as there is a limit to how much you can extend the ski band.

The control scheme of the SteelSeries Arctis 3 is complete and easy to use. You can use the power/pairing button to play/pause your music and take calls, whether you’re using them wired or wirelessly via Bluetooth. You can also double-tap it to skip tracks. Unfortunately, you can’t go backward. There’s also a volume wheel and a mic-mute button on the left cup. The buttons are easy to differentiate and easy to use.

Note:Only the volume wheel works when the headset is used wired.

Like most SteelSeries headphones, the SteelSeries Arctis 3 aren’t very breathable headphones. They can be tight on some heads and don’t let much air flow through, even if their padding is made out of a porous material. You'll likely notice a small difference in temperature over time, but this shouldn’t be a big issue during gaming sessions. However, they won’t be a good option for sports as you will sweat noticeably more than usual.

Like most gaming headphones, the SteelSeries Arctis 3 Bluetooth aren’t the most portable. They have a bulky design and they don’t fold into a more compact format. On the upside, their cups swivel to lay flat, which makes it easier to slide the headphones in a bag or to wear them around your neck without being bothered by the cups.

These headphones don’t come with a case.

The SteelSeries Arctis 3 feel a bit cheaper than the rest of the lineup and are built similarly to the SteelSeries Arctis 5 2019 Edition. The headband frame of this model is made from plastic and doesn’t feel as sturdy as the SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition, SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless, or SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC. However, the cups are the same and should survive a few accidental drops without too much damage. Also, the retractable microphone is malleable and feels well-made too.

Since the SteelSeries Arctis 3 are fairly tight, they feel stable, but their bulky design won’t be ideal for most intense sports and physical activity. They’ll sway around with head movement and aren’t designed for working out. These headphones are also wired, so you’ll need to be careful not to get their wire hooked on something, which could yank the headphones off your head. You can also use their Bluetooth connection with your phone to get rid of that risk.

• SteelSeries Arctis 3 2019 Edition Wireless headphones
• 8-pin USB to 1/8” TRRS audio cable
• PC Y-splitter
• USB to micro-USB charging cable
• Manuals

The frequency response of the SteelSeries Arctis 3 is sub-par. In the bass range, the deviation across our five human subjects is quite wide and deep, reaching more than 10dB at their LFE. This will be easily noticeable. Also, having glasses or lots of hair seems to increase the chance of experiencing a drop in bass. In the treble range, we also measured a maximum variation of more than 10dB under 10kHz, which is very noticeable and show that these headphones' treble delivery is sensitive to fit and positioning.

The bass performance of the SteelSeries Arctis 3 Bluetooth is decent. Their LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 58Hz, which is okay. That and the 5dB underemphasis in low-bass will result in a bass that sounds light on thump and rumble common to bass-heavy music like EDM, dubstep, and rap. The response then goes up to a 3dB bump in high-bass, which adds extra muddiness and boominess to the overall bass.

Also, their bass delivery varies significantly across users, and is sensitive to the quality of fit, seal, and whether you wear glasses. The response here represents the average bass response, and your experience may vary.

The SteelSeries Arctis 3’s mid-range is good. The response throughout the range is fairly well-balanced and is decently near to our target curve. However, there’s a small bump in low-mid, which is a continuation of the high-bass, making vocals and lead instruments a bit thick and cluttered. There’s also an 8dB tilt favoring lower frequencies.

The SteelSeries Arctis 3 have a great treble performance. The response is very flat and even, but gets a bit elevated around 9-10kHz. This bump will make some sibilants (S and T sounds) overly sharp and piercing, especially on already bright tracks. Note that not everyone will hear it as intensely.

Also, their treble delivery varies noticeably across users. The response here represents the average response and your experience may vary.

The imaging is great. Weighted group delay is at 0.27, which is within very good limits. The GD graph also shows that the entire group delay is below the audibility threshold, suggesting a tight bass and a transparent treble. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were well-matched in amplitude and phase but had a very small mismatch in frequency. This is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo field. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

The SteelSeries Arctis 3 have a decent soundstage for closed-back headphones. The shape of the PRTF response isn’t accurate but has a lot of activation, suggesting a soundstage that may feel relatively large but a bit unnatural. Although their closed-back enclosure results in a soundstage that may not feel as open as that of open-back headphones, they produce a pronounced dip around 10kHz that could help bring the soundstage out of the listener’s head and to the front.

Their isolation performance is sub-par. In the bass range, where the rumble of airplane and bus engines sits, they don't achieve any isolation, which means they won’t be a good option for commuting and traveling. In the mid-range, important for blocking speech, they block about 9dB of noise, which is sub-par. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts and A/C noise, they achieved about 33dB of isolation, which is good.

The SteelSeries Arctis 3 have a decent leakage performance. A significant portion of their leakage is spread between 400Hz and 4kHz, which is a fairly narrow range. The overall level of leakage is also too loud. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at one foot away averages at 40dB SPL and peaks at 54dB SPL, which is just about the noise floor of most offices.

The SteelSeries Arctis 3’s microphone has excellent recording quality. It does a better job than the Corsair HS70 Bluetooth's microphone as your voice sounds full-bodied, detailed, and present. However, it also sounds noticeably bright, and although it won't sound neutral, it could help cut through audio from your game.

Update 10/22/2021: These headphones have been updated to test bench 1.5. In this update, we made changes to the way we test noise handling. We now use a subjective evaluation of our audio clips. This new method has resulted in different results than what we had reported in our previous test bench. As a result, the scoring of this box has changed, and we have updated our results.

The microphone of the SteelSeries Arctis 3 Bluetooth has good noise handling. It's able to separate your voice from moderate ambient noise, ensuring that your teammates hear you clearly.

With over 40 hours of continuous playback, the SteelSeries Arctis 3 are among the headphones that offer the longest playback time without the need for physical AA or AAA batteries that we've tested so far. With such a long battery life, it's expected that they might take a bit longer to charge than most Bluetooth headphones. Unfortunately, they don’t automatically turn off if they're idle for a bit. You can use them passively with an audio cable, though, even if their battery is dead, which is convenient.

The SteelSeries Arctis 3 are not compatible with the SteelSeries Engine gaming software for customization options. However, they still have surround sound, which you can enable in your sound settings on Windows 10 under “spatial sound”; choose Windows Sonic for Headphones.

These headphones are Bluetooth-compatible. You can connect them via Bluetooth to your phone while gaming on a console with the headset being wired to your controller. However, you won’t be able to connect them wirelessly to multiple devices simultaneously.

When used over Bluetooth, the SteelSeries Arctis 3 have less latency than most Bluetooth headphones we've tested, which usually average 200-220ms of delay. This means some people might not even notice the delay between audio and video content even when using the headphones wirelessly, which is great, but still might be a bit too high for gaming.

Update 02/14/2022: The connection was originally reported as 1/8" TRRS. However, the connector for the headset is a Mini B 8-Pin. The results have been updated to reflect these changes.

Thanks to their mini B 8-pin to 1/8” TRRS connection, the SteelSeries Arctis 3 support audio and microphone on pretty much every platform that has the appropriate jack. When using them on PC, you’ll have to use the PC Y-splitter to use the mic and headphone jacks.

These headphones don’t have a dock. For similar headphones with a dock that allows customization and great control options, take a look at the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless or the SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC.