Our Verdict
Below-average for mixed usage. The SteelSeries Siberia 200 are gaming headphones with a semi-open design that won't be ideal for loud environments. It also means that they leak quite a bit, but on the upside, it gives them a decently spacious and immersive soundstage that improves their sound quality. They also have a wired connection so they have practically no latency for gaming and watching movies. They just won't be versatile enough for more casual uses like commuting and sports.
- Negligible latency.
- Good audio reproduction and microphone.
- Poor noise isolation, by design.
- Mediocre build quality.
- Relatively high leakage, by design.
Good for neutral listening. The SteelSeries 200 are surprisingly well balanced with a good amount of bass and a clean representation of instruments and vocals. Also, thanks to their semi-open design, they have a relatively open soundstage for their small ear cups. However, they're not the most comfortable headphones to wear for extended listening sessions.
Sub-par for commuting. They have a semi-open design that barely blocks any ambient noise and leaks a lot. They're also a bit cumbersome to carry around on your person without a bag.
Mediocre for sports. They're bulky and unstable headphones that will quickly fall off your head if you use them while running or working out.
Mediocre for office use. They leak a lot and do not block much noise so you will be able to hear everything that's going on around you.
This wired gaming headset can't be used wirelessly.
The SteelSeries Siberia 200 are an above-average headset for gaming. They have a wired, low latency connection, a good sound quality, and a mic that filters out a lot of noise and reproduces your voice accurately. Unfortunately, they do not have the best build quality and feel a little cheap at times. Also, since they have a semi-open design, you may struggle to hear your in-game audio in loud environments like a competition. On the upside, if you game alone, then they're a decent budget option.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Nov 14, 2017: Review published.
Check Price
We've upgraded our Headphones Test Bench to 2.0! This update brings several key changes to our tests and usages, making it easier than ever to interpret our sound results based on your personal preferences. You'll also find a brand-new interactive graph tool featuring multiple targets (including our own!) for you to explore and compare.
For a full breakdown, check out our changelog, which includes detailed commentary from our test designer explaining the rationale behind our update.
We'd also love to hear your thoughts: your feedback helps us keep improving, so join us in the comments!
Test Results
The SteelSeries Siberia 200 have a pretty basic and straightforward design. They're a bit more compact than typical gaming headsets and could pass for casual everyday over-ears especially since the mic is retractable. They also come in more eye-catching color schemes and an all-black variation that's a bit more subtle. They won't be the most fashion forward-looking headphones, but they're a bit more appealing to casual users than typical gaming headsets.
The Siberia 200 are decently comfortable headphones with a self-adjusting headband design that accommodates most head sizes. They're also quite lightweight but unfortunately, the ear cups are small and shallow, and the padding is somewhat stiff. They're also a bit tight on the head and the ear cups do not always fit well on all users and poorly distribute pressure. This makes the Siberia 200 a bit fatiguing to wear over long periods of time especially if you have larger than average ears.
These headphones have a basic control scheme for gaming. A volume dial and a mic on/off switch. They have no additional buttons, and they're fairly easy-to-use, but the volume dial doesn't have distinct notches which would have been helpful when setting a preferred volume level. The control scheme also doesn't cater to mobile devices which makes it less versatile than some of the other gaming headsets we've reviewed.
The SteelSeries 200, like most gaming headsets, are not portable. They have a bulky design that doesn't fold into a more compact format. This makes them a hassle to carry around on your person if you don't have a bag. They also don't come with a pouch or a case to carry them in which is a bit disappointing.
The Siberia 200's build quality is flexible and sturdy enough that they won't break from a couple of drops. Unfortunately, the materials used in their build quality feel a bit cheap. There are a lot of moving parts that do not feel very durable and the cable is not replaceable so if it gets damaged you won't be able to use the headphones anymore.
The SteelSeries Siberia 200 are moderately stable for a gaming headset. They're tight on the head and would be stable enough to jog with if they had a detachable cable. However, this means they won't be the best option for sports as the cumbersome cable and slightly bulky design will cause the headphones to slip off your head during more intensive exercises.
Decent consistency performance. Due to the semi-open design, the Siberia 200 doesn't rely heavily on an air-tight seal for bass, therefore, their bass delivery is quite consistent across different users. Their treble range though, is less consistent than the bass range, most likely due to the ear cup and headband design.
Great bass range performance. LFE is extended down to 12Hz, which is excellent. The overall response of the bass range is virtually flat, but with about 2dB of constant over-emphasis. It makes the overall sound of these headphones slightly bass-heavy.
Very good mid-range performance. The overall mid-range response is rather inconsistent but within 2dB of our target. The 2.3dB overemphasis in low-mid adds a bit of clutter and mud to the mix, and the 2dB dip around 8KHz pushes the vocals/leads slightly to the back of the mix.
Very good treble range performance. The average treble range response is within 2dB of target up to 10KHz. The remarkable feature here is the small dip around 5KHz, negatively affecting the presence and detail of vocals/leads.
Poor isolation, which is expected of their open-back design. The SteelSeries Siberia 200 doesn't isolate any noise below 900Hz. Above that frequency, they achieve more than 21dB of isolation, which is about average.
Sub-par leakage performance. The significant portion of leakage sits between 500Hz and 6KHz, which is a relatively broad range. The overall level of leakage, however, is not very loud.
Great microphone performance. Speech recorded with the microphone of the SteelSeries Siberia 200 will be relatively neutral, full, and easily comprehensible, but lacking slightly in airiness. In noisy environments, they are able to separate speech from noise to an amazing degree, making them ideal for very loud situations such as a metro station.
Excellent recording quality. LFE is extended down to 20Hz, and HFE is extended up to 10KHz making speech recorded with the Siberia 200 full, detailed, and easily comprehensible. However, because of the dip in the high-treble range, they may sound slightly airless and lacking in brilliance.
Outstanding noise handling. The microphone on the Siberia 200 achieves a speech-to-noise ratio of 40dB which is excellent. This makes them suitable to be used in very loud environments.
No compatible app.
Wired connection, negligible latency.
