The packaging for the 5H v2 was the standard black and orange. The headset has two colours, black and white. Drivers had to be acquired online for the USB soundcard. Extension cables are present as well. Otherwise, it’s simple plug and play of the 3.5mm jacks for the headset. From here on, I’m testing the headset with and without the soundcard to see how it stands out.

The headset is so white that it glows

The opened package

The headset was built to be compact. Its mike is tucked away inside the left earphone. It’s flexible, easy to keep and has a resilient cord. The mike though looks like a bulb. It can be said that it’s odd and ‘sticking out’. The earphones are good, shaped perfectly to immerse the ears in a sea of sound. The plastic materials feel tough and hollow, stronger than generic headset materials. That doesn’t mean its damage proof though. The weight of the headset was decent, neither heavy nor light. The cord was made with strong anti tear material although it has a tendency to curl and bunch up like any other cord. The cord length is fine for normal use and the extension is really useful for stretching back on the chair and relax. The size of the headset is standard but it has an interesting trick to portability.

The microphone kept away

Microphone turned rocket

A very special thing about the 5H v2 is the ability to separate it into three pieces. This makes it extremely portable and also much safer for the headset from being broken / damaged in the bag. Dismantling and assembly are pretty straight forward, requiring no ‘Steel Series 5H v2 Guide for Dummies’. The clips binding the three parts together can be hard to open but it’s better that than having it to fail at the worst of times. Caution is still important for the headphones will have exposed connectors which can rust and affect sound performance.

Into Three

SteelSeries got the bling

All packed up

The earphones are very comfortable. They fit perfectly around the ear. The ear cushions are soft but firm and it stays warm during long hours of use. The upper cushion around the headband works fine to its task. There was never a need to take the headset off from an ‘ear overheat’.

They just wanna hug your ears!

The sound quality is excellent. Audio Directions were clear. The depth was deep. Bass was right. Footsteps and sounds in games were clear and precise. Music was fine but it certainly wasn't better than footsteps.The USB Soundcard also is different from the integrated 7.1 soundcards. It felt different with a few of its effects but it felt weaker to the usual 7.1 I'm listening to. It also can be problematic for users who makes a lot of ingame recordings for making movies and etc for the system usually does not record Stereo Mix Audio (A common sound hardware that exists in Windows Vista and above) when in use with the soundcard. Thus, my videos simply went quiet on sound unless I use the microphone during the recordings.

The Soundcard software

Volume strength is enough but the max volume isn’t really high. The reason why is assumed to be the volume controller. The SteelSeries Siberia Neckband also suffered a drop in max volume when used together with its optional volume controller (which is still provided together). It’s still loud enough that you can hear it fine from the computer table but not enough to blast your ears in a go or stress the audio systems of the headset. The volume control can also be clipped to your shirt, a nifty thing to have. Exterior sound isolation is also very strong. You can barely hear a thing even if your ten steps away and that’s at maximum volume. You won’t be bothering anyone in the early morning when you use this headset.

To sum everything up, it’s

The Good
-Soft, Comfortable, Flexible
-Can dismantle into 3 pieces
-Very portable
-Very good quality
-Ears stay cool for long period of gaming
-Strong Exterior Audio isolation

The Bad

-Mic head looks like bulb
-Weak Max volume

-Soundcard not up to expectations

-Soundcard conflict with Stereo Mix

In conclusion, the SteelSeries 5H v2 headset is a very good gaming headset to use and definitely more consumer friendly in the terms of portability. For the price it made for a tough portable headset, its definitely worth it. This is one headset you can take with you anywhere anytime.

SteelSeries, with you anywhere, anytime