No matter where I ventured, I didn't lose any signal. I placed my phone in the center of my apartment and then walked to every corner, in every room, to see how well I could hear my music. The sound quality was also consistent and stable, without any kind of lag or dropped signals. It took 7 seconds for the sound to kick in when I switched from PC to Switch - and that was the longest I had to wait. As such, I tried switching between all the game systems in my home, using only the USB-C dongle (and the USB-A adapter), timing how long it took before the sound started up in each case. SteelSeries claims that this dongle will eliminate a lot of the pain points traditionally associated with wireless Switch headphones, particularly since they often require cumbersome Bluetooth dongles. The most important feature of the Arctis 1 Wireless is its USB-C dongle. But for everyday use, it sounds just fine. This is not an audiophile headset, or a headset for hard-core competitive players, for whom every footstep could mean life or death. As such, games sound clear and intelligible, rather than vibrant and nuanced. It's important to remember that the Arctis 1 is, fundamentally, a budget headset. It even worked with Donut County on the Xbox One, although it was a little hard to find the right volume balance through the 3.5-mm cord. It was precise enough to balance the dialogue, sound effects and orchestral music in Age of Mythology: Extended Edition on PC. It was crisp enough to follow along with the dialogue in Assassin's Creed Origins on PS4. The headset was loud enough for me to hear Dragon Quest V on Android and Final Fantasy VII on the Switch, even in the noisy NYC subway. I was extremely pleased with the Arctis 1's performance across the board.

Arctis 1 wireless