gaming headphones SteelSeries newer headphones frequently break at the exact same place. Has any creator/outlet reported on it?

[coreyzev]

Almost every Steelseries Arctis series headphone is probably going to break at this one point, specifically if you wear one ear-cup off of your ear to talk to the people around you. Has it happened to you? I wasnt sure if I should post this to Peripherals, or Audio, etc.

 

Googling: "steelseries headphones break". Results below

 

I'm amazed it's not a class action lawsuit yet.  I feel like it should be. I am not personally affected (yet) and I dont have the following to organize one. (EDIT: I DONT CARE ABOUT A LAWSUIT, i just wanna talk about the broken headphones.)

I have the grandpa of these headphones, the Steelseries H Wireless, and I'm 8 years in on it. Bought it when radioshack was going out of business for half price. They've only just started to crack (and i wear them off one ear literally nearly all the time). 

When mine break, I was really hoping to upgrade to a newer SS headset, but not if this is constantly happening. And obviously they're not going to fix it until someone calls them out on it. (Linus pls!)

 

They have the gall to charge up to $350 US for their top of the line ones, but I feel like this affects almost all Arctis designs? Seems especially to affect the most expensive one? (Or people who bought the most expensive one are more likely to complain online). From everything I've heard, the price is worth it, but not if they're gonna break.

 

I think it's pretty messed up. I tweeted about it but have no followers, so I thought I'd post here too. 

 

I know it prob wont change, but here's me giving it a shot. I think they need to be called out. I think it'd be a good video, but I just wanted to talk about it. 

 

 

 

[rice guru]

Class action lawsuits cost a fuck tonne to do and organize. there are expensive brands such as focal , hifimans that charge more than steel series and are or were notorious for breaking but had very good after sale support so people would buy them anyway or avoid them where after sales would not be as good due to shipping.a great example for this is Logitech. They make great mice but will eventually double click but Logitech support is pretty great .  Also please remember something that may seem widespread online may not be as wide spread in real life. 

[coreyzev]

7 minutes ago, rice guru said:

Class action lawsuits cost a fuck tonne to do and organize. there are expensive brands such as focal , hifimans that charge more than steel series and are or were notorious for breaking but had very good after sale support so people would buy them anyway or avoid them where after sales would not be as good due to shipping.a great example for this is Logitech. They make great mice but will eventually double click but Logitech support is pretty great .  Also please remember something that may seem widespread online may not be as wide spread in real life. 

I dont expect a class action lawsuit to happen, that's far from my goal. But I feel like 9k reddit posts about it is "kinda" widespread.

 

It's not clear whether or not it's covered under warranty. Some people get theirs fixed. Some people dont. The fact that it's happening at this scale is still too much. 

 

Found a post 2 years ago that said it was expected to be "fixed" in newer headsets, but i'm finding posts as recent as the last 6 months where it's still happening. It's one thing if the Logi mice start double clicking after years of use. But most of these are breaking w/in the first year. 

Also, there's a good chance the pro ones will be out of stock if you want them replaced it seems.

[manikyath]

you're never gonna win a class action because

Quote

Warranty only covers defects of products caused by manufacturing. It does not cover regular wear and tear, including but not limited to, breakage due to abuse, improper usage, water damage, or other causes attributable to events outside the manufacturing process.

wearing it 'one cup off the ear' is clearly just you using it wrong /s.

 

i feel like it's ridiculous this part is made of plastic, especially since the $30 hyperx cloud can afford some stamped metal elements in this position. but if your headset keeps breaking in the same place, and you keep buying the same headset despite the flaw you've experienced before... you're just an idiot. (not saying OP is, but some of the people i found on google defenately are...)

 

vote with your dollars, buy a headset that's well built if you want it to not break.

 

i'm onto my second hyperx cloud, the reason for getting a new one was because the material on the headrest was starting to deteriorate, and several falls had bent it a bit out of shape.

[Brooksie359]

1 hour ago, coreyzev said:

I dont expect a class action lawsuit to happen, that's far from my goal. But I feel like 9k reddit posts about it is "kinda" widespread.

 

It's not clear whether or not it's covered under warranty. Some people get theirs fixed. Some people dont. The fact that it's happening at this scale is still too much. 

 

Found a post 2 years ago that said it was expected to be "fixed" in newer headsets, but i'm finding posts as recent as the last 6 months where it's still happening. It's one thing if the Logi mice start double clicking after years of use. But most of these are breaking w/in the first year. 

Also, there's a good chance the pro ones will be out of stock if you want them replaced it seems.

Honestly I have used basically only logitech mice but I haven't really had an issue with double clicking. Had one mouse that had the issue after like 3 years bit it actually went away after a bit. Not sure why but it works fine now even though I didn't really do anything to fix it. Other than that all my other mice haven't had this issue at all. 

[OhioYJ]

25 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

Honestly I have used basically only logitech mice but I haven't really had an issue with double clicking. Had one mouse that had the issue after like 3 years bit it actually went away after a bit. Not sure why but it works fine now even though I didn't really do anything to fix it. Other than that all my other mice haven't had this issue at all. 

I have four in the house, I've repaired all four. It's not me, as that's with different users. However they've all been fine with the replacement switches.  (let me go find some wood to knock on)

[coreyzev]

I wish i never mentioned class action. I do not care about a class action lawsuit. ugh. I'm striking it from the original post. ffs. 

I just wanna discuss the broken headphones being an extreme manufacturing problem. 

 

_{And somehow now the thread is about logitech... /sigh}

[coreyzev]

5 hours ago, manikyath said:

vote with your dollars, buy a headset that's well built if you want it to not break.

Yeah I wish. If literally ANY other headphone manufacturer made a wireless headphone w/ 2 batteries where one charges in the base, I'd get that instead. But no one else does. Also their new one has ANC, I haven't looked if any other wireless gaming headphones do, but i dont think there's a good alternative yet. Yeah I simp for this headphones. I can't help it. I am prob gonna buy the 8yo version i currently have again if i can find one.

 

This is why I hope someone big calls them out someday. Steelseries makes great stuff aside from this.

[rice guru]

20 hours ago, coreyzev said:

I feel like 9k reddit posts

Google doesn't work that way just cause you search that way doesn't make every search result or even a majority of it the posts your looking for just not the greatest way to prove this point ngl. If they say the newer ones are fixed they are referring to batches. With mass produced products like this assuming the issue was actually widespread that means the bad products will exist in the market for a majority of the products lifetime  on shelves unfortunately as the bad old batches will stay on shelves until sold. So again entirely up to tsteel series to hold up their end of the bargain and replace products that break

[e22big]

On 1/31/2023 at 3:34 AM, coreyzev said:

I dont expect a class action lawsuit to happen, that's far from my goal. But I feel like 9k reddit posts about it is "kinda" widespread.

 

It's not clear whether or not it's covered under warranty. Some people get theirs fixed. Some people dont. The fact that it's happening at this scale is still too much. 

 

Found a post 2 years ago that said it was expected to be "fixed" in newer headsets, but i'm finding posts as recent as the last 6 months where it's still happening. It's one thing if the Logi mice start double clicking after years of use. But most of these are breaking w/in the first year. 

Also, there's a good chance the pro ones will be out of stock if you want them replaced it seems.

Nah, Logitech double click within the first year too - actually that's more like the first few weeks if you are particularly unlucky