We just reviewed the "little brothers," if its ok to call them that. So now onto the star of SteelSeries' in-ear offerings, the Flux Pros, what they are calling the "most accurate headset SteelSeries has ever produced." Ok, lets take a look.
Starting with the most important part, the noise making side of the earbuds, the speakers. The Flux Pros feature a dynamic driver called an armature driver. According to SteelSeries, this means the driver can be made to be very small and it also means that it can be tuned very precisely. This is what will make this set start apart from the others.
The Flux Pros come with multiple ear tips, small, medium and large as well as including a memory foam tip called the Complys, these are the nicest one we tried and do really help create that passive cancelation block inside of your ear to keep good sounds in and bad sounds out.
Another part of the buds that are changeable is the input tips which allow you to swap so that you can use your headset with not only your favorite mobile devices and Mac computers, but also with your PC. The mobile device end has a single 3-pole 3.5mm jack and the PC cable with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 3.5mm microphone jack. Once again the mic is pretty good for both calls or in gaming.
And just like the Fluxes, the Pros include a carrying case you protect your set. This one is a little larger and is meant to carry the ear and input tips as well as the ear buds themselves. The flat, tangle-free cabling on the Pros also helps keep them from turning into a giant mess in the case.
The flat frequency line means that software tuning (from an iPod, iTunes, etc...) will create exactly the sound you want with amazing accuracy. It gets bass when we wanted it to, and was great with spoken word when we made those changes. Truly a chameleon in your ear, a chameleon with a 15 – 22000 Hz frequency response range.
Now onto the bad, maybe not bad, but just weird. In an effort to do something different, SS tells you that for maximum comfort and fit, the Flux In-ear Pro has been designed to be worn over the ear. Not sure why but they claim it creates a better seal. I am not a fan of this, it makes unnecessary contact with the top of my ear, I mean come on, we have always worn them that way. SteelSeries says you can wear them down, or the more traditional way by inverting the directions, meaning wear the left in the right ear and vice versa. Better but why the change in the first place...
The Flux Pros come with multiple ear tips, small, medium and large as well as including a memory foam tip called the Complys, these are the nicest one we tried and do really help create that passive cancelation block inside of your ear to keep good sounds in and bad sounds out.Another part of the buds that are changeable is the input tips which allow you to swap so that you can use your headset with not only your favorite mobile devices and Mac computers, but also with your PC. The mobile device end has a single 3-pole 3.5mm jack and the PC cable with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 3.5mm microphone jack. Once again the mic is pretty good for both calls or in gaming.
Another issue we had is that because these are for gaming, the casual multi-use fan is left wanting more again. With no track controls on the in-line mic, just start, stop and call controls, these are still not dynamic enough to replace all of your headphone needs. SteelSeries left something to be desired there.
Getting past the weird way in which are are supposed to wear them and the lack of music-friendly controls, these sound great. They are perfect for exactly what SteelSeries wants you to use them for, we are just asking too much I guess. If you are looking for a portable ear bud meant for gaming that works on multiple devices for $129.99, here you go.
PROS:
+ Flat sound allows you to be in control
+ Nice included cases and tips
+ Great passive noise canceling with memory foam tips
CONS:
- No track controls
- Wear them upside down!?!
GRADE:
A