How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want to replace a broken or lost boom mic on an existing SteelSeries Arctis 1 headset, choose NewTH Replacement Game Mic; if you need a complete plug-and-play USB headset for calls, office work, or streaming, choose QOEKUEY USB Headset. These two products look similar in a search bar and share almost nothing in real life. One is a spare part. The other is a whole headset. Pick the wrong one and you'll be holding a piece of hardware that literally cannot do the job you bought it for.
• NewTH Replacement Game Mic — biggest strength: a purpose-built 3.5mm detachable boom mic molded specifically for SteelSeries Arctis 1, with 360-degree bendable positioning, active noise cancellation and a 6.5-inch cable built to reach your mouth.
• NewTH Replacement Game Mic — biggest trade-off: it only works with Arctis 1 headsets. If you don't already own that headset, this product is useless to you.
• QOEKUEY USB Headset — biggest strength: a complete open-ear headset with a 16.2mm dynamic driver, 20 Hz–20,000 Hz range and a 6.56 ft tangle-resistant USB cable, designed for all-day wear without anything entering your ear canal.
• QOEKUEY USB Headset — biggest trade-off: USB-only connectivity, so it won't plug into a phone, a console controller jack or any 3.5mm port, and it has no active noise cancellation.
• Who each is for: NewTH for Arctis 1 owners repairing what they already have; QOEKUEY for buyers who need a full headset for PC, laptop, call center or streaming work.
The NewTH Replacement Game Mic is a repair part, and it's honest about that. It's a detachable boom microphone built to a 1:1 mold of the original Arctis 1 mic, sized at 6.7 x 3.7 x 0.7 inches and weighing 15 grams. It uses a 3.5mm gold-plated jack with copper plating, an ABS plastic housing, and a flexible neck that bends a full 360 degrees and stays put once you set it. The cable is 6.5 inches — short on purpose, because it only needs to travel from the headset's mic port to the corner of your mouth.
It does one job well: putting clear voice audio back into a headset you already own. The frequency range runs 50 Hz to 16,000 Hz with 30-ohm impedance and a dynamic driver, which is a voice-first tuning rather than a music-first one. Noise cancellation is listed as active, and the mic ships with a foam cover plus an extra pop filter piece. There's no driver to install and no battery to charge — you plug it in and talk.
Who should skip it: everyone else. This mic is explicitly built for the Arctis 1 and will not work with other headsets. If you're on a different model, or you're looking to upgrade your whole audio setup rather than patch it, this isn't the product — no matter how good the spec sheet looks.
QOEKUEY USB Headset: Who It's For
The QOEKUEY USB Headset is the opposite kind of purchase: a complete, self-contained headset rather than a component. The design is open-ear, which means nothing sits inside your ear canal — the drivers rest around your ears instead. That's the core of its pitch, and it's a genuinely different comfort experience from traditional earbuds or closed cups. At 0.88 oz it's light enough that long shifts and marathon gaming sessions shouldn't build up the pressure you get from clamping headsets.
Audio comes from a 16.2mm dynamic driver with a 20 Hz–20,000 Hz frequency range and 98 dB sensitivity, using air conduction rather than bone conduction. Full-range on paper, with the emphasis on clear vocals and balanced bass — the brand itself notes that listeners chasing deep, heavy bass should look at closed-back designs instead. That's a fair caveat for an open-ear product, and it tells you the tuning target is speech intelligibility and balanced sound, not thumping low end.
Connectivity is USB only, wired, with a 6.56 ft crystal cable that's built to resist tangling. There's an inline control with push buttons, and the enclosure mixes metal and plastic. Warranty coverage is 12 months with a 30-day money-back window.
Who should buy it: call center agents, remote workers living in Zoom and Skype all day, and streamers or gamers who want to hear their room and their teammates at the same time. The open design keeps you aware of your surroundings, which matters in an office, a shared space, or anywhere you need one ear on the real world.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for repairing an Arctis 1 → NewTH Replacement Game Mic. It's molded for that exact headset and nothing else.
• Best for a complete headset out of the box → QOEKUEY USB Headset. Mic, drivers, cable and controls all included.
• Best for PC, laptop, Zoom and call center work → QOEKUEY USB Headset. USB plug-and-play with a 6.56 ft cable is built for desk work.
• Best for console gaming → NewTH Replacement Game Mic. The 3.5mm jack works with PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Nintendo, provided you're using an Arctis 1.
• Best for all-day comfort → QOEKUEY USB Headset. Open-ear, 0.88 oz, nothing inside the ear canal.
• Best for voice clarity in a headset you already own → NewTH Replacement Game Mic. Active noise cancellation, foam cover, pop filter, 360-degree bendable boom.
• Best for situational awareness → QOEKUEY USB Headset. The open design lets ambient sound through by nature.
• Best for wider frequency range → QOEKUEY USB Headset. 20 Hz–20,000 Hz versus 50 Hz–16,000 Hz on the NewTH.
• Best for buyers who own no Arctis 1 → QOEKUEY USB Headset. The NewTH simply won't function for you.
In my opinion, the deciding question isn't which product is better — it's which problem you actually have. If you own a SteelSeries Arctis 1 and its mic has failed, I'd buy the NewTH Replacement Game Mic. It's a targeted, low-fuss fix with a 2-year warranty, and nothing else on this page will restore that headset. For everyone else — anyone who needs a working headset for calls, work or streaming on a PC — I'd buy the QOEKUEY USB Headset. It's the complete product, and the open-ear design is a real advantage over hours-long sessions. Check the current price on Amazon before deciding, since that's the one variable that can tip a close call.
FAQ
No. It's built specifically for the SteelSeries Arctis 1 with a 3.5mm jack. It will physically fit similar ports, but it's designed for that model, and I'd treat other uses as unsupported.
Not directly. It's a USB wired headset aimed at PC and laptop use. Consoles that accept USB audio may work in some setups, but the 3.5mm route on the NewTH is the safer bet for console gaming.
The NewTH lists active noise cancellation on the mic itself, which targets your outgoing voice. The QOEKUEY has no noise cancellation at all — its open-ear design deliberately lets ambient sound in. Different goals, not a fair fight.
It has a 16.2mm dynamic driver with a 20 Hz–20,000 Hz range, so it handles music and games fine. Just don't expect deep, heavy bass — open-ear designs trade that for comfort and awareness.
They're not really competing on value because they solve different problems. If you already own an Arctis 1, the NewTH is the cheaper path to a working headset. If you don't, the QOEKUEY is the only one of the two that does anything for you. Compare the current prices on Amazon for your own situation.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
When you buy through links on this page, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon or its affiliates. This site is an independent third-party review and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon or the product brands mentioned.