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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a complete, self-contained gaming headset with a built-in mic, on-ear controls and surround sound straight out of the box, choose SteelSeries Arctis 5; if you need a tiny plug-and-play USB sound card that upgrades whatever headphones you already own and adds virtual 7.1 plus a dedicated mic input, choose S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE.
• SteelSeries Arctis 5 — biggest strength: a full headset package — S1 dynamic drivers, DTS Headphone:X v2.0 surround, the Discord-certified ClearCast mic and a USB ChatMix dial for balancing game and chat audio.
• SteelSeries Arctis 5 — biggest trade-off: it's a wired, closed system. You're buying the whole headset, not an upgrade path, and the plastic build plus a 3-metre cable means it lives at your desk, not in your pocket.
• S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE — biggest strength: driverless plug-and-play across Windows, Mac, iOS and Android over a single USB-C cable, with four switchable modes and a 20mW @ 600Ω output that can push high-impedance headphones.
• S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE — biggest trade-off: it makes no sound on its own. Without a headset or mic plugged in, it's just a small box — and its surround is a software algorithm, not discrete channels.
• Pick the Arctis 5 if you want one purchase that covers game audio and voice chat. Pick the Nano ONE if you already love your headphones and just want better processing, cleaner mic input and cross-device flexibility.
The Arctis 5 is a wired USB gaming headset aimed squarely at PC and PlayStation players. The core of it is the S1 speaker driver, which SteelSeries engineers for ultra-low distortion — the pitch being that you hear positional detail instead of a muddy wall of sound. On top of that sits DTS Headphone:X v2.0, a surround processing layer that works over the headset itself rather than relying on your motherboard's audio.
The features that actually change how you play are the practical ones. The ClearCast microphone is Discord-certified and designed to cancel background noise, so your voice comes through cleanly in party chat without a separate desk mic. The USB ChatMix dial is the sleeper feature: you can rebalance game volume against chat volume on the fly, mid-match, without alt-tabbing into a settings menu. And the ski-goggle suspension headband spreads weight across your head instead of pressing on one spot — a real consideration for long sessions.
Physically it's a plastic on-ear/over-ear design in white, 32 ohm impedance, 2 Hz–20,000 Hz frequency range, a 3-metre cable and 12.8 ounces on the scale. The 3-metre cable is generous for a desk setup but it's a tether, not a mobile accessory. Prism RGB lighting on the earcups gives you 16.8 million colour options if you care about matching your setup — purely cosmetic, but it's there.
S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE: Who It's For
The Nano ONE is a different category of product entirely, and that's the whole point. It's an external USB sound card — a small box with a Hi-Fi DSP chip inside, a headphone output, a mic input and a 2-in-1 audio/mic jack. It doesn't replace your headphones; it replaces the mediocre audio chip buried inside your computer or phone.
The headline spec is the 16bit/48kHz DSP with a high signal-to-noise ratio and negligible distortion. In plain terms, that means a cleaner, quieter signal path: less hiss, less electrical noise from your motherboard, and a more transparent sound. It also outputs 20mW at 600Ω, which is genuinely useful if you own high-impedance headphones that a laptop struggles to drive properly.
The four modes are where it gets interesting for gamers. Game mode is tuned to make footsteps and gunshots three-dimensionally distinguishable for better positional awareness. Movie mode pushes a cinema-style surround feel. Music mode aims for a lossless, audiophile-flavoured presentation. Voice Enhancement mode plus the built-in intelligent noise-reduction algorithm is designed to filter keyboard clatter during gaming and mute background noise for streams. The virtual 7.1 surround is delivered by a software algorithm rather than extra channels — worth understanding before you buy, because it's a processing effect, not true discrete 7.1.
Connectivity is the killer feature. One USB-C cable, no drivers, works with Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, and it's listed as compatible with PC, laptop, smartphone, tablet and PlayStation. The magnetic base is a genuinely clever touch — it snaps onto metal surfaces and comes off in seconds to drop into a bag. The separate headphone and mic jacks also mean you can plug and unplug without interrupting the other.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for a complete all-in-one solution → SteelSeries Arctis 5. Headphones, mic and surround in one box.
• Best for upgrading headphones you already own → S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE. It improves the source, not the speaker.
• Best built-in microphone → SteelSeries Arctis 5. A Discord-certified ClearCast mic beats plugging a headset mic into a budget sound card.
• Best for voice-chat control while gaming → SteelSeries Arctis 5. The USB ChatMix dial is a hardware control the Nano ONE simply doesn't have.
• Best cross-device flexibility → S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE. Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and PlayStation over one driverless USB-C cable.
• Best for high-impedance headphones → S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE. The 20mW @ 600Ω output is the relevant figure here.
• Best for portability → S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE. Magnetic base, tiny footprint, no 3-metre cable to manage.
• Best for console-and-PC desk setups → SteelSeries Arctis 5. It's built to sit at a desk and stay there.
If I had to pick one, I'd buy the SteelSeries Arctis 5 — but only if you don't already own a decent pair of headphones. For most people starting from nothing, one purchase that covers game audio, surround processing, a strong mic and hardware chat balancing is the simpler, more complete answer, and the ChatMix dial is the feature I'd miss most.
If you do already own headphones you like, my recommendation flips hard to the S.M.S.L SMSL Nano ONE. It costs you nothing in desk space, works with almost everything you own, and fixes the weakest link in most setups — the noisy onboard audio and the mediocre mic input. In my opinion that's the smarter upgrade for anyone with a headset already on their desk.
It depends on what you already own. The Arctis 5 gives you a complete gaming headset with DTS Headphone:X v2.0 and a dedicated ChatMix dial. The Nano ONE gives you virtual 7.1, a game mode tuned for positional audio and a cleaner DSP — but only through headphones you supply yourself.
Yes. It's designed as plug-and-play across Windows, Mac, iOS and Android with a single USB-C cable, so there's no driver installation step. That's one of its clearest advantages over a traditional internal sound card.
It's built primarily for PC and PlayStation, connecting over USB, and it also lists a 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth 5.3. The 3-metre cable and desk-oriented design make it a poor fit for pocket use, though. The Nano ONE is the more naturally cross-device of the two.
Check the current price on Amazon for both before deciding, since that's the deciding factor here. Then ask one question: do you need a headset, or just better audio processing? Need a headset — Arctis 5. Already have headphones — Nano ONE.
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