Wireless Headset Support

Hey Xbox Team!

I've recently purchased a Steelseries gaming headset [Artis 7] and was excited to have a quality wireless headset for the Xbox One. The packaging of the item listed Xbox along with other platforms beneath a text that read "Lag-Free Wireless Gaming Headset."
I've had experience with Turtle Beach headsets, which connect wirelessly without issue but I was looking for something that felt better on my head, e.g. found the Arctis 7!

Unfortunately, my Xbox One and/or my Xbox One X does not recognize the USB wireless receiver for this headset. This was a major disappointment, so I shared my experiences of searching for an easy-to-use wireless headset on the forums about a week ago. I
was very surprised that the Xbox One, being a product of Microsoft, would lack support for a quality gaming headset such as this. Someone had responded to one of my posts stating that it's the manufacturer of the headset to blame for not making it compatible
with the Xbox One.

I contacted Steelseries and was hoping that they perhaps were in the process of releasing an update for the headset to be utilized wirelessly with Xbox One. Here was their response:

That was a quick, straightforward response on their part. It's not their product but the consoles limitations. Which regardless, they could have at least made mention of the 3.5mm cable required to use their headset with Xbox One on the packaging itself.

With that said, I wanted to ask if Xbox developers are in the process of adding extra support for USB wireless gaming headsets? And if the answer is no, then why not? Is there something making this an impossible feature?

I have been a major supporter of Xbox One and have had little to no issues with any of my consoles (I have owned 3 including Xbox One X). This has been a major disappointment to learn that the support is lacking in this area (wireless headset compatibility)
and I hope broader device support is on the way.

Any information would be great, I'm sure others in the Xbox community would be eager to hear of anything new on this issue.

Thanks!

:)

 

PS4 will support PS3 Bluetooth headsets.

PS4 will support wireless PS3 headsets - Report - PlayStation 4 News at GameSpot

Sony has revealed at Comic-Con that the PS4 will have support for PS3 wireless headsets. I guess this is good news for PS3 owners who have a particular headset that they are very fond of and don't feel like buying another. What's interesting about this though is that the PS4 will automatically come with its own wireless headset when you purchase it.

 

Bluetooth headset setup help needed!

xbox support has written a guide on setting up bluetooth headsets, i'm not sure if it will cover your exact setup but take a look - Connect & Use Xbox 360 Wireless Bluetooth Headset

I use a wireless remote and love the xbox headset that plugs into the remote, I've never had a problem with it yet and it costs less than $20.

 

Hi

Generally the first anyone will know about new features coming to the console outside of Microsoft is when a feature arrives in the Xbox Insider program on the console. If you would like to try to get wireless support for this headset added to the console
the best I can suggest is to create or vote on a suggestion on the Xbox Uservoice website.

Xbox Ideas, powered by UserVoice

 

SteelSeries Support - "The USB wireless transmitter will not be used at all on Xbox since it is not compatible.This is unfortunately due to limitations of the Xbox One and using USB for chat."

- So this means that SteelSeries didn't make their USB transmitter compatible with Xbox

"This has been a major disappointment to learn that the support is lacking in this area (wireless headset compatibility)"

- Hmm...Astro, Plantronics, Razer and Turtlebeach are just some of the manufacturers who seem to have managed figure out how to make their USB wireless design and headsets functional with the Xbox One.

- Is this really and Xbox issue or a headset manufacturer issue?

- Wireless headsets that Are compatible with the Xbox One

A10 Headset + MixAmp M60 - Xbox One | ASTRO Gaming

RIG 800LX, Wireless gaming headset for Xbox One | Plantronics

A50 Xbox One Wireless Headset & Base Station | ASTRO Gaming

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/d/Turtle-Beach-Elite-800X-Gaming-Headset/8PCRSCHH4P40

A20 Wireless Headset - Xbox One | ASTRO Gaming

A20 Wireless Headset - Xbox One | ASTRO Gaming

Xbox One Wireless Headset - Razer Thresher

https://www.razerzone.com/gaming-audio/razer-thresher-ultimate-for-xbox-one

https://shop.turtlebeach.com/us/stealth-600-xbox-one

https://shop.turtlebeach.com/us/stealth-headsets/stealth-700-xbox-one

 

I never said that there weren't available wireless options, I just don't care for the others that I have tried and am disappointed that the Xbox hardware/software seems to restrict wireless compatibility or make it difficult to develop. My other point or
confusion is that Microsoft has an operating system (which XboxOS is derived from) with thousands of 3rd party devices developed with drivers available to utilize said devices right now (including the headset USB adapter for the Arctis 7). It would be an issue
for me if a device manufacturer were saying that there's a limitation developing a compatible product for my console. Wherever you want to put the blame is up to you; if I were a console manufacturer I wouldn't want 3rd party manufacturers feeling limited.
I'm not really here for that debate though.

I'm not thrilled with either side of the coin and will continue to get more thorough answers on both sides as to why this particular headset's USB adapter isn't compatible on Xbox One. I like the headset and I like the console.

I want answers!!! SO HELP ME GOD!!!

 

"Xbox hardware/software seems to restrict wireless compatibility or make it difficult to develop."

- There is a specific set of instructions that the hardware developer needs to get from Microsoft/Xbox and its free. These are not restrictions, its the specific set of code/instructions on how the device needs to communicate with the console

- You go out of your way through numerous posts and throughout the forums here to blame Xbox/Microsoft for not "making" your favorite brand of headset to work with the Xbox console

- It will never be their responsibility of Xbox/Microsoft to contact "every" manufacturer of every device to make sure that it works with Xbox

- How is it Astro, Polk Audio, Plantronics, Razer and Turtlebeach get their wireless headsets to work?! Because those manufactures contacted Microsoft and asked them.

- At the bottom of every page of the forums, take a look at the "For Developers" "Designed for Xbox". The Hardware Developer has the ability to get access to technical documentation and specifications. Again, it's up to the developer for them to make the
effort and the time to make their hardware work with Xbox. This is not a Microsoft/Xbox issue. It's a developer issue.

"Microsoft has an operating system (which XboxOS is derived from) with thousands of 3rd party devices developed with drivers available"

- Who makes the software drivers? That would be the developer of the hardware

- How does the developer do this? The hardware developer gets an SDK (software development kit) from the manufacturer of the device (Microsoft/Xbox) and then the developer makes the driver so their hardware works with the device.

- Video card drivers for example, Nvidia updates their drivers frequently to better work with the software. It's not Microsoft that updates the Nvidia drivers, its the manufacturer of the (hardware) video card.

- Same thing applies to your Steelseries headset you want to work on an Xbox console. If you want Steelseries to make their headset work with Xbox send them the links below. It's up to Steelseries if they want to spend the time and money. Microsoft/Xbox
has done their part already. And the hardware manufactures I posted before prove my point.

"if I were a console manufacturer I wouldn't want 3rd party manufacturers feeling limited"

- If you made your own console you'd make SDK's and a specific set of instructions on how 3rd party manufactures could design devices to work with your console. And that's what Microsoft/Xbox has done.

"I want answers!!! SO HELP ME GOD!!!"

- Take my info with a grain of salt, believe me or not but I happen to know something about this

- You're not going to get a response here or directly from the people in charge of Xbox Development on how things work

- Xbox Support does not have contact with the any of the higher-ups about the inner workings of what's going on hardware or software wise

- Adding your responses to 3 month old posts won't do anything either

- And the site Xbox Ideas, powered by UserVoice is in the bottom left side here but that's for making suggestions to the Xbox Developers for feature requests but that won't help with your headset

 

Heya!

All of info provided by gds1972 and xHAZMAT RADIOx is accurate,

A third party developer of software or hardware would be responsible for making their product compatible with the console and Xbox makes sure to make that as simple as possible and provide the tools to developers.

If the developer does not feel the need to make their device fully compatible that is up to them and we would not have any sway over that decision.

We hope that all of the info provided by our Ambassadors has clarified things and we hope you are able to find a headset that suits all of your needs!