We’ve reviewed plenty from Genesis since late last year. I wrote our first review of one of their products, the Xenon 770 mouse, with Nil checking out their Radon 720 headset and Kaesiya checking out their Irid 505 PC case. Well, now it’s time for me to check out their Seaborg 300 steering wheel.
BUILD QUALITY & DESIGN – 3.7/5
The Seaborg 300 is my first ever review of a steering wheel. And whilst I’m not the biggest racing game fan, I do have a brother who is so I put it to the test on a few of his games like Assetto Corsa, and asked him for his opinion too.
Before even opening the box, we took a little look on the Genesis website to see what we were going to receive. And my first impressions were that it looked a little basic, and underwhelming. Opening the box my initial reactions were confirmed. It comes in a red and black colour, which is nice enough but it just didn’t stand out.
I mean it was comfortable to hold thanks to the rubber grip, buttons were easy to reach and use and it has a mounting clamp to improve stability. But it just didn’t look like one of those things that make you go WOW! A shame compared to the other products we’ve received so far. Design put to the side, the build quality was much better. It felt robust and didn’t wobble.
One thing we found strange was there is no option to pick a colour. There is another steering wheel that is identical but in blue. The only difference between them being that the Seaborg 300 is compatible with PC only, whilst the blue 350 works with consoles too. I’d much prefer to have colour options and see two different designs, even if the differences were slight.
It’s not just a steering wheel though, there is a gear stick to the right of it and two foot pedals too. Now the gear stick was nice to see, as most budget steering wheels just go with flappy paddled gears, where as this gives you that extra option. But sadly, it was just a up-down shift stick, no clutch on the peddles and proper gears to add that realism to your game.
FUNCTIONALITY – 4.5/5
Whilst looks were a bit on the underwhelming side, features it packed was much better. As mentioned above, one of our favourite features was that it had the stick shift for gears instead of flappy paddles. Sadly it only went up and down, not through the gears like Logitech have for their G29 and G920 steering wheels. But still, nice nonetheless given the price range.
Another nice feature of the Seaborg 300 was the fact it had dual motor vibration. So as you inevitably crash on those sharp corners and drift around corners, you can feel it as if you were behind the wheel of the car itself. A really nice touch that adds a bit of realism to the game, and something we weren’t expecting it to have.
There are also multiple buttons all over, which you can obviously map to what you want in games. There are 15 overall, matching the buttons of an Xbox One controller, including an 8-way d-pad. Whilst these are great, as the design is the same as the 350, it leaves you feeling left a little short because it’s perfectly set up to work with consoles, even just the Xbox One.
You will have to download software in order to fully utilize the wheel, but it’s quick and easy to install, and you’ll be up and running in no time. Just click HERE to download the software for yourself, or find it on the product page on the Genesis website, which we’ll leave a link for at the end of the review.
HANDLING – 5/5
Once again, the performance outshines the actual look of the Seaborg 300. A clear example that we should never judge a book by its cover. As mentioned, we put it to the test in a variety of games, but as one of my brother’s favourites, most of our time was spent racing around tracks on Assetto Corsa.
The steering wheel was comfortable to hold, and the rubber grip generated the right amount of friction so your hands didn’t slip. Even when palms inevitably get sweaty. But what impressed us most was the stability of it all. Yes, pedals can move around if you place them on the floor and kick them, but my brother has a racing frame so they were well stuck down.
But the steering wheel itself, which comes fitted with 6 suction cups underneath as well as a mounting clamp to hold it to the desk, was solid. Even when we were taking sharp turns and stretching the steering wheel to its limits at a seconds notice, it held firm and didn’t come off once. It reminded me of the racing games you get built into the units at arcades.
VALUE FOR MONEY – 4.5/5
So we always have an issue when it comes to value for money with Genesis products. Mainly due to supply chain issues in the UK. There are some sites like LimeProGaming for example, who do stock Genesis peripherals, but it’s a very limited selection and the Seaborg 300 isn’t on there.
A little research online does show that you can get it easily available on eBay. Now it does ship from Poland, so delivery could take a few days, although we never have issues when Genesis send anything to us. And it also means there is a delivery charge. However, it’s only £4 which you can’t even get a flight for with RyanAir (before the global pandemic we’re currently in).
The price on eBay as of 04/04/2020 when this review goes live is £59.48, £63.48 including postage. And that matches up to the price I found it selling for in the UAE which is a good sign as sometimes we have seen rather big gulfs in price. It doesn’t however match up with the price in Poland where it retails for 199 zł which equates to £38.16. Quite the difference, but shipping charges would likely make that rise.
Still, compare it to other products on the market and it’s cheaper than all but one of Thrustmaster’s budget models I found, and even then there was barely anything in it and it lacked a gear stick. And it also beats the X-Rocker XR Steering Wheel, probably the closest competitor. Showing that it is really good value for money as they are both pretty similar spec.
SEABORG 300 OVERALL – 4.4/5
Overall, the Seaborg 300 performs really well. Just a shame it doesn’t look as impressive. Get past the aesthetics though and you’ve got a great gaming peripheral to help bring your racing games to life. It has a good selection of features, handles extremely well, is very stable and the gear stick is a nice addition as many budget models tend to stick purely with the flappy paddles behind the wheel. Genesis have taken this budget accessory to the next level. You’ll not likely find much better for the price.
The Seaborg 300 is not widely available throughout the UK but you can buy it HERE on eBay for £63.48 incl P&P (price correct as of 04/04/2020). If you want more info on it, including specifications, or just want access to the software, you can click HERE to find it on their official website. And don’t forget to check out more of our gadget and gaming peripheral reviews by clicking HERE.