I simply can’t appear to get the amount proper on my traditional gaming headset. After I reviewed the Asus ROG Delta S Wi-fi headset, its earth-shaking output practically deafened me. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wi-fi, in the meantime, was so quiet at first that I puzzled if the Delta S had truly given me listening to loss. That’s, till I enabled SteelSeries’ magical Sonar EQ system, at which level my total world modified for the higher.
The Arctis Nova 7 is superbly stable, with a versatile steel headband and durable plastic earcups. Regardless of its strong exterior, it is surprisingly lithe and would not weigh too closely on my head. The all-black design banishes blinding RGB lighting altogether. It feels much less gamer-y than a number of headsets on the market, although after years of scorching my retinas with my PC case lighting, I am usually okay with that.
Pop the Arctis Nova 7 in your head and you may instantly discover how comfy it’s, with mushy cushioning within the ear cups and an honest match for medium craniums. SteelSeries says the comfiness is because of its “ComfortMAX system,” a reputation that is so stress-free it apparently must shout at you. The one draw back is a slight strain on the ears—that got here into play after a number of hours’ utilization, although it is simple to regulate the earcups to ease the strain.
Whereas there isn’t any lively noise cancelling included, the passive sound isolation on the earcups just isn’t unhealthy in any respect. The Arctis Nova 7 additionally features a ChatMix dial on the appropriate earcup, which helps you to shortly regulate the amount stability between your sport and your chat app. It is notably helpful for these instances when one in all your social gathering members decides that now is an efficient time to begin yelling about loot drops at 4,000 decibels.
Wi-fi: Sure
Drivers: 40mm Neodymium drivers
Connectivity: USB-C, 2.4GHz dongle, Bluetooth
Frequency response: 20–22,000Hz
Options: Sonar spatial audio, parametric EQ, retractable AI-powered noise-cancelling mic, ChatMix dial
Weight: 326g
Battery life: 38 hours
Value: $180 (opens in new tab) USD / £175 (opens in new tab) / $285 (opens in new tab) AUD
The headset guarantees 38 hours of battery life, and eerily I bought virtually that precise determine in testing. Longer actually, at 38 hours and 20 minutes. Primarily, it will final you days and days. SteelSeries claims you will get six hours of juice from a 15-minute cost, and that is not simply advertising bluster. These cans cost quickly, so that you should not be working on empty for lengthy. Oddly, the SteelSeries GG app solely measures battery life in 25% increments. The headset has a few LEDs that point out tough battery percentages, too, since you may’t see these lights except your eyes are on stalks, the indicator won’t ever offer you a exact determine—a inexperienced LED denotes something from 50% to 100%, which is not very useful.
Because the battery drains, the headset beeps frequent warnings, however these are so piercingly shrill that I ended up wishing the battery would die and ship me into the cool embrace of silence.
It is designed round spatial audio… It is a literal gamechanger.
That mentioned the good software program actually makes up for the little niggles I’ve encountered. Opening the Engine part of SteelSeries GG, I discovered that the Quantity Limiter setting was enabled—evidently the rationale it was so quiet to start with. As soon as I turned it off, that is when issues actually bought transferring. And as soon as I might augmented the already unbelievable audio high quality this headset delivers with SteelSeries’ Sonar EQ, each video games and music sounded phenomenal. It is designed round spatial audio, too, which let me know precisely the place these footsteps have been coming from and felt prefer it gave me a real benefit. It is a literal gamechanger.
When arrange correctly, Sonar’s spatial audio is superb. It is punchy and deeply immersive, along with your gaming audio taking up a brand new lifetime of its personal. Bullets and explosions really feel virtually kinetic, nevertheless it’s not only for hard-and-fast shooters—video games like Inside (opens in new tab) with fantastically crafted ambient audio design are raised to a brand new stage.
SteelSeries GG has presets for tons of video games, as properly. Although my favorite sport wasn’t current, I might choose an identical title from the record and nonetheless really feel the advantages. For instance, there are presets for Name of Responsibility: Warzone (opens in new tab), Warzone 2, and Fashionable Warfare II. As a result of I am a caveman, I nonetheless play Name of Responsibility: WWII, however choosing Fashionable Warfare II nonetheless made a world of distinction. I am not a lot of a aggressive gamer (does Worms World Celebration depend? Sure -Ed), but when a dirty informal gamer like me can really feel this a lot of an edge, anybody who enjoys the tough and tumble of aggressive gameplay will love Sonar.
That is made even higher by the extent of management you recover from virtually each side of each the headset’s output and enter. You’ll be able to individually configure your video games, chat, media and microphone, and every part has a spread of presets and plottable graphs for varied video games and kinds.
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It’s also possible to join the Arctis Nova 7 wirelessly to 2 units without delay, one over Bluetooth and the opposite utilizing the included wi-fi dongle. Which means you may fake to work on firm calls out of your cellphone whereas concurrently gaming in your PC. Not that we advocate you idiot your boss into pondering you are working (opens in new tab).
From my testing, it is clear the software program and audio output are the Arctis Nova 7’s sturdy go well with; enter, however, is weaker. The microphone is slightly tinny, which is just about par for the course on the subject of wi-fi headsets. It’s miles higher than the lately reviewed Asus ROG Delta S Wi-fi (opens in new tab), and is available in at much less cash, nevertheless it will not knock your socks off.
Plosives have been noticeable and there is an ever-so-slight echo; it isn’t as unhealthy as sitting in a cavern gaming on a stalactite-powered laptop computer, nevertheless it’s there. Readability is fairly good so far as headset mics go, nonetheless, and it is loads loud too. That mentioned, in case you’ve bought a standalone desktop microphone, you will all the time be higher off utilizing that as an alternative.
Whereas there isn’t any lively noise cancelling, the mic is nothing to jot down dwelling about, and the battery indicator beeps are a bit annoying, there’s nonetheless a superb deal to love about this headset. Consolation, fashion and audio output high quality make this gadget a compelling buy for $180, and the Sonar software program simply ramps every part as much as max.
When you think about it is basically a minimize down model of the distinctive Arctis Nova Professional (opens in new tab) for lower than half the value, mixed with a long-time favorite of ours—the Arctis 7 (opens in new tab)—it actually offers us hope for the way forward for wi-fi gaming headsets. Whereas the Arctis Nova 7 is not fairly the proper gaming headset, it is a tremendous stable purchase virtually for the spatial audio alone.
