SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless Headphones Review

The SteelSeries 7P look very similar to the SteelSeries Arctis 9 Wireless with sleek, plain ear cups, a ski-band headband, and a retractable boom mic. They come in two color variants: 'Black' and 'White'. The 'White' variant has blue detailing underneath the plastic headband as well as inside the ear cups, which is meant to look similar to the PS5's design.

The SteelSeries 7P are comfortable headphones. Although they're a bit heavy and bulky, the ear cups have a good range of motion to help accommodate your head. The fabric headband and padding feel soft, too. However, not all users may enjoy the elastic ski-band headband, which has a limited adjustment range and may feel tight for people who have larger heads.

Update 01/14/2022: We originally reported that these headphones had talk-through controls. However, this was a mistake. We have corrected our review and updated our results.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P have good controls. They have a volume wheel and a sidetone wheel with min/max stops, a microphone mute button, and a power button. The power button gives feedback when turned on and doubles as a playback function. Pressing it once answers and ends calls as well as plays and pauses the music. Double pressing it skips the track forward, while triple pressing it plays the previous track. The mic mute button has audio feedback, and the mic itself has an LED light that turns red when muted. Unfortunately, the sidetone and volume wheels aren't distinct from one another and don't have a middle notch.

Update 01/14/2022: We remeasured the headphones' dimensions as they didn't accurately represent the portability image. We have updated our length, width, height, and volume measurements.

These headphones aren't very portable. Their ear cups can swivel to fold flat, but the headphones can't fold into a more compact form, and they don't come with a case to help protect them when you're on the go. You also need to carry their USB dongle with you if you want to use them wirelessly. Luckily, their boom mic retracts, so you don't need to worry about snagging them on something in your bag.

These headphones don't come with a case or pouch.

The SteelSeries 7P have a great build quality. Their body is made from dense plastic while they have fabric padding and an elastic ski-band headband strap. They feel like they should survive a couple of drops without taking too much damage, although their yokes and hinges seem a little weak.

The SteelSeries 7P have good stability. While they should stay in place if you're gaming on the couch, they could fall off your head if you're doing moderate physical exercise. On the upside, their wireless design eliminates the risk of an audio cable snagging on something and pulling them from your head.

• SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless headphones
• USB-C dongle
• Micro-USB charging cable
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• USB to analog cable
• User Guide

Update 02/25/2021: A user has reported experiencing bass distortion when using the SteelSeries Engine 3's 64Hz EQ band above 0dBs. We tried adjusting the 64Hz EQ band on the companion app to -0.1dB and played a 64Hz tone. This resulted in slight audible distortion. We also heard slight distortion when adjusting the EQ band to 0.1dBs. However, changing the tone to 180Hz and adjusting the EQ band in the app didn't produce distortion. We also repeated this with a 500Hz tone and couldn't hear distortion when adjusting the EQ band. It seems like this issue is only limited to the 64Hz band when adjusted on the SteelSeries Engine 3. However, we don't test for this and, as a result, our scoring and results haven't changed.

The SteelSeries 7P have a boomy v-shaped sound profile, which can help bring out sound effects in action-packed gameplay and add brightness and sparkle to instruments and vocals. However, bass and treble delivery can vary due to fit, seal, and positioning. Luckily, since these headphones are compatible with SteelSeries Engine software, you can customize their sound profile using its graphic EQ or presets.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless have a poor frequency response consistency. Bass and treble delivery can vary depending on their fit, seal, and positioning on your head. Bass delivery is especially sensitive if you have thick hair or wear glasses since this can affect their seal.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless have mediocre bass accuracy. The low-bass is fairly neutral, which results in thump and rumble. In contrast, both the mid and high-bass are overemphasized, which results in more punch, warmth, and boom. That said, their bass delivery is highly sensitive to their fit and positioning, so your experience may vary.

The mid accuracy of the SteelSeries Arctis 7P is very good. There's some overemphasis in the low-mids, which is a continuation of the bump in the high bass, resulting in muddy and cluttered instruments. However, the rest of the mid-range is fairly flat and well-balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound present and clear.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P have great treble accuracy. They're slightly underemphasized in the low-treble, which can reduce the comprehensibility of vocals and lead instruments. There's also an overemphasis in the mid-treble, so sibilants like S and T sounds are sharp and piercing. However, their treble delivery is prone to inconsistencies and is somewhat sensitive to their fit and positioning, so your experience may vary.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless have decent peaks and dips performance. The left driver has a dip in the low-bass, which lessens thump and rumble, and the right driver has a dip in the mid-mid, which pushes vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. However, both drivers have a peak in the high-bass, adding boom and muddiness, while another peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants piercing.

These headphones have very good imaging. Most of their weighted group delay mostly falls entirely beneath the audibility threshold, resulting in a mostly transparent treble, but a somewhat loose bass. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in regards to phase, frequency, and amplitude response, so objects like footsteps and voice should be accurately placed in the stereo image. That said, these results are only valid for our test unit, and yours may perform differently.

These headphones have a disappointing passive soundstage. While it's somewhat large and may sound like it's coming from out in front of you rather than inside your head, it still sounds unnatural. Their soundstage also won't feel as open or spacious as open-back headphones.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P are fully compatible with the PS5's Tempest 3D AudioTech. This setting can be turned on and off in the PS5's settings. However, we don't currently test this feature.

Update 02/25/2021: A user has reported bass distortion when using the SteelSeries Engine 3 softwares' 64Hz EQ band above 0dB. While we confirm that there is slight distortion on the 64Hz EQ band above or below 0dB, we don't test for this. As a result, the scoring of this box hasn't changed.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P have a good weighted harmonic distortion performance. Its frequencies fall within good limits, which should result in clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless headphones. Our results are only valid when using these test settings.

These headphones have poor noise isolation performance. They don't block out almost any bass-range noise like bus or plane engines and really struggle to cut down mid-range sounds like ambient chatter. However, they do a better job of cutting down treble range noise like the hum of an AC unit.

The leakage performance of these headphones is decent. They leak a bit of sound, so if you're listening to your audio at a high volume, others around you may hear it, even in a moderately noisy environment.

These headphones have a retractable boom microphone.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P's recording quality is great. Your voice sounds clear, natural, and full-bodied.

The microphone has a decent noise handling performance that's quite similar to that of the SteelSeries Arctis 7+ Wireless. People on the other end of the line should be able to understand you clearly, even if you're talking in a noisy environment.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P have an outstanding battery performance. They have around 24 hours of continuous playback time and have an auto-off timer to help you conserve battery life when you're not using them. You can also use them while charging or use them passively with their USB to analog cable. However, they take over four hours to recharge. That said, if you're looking for similarly designed gaming headphones with a longer continuous battery life, check out the SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ Wireless.

These headphones have good app support. They can be used with SteelSeries Engine software. It offers a graphic EQ and presets as well as an adjustable level for the retractable boom mic. You can also change the length of the auto-off timer. Note that surround sound support is only available on the PS5.

These headphones aren't Bluetooth-compatible. If you're looking for gaming headphones with Bluetooth support, consider the Corsair VIRTUOSO RGB Wireless XT.

These headphones have fantastic non-Bluetooth wireless connectivity. When using their USB dongle, they have virtually no latency on PC or Android. Their latency is also quite low for PS5 at 26ms, making them extremely well-suited for gaming.

Update 01/14/2022: We originally reported that these headphones have a 1/8" TRRS connection. However, the SteelSeries Arctis 7P use a unique mini B 8-pin to 1/8" TRRS cable. The connection leading to the headset is the mini B 8-pin, and we have updated our review to reflect this change.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7P come with a couple of cables, including a Mini B 8-pin to 1/8" TRRS analog cable that you can use for passive audio playback and microphone usage. They also come with a USB extension for the dongle and a micro-USB charging cable.

The SteelSeries 7P can be used on the Xbox One by using their 1/8" TRRS cable for full audio and microphone support. If you're looking for SteelSeries headphones that have non-Bluetooth wireless compatibility with Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles, check out our review of the SteelSeries Arctis 7X Wireless.

These headphones come with a wireless USB dongle. It's only compatible with Nintendo Switch, Android, PC, PS4, and PS5 systems.