SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless [7, 7P, 7X] Headphones Review

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 have a very similar look to other headphones in the Nova lineup, like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, due to their ski-band headband design. Depending on the variant, the headband color changes, so if you have the PC variant, the headband is black, whereas the Xbox variant is green, and the PS variant is blue. While their frame only comes in black, regardless of the variant, if you want to customize their look, you can buy the Arctis Nova Booster Pack separately. It comes with a set of speaker plates and a nylon ski band in the following colors: 'Cherry Red,' 'Lilac,' 'Mint,' and 'Rose Quartz.' These headphones also have a retractable boom mic to help them look more casual. However, unlike the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3, they don't have customizable RGB lighting on the ear cups.

These headphones have a comfortable fit. They're somewhat similar in fit to the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless since they have soft cloth padding. They don't clamp very tightly on your head, and the ear cups have a good range of motion. The elastic headband also has two adjustable settings on each side of the band to help you get the best fit, while the hinges can slide to further expand their fit. However, they're a bit bulky, and the elastic headband has a limited range of extension, which can be an issue if you have a large head.

These headphones have good controls. There are physical buttons on each ear cup, which are easy to use, and each control has feedback. There's a volume wheel on one cup and a secondary wheel on the opposite cup that offers different commands depending on the console variant. If you have the 7X variant, you'll have access to chat mixing. However, if you have the 7 or 7P variant, this feature controls sidetone instead. Both wheels have min and max stops, but only the channel mixing/sidetone wheel has a middle notch.

On the left ear cup:

• Mic mute
• Single press: Mutes and unmutes the microphone.

On the right ear cup:

• Bluetooth button
• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and declines calls.
• Double press: Skips to the next track.
• Triple press: Skips to the previous track.

These gaming headphones aren't designed to be portable. If you're leaving them next to your computer or console when not in use, they don't take up too much room, and the ear cups swivel flat.

These headphones have a good build quality. They have a plasticky build that feels a bit cheaper to the touch than the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. There's a metal plate to help reinforce the headband and a fabric strap that you can adjust for a better fit. The cloth padding on the ear cups also feels good on the skin.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X Wireless and their variants have fair stability. They won't move around when you're gaming at your desk or on the couch. If you tend to move your head a lot while gaming, they can fall off your head.

• SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X headphones
• USB-C wireless transmitter
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• USB-A to USB-C adapter cable
• 1/8" TRRRS to 1/8" TRRS cable
• Foldable figurine
• Manuals

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P and variants have a bass-rich sound profile. They deliver plenty of extra thump and rumble, which can help emphasize sound effects like footsteps and explosions. While dialogue and instruments are present, a dip in the low-treble means they can lack a little detail. By contrast, a peak in the mid-treble renders sibilants piercing. If you prefer a different sound, their companion software offers robust sound customizations like a parametric EQ. Here is a graph showing the effect of different EQ presets on the overall sound. These headphones have a slightly different sound profile when used via Bluetooth, wireless dongle, or wired analog connections. Here is a graph showing the effect of the different connection types on the frequency response. 

Some users have experienced connectivity issues with original SteelSeries Arctis headsets that affect audio quality. This manifests in disconnections, popping sounds, and audio stuttering. However, we couldn't replicate any of these issues with our Arctis Nova headset, even after running the headphones for two hours at a time or after continuously using them from fully charged to the battery completely depleting. While these issues are random, we didn't encounter them with our SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless either. If you have experienced this issue with the Arctis Nova lineup, please let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.

They have disappointing frequency response consistency. They're very prone to inconsistencies in audio delivery, especially in the bass and treble ranges, and changes in fit, positioning, and seal will affect this. You may especially notice a drop in bass if you have thick hair or wear glasses.

Their bass compliance is decent. The entire range is overemphasized, adding extra thump, punch, and warmth to your audio, which can help bring sound effects like footsteps in your gameplay. Some gamers might find that this boom overwhelms dialogue, but you can tweak their sound using their companion app's EQ. 

These headphones have excellent mid-range target compliance. The range is flat and neutral, which results in clear, present, and detailed dialogue and lead instruments.

The SteelSeries Nova 7X and their variants' treble accuracy is sub-par. There's a large dip in the low-treble, which veils dialogue and lead instruments. That means voices like the party chat between Barrett and Aerith in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth trailer sound weak and lack detail. A peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants like cymbals bright, though.

These headphones have a decent peaks and dips performance. They follow their own sound profile well in the bass and mid ranges, but there are some significant deviations in the treble range. A deep dip in the low-treble veils dialogue and lead instruments while a high peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants like hi-hats piercing.

These headphones have good imaging. This manufacturer tends to have decent quality control regarding their drivers. However, imaging can vary from unit to unit as it can indicate quality control and ergonomics. Our unit's left and right drivers are well-matched in group delay, ensuring tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. However, the left and right drivers have a bit of mismatch in phase response. It's minor and difficult to hear with real-life content unless you're listening out for it. They're better matched in amplitude, which helps produce a more balanced stereo image.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X and their variants have a sub-par passive soundstage performance, which is normal for closed-back headphones. Their soundstage seems wide but unnatural and closed-off. The headphones also struggle to reproduce an out-of-head audio experience, and audio sounds like it's playing from in front of you rather than from speakers placed around your head. If you're interested in a gaming headset with a more spacious passive soundstage, consider the Turtle Beach Atlas Air Wireless.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 can access Windows Sonic Spatial Audio when connected to PCs. This feature allows you to adjust the distance of the soundstage. If you're connected to the PS5, you can also access Tempest 3D AudioTech, which you can turn on and off. This feature can add depth and directionality to sound effects like footsteps. You can connect these headphones to Dolby Atmos, but you'll need a license to access their virtual soundstage. That said, Dolby Atmos can help create a 3D audio experience by simulating multiple audio channels.

Their weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. There's a little distortion in the low to mid-treble, but it's very minor and hard to hear with real-life content. Most frequencies fall within good limits, resulting in fairly clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when used in these settings.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless have poor noise isolation performance. They're not designed to block background noise, though they can make a dent in high-pitched sounds like the hum of a standing fan. However, don't expect them to block out noise from traffic outside your window or cut down a lot of ambient chatter. Some users have also experienced a hissing or static-like sound when connected to their console. We couldn't replicate this issue, but some users have had limited success correcting this issue by lowering the mic volume level or keeping the Volume Limiter set to 'ON'.

These headphones aren't well-suited to isolating you against noises found in everyday scenarios. They do a disappointing job of attenuating against the sounds of a busy street, as well as office noise. However, they really struggle to block out the low rumble of airplane engines due to their lack of attenuation in the bass range.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 and their variants' leakage performance is satisfactory. Leakage is concentrated mostly in the mid-range and sounds fairly full-bodied. If you're gaming in a moderately noisy environment, you may bother others around you.

The microphone's recording quality is good. Your voice sounds clear, full-bodied, and easy to understand. Your voice also sounds clear if you're using the Clearcast AI Noise Cancelling feature. You can hear our recorded speech file with this feature. If you're looking for gaming headphones with even better recording quality, consider the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless 2023.

It's worth noting that the mic performs significantly worse when connected via analog cable. If recording quality is important, you'll want to connect via Bluetooth or the wireless dongle.

There's white noise present in our recording. This headphones' mic picks up the noise made from our testing rig's mouth speaker. The recording quality score isn't affected by this noise, though. However, some users have reported encountering a noise floor when setting the 'Mic Monitoring' feature to Medium or High. We confirmed this with our unit even when using the Low setting, although it was less noticeable than when using the higher settings. The only way to remove the noise floor is to turn 'Mic Monitoring' off or mute the microphone if enabled.

The mic's noise handling performance is good. The mic performs similarly to the SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition Wireless and can separate your voice from moderate background noise well.

This mic has a ClearCast AI Noise Cancellation feature, which you can access from the companion software. It does a great job of separating your voice from ambient noise, resulting in clear speech. If you want to hear this feature's performance, you can check out our pink noise and subway noise recordings. You can also adjust the level of the noise gate to suit your preferences. You can see a comparison between all the modes.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 have an outstanding battery life performance. The manufacturer advertises that they will last 26 hours continuously with Bluetooth and their wireless transmitter in use. We measured over 33 hours, which is less than competitors like the HyperX Cloud III Wireless, but these headphones easily last through long gaming sessions. However, battery life can vary depending on use. Luckily, they're equipped with an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life, and you can even use them passively if you run out of battery life.

These headphones are compatible with SteelSeries GG and Sonar software, which are excellent. There are dedicated controls for gaming, chat, and the microphone, each with their own EQs and presets, as well as volume. You can also access a spatial audio feature. Within the Chat and Microphone tabs, you can access features to help improve the mic's quality, including Clearcast AI Noise Cancellation, Noise Reduction, Noise Gate, and Smart Voice. If you want to transfer your EQ settings to your console (including Xbox and PlayStation), you can only do so via the GG Engine app. Sonar needs to be disabled for this to work, and you can't transfer any changes made in Sonar itself to your console.

These headphones come with a 1/8" TRRS to 1/8" TRRS cable, so you can use them wired. They also come with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable and a USB-A to USB-C adapter for the wireless dongle.

These headphones have very good Bluetooth connectivity. You can connect them to a Bluetooth device like your smartphone while using your console via non-Bluetooth wireless simultaneously. However, this is the only way to use multi-device pairing, so you can't use the headphones with both an analog and Bluetooth (or the wireless dongle's) connection. All wireless features (whether Bluetooth or non-Bluetooth wireless) will turn off once you use the headphones via analog.

Using Bluetooth, they have high latency on PCs using the SBC codec, meaning that this connection isn't suitable for streaming video as you'll experience lip sync issues. Some apps and devices compensate for latency differently, though.

These headphones have great non-Bluetooth connectivity. The model we tested is the Xbox variant, and their included wireless dongle is compatible with both PlayStation and Xbox, which is important since some headphones, like the Astro A30 Wireless, are only compatible with one console or the other. The dongle included in the PC and PlayStation variants doesn't have a switch and isn't compatible with Xbox consoles.

These headphones have low latency when using their wireless dongle. That means your audio and visuals will stay in sync while gaming.

All variants of these headphones are fully compatible with PCs via Bluetooth. You can also connect them with full audio and mic compatibility to your PC via analog or wirelessly with the dongle.

All console-specific variants of these headphones (including the Xbox variant) can connect to your PlayStation consoles via analog and non-Bluetooth wireless. You can receive audio and use their mic. However, if you make any EQ changes using the GG app on PC, they won't transfer onto this console unless you disable the Sonar app.

Only the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X can wirelessly connect to Xbox consoles with full compatibility, as the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P and 7 don't support Xbox Wireless. You can also change your headphones' EQ on PC using the GG Engine app, and it will transfer to this console. However, you need to disable Sonar first, and any customization made in Sonar won't be transferrable. All variants of these headphones are also compatible with Xbox consoles by plugging their 1/8" TRRRS to 1/8" TRRS cable into your console's controller.

These headphones come with a wireless dongle. It has a USB-C connector and comes with a USB-A adapter. There aren't any inputs to this dongle. Like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless, only the Xbox variant's dongle has a switch. Set the switch to Xbox to game with your Xbox and to USB to game via another platform.