SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless [7, 7P, 7X] vs Sony PULSE Elite: Which Headphones Are Better?

Tested using Methodology v2.0

Updated Sep 23, 2025 05:17 PM

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

BestBuy.com

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless [7, 7P, 7X] Picture

TypeOver-ear

Noise CancellingNo

EnclosureClosed-Back

Bass Amount Very Emphasized (6 dB)

WirelessYes

TransducerDynamic

Treble Amount Balanced (0 dB)

MicYes

Sound Signature Warm

TypeOver-ear

Noise CancellingNo

EnclosureClosed-Back

Bass Amount Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)

WirelessYes

TransducerPlanar Magnetic

Treble Amount Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)

MicYes

Sound Signature Balanced

Recommended in 8 articles:
Gaming
Wireless Gaming
PC Gaming
5

Our Verdict

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

Sony PULSE Elite

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 and the Sony PULSE Elite headsets perform very similarly. They both offer warm sound, good microphone performance, and poor noise isolation. The Sony have less well-managed group delay, which may affect audio reproduction. That said, the Sony runs for about 20 hours longer off a single charge, so there's no clear winner here.

Variants

Arctis Nova 7X (Black)
Arctis Nova 7P (Black)
Arctis Nova 7 (Black)
Arctis Nova 7 (Diablo IV Edition)
Arctis Nova 7 (FaZe Clan Edition)
Arctis Nova 7P (White)
Arctis Nova 7X (White)
Arctis Nova 7 (World of Warcraft Edition)

PULSE Elite (White)

Review

See Sony PULSE Elite Review

Check Price

White

Arctis Nova 7P

White

PULSE Elite

BestBuy.com

White

Arctis Nova 7X

White

PULSE Elite

Black

Arctis Nova 7X

White

PULSE Elite

B&H

Black

Arctis Nova 7P

White

PULSE Elite

Walmart.com

Black

Arctis Nova 7

Diablo IV Edition

Arctis Nova 7

FaZe Clan Edition

Arctis Nova 7

World of Warcraft Edition

Arctis Nova 7

Main Differences for

Sports And Fitness

Threshold

0.10

Sports And Fitness

6.9

6.4

Comfort

7.5

7.0

Portability

5.9

5.2

Stability

6.5

6.2

Full Comparison

Sports And Fitness

6.9

6.4

Travel

6.2

5.4

Office Work

6.5

6.0

Wireless Gaming (In Development)

7.5

7.2

Wired Gaming (In Development)

7.8

7.3

Audio Reproduction Accuracy

7.0

6.1

Noise Isolation

4.7

3.6

Microphone (In Development)

7.7

8.4

Frequency Response Consistency

4.7

3.3

Sound

Sound Profile

Normalization Frequency

500 Hz

600 Hz

Bass Amount

Very Emphasized (6 dB)

Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)

Treble Amount

Balanced (0 dB)

Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)

Sound Signature

Warm

Balanced

Show Text

Frequency Response Consistency

4.7

3.3

Consistency L

Consistency R

Std. Deviation

1.98 dB

3.47 dB

Show Text

Raw Frequency Response

Raw FR L

Raw FR R

Bass Profile: Target Compliance

7.3

9.0

Bass Profile: Target Compliance

RMS Deviation From Target

5.7 dB

2.9 dB

Low-Frequency Extension

20 Hz

21.81 Hz

Low Bass

5.07 dB

-1.25 dB

Mid Bass

6.72 dB

3.14 dB

High Bass

5.01 dB

1.61 dB

Show Text

Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance

9.0

8.2

Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance

RMS Deviation From Target

1.47 dB

2.46 dB

Low Mid

-1.65 dB

-2.06 dB

Mid-Mid

1.35 dB

-0.04 dB

High Mid

0.56 dB

-1.7 dB

Show Text

Treble Profile: Target Compliance

7.0

7.4

Treble Profile: Target Compliance

RMS Deviation From Target

4.21 dB

3.89 dB

Low Treble

-1.91 dB

-2.15 dB

Mid Treble

1.81 dB

4.06 dB

High Treble

-5.71 dB

-1.3 dB

Show Text

Peaks/Dips

7.1

7.0

Peaks/Dips Graph

Peaks

1.52 dB

1.69 dB

Dips

2.8 dB

2.26 dB

Show Text

Stereo Mismatch

5.7

5.6

Frequency Response Mismatch

Phase Response Mismatch

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch

1.27 dB

0.90 dB

Weighted Frequency Response Mismatch

1.73 dB

2.08 dB

Weighted Phase Mismatch

2.8°

4.7°

Show Text

Group Delay

7.2

1.0

Group Delay

Weighted Group Delay

1.1 ms

4.9 ms

Show Text

Cumulative Spectral Decay

CSD

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless [7, 7P, 7X] CSD

PRTF

7.0

6.9

PRTF

PRTF Accuracy (RMS Deviation)

2.94 dB

4.11 dB

PRTF Size (Avg.)

6.6 dB

4.41 dB

PRTF Distance

11.49 dB

14.2 dB

Show Text

Harmonic Distortion

8.2

8.5

Harmonics Levels

THD Ratio

WHD @ 94 dB SPL

0.32%

0.12%

WHD @ 104 dB SPL

0.24%

0.38%

Show Text

Electrical Aspects

Impedance

Sensitivity @1kHz-1V

115.0 dB SPL

N/A

Bluetooth Max SPL

100.3 dB

N/A

Show Text

Virtual Soundstage

2.0

Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling

Speaker Modeling

On/Off

Room Ambience

Head Tracking

Virtual Surround

Windows Sonic Spatial Audio

Yes

Show Text

Test Settings

Firmware

1.10

0136

Power

Connection

Wireless (Proprietary)

Codec

PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz

PCM, 16-bit, 48kHz

Test Instrument

Audio Precision APx517B

EQ

Default

No EQ

ANC

No ANC

Tip/Pad

Default

Microphone

Boom

Show Text

Design

Style

Design Picture 2

Type

Over-ear

Enclosure

Closed-Back

Wireless

Yes

Transducer

Dynamic

Planar Magnetic

Show Text

Comfort

7.5

7.0

Comfort Picture

Weight

0.72 lbs

0.75 lbs

Clamping Force

1 lbs

0.83 lbs

Show Text

Controls

7.6

5.6

Controls Picture

OS Compatibility

Not OS specific

Ease Of Use

Good

Decent

Feedback

Good

Call/Music Control

Yes

Volume Control

Yes

Microphone Control

Mute/Unmute

Channel Mixing

Yes

Noise Cancelling Control

Talk-Through

Additional Controls

Bluetooth + Multi function

Show Text

Portability

5.9

5.2

Portability Picture

L

8.1" (20.6 cm)

8.4" (21.3 cm)

W

7.4" (18.9 cm)

6.1" (15.5 cm)

H

1.9" (4.9 cm)

5.1" (12.9 cm)

Volume

116.42 in³ (1,907.80 cm³)

259.90 in³ (4,258.94 cm³)

Transmitter Required

Show Text

Case

0.0

Case Picture

Type

No case

L

N/A

W

N/A

H

N/A

Volume

N/A

Show Text

Build Quality

7.5

6.0

Build Quality Picture

Show Text

Stability

6.5

6.2

Stability Picture

Show Text

Headshots 1

Angled Picture

Side Picture

Headshots 2

Front Picture

Rear Picture

Top

Top Picture

In The Box

In The Box Picture

Show Text

Isolation

Noise Isolation - Full Range

4.8

3.4

Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph

Noise Cancelling

Overall Attenuation

-11.64 dB

-7.80 dB

Bass

2.78 dB

4.00 dB

Mid

-11.06 dB

-7.92 dB

Treble

-29.75 dB

-21.95 dB

Show Text

Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios

4.1

3.2

Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph

Airplane Noise Attenuation

-8.35 dB

-5.77 dB

Airplane Noise Isolation Audio

Office Noise Attenuation

-9.60 dB

-6.47 dB

Office Noise Isolation Audio

Street Noise Attenuation

-10.20 dB

-6.87 dB

Street Noise Isolation Audio

Show Text

Noise Isolation - Voice Handling

Female Voice 1

Male Voice 1

Female Voice 2

Male Voice 2

ANC Wind Handling

ANC Wind Handling Graph

ANC Wind Noise

N/A

Leakage

7.0

5.9

Leakage

Leakage Audio

Overall Leakage @ 1ft

39.59 dB

45.46 dB

Show Text

Microphone

Microphone Style

Integrated

In-Line

Boom

Yes

Detachable Boom

Mic

Yes

Show Text

Recording Quality

7.8

7.9

Microphone Frequency Response

Recorded Speech

LFE

20 Hz

113.14 Hz

FR Std. Dev.

2.89 dB

0.99 dB

HFE

6,933.79 Hz

6,736.4 Hz

Weighted THD

2.446

1.821

Gain

27.76 dB

8.46 dB

Show Text

Noise Handling

7.7

8.8

SpNR

SpNR

35.78 dB

63.8 dB

Noise Gate

On/Off Toggle

Always On

Speech + Pink Noise Handling

7.5

9.0

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample

Speech + Subway Noise Handling

8.0

8.5

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample

Show Text

Active Features

Battery

9.3

8.9

Battery Type

Rechargable

Continuous Battery Life

33.3 hrs

53 hrs

Additional Charges

0.0

Total Battery Life

33.3 hrs

53 hrs

Charge Time

1.9 hrs

2.5 hrs

Power-Saving Feature

Auto-Off Timer

Audio While Charging

Yes

Passive Playback

Yes

Charging Port

USB-C

Show Text

App Support

8.5

7.0

App Picture

App Name

Steelseries GG

PS5 Inferface

iOS

Android

macOS

Yes

Windows

Yes

Equalizer

Parametric + Presets

Graphic + Presets

ANC Control

Mic Control

Adjustable Level

Room Effects

Playback Control

Button Mapping

Surround Support

Yes

Show Text

Connectivity

Wired Connection

9.9

8.4

Cable Picture

Analog Audio

Yes

USB Audio

Detachable

Yes

Length

4.10 ft (1.25 m)

N/A

Connector

1/8" TRRRS

1/8" TRRS

Latency - Analog

0.3 ms

3.8 ms

Latency - USB

N/A

Recorded Latency

Recorded Latency Connection

Analog

Show Text

Bluetooth Connection

7.9

7.4

Bluetooth Version

5.010

Unspecified

Multi-Device Pairing

Bluetooth + Console/Non-BT Wireless

Quick Pair (Android)

Quick Pair (iOS)

Line Of Sight Range

328.08 ft (100.00 m)

334.65 ft (102.00 m)

Latency - SBC

235 ms

325 ms

Latency - aptX

N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)

N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)

N/A

Latency - LDAC

N/A

Recorded Latency

Recorded Latency Codec

SBC

AAC Support

Show Text

Wireless Connection (Dongle)

7.6

7.7

Line Of Sight Range

110.89 ft (33.80 m)

104.99 ft (32.00 m)

Latency - Dongle

29 ms

26 ms

Recorded Latency

Show Text

PC Compatibility

Analog

Audio + Microphone

Audio + Microphone (Not Included)

Wired USB

Non-BT Wireless

Audio + Microphone

Show Text

PlayStation Compatibility

PS4 Analog

Audio + Microphone

Audio + Microphone (Not Included)

PS4 Wired USB

PS4 Non-BT Wireless

Audio + Microphone

PS5 Analog

Audio + Microphone

Audio + Microphone (Not included)

PS5 Wired USB

PS5 Non-BT Wireless

Audio + Microphone

Show Text

Xbox Compatibility

Xbox One Analog

Audio + Microphone

Audio + Microphone (Not Included)

Xbox One Wired USB

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless

Audio + Microphone

Xbox Series X|S Analog

Audio + Microphone

Audio + Microphone (Not Included)

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless

Audio + Microphone

Show Text

Base/Dock

3.4

Type

Wireless USB Dongle

USB Input

Yes

Line In

Line Out

Optical Input

RCA Input

Dock Charging

Power Supply

USB-C

USB

Show Text

Check Price

White

Arctis Nova 7P

White

PULSE Elite

BestBuy.com

White

Arctis Nova 7X

White

PULSE Elite

Black

Arctis Nova 7X

White

PULSE Elite

B&H

Black

Arctis Nova 7P

White

PULSE Elite

Walmart.com

Black

Arctis Nova 7

Diablo IV Edition

Arctis Nova 7

FaZe Clan Edition

Arctis Nova 7

World of Warcraft Edition

Arctis Nova 7