Disclosure: The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless was provided by SteelSeries for this review. Please read more about our product review disclosure here.

SteelSeries is a company that is renowned for its gaming headsets. Each year their products top the list in all categories of gaming headsets whether you talk about value or features or both. I even have the Arctis Nova 7 wireless as one of my picks for “Best Gaming Headsets in 2024”. What we’re looking at today though, is not just a gaming headset, but something more. You could even say it’s a new category of headset, a gaming lifestyle headset, perhaps. Something that can be an all-in-one headset/headphone for you. The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless was originally launched back in 2022 but was only available in black. Today we’re looking at the recently released white variant, which leans more towards fashion than gaming in terms of looks. How does it perform for gaming? Can they be used on the go as a dedicated headphones? Will they replace my audiophile headphones? All these questions will be answered, so read on to find out.

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• Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset
• Carrying pouch
• Wireless Base Station
• Two battery packs
• Two USB-C to USB-A cables (1.5m length)
• 3.5mm 5 pole to 3.5mm 4 pole cable (1.2m length)
• Microphone pop filter
• Manual

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There are a few variants to the Nova Pro Wireless lineup. It’s a little confusing in my opinion so it’s best to lay it out here because, depending on what your use case is, you may need a specific version. There are three Arctis Nova Pro Wireless variants:

1. Arctis Nova Pro Wireless for PC & PlayStation
2. Arctis Nova Pro Wireless for PlayStation & PC
3. Arctis Nova Pro Wireless for Xbox & PC

We are looking specifically at the third variant today, the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless for Xbox & PC. The first two variants are exactly the same, and they can be used with any device and game console, except the Xbox. The third variant can be used with any device and game console.

Clear as mud? Perfect. I’ll elaborate on the details of these differences below when talking about the base station.

Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Headset

The actual design hasn’t changed from the original black variant. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless still features the “ComfortMAX System”, which is comprised of a metal-reinforced headband, adjustable ear cups (both height and swivel), and a tension band underneath the headband support for even weight distribution. If you liked the original’s design and feel, you’ll be at home here. The headset is comfortable and is highly adjustable. The earpads have a nice thickness to them and compress comfortably when you put the headset on. The Nova Pro Wireless should be able to fit most people’s heads and ears just fine, but as always when it comes to headsets and headphones, I recommend you try them on beforehand to make sure they’re right for you. The earpads as well are removable and can be replaced with ones from SteelSeries, or these excellent pads from Wicked Cushions.

The white coloring though adds an entirely different dimension to the headset that I wasn’t expecting. It looks sharp and stylish, even premium. From a distance, you could easily mistake these as a pair of high-end luxury headphones and not a gaming headset. It’s a refreshing take and is nice to see aesthetics becoming a higher concern among companies, especially as we move away from having plain-looking, black electronics dominate our lives.

That being said, if you want to add some color to your headset, SteelSeries offers Nova Booster Packs of various colors to change out the headband and magnetic faceplates. Red on white looks pretty slick if I do say so.

Functionally the headset works extremely well, and all of the controls are thoughtfully placed. On the left earcup, we have an LED power indicator, power button, mute button, volume wheel that doubles as a clicky button, a 3.5mm connection, and a retractable microphone. Taking off the magnetic faceplate of the earcup we have a USB-C port that is used for charging on the go.

The right earcup contains the Bluetooth button that’s used for pairing, as well as call and track controls. Above that an LED that indicates the Bluetooth status. Taking off the magnetic faceplate reveals the 700 mAh swappable battery.

All of the buttons have a specific texture and feel to them, which helps to quickly and easily identify them without having to take the headset off and look at them.

From a design and comfort perspective, there’s really nothing here to fault. Yes, they do get warm after a couple of hours of use, but that’s par for the course when it comes to closed-back headphones.

Wireless Base Station

The base station is the hub for how the headset connects to a computer or game console. The front of the base station features a very clear OLED display, a capacitive button, and a giant control wheel. I’m not a fan of capacitive buttons, but it helps maintain the clean aesthetic on the front. The control wheel feels fairly solid and has a smooth feel when using it.

Looking at the back of the base station we have line-in and line-out connections, an Xbox USB-C port, and a regular USB-C port.

The USB-C port labeled “Xbox” will only work when plugged into an Xbox game console. The regular USB-C port, labeled simply “USB”, will work with any other device, just not an Xbox. On the other two variants of the Nova Pro Wireless I mentioned earlier, both USB-C ports are labeled “USB” and can be used with any device except an Xbox. This is due to the specific USB device requirements of the Xbox compared to the other consoles and devices.

Lastly, on the right side of the base station is a slot to insert the spare battery. Not only does it serve as a convenient storage space for it, the base station also charges it once it’s inserted.

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There are honestly a lot of features to talk about here. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset has both practical features and software features, so let’s look at the practical ones first.

ANC (Active Noise Cancellation)

It’s very strange to be talking about a gaming headset and ANC in the same breath, but SteelSeries managed to do it. While the headset does offer a good amount of passive noise isolation, you don’t notice how much noise can be further blocked until you turn on ANC. It’s activated and deactivated by pressing the power button once. Furthermore, there’s a transparency mode that is enabled/disabled by double pressing the power button, but let’s talk about the active noise cancellation performance first.

It’s pretty good. Not amazing, not on the level of Sony or Bose, but it’s honestly way better than I was expecting it to be. I almost always found myself turning it on and leaving it on, even when at my desk simply due to how much it was able to block out ambient noise from outside, as well as tone down the harshness of my keyboard clacking and mouse clicks. When using the headset outside, the ANC does a good job of reducing harsher sounds like construction noise, as well as deeper sounds such as car engines.

The transparency mode is also pretty good. It allows you to have a conversation with someone, or listen to announcements at a train station or in the subway very easily and clearly.

I never thought ANC and transparency were things I needed in a gaming headset, but SteelSeries has convinced me otherwise.

Wired and Wireless Connectivity

There are three ways to connect the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless to a device:

1. Wirelessly via the base station
2. Bluetooth
3. 3.5mm single-ended cable

The 2.4GHz wireless connection to the base station works exactly as it should. After you initially pair the headset with it the headset will automatically connect when powered on. As well there are two 2.4GHz connection modes: range and speed. The connection is already extremely low latency, so range should be preferable for most users, but if you want to make sure the connection is as fast as possible you can set it to speed. The stated range is 12 meters, but I was able to get more than that when the range mode was used. It’s unreal how great this performs wirelessly.

The Bluetooth connection is limited to the SBC codec, which is disappointing. It would have really added to the versatility of the headset if it supported at least aptX and AAC. That being said, the overall Bluetooth performance is solid. What is really unique about the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is the ability to use both the 2.4GHz wireless connection and Bluetooth at the same time. For example, you have your base station connected to your computer or game console and you’re playing some Call of Duty multiplayer. You’re waiting in the lobby for the matchmaking to get you a match, but you want to chill to some music while you wait, so you grab your phone, open up your music app, and start playing some music until the match is ready. It also works with voice chat apps such as Discord and WhatsApp, so you can talk while you game. Honestly, it’s an awesome and practical feature.

Lastly, you can use the good old-fashioned 3.5mm cable to connect the headset to a controller, your phone, a DAC, a digital audio player, etc. The microphone even works here as well.

Infinity Power System (Battery)

SteelSeries calls its battery process the “Infinity Battery System”. I have to say, it’s aptly named. The headset comes with two swappable batteries. One goes in the headset, and the other goes in the slot located on the right side of the base station. This way, while one battery is being used, the other is stored and charged if necessary. Once the battery in the headset is low, you can simply swap the batteries and repeat the process. Infinite power, yes?

SteelSeries claims 18-22 hours per battery (Up to 44 hours over 2.4GHz wireless, and up to 36 hours with both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth). My tests found that their claims are fairly accurate. I managed 21 hours per battery over 2.4GHz wireless and 17 hours with both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth used. Charging also takes just under 3 hours to go from 0% to full.

Depending on how much you’re using the headset, you can easily get through an entire week with only swapping the batteries once.

Lastly, there is a USB-C port on the headset (left earcup behind the faceplate) if you need to charge while on the go.

Base Station Operation and Settings

When connected to a computer there’s little need to adjust any of the settings on the base station since it can all be done in the SteelSeries GG software. There is no such software on consoles, so adjusting any audio setting must be done on the base station itself. My console tests were done using my PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch (in docked mode).

The main screen of the base station shows the current bit rate and sample rate, the current USB selection, the charge status of the battery (if one is inserted), and the volume level. When your Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset is powered on, a headset icon appears on the screen along with a basic battery level indicator. You can adjust the volume using the giant volume wheel, as well as the chat mix (PC only) by clicking the wheel once. Click and hold the volume wheel for roughly 2 seconds, which brings up the built-in menu of the base station, where turning the volume wheel serves to move through the options, pressing it selects the option, and the capacitive button to the left of the volume wheel acts as a back button. The whole process works well and is very intuitive.

Aside from the volume, all the important settings such as enabling surround sound, EQ profiles, gain settings, sidetone level, and mic volume are present and adjustable using the on-screen menu.

SteelSeries GG and Sonar

One of the biggest features of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset is the integration with SteelSeries GG. The software is currently only available for Windows 10 and 11, and while I won’t go into every available feature and setting, I’ll discuss the main ones that affect the headset itself.

From the Engine tab, you can change various settings for the base station and headset, including applying a basic EQ that will also apply to Bluetooth.

Upon connecting the base station to my computer and powering on the headset, the audio output device shows up in Windows as a 2-channel, 24-bit/48kHz device, and the microphone appears as a 1-channel, 16-bit/48kHz device. But this is a surround sound headset, right? And 1-channel microphone quality, I thought SteelSeries had the best-quality microphones in their headsets?  One of the changes from the previous lineup of headsets from SteelSeries is that, in order to get the full experience, you need to use an application called Sonar that is built into SteelSeries GG.

Once you enable Sonar, it creates virtual audio devices in Windows that will give you the options you are more familiar with.

As we can see in the screenshot below, once you enable Sonar and go into the Sonar tab you are presented with various channels. This is the workflow that SteelSeries has decided to go with for routing audio. You get access to five channels: Game, Chat, Media, Aux, and Mic. Clicking the gear icon on any of the channels will show you the sample rate, allow you to select the playback device (yes, effectively this can be used with any audio device), and assign shortcuts. At the bottom of each channel is an Apps section. This is where you can drag and drop any app that is currently playing audio and place it in whichever channel you want to use. After you close the app Sonar will remember with which channel it was last used, so you just have to set it once, if the app isn’t automatically using the channel you want already, that is.

The channel settings themselves can be accessed via the channel names at the top. Here’s a brief summary of each channel and their intended use. I’ll go into the impact these channels and settings have on sound quality and audio performance in the Sound Quality section.

The Game channel is intended to be used for gaming. It appears in Windows as an 8-channel, 24-but/96kHz audio device. The Equalizer is a 10-band parametric EQ and comes with a ton of presets for various games, as well as the ability to create your own. Below that is the special audio section, which allows you to enable or disable spatial audio (this is SteelSeries’ own spatial audio algorithm), as well as tune the virtual speaker distance and how open or intimate the soundstage is.

The Chat channel is intended to be used with chat and voice applications. It appears in Windows as a 2-channel, 24-bit/48kHz audio device. It has a 10-band parametric EQ with various presets, an AI noise cancellation option that tries to clean up the audio of anyone who is talking to you in a chat app, as well as noise reduction, noise gate, and compressor options.

The Media channel is intended to be used with movies, music, and podcasts. It appears in Windows as an 8-channel, 24-bit/96kHz audio device. It has a 10-band parametric EQ with various presets, and the same spatial audio options as the Game channel.

The Aux channel applies to the Line In input that can be used on the base station. It appears in Windows as an 8-channel, 24-bit/96kHz audio device. It has a 10-band parametric EQ with the same presets as the Media channel and the same spatial audio options.

Lastly, there’s the Mic channel. It appears in Windows as a 2-channel, 24-bit/48kHz audio input device. It has a 10-band parametric EQ with various presets, Clearcast AI Noise Cancellation that removes reverb and noise from your mic input, and various other noise reduction options.

The Media and Aux channels are the only ones that can be disabled and removed from view, which is handy if you don’t intend to use them.

The Sonar software could be a whole article unto itself with the amount of features and configurability, so if that’s something you’d want to see please let me know in the comments.

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Music

The overall sound profile of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless leans towards neutral. The bass has a noticeable kick which adds dimension to audio tracks that have any bass presence. It has a nice rumble and doesn’t get muddy, nor does it bleed into the midrange. The midrange is fairly flat but detailed, nothing here gets overly emphasized, but there is good separation of instruments. The treble isn’t bright but is a little peaky resulting in sounds such as cymbals and higher-pitched vocals sounding harsh. If you’re sensitive to this you can fix it by applying an EQ to adjust the 8K range. I found decreasing it by 2.5dB helped alleviate the piercing effect. The overall sound here is enjoyable for all music genres, and there is enough detail and resolution present to even make audiophiles happy.

Gaming

Noting the sound profile above, this translates extremely well into gaming. Gunshot sounds have sufficient mass and distinction. Footsteps sound planted and identifiable. In-game music sounds great, and ambient sound effects are appropriately mixed into the audio mix for maximum immersion. The detail and resolution of the headset allowed me to accurately hear enemy footsteps and character movement in Call of Duty. Similarly, playing games such as Skyrim and Cyberpunk 2077 allowed me to hear every detail within the game world. Cyberpunk 2007 really thrives when you can hear the details such as passing character conversations, background sounds of shops and vendors, and the distant sound of traffic. It allows you to really get immersed in the game and forget about everything going on around you.

Imaging and Soundstage

The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless has excellent imaging performance. It’s very easy to identify the directionality of sounds, whether it’s listening to music and identifying instrument placement, or playing games and identifying enemy player locations in a competitive multiplayer match. The soundstage is good for a closed-back headset. There’s enough depth and width to get immersed in music or a game, but if you are used to using open-back headphones then the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless will sound intimate and enclosed.

Surround Sound and Spatial Audio

Here we get to the bread and butter of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset. Let’s look first at the virtual surround sound that is offered in the Game and Media channels. In these two channels, we get 8-channel, 24-bit/96kHz audio, which cannot be changed in either the Windows audio settings or in Sonar. The actual virtual surround sound performance is very good, with accurate placement of the 7 virtual speakers. Games that utilize surround sound in their game engine benefit the most from this, creating a very immersive experience.

The spatial audio offered in Sonar does an excellent job of enhancing the virtual surround sound. It also offers a high degree of customization, so that you can fine-tune it to cater to the game you are playing. If you’re playing an FPS, moving the slider closer to “Performance” will bring the soundstage in a bit, and decreasing the speaker distance will help make sounds more identifiable. For open-world games, such as Skyrim or Starfield, moving the slider more towards “Immersion” will enhance the soundstage, and increasing the speaker distance will really give your ears a sense of openness, increasing immersion.

Overall, the surround sound and spatial audio are incredibly well done, possibly even industry-leading.

Microphone Performance

The microphone performance is extremely solid, in most cases. As I’ve mentioned before, if you do not use Sonar, the microphone will be limited to 1-channel, 16-bit/kHz. Using it in this way it sounds just ok, with a bit of thinness to the recording quality and some lack of detail. Once you enable Sonar you get access to the virtual microphone device, which is set at 2-channel, 24-bit/48kHz, and sounds much much better. With Sonar you also get access to the Clearcast AI Noise Cancellation feature, which reduces reverb, removes background noise, and increases clarity in your voice. It works extremely well, and rivals even Nvidia Broadcast’s noise removal setting. This is by far one of the best microphones available in a gaming headset.

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The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless proves to be a top-tier gaming headset that lives up to its premium status. It has a healthy blend of cutting-edge features, including dual wireless connectivity and a hot-swappable battery system, which sets it apart in the competitive gaming audio market. The headset’s impressive sound quality, coupled with extensive customization options, caters to both casual gamers and audiophiles alike. What’s more, its sleek design and comfortable fit make it ideal for extended gaming sessions. They even look stylish enough and perform well enough to wear as dedicated Bluetooth ANC headphones.

I would go as far as saying that this is the best-performing and most comfortable gaming headset I have ever used. Add to that the fact that it’s wireless is just the cherry on the cake. The price is, well, I’ve seen a lot of comments online about the price. At $349 USD it’s not a cheap headset, and if you are, for example, an audiophile who already owns a few pairs of headphones, this will probably not give you the value that you’re looking for. If you are someone who is looking for an excellent all-in-one headset, that yes, can even be used on the go and while traveling to listen to music or play games, it’s easy to see that the value is there.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset has deservingly earned our HiFi Oasis Editor’s Choice award for its great sound profile, excellent wireless performance, unique battery solution, and amazing surround sound performance.

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