Redefining the ‘Premium’ Gaming Headset

I really feel no compunction telling you the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite gaming headset wasn’t made for the general public studying this evaluation. How premium is it? It prices $600.

It comes with a particular GameHub that may hook as much as three consoles or PCs without delay to allow you to seamlessly swap between all of your units. It additionally prices $600. It has a number of the greatest premium audio I’ve heard from a gaming headset all yr. It should ask you to fork over $600 for the privilege. The Arctis Nova Elite chock-full of small facilities, which mixes with all the opposite options to make the gaming headset so easy to function. All, for $600. It’s simply the most costly headset I’ve used, which makes it that rather more annoying after I admit I loved it as a lot as I did.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite isn’t doing something we haven’t seen earlier than, even when its price ticket is without doubt one of the highest we’ve seen. The $400 Logitech G Astro A50 X used a big base for video passthrough to hook up all of your units to 1 place. The more moderen $180 Astro A20 X does one thing much like the Arctis Nova Elite, although with solely two as an alternative of three outputs for various consoles on a miniature station.  SteelSeries’ ultra-premium system isn’t the primary to make use of a miniature OLED display to show your headset settings, both. The $400 Razer Kraken V4 Pro’s base station lacks the additional console and PC outputs, however its metallic body feels extra premium when it’s sitting in your desk than SteelSeries’ plastic.

SteelSeries was adamant that is the primary “Hello-Res” gaming headset, largely as a result of it receiving certification from the Japan Audio Society. However there are different firms promising their gaming headsets can supply gamers the audiophile expertise. Gizmodo Senior Author James Pero not too long ago reviewed the $360 VZR Model One MK II hi-fi headest. My ears are nonetheless begging me to return to the good tones of the Sony Inzone H9 II, which used the identical audio drivers because the class-leading Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones. So, no, this isn’t the primary gaming headset with any number of audiophile-level sound.

As a substitute, the Arctis Nova Elite is the primary gaming headset I’ve used that has all the pieces (and like an all the pieces bagel, that actually gained’t please everybody). It’s sporting some high quality energetic noise cancellation (ANC), although not the very best in its class. Its audio capabilities are actually prime tier (although I should favor the Sony Inzone H9 II for pure gaming audio bliss). The headset makes connecting to each considered one of my units seamless, and it helps 4 separate streams of simultaneous audio (although it’ll require downloading the Arctis app to your cellphone and the GG app to your pc to regulate equalization choices for every system individually). The Arctis Nova Elite is constructed for the devoted gamer, the one who has one spot of their residence the place they play. In that very particular case, this is without doubt one of the greatest headsets I’ve used.

One of the best for all the pieces?

There’s no getting round it. The Arctis Nova Elite alone prices greater than a PlayStation 5 console even after price hikes. I’ve used sufficient SteelSeries headsets to know its typical design ethos. In impact, the Arctis Nova Elite is an upgraded model of the Nova Professional Wi-fi, with metallic frames and a metallic quantity wheel. This gaming headset seems particularly good with its cream and gold colorway. I simply don’t know if something concerning the it desgin reads that it’s price a lot cash.

The sound is the place issues matter, and that’s what the Arctis Nova Elite has received going for it. The dual carbon fiber drivers supply a clear audio presence at its baseline. It’s able to lossless 24-bit, 96kHz wi-fi audio, although consoles just like the Xbox Sequence X and PS5 are restricted to 48k/16-bit. It might take just a few hours of listening, however finally I got here to acknowledge the Arctis Nova Elite’s true potential as soon as I put it by means of its paces in varied titles of varied kinds.

Should you’re so used to shoving your AirPods in your ears each morning commute, listening to high quality audio from a devoted hi-fi headset can actually depart you in tears. You’ll begin to establish subtleties positioned by cautious fingers within the songs you’ve heard one million instances earlier than. There’s a motive some folks grow to be obsessive about audio high quality. When you attain the highest of the mountain, it’s that rather more tough to crawl again down and dwell among the many rocks and weeds.

As soon as I related the Arctis Nova Elite to my cellphone, I wasn’t pressured to disconnect from PC or consoles. It makes dwelling your life contained in the headset simpler. I couldn’t stand it for too lengthy, although. Whereas the reminiscence foam cups are plush with a pillow-like softness surrounding my ears, the headset desires to hug my head tighter than others to get that excellent seal. There was a rising stress between my eyes as I used it, forcing me to take intermittent breaks.

The Arctis Nova Elite might simply be my one and solely gaming headset. That being stated, I don’t actually know many individuals who trouble with multiple. SteelSeries advised it might be your audio buddy even once you’re not close to your sofa or desk. The gaming headset comes with a comfortable felt-lined pouch that snaps shut with a satisfying magnetic clasp. If you’d like one thing extra protecting like a tough case, you’ll have to purchase it individually. The factor is, the very best headphones are designed so that you don’t look appear like an alien when sporting them. You gained’t look stylish along with your head shoved between these cans such as you do along with your AirPods Max. These are designed to put on for hours and hours. I couldn’t stand them for that lengthy. Perhaps anyone with a thinner skull would take pleasure in them for longer.

Each recreation requires its personal finetuning

Should you don’t go into the app to regulate the EQ profile to suit the sport, you’ll find yourself with a a lot worse expertise total. SteelSeries has a ridiculous variety of game-specific profiles for a number of the hottest video games round and much more you wouldn’t count on the corporate to trouble with (there’s a preset for Doki Doki Literature Membership!, for goodness’ sake). So when you load up into your Cyberpunk 2077 save, and enter with out the preset bass profile, it gained’t have anyplace close to the degrees you need to make your machine gun hearth really pop. This requires you to manually change their settings from recreation to recreation if you need the very best expertise.

Inevitably, you’ll come throughout a recreation that’s too new for it to have an EQ profile. I’ve been enjoying The Outer Worlds 2, which has a soundtrack that’s equal components thriller and nostalgia. It doesn’t sound dangerous by any margin with the “flat” preset within the Arctis app. I simply know deep in my soul the sport might sound higher with just a few knobs twisted. Should you scroll by means of all of the preset EQ choices, you could find one or two that may sound higher to your ears. For example, I performed Gears of War: Reloaded with the Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 6 preset and it sounded a lot better than with the inventory commonplace profile.

At the very least, the GameHub permits you to swap and regulate the quantity mixing between the primary and second USB inputs. Swapping between Bluetooth and the two.4GHz connection doesn’t require a lot enter. Nonetheless, if you wish to take a name within the headphones, you’ll must hit the Bluetooth button on the precise earpad.

SteelSeries’ “flat” profile is ok for many listening experiences, together with music or when speaking on video calls. After I received on with a few of my coworkers, they informed me I sounded extraordinarily clear, almost—however not fairly—podcast ranges of readability. That’s spectacular contemplating the telescoping mic wasn’t even sporting a pop filter. The mic gives 16-bit 32kHz recordings, and listening to myself again I can affirm it’s of fine high quality. There’s a further mute button the left earcup if it’s essential keep away from any again chatter when gaming with mates and even chatting with workmates. Once more, it might be my all the pieces headset when at residence I might stand sporting it for too lengthy.

Higher battery life? Attempt extra batteries

There’s a number of optimistic qualities to this design. I might stroll 30 ft away from the GameHub with a wall in between me and my desktop, and nonetheless hear my recreation as clear as if I used to be standing subsequent to it. Solely after I put a number of partitions between me and the system did the sound begin to waver.

The ANC is sweet sufficient I might repeatedly miss what my colleagues have been saying even when they have been speaking proper subsequent to me. With the ANC on, I couldn’t hear the blast of the loud followers from the Acer Predator Triton 14 gaming laptop computer I not too long ago reviewed. Nonetheless, I might often hear ambient noise, just like the distant pop of a fireplace truck siren or a loud bang on a dialog my boss was having on the opposite aspect of the room. The Arctis Nova Elite is greater than sufficient in your gaming den once you need to gap up like a contented otter and ignore the speeding river waters round you. It simply gained’t supply something near the sensory deprivation chamber sensation of some high-end ANC wi-fi headphones just like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen).

If there’s one factor lacking from the Arctis Nova Elite, it’s a battery life equal to its $600 price ticket. SteelSeries guarantees you will get 60 hours of energetic listening, however that’s solely once you make use of two separate batteries. The GameHub comes with a small compartment that accepts considered one of two cells that come within the field. The magnetized cap on the right-hand earcup comes off to disclose the battery. It’s not technically hot-swappable, as eradicating the battery will flip off the sound. Swapping in a contemporary battery will instantly flip the headset on and return you again to your varied connections. By comparability, a $300 HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 wi-fi can go for 250 hours earlier than it’s essential plug it in.

Price greater than a console?

I preserve mentioning different headsets that price much less simply to clarify the place we’re with the present panorama of gaming cans. Nothing I’ve tried has even got here near SteelSeries’ value level. There are different gaming headsets that promise hi-fi audio or allow you to join all of your consoles. The Arctis Nova Elite is the one pair that I do know of that gives each in a single bundle. I can’t consider another headset I might need extra if I’ve all my gaming units in a single spot.

I additionally know I personally couldn’t drop $600 on any headset. Even when I did go for the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite, I must contemplate if I might settle for Bluetooth extra typically than the two.4GHz connection. Despite the fact that I personal a PS5 and Nintendo Change 2, and get to check a rotating forged of PCs, I spend extra time gaming on a handheld than the rest. There’s actually just a few of us on the market who’re glued to their gaming chairs and need a headset for each single system they personal. I can’t consider something higher than the Arctis Nova Elite.