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 can hook as much as three consoles or PCs directly to allow you to seamlessly swap between all of your units. It additionally prices $600. It has among the greatest premium audio I’ve heard from a gaming headset all yr. It’ll 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 once 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 likely 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 at least one place. The more moderen $180 Astro A20 X does one thing just like the Arctis Nova Elite, although with solely two as a substitute of three outputs for various consoles on a miniature station.  SteelSeries’ ultra-premium machine 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 steel 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, principally because of it receiving certification from the Japan Audio Society. However there are different firms promising their gaming headsets can provide gamers the audiophile expertise. Gizmodo Senior Author James Pero just lately reviewed the $360 VZR Model One MK II hi-fi headest. My ears are nonetheless begging me to return to the sensible 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 every little thing (and like an every little thing bagel, that actually gained’t please everybody). It’s sporting some high quality lively noise cancellation (ANC), although not one of the best in its class. Its audio capabilities are actually prime tier (although I should still favor the Sony Inzone H9 II for pure gaming audio bliss). The headset makes connecting to each one in every of my units seamless, and it helps 4 separate streams of simultaneous audio (although it would require downloading the Arctis app to your telephone and the GG app to your laptop to regulate equalization choices for every machine 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 likely one of the greatest headsets I’ve used.

The most effective for every little thing?

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 appears to be like particularly good with its cream and gold colorway. I simply don’t know if something in regards to the it desgin reads that it’s value a lot cash.

The sound is the place issues matter, and that’s what the Arctis Nova Elite has obtained going for it. The dual carbon fiber drivers provide 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 could take a couple of hours of listening, however ultimately I got here to acknowledge the Arctis Nova Elite’s true potential as soon as I put it by its paces in numerous titles of assorted kinds.

In case 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 truthfully depart you in tears. You’ll begin to determine subtleties positioned by cautious arms within the songs you’ve heard 1,000,000 occasions earlier than. There’s a motive some folks turn out 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 reside among the many rocks and weeds.

As soon as I related the Arctis Nova Elite to my telephone, 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 needs 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 mentioned, I don’t actually know many individuals who trouble with multiple. SteelSeries recommended it might be your audio buddy even once you’re not close to your sofa or desk. The gaming headset comes with a tender felt-lined pouch that snaps shut with a satisfying magnetic clasp. If you need one thing extra protecting like a tough case, you’ll have to purchase it individually. The factor is, one of the best headphones are designed so that you don’t look appear to be 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 get pleasure from them for longer.

Each recreation requires its personal finetuning

In case 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 daft variety of game-specific profiles for among 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 should 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 wish to make your machine gun hearth really pop. This requires you to manually change their settings from recreation to recreation if you would like one of the 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 a couple of knobs twisted. In case you scroll by all of the preset EQ choices, you will discover one or two that can sound higher to your ears. As an example, I performed Gears of War: Reloaded with the Name of Obligation: Black Ops 6 preset and it sounded a lot better than with the inventory normal profile.

No less than, the GameHub helps you to swap and alter 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 appropriate earpad.

SteelSeries’ “flat” profile is ok for many listening experiences, together with music or when speaking on video calls. After I obtained on with a few of my coworkers, they advised 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 affords 16-bit 32kHz recordings, and listening to myself again I can verify it’s of fine high quality. There’s a further mute button the left earcup if you have to keep away from any again chatter when gaming with mates and even chatting with workmates. Once more, it might be my every little thing headset when at residence I might stand sporting it for too lengthy.

Higher battery life? Attempt extra batteries

There’s numerous constructive 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 once I put a number of partitions between me and the machine did the sound begin to waver.

The ANC is nice sufficient I might repeatedly miss what my colleagues had been saying even when they had 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 just lately reviewed. Nonetheless, I might sometimes 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 facet of the room. The Arctis Nova Elite is greater than sufficient in your gaming den once you wish to gap up like a contented otter and ignore the speeding river waters round you. It simply gained’t provide 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 lively listening, however that’s solely once you make use of two separate batteries. The GameHub comes with a small compartment that accepts one in every 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 recent battery will instantly flip the headset on and return you again to your numerous connections. By comparability, a $300 HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 wi-fi can go for 250 hours earlier than you have to plug it in.

Price greater than a console?

I hold 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 some other 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 usually than the two.4GHz connection. Although I personal a PS5 and Nintendo Change 2, and get to check a rotating solid of PCs, I spend extra time gaming on a handheld than the rest. There’s actually a couple of people on the market who’re glued to their gaming chairs and need a headset for each single machine they personal. I can’t consider something higher than the Arctis Nova Elite.