Yes, we know you can’t do a 24-hour gaming session on the reg, but we know you want to! The Nova 7 brings over 1.5 days of battery, and USB-C fast charging adds 6 hours of play from only a 15-minute boost, up from the 3 hours in the Arctis 7+. 7. Design Battery life is an essential consideration when it comes to the best wireless gaming headsets since you don't want to have to worry about charging mid-match, and you’re free to use the headset for hours on end with no tether to a charging cable. As someone who is constantly forgetting to charge their tech, the battery life of the Arctis Nova 7P was a relief when I was jumping in and out of multiplayer games and Discord calls and simply not having to deal with a depleting battery light or audio signifier. Considering all the connectivity on the Nova 7 Wireless, it’s no surprise that you can hook it up to just about any system. The USB-C dongle lets you use the headset with a PC, PlayStation, or Switch, while you can use the Bluetooth capability for Mac, tablets and phones. Of course, you can also connect it to any analog device thanks to the 3.5mm connection. I was pleased to find that many games actually had the audio settings customized by the developers, meaning you’re actually hearing the game audio as intended. One such example was the Destiny 2 preset which was created by Bungie’s sound designers to highlight the unique sounds heard throughout the solar system. This delivered an unparalleled audio experience that allowed me to hear things I had not heard in my more than 1,000 hours spent in the game. I was seriously impressed. Imagine a world where you are listening to a podcast on your way home, then you want switch to Fortnite and teamchat, but you don’t want to miss the end of the podcast. With Dual Wireless, it’s as easy as simply pressing a button and connecting to your PC or console, and then you can hear both devices at once. Revolutionary right?

We know you look cool, so you need the gear to match. We made the headset light and stylish; we've made the mic neatly retract, all in a super-slim new design ID. We also added a cool PVD coating onto the super slim steel headband (Physical Vapor Deposit, also found on high-end watches). And if you really want to flex, tell your friends it took 50,000 lbs. of pressure to cold roll the steel into the shape of your noggin. If you’re hoping to use this for anything else, it also comes with a 3.5mm port for wired connectivity. In essence, you can connect the Nova 7 Wireless to just about anything, though if you want wireless connectivity to an Xbox, you need to get the Nova 7x instead. Users have reported connectivity issues like stuttering that affects audio quality and you can find more information on this in our Sound Profile test. We have also tested GG software's compatibility with consoles and you can read more about this in App Support.While the Arctis Nova 7 works just fine out of the box with PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and others, you can really customize the audio with the SteelSeries GG app on PC. The standout feature of this app is Sonar, a Parametric EQ dashboard that enables 360-degree spatial audio and allows you to dial-in your preferred audio settings on a game-by-game basis. If this all sounds too overwhelming, you can easily take advantage of more than 20 presets for specific games that automatically tailor the soundstage with the push of a button.

We've added a comparison between the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X Wireless and the Astro A30 Wireless in the Non-Bluetooth Wireless box. Though the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless is more than just a light refresh, you can still see the general outline of previous SteelSeries headsets in its design. The ear cups are oval where they meet the ear pads, and the headset still comes with replaceable ski goggle headbands and ear cup plates. It also uses similar materials, namely durable-feeling plastic for the earcups and metal for the headband (PVD-coated steel in the case of the Nova 7). That’s where most of the similarities end.

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We've expanded this review to reflect the performance of each of the SteelSeries' Arctis Nova 7 lineup's variants: the 7, 7P, and 7X. Although we tested the 7X variant, we expect the other variants to perform similarly. We have corrected information regarding a comparison with these headphones and the SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless in Compared To Other Headphones. That being said, the ability to take phone calls while still enjoying game audio, chat with friends on Discord across multiple systems, or even just listening to music, a podcast, or an audiobook while gaming is something that can’t be understated. This is especially prevalent on systems like Nintendo Switch that don’t have any built-in support for music apps like Spotify or Apple Music.