SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless review: Great gaming headphones

Price tag When Reviewed

$349.99

Very best Charges Currently: SteelSeries Arctis Nova Professional Wireless

$349.99

Cost-free

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wi-fi gaming headset receives just about everything suitable, presenting a persuasive blend of style, convenience, and Hello-Res audio that seems spectacular.

It also gives demanding avid gamers tons of ways to personalize their audio encounters with characteristics like Professional Quality Parametric EQ and 3D Spatial Audio. And together with dual wi-fi operation (2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), the Arctis Nova Pro occur with a convenient foundation controller that lets you swap between your Pc and Xbox One or Xbox X/S at the press of a button.

All this functionality will set you back again $349.99, which would seem a bit steep considering a non-wireless edition retails for $100 fewer. Nevertheless, for headphones with a amount of functionality that can really make you a much better gamer, this could be properly worthy of the price tag.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wi-fi design

Some premium gaming headsets get large marks for ease and comfort but slide brief in the design office. The SteelSeries Nova Pro Wi-fi, on the other hand, are a full package deal featuring a classy, typically black exterior with a top quality-on the lookout gun metallic best band and earcup handles.

SteelSeries has included its ComfortMAX process into the Nova Pro Wireless’ style and design, which is a extravagant way of indicating the style and design is designed to accommodate heads of each and every measurement and form.

SteelSeries

Three main characteristics aim to boost comfort: height-adjustable sides, a central versatile pressure band, and rotating earcups. I located the pressure band to be additional at ease than the cushion in my present-day headphones, letting my head more room to transfer. The earcups also truly feel extremely soft—so significantly so that I hardly recognized I was sporting anything at all on my head just after a extensive stint gaming.

The Nova Pro Wi-fi headphones are also remarkably hard. The top band is made from PVD coated steel but is adaptable. The outer component of the headphones are also created from metallic, and they proved scratch resistant despite my tough use. Controls positioned on the still left-hand aspect are quick to navigate with your fingers once you track down them. The Arctis Nova Professional Wireless’ microphone retracts into the base, furnishing it lots of defense.

From an audio viewpoint the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is exceptional, not just in regards to the high quality, but for the reason that the headset will allow gamers to personalize their audio options just as they wish – from a selection of connectivity, right down to their wanted EQ options.

For case in point, the headphones can be made use of wirelessly by using a 2.4GHz link or by using Bluetooth, but they can also be plugged in. These modes all have their respective pros and negatives – the most significant variation of which is the audio high-quality. In wi-fi method you get better independence of movement, but without the tonal range of the Hi-Res 96KHz/24-Little bit audio you get even though plugged into the supplied GameDac Gen 2 foundation controller.

The new next generation GameDAC functions an updated ESS Sabre Quad-DAC chip, which SteelSeries states a lot more precisely decreases distortion and noise than its predecessor. I received a significantly richer audio encounter plugged into it when playing video games like Skyrim and Elden Ring than I did wirelessly, making it possible for me to pick up delicate sounds like the wind in the grass and trees. This richer soundscape seriously did increase extra environment to my game titles and over-all elevated my gaming encounter. The microphone also created a first rate audio top quality that won me a several compliments in voice chats.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Professional Wi-fi headphones also rating significant points for their Multi-Procedure Hook up features. Switching between my Pc and my Xbox One on the GameDAC necessary just a handful of twists and clicks. Adjusting parameters like the EQ and chat configurations across these platforms was also a cinch on the GameDAC’s generously-sized OLED show.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

You can turn the Lively Sounds Cancellation (ANC) and 360 Degree Spatial Audio on or off each time you like, but for the sake of my tests I retained them switched on. Putting these two technologies by means of their paces, I observed the ANC did not entirely block some external sounds – this was more noticeable observing movies and listening to audio than gaming, wherever my headphones appeared additional efficient at isolating a game’s audio.

The 360 Diploma Spatial Audio on the other hand, was continuously outstanding it uses 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound tracks to mail the correct placement of sound in space. It truly increased my spatial recognition in games. Even with no changing any of the EQ configurations on the GameDAC controller, appears resonated remaining and proper and all over every ear, accurately reflecting directions and enabling me to extra simply locate enemies.

My wireless headphones also permit me sport by using Wi-Fi connectivity although getting cell cell phone calls through a Bluetooth connection, which usually means I never had to skip a call. This simultaneous audio features can also be used for listening to audio, podcasts or in Discord also.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wi-fi Software program

Creating speedy equalization adjustments in the GameDAC controller is a fairly valuable function but you can do a good deal extra in the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ Sonar application, which you will find in the SteelSeries GG application. Listed here I could personalize the Nova Pro Wireless’ EQ settings for unique online games and also tweak the audio of my voice in chat, as well as a bunch of microphone options.

Anything pro players realize is that tweaking your EQ can give you a competitive advantage. For instance, you can enhance your seem to decide on out your competitors’ footsteps from among the the in-sport clatter. Carrying out this your self can be very finicky, but in Sonar, SteelSeries’ seem engineers give you 23 pre-produced gaming presets to pick out from – some generic, but some others specifically for titles optimized for video games like Counter-Strike: World-wide Offensive, Fortnite, Dota 2, Forza Horizon V and Simply call of Obligation: Warzone.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

With this in brain, I tested a person of SteelSeries’ a lot more generic presets identified as ‘FPS Footsteps’ in an aged preferred shooter, Insurgency. This labored a deal with, conveniently amplifying the footsteps of any individual approaching me.

Staying equipped to much better listen to the footsteps of foes created it easier to defend important tactical points, particularly those that were indoors and presently experienced a slight echo result. As you can imagine, there is no stop to the volume of experimentation feasible in Sonar, which is an exciting prospect for when we review potential SteelSeries equipment.

Summary

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wi-fi is a premium gaming headset packing Hello-Res audio as nicely as 360 Diploma Spatial Audio, Lively Sound Cancellation and a ton of personalization options. They are also classy, hardy, and comfortable. Our evaluate set with twin wireless and wired connectivity does not appear inexpensive at $350, but if you can do without wi-fi, SteelSeries has a wired-only variation for $100 less costly.