SteelSeries Arctis 7 - Lossless Wireless Gaming Headset with DTS Headphone: X v2.0 Surround - for PC and PlayStation 4 - Black

Alright so this review will be a little bit lengthy as I try to detail as much as I can. Just to be clear, this review is based on my experience with PC ONLY. I dont use this for my PS4 but because it uses its own wireless connector, I would imagine the quality is almost no different than that of the PC. So for starters, the packaging was alright. Nothing extraordinary and it had everything you need for it. The software available for the headset is a MUST, in my opinion. Its not actually needed but its sure as heck a huge boost to audio quality since you can modify it to your hearts content. It has different presets to choose from or you can mess with the equalizer yourself. You also have a wheel on each cup. One is to control the volume and the other to adjust the audio between chat and the game, so the chat volume is louder than the game or vice versa. This has NO LED lights, so if you thought it did, for some reason, youd be dissapointed. I bought this on December 1st and at the time of typing this review, it is December 6th and I have only needed to charge the headset 1 time. I have used it quite extensively. Livestreamed 3 times for 6 hours each and listened to music for another couple more hours and while it still didnt need recharging, it had finally gotten to the lower side. So I recharged it and its quite high in battery life still. Second is the clasp and the ability to adjust the size. The cups are SO soft and are made of this really comfortable fabric; its like a cloud. The clasp isnt so hard and with soft cups, you wont even want to take them off anyway. Now to adjust the size of the headset, you use this ski goggle band...thing. Its basically a strap and im still not too sure how to feel about it since it is my first time using something like this. Im used to simply extending the cups down, but I think im liking the strap a bit since it feels a little more comfortable and its one less component that can break on the headset. Just dont be trying to take it off or youll lose it. Next is the microphone. The microphone extends and retracts into and out the headset, which I always felt is the coolest way to have a mic on the headset. You can press a button on the back of the cup to mute/unmute the mic and you can change its volume on the software. The mic quality is...audible. You can understand what a person is saying clearly, but its sounds closer to potato quality, kinda like a webcam mic but slightly better. Personally I use my Blue Snowball, enhanced with VB Audio software. Finally is the bass. In the software you can increase the amount of bass in the headset. I increased it to the max and you can indeed hear the bass very nicely. Some would say the bass is great. But if you are like me and you know that bass isnt so much about sound, but feeling, then this headset is lacking. You can hear the bass in the music but you cant FEEL it vibrate the cups nor your head. I have an old PlayStation Pulse headset and THAT has bass. I increase the slider to the max on the cup for the bass volume and the headset begins to massage my brain. This headset does not do that in the slightest. Dont get me wrong though, the overall sound quality is exquisite as I can hear things in games in such detail, I never even knew those sounds were ever in there to begin with. The directional audio is very good too as it gives a pretty good idea how far something is as well as the direction its coming from. Final verdict 4/5 stars. Just missing the brain massaging bass for a 5 stars. Oh also this thing uses micro usb as a charger, which we all know is a poop version of the usb, so be gentle when charging.

Would be amazing if it didn’t add its own programs to the computer and I don’t want it.

This is the first time I bought such an expensive headset, I am always used to whatever my phone comes with but this headset is just fantastic. Here are just some highlights I would like to mention for others considering on buying this: - Build quality is just awesome, it feels very solid and premium. - I love the headband adjustment and the ear cushions they are very confortable. - The sound out of the box is great by its own. - The software allows you to customize a lot of stuff, I am currently using the default. - If you decide to use the SteelSeries software for the surround sound, you will be disappointed, it is terrible. As a work around I installed Dolby Atmos for Headphones and removed the surround option from SteelSeries. This makes the surround sound about perfect. - This headset may not fit all heads, for me it is just perfect, but I bet that slightly bigger heads will have a hard time since the headband adjustments are very limited. - The noise isolation with the default ear cushions are not the best, but they are good enought to listen all the details while gaming. According to others, you can partially overcome this by buying the leather ear cushions which are another $14.99. - The battery duration is also pretty good and you can setup the headset to turn off after a couple of minutes if it is not being used to save some battery. - It comes with three cables, charging (USB to Micro USB), wired sound (4pole 3.5mm to proprietary) and the transmitter (USB to non-detachable). I think it only lacks an addapter to have microphone and audio in separated 3.5mm jacks. - The transmitter comes with Audio In and Audio Out jacks but it will only work for audio and not for the microphone. - The microphone sound quality is actually amazing, it does cancel any noise in the surroundings and will capture your voice very clearly. - The microphone boom is adjustable and retractable which is pretty cool. I didnt have any issues keeping it in place unless I extend and collapse it, which kind of resets the configuration. -The microphone mute light will only work while using the wireless transmitter. When using it wired, the lights never turn on. Overall I think this is an awesome headset even with such a high price. I have been using it for a couple of days only but I am just loving it. I will keep you updated if I encounter any issues.

The headset materials do not feel cheap, they feel well made and sturdy with the metal band on the top with a rubber matte under side which your head never hits due to the comfortable ski goggle band. The ear cups on this 2019 version are super soft and provide enough cushioning so my ears arent bothered by the speakers and the whole headset is nice and light along with the Arctis 7 being wireless, makes this headset nice and comfortable for long gaming sessions. The mic is great quality and has been notably better than my previous headset (Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma) as noted by my friends through discord (Also the headset is detected up by discord as a certified input/output device). One of the things I dislike (which is also helpful) about the headset is that if you turn the volume wheel above 90% there is a slight static that I hear. This isnt a problem for me as the headset is loud enough where I keep the volume wheel around 70-80%. The static sound actually helps me if I accidentally slide the volume wheel to 100% when I put the headset on I can hear the static and know to reduce the volume under 90% until the static goes away so I wont get blasted by audio when I watch a youtube video or start a game. There is also a Program you can download called the SteelSeries Engine 3 (which isnt needed for the headset to work) to change settings such as mic sidetone, power options, bass enhancement, equlizer, dynamic range compression, surround settings (although the surround sound wasnt as good as my previous Razer Kraken 7.1 headset) and more. There is also apps in the SteelSeries Engine 3 that work along side other SteelSeries devices Such as PrismSync, AudioVisualizer, ImageSync and apps for games and programs like CSGO, Minecraft, iFeelPixel, Tidal (Coming soon), Dota 2, Utopia 9 and Discord. Overall this headset exceeds my expectations and is worth the price. I have only been using the headset for about a week now so I will keep this review updated if I have any problems with it. :D

I returned my turtle beach wireless headset due to mic and connectivity issues and got these instead. I did an unbelievable amount of research on what gaming headset to get as I hate buying a pair I dont end up liking and get stuck with them. There are SO many different gaming headsets nowadays it was not easy picking one to buy. This headset was everything I wanted. To keep it short and sweet, Ill just list the pros and cons... Pros: Quality materials (no cheap creaking plastics) Very comfortable (not too tight or too loose, ear pads very soft) Great sound and dynamic range (fully adjustable in app) Quality mic (fully adjustable and retractable) Independent master volume dial 2nd dial to adjust the game chat and game volume blend. Mic mute button (mic lights up red when muted) Mic monitoring is a HUGE plus. You can enable with the app so you can hear yourself talking through your mic. This helps you talk normally and not yell due to your hearing being sealed off from ambient noise. It also helps equalize the pressure in the ear cups which adds to comfort and minimizes ear fatigue. Without it, your ears can begin to feel weird after a while from being so isolated within the ear cups (at least for me). Great wireless range. Stayed connected even when I left the room with them on. 3.5mm headphone cable included so you can plug them into your controller (in case you prefer wired connection). Rock solid battery life (power button lights up different colors to tell u what percent battery is left). Cons: None so far. Will update review if something comes up.

WARNING: Not Plug and Play. Do NOT buy this headset if your system is not administered by you. tl;dr: arrived with a non-functioning mic, otherwise as described. after trying the usual techsupport options (off then on again, settings, hardware reset, change port, change pc, etc) the fix was (seemingly) installation of the companys bloatware. If you dont have install privileges and/or dont want to install bloatware you should look for a different product. This product is decent, with a nice design and good fit. The strap that sits on your head is comfortable and provides a better wear experience than others Ive used. They feel lighter than they are, more like a AKG M220 and (thankfully imo) less like a ASTRO A50. Noise isolation is decent like any closed back headphone, enough that you will want to push one cup behind your ear to have conversations with someone. The mics audio quality is above average for a headset mounted mic, though below average for a stand alone one. The retractable mic seems like a plus, assuming it doesnt become a point of failure. The mute and volume/mixing controls are fine, the audio jack is a nice inclusion but the USB audio jack and cord are fragile. Id be wary of using it daily or for anything important. Look and feel are good, better than a Turtle Beach and on pad with Astros. The hinges and controls feel decent. The only thing that comes of as cheap to me are the USB ports and USB audio cable. Honestly a single USB C solution (or a robust USB B failing that) would be better than going with frail mini/micro options. Packaging and documentation was spartan but fine. The box protected the headphones and was easy to open. Included documentation was spartan but fine. The major failure here was nothing written about the mic needing the companys bloatware to work. Manufacturer support is minimal, web based CS portal and links to their bloatware. No standalone drivers, no forum or faq. The final verdict is that this headset is decent enough once the mic is fixed (see above). If you can get it on sale and handle the mic issue the 7 is an option to consider.

I spend multiple hours researching wireless over-the-ear headsets and finally came down to the Arctis 5 and the 7. I however did not put the 9 or Pro series in the mix due to my use-case and cost. From a gaming perspective, the audio switching from game to discord voice chat is amazing, given that I select the correct audio option (there is a Game and Chat option for audio to make this work correctly). Its so convenient to fade out the game audio to hear voice chat a little better rather than digging through game options mid game and wasting time, especially when seconds matter. Same with when my friends are talking too loud and I need to focus on the game. From a music/audio perspective, this headset offers a very good audio mixer to adjust playback to the exact way I like to listen to music. The 7.1 surround makes movies sound exactly as they were intended to be watched. Battery life is amazing, Im able to use the headset all day and then some on just a single charge, which was a huge deal for me. I had a pair of wired Razer Megalodons before this and was worried that battery life was going to be an issue, but so far Ive been blown away by the 7s performance. Ive used the mic one time during a voice chat session and was immediately told it sounded terrible when compared to my Blue Snowball. So if you do not have an external mic, do not expect perfection from this headset. But, this is common among headset mics.

Have had about a week. Bought to replace my Hyperx Cloud Flights (which I bought to replace my Corsair HS70s!) As I review these I just finished a 5 hour gaming session, no usually my longest but the comfort is there. Still waiting to see if they give pain in my ears/face/jaw area like the two previous sets did but I think the outlook is well. You are required to install Engine 3 from SteelSeries to access battery meter and equalizer settings, no surprise there. Engine 3 uses a purely 3 bar battery for means of telling you how much charge is left.. % would have been better as 1 bar can mean anything from 5-30%! The ski band is kinda quirky but I can appreciate them trying something different. Despite it looking strange its actually quite comfortable to wear. The earphones also have a nice swivel that my previous headphones did not.. I think these two niches really set the headset apart from others on the market. Microphone is somewhat a mixed bag. You get a giant red led letting you know its off.. okay. While fully extended it doesnt seem to go right near your mouth so youre kind of talking out the side of your mouth to make sure its working. Sidetone users REJOICE! This headset has Sidetone from None, to Low, Medium and High; very good to include! I believe these are worth a try and if you like them definitely keep. The price is a bit high but I understand SteelSeries is a solid peripheral manufacturer.

My Logitech G930s (second pair) finally broke (that yoke that always breaks). Over the years, my sons and I have had probably 5 pairs. My oldest sons broke and Logitech sent him a set of G533s - which were garbage. They were too tight on our head (led to headaches) and they just didnt have good sound. The 930s were so volume limited, they were never loud enough once you had modern drivers. So when I needed new WIRELESS headphones, I started looking at SteelSeries and bought the Arctis 7s, as they have been highly rated. First, they are PLENTY loud (I find Im turning them down more). Second, they are comfortable. Once you do a little tweaking with the software, they sound great (they are a bit boomy out of the box) and the mic, which doesnt sound as good in the tests on YouTube is really not bad at all. Navigation and controls are all very good - you can pretty much set everything by feel. Theres no RGB (YAY) which you cant see anyway - so why chew your battery up? One hint that is very useful is to get a magnetic micro usb cable - makes charging the headphones a snap (look for: NetDot 2 Pack 2nd Generation 6.6ft USB Fast Charging Magnetic Micro USB Cable with LED Indicator Compatible with Android Device (6.6 feet/2 Black) ). They do work with anything that has an audio jack (1/8 or 3.5mm, I think, like an older iPhone) but then they arent wireless then. You can plug them in to an XBox controller. Oh and SteelSeries even seems to have a more robust Yoke (connection from headband to the ear cups) than the Logitechs... Time will tell. In the meantime - Id have no problem recommending the Arctis 7s for gaming, music or general listening.

I love my Arctis 7s, theyre incredibly comfortable and the sound quality is very good (from a non-audiophile). I wear them almost every workday for the whole day while Im on meetings, in addition to using them for PC gaming. It was plug-and-play on both Windows and Linux, and they have become my go-to headphones for being on airplanes (using the included wire to connect to my phone). The charge lasts for a long time, though I typically charge them whenever Im not using them anyway. They arent noise cancelling, but they muffle it pretty well (I often get snuck up on by my family when I am wearing them). I dont really use the included mic, since I have a better usb mic, but when Linux resets to using the headset mic my coworkers can immediately tell because of the decrease in sound quality. The adjustable ski goggles strap is nice, it makes the headset feel lighter and helps it sit at exactly the right height. That said, the headphones are a bit lose and will fall off if I lean too far forward or backward.