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

Overall: 4.3/5 Pros: Fantastic retractable mic. So much so, in fact, my guild has said they never knew I had a voice for radio. Sound quality is what I would expect. Its nothing earth shattering but it deserves full marks for entry level audiophile gear. Battery will last all day before needing a charge. Wireless; its why I bought these. Just being wireless is such a great feature. I can work around my space and listen to music at the same time. I can even get up and use the restroom and just mute my mic. This might sound trivial but anyone whos used headphones at a computer for extended periods of time has inevitably gotten up and walked away with them eventually yanking them off your head. Cons: Its possible this set of headphones wont fit you or will more likely just feel tight. My head measures 7-3/4, Ive got a big head, and Im at the max band length for these. As a result the headphones always feel a little tight and will result in fatigue around the ears around hour three. Its just odd that Im so close to literally not being able to wear them. This is more an opinion of mine; I cant stand charging with micro-USB. I find the connector to always feel brittle and fragile. Id rather it be a Type-C plug.

Comfortable for long periods. 24+ hour battery life. The clearest mic Ive ever used short of prosumer/professional grade kit. All of that, and somehow the sound quality is also amazing. I could gush on end for an hour or more about these. I recommend them to anyone whos budget would afford them. I even bought a second pair because my girlfriend liked mine so much. Ive got 5 different sets of wired cans that are far more expensive than these. Audiophile-grade stuff. For most, there will be very little difference in sound quality. I actually prefer these over the others because they are comfy as well. The only set that actually rivals them is my Sennheisers, but those are on my desk at work. Before I got these and for a while after, I was using a Blue Yeti (one of the ones from before Logitech bought them) for comms with my friends and family. One day, the USB port broke off the Yeti so I started using the mic on these. Everyone said it was better. Said I was clearer than before and there was less background noise despite noise gates and filtering software used with the Yeti. I still bought a replacement, but only for table usage... for one-on-one I still prefer the Arctics mic. Did I mention theyre comfy? I have a fat head and mid-size ears. They fit and cushion perfectly. My Sennheisers feel better, but both of my Fostex sets are lacking in comparison. This is comparing to other, more expensive over-ears mind you. I make the above comparisons because if you go to a bunch of gaming enthusiasts and ask them what kind of gaming headphones you should get, they will ALWAYS tell you to get a good set of cans without a mic. Something youd listen to an album with. My observation is that before I tried these that was indeed what I would recommend. But now Im a believer. Ive use sets from Kingston (HyperX), Razer, Corsair and a few others and none of those could stand up to halfway-decent audiophile targeted cans paired with a standard desk mic. Steelseries made me a believer with the Arctic 7.

So it clearly states 24h battery, but Ive never gotten more than 14 out of mine. And while granted, 14 hours is enough for all day, Id like to have known that up front. Also the fact that SteelSeries has their own proprietary connection is still kind of annoying, especially with how much they charge for a replacement. Also, I personally hate the Game Chat dial feature. On more than one occasion I have not realized it was dialed all the way to Game and not realized I couldnt hear anyone talking. One time it even happened in a meeting, very embarrassing. There is no indication or alert or anything about it. There could be zero activity and Game and maxed volume sounds in Chat, but if the dial is set to Game, you would never know. I have no problems with clamping or the ski fabric that other users have. But there is one feature that the Arctis 7 has that I really like. The transceiver includes Line In and Line Out ports. This is really great for me if I want to use my computers audio, but also want audio from my PS4 or Switch or phone. Gone are the days of my wearing headphones over earbuds.

I bought this headset in 2019. As of writing this review, I have had it for 2 years and it still works great for me. Really like the ability to hardware mute my microphone. Feels much more comfortable than relying on software mute on some programs. I have plugged the dongle into Mac, Linux and windows and it works fine on each of them without having to install extra drivers. (Though some minor features may be missing without the extra drivers) While the soft ear pieces lasted a long while, they started to not smell so great after a while (I probably should have been washing some more frequently). So I bought some spares online for around 6 bucks and have had no issues. One of the double edge sword aspects of it is it has two audio channels. One for gaming and one for chat. You can tell separate programs to use one of the other and adjust the volume balance on them using the right knob. Sometimes I accidentally bump it too far in one direction and will be playing a game and hear the game just fine, but wont be hearing friends on discord, not realizing this for a while.

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.

I was a bit hesitant to spend the money on these as in my experience a lot of gaming headsets are over priced and low quality hardware/software. I really like the software has so many options to tune your sound and create different profiles which I used for testing what worked best for each use (Gaming, Cinema, Music and chat). The quality is great as far as im concerned, even though I was hesitant that Ive seen some pictures of broken parts but after owning these for a few months, Im starting to think it is the user that is mistreating the headphones. I dont treat them like glass but I definitely dont throw mine around in anger or carelessness, mine are on my head or hanging from a stand when not in use. All in all I wouldnt hesitate recommending these to friends and there are so many options out there id say this is definitely worth the money and up there with higher priced headphones. Now for downsides of what ive found so far. There is no documentation on recommended tips for fine tuning your headset, it would be nice to have an explanation of how the features in the software benefit certain sound. For example when gaming in Warzone it is nice to hear footsteps but not have it so loud that when youre in a car or gunfight you cant hear your team mates cause the chat is so low. It took some testing to get this ironed out. There needs to be better documentation on how to optimally configure your headset on different platforms whether it is PC or a consol. Secondly Ive noticed my battery life isnt measure correctly in the app, although I havent tried to uninstall/reinstall or much troubleshooting, It is something Ive seen others mentioned. I have a feeling I could fix it, just havent put time to it but thought it was worth mentioning. (Battery life is great btw)

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.

All the advertised features (besides stereo sound and microphone) have stopped working for me on Windows 10. I had my suspicions, but the issue didnt become apparent until I was watching Netflix show that had 5.1 audio, and noticed I was missing the center audio channel (I could hear background noises, but there was no dialog). I switched over to my 5.1 speaker system and confirmed the problem was only with the Arctis 7. The headphone software allows you to toggle 7.1 audio on, but offers absolutely no solutions for testing. Windows does not light up the Configure button on either of the Arctis 7 audio devices, so its also impossible to test from there. Since the problem only started after reinstalling Windows 10 after getting a new motherboard / CPU, it seems like the problem is a conflict with my onboard audio system / software. What is Steel Series solution? Uninstall all other audio software on your computer, uninstall any VPN software, then follow a series of troubleshooting steps (remove all Arctis devices from Device Manager, uninstall software, reboot, etc). I tried this the best I could, but it did not resolve the issue. The request to uninstall all other audio software / any VPN software (WTF?) is totally absurd in this day and age and is not happening. Im also not going to spend hours and hours troubleshooting a terribly designed product (I did that way too much when I was younger). --- Beyond the above deal breaker / in terms of the other headset features / quality, its so-so. The audio quality sounded good in 7.1 mode while it lasted, but was not as good as my previous Logitech set. The stereo audio sounds very muddy / tinty; its almost unbearable. Now I only use this headset when my other bluetooth headset is recharging. The build quality is surprisingly good, but the Volume Wheel and Chat Mix wheels are terribly placed; your thumbs naturally rest on them when you don / doff the headphones, frequently causing you to accidentally roll one of the wheels (more on this below). The microphone pull out system and the mic mute button are great. I wish the headset had a basic pause / play button, and maybe even skip forward / skip back buttons. The software has always been a complete nightmare, ranging from frustration, to facepalm design choices: -Why doesnt it have a popup notification via Windows 10 saying the battery is low? -Why do I need to get 3 clicks deep to just see the battery level? I have to: expand system tray list > double click the slow / clunky software > be greeted with a home screen full of advertisements I didnt consent to > click Engine > wait 10 seconds for it to load the battery level. Why cant I right click the sys tray icon (or hover) for the battery percentage? It seems like Steel Series deliberately made you click through their home screen full of ads to get to the battery percentage. -Why is the battery level displayed as a microscopic 3 bar battery icon instead of just giving me the percentage? Or why cant I hover over that little battery icon to get a full percentage? -Why cant I disable the useless (never works) Chat Mix feature? I cant tell you how many times Ive accidentally slid the Chat Mix roll wheel all the way down, effectively muting the device, and wasted a couple minutes trying to figure out the problem. Why do I need to go to insane lengths to get the feature to work in the first place? It seems like Steel Series is deliberately trying to make it extremely cumbersome to switch to another audio device (effectively forcing away the competition).

Convenient for remote work and gaming. Highly recommend, quality sound.

This headset good for gaming. The audio is clear and I never had any connections drops using this. Battery life is great, usually lasting me 2 days before it needs a charge. Software is fairly customizable using the steelseries engine and dts can be unlocked via their separate software as well. Wireless is achieved through their receiver which uses usb. It even has an option to make a wired connection wireless through a Line In and Line Out connection. If you lose connection theres a pairing button on the side. You can even run your speakers through the Line Out for a seamless headset to speakers transition. The Build design is minimal with a mostly plastic body. You cannot adjust the ear piece length as it is designed much like a ski mask. It will have a little weight to it. I didnt find any issues with comfort or any signs of wear over 3 months. Your options on the headset range from your usual power, volume, charging port and even an option to use the headset wired. Battery life is also indicated by leds as well. Now this is where it became a hit or miss. Using this wired for Xbox would only work with their proprietary jack, the 3.5 option wouldnt pickup the microphone. It still worked fine as long as you used their proprietary connection limiting its versatility. Otherwise Volume controls are easy to adjust such as game and chat. Last is microphone mute button, no problems their. With that said the microphone is okay for chat. Its not the best in quality, but it is very easy to adjust both physically and through the software. Mute works as intended, even has a red led indicator when your muted. Its not in the way and picks ups with no problem. The software is fairly customizable. Nice features like a Equalizer, profiles, Microphone monitor levels, dynamic range levels, and this is where you can enable the 7.1 Surround. Dts surround will have it separate app, I founds this on the Windows app Store, and it automatically picks up as Dts enabled device. With the Dts Surround, it was another hit or miss scenario at least in gaming. It was noticeably more spacious than windows sonic, but it would also sometimes completely mute directional sound in games but this wasnt consistent between games. This also took me 2 months to realize I wasnt using Dts surround because I didnt have the app. After a month of Dts use, it sound okay Ive been using turtle beach headphones for so long, that its a adjustment for me. Overall this headset is feature rich if you can get it on sale. Build quality nice, sound is solid, and its quite versatile for a wireless set. Its does seem better suited for Windows 10 in my case, but a solid choice for decent audio quality.