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

Storytime: I was over at a buddys house for the weekend as he lives up north a ways from us. Were both big gamers so I brought along my pc and headset. We left to go disc golfing and came back to find my turtle beach stealth 450 in disrepair. What happened to them... we may never know. At the time I was upset because they were expensive when I bought them. So now I was in a mad scramble to find a pair of headphones. After looking at headphones for what seemed like 12 hours I finally settled on these. It had good reviews and the price was way more affordable than most wireless surround sound headphones. So I thought I would take the risk. Boy am I glad I did. Review Time: So this horrible tragic death of my turtle beaches turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I am so fanboying over this headset. It blows my old 450s away in every way. First take away, The freaking comfort!!! The headset is somehow light but not cheap. The headband is sturdy and the earmuff part (dont know the technical work) is sturdy. The ski-mask headband adjust is amazing. No pressure on top of the head. I seriously forget that I am wearing the headset. The second take away, The sound quality is amazing. The bass is incredible. I listen to a lot of music so its nice to have that as I listen to a lot of blues. The last thing I want to rave about is the battery life. As I unboxed my headset with great anticipation, my glee was drastically disrupted as i hit the power but and the power button flashed red. The headset was low battery. Well, i was too excited so i hooked it up to my computer anyways. I sat down and worked a full 8 hours and the headset still hadnt died. Thats impressive that it was low battery and still provided me with 8 hours of uninterupted melancholic blues. Thank you SteelSeries for this amazing headset. I am so impressed with this headset. I will make sure to leave a review on my twitch channel and youtube. Job well done! Truly, KingOfTheSticks93

I use this for cubicle conference calls and listening to music. No game interaction to comment on. Works great, love the red light on the mic when you mute it. Sound quality is awesome, former colleague turned me on to SteelSeries years ago as we used them for music and conference calls at our SEM tools, but those were wired. I can now take this headset and my laptop into our lab and hold troubleshooting calls with vendors and have both hands to do my tasks. I know others like Bluetooth ear buds, but I purchased these primarily for same thing a gamer needs, good sound and microphone. I havent used them in the cleanroom yet to comment on background noise, which is substantial in a fab environment. I had them on nearly all day at my cubicle and they never got uncomfortable or too warm like some of the leather ear cups can. I like SteelSeries microphones and how this one pushes into the headset. Actually that is one of my favorite features. The fit for me was great out of the box, I have a fairly large noggin, so no adjustment was needed. I also like how the size adjust is the band and not slip style as is typical of most headphones. So it has less parts to end up compromised long term. The headset I replaced, a on ear Jabra, failed due to the size adjust feature that took out the right speaker wire. This is a better design for long term wear. The Jabra set lasted me about 5 years. The only con for me is that Id like more friction on the volume and chat level dials like aviation stuff. I got about 50 away outside before the sound started cutting and having issues when testing tje wireless last night. I get even less trying to wander around at work, but wire free at the cube, even during conference calls, is a really nice feature when looking for bits. These are rated as PC Gamer product of the year, they earned it. SteelSeries speakers dont have the marketing of the nose in the air brands do, but they sure nail the sound quality and beat those price points. Very impressed. Im a 50 y/o engineer, so these will see much more conference time than gaming, but still a very well executed headset. Im more impressed than expected, and I tend to expect a lot at this price point.

This is a wonderful gaming headset. I use it for PC gaming. I came from the very strong Lucidsound LS40 to this. Over all I am pleased with the change. I LOVE the software on this thing, I can actually adjust the Mic sensitivity!! No more friends complaining about background noise. It also stores equalizer, virtual surround, effects and sidetone settings *on the device* so you dont need the software running. Which is a big boon, because I dont YET ANOTHER background app while Im trying to game. The retractable mice is a nice touch too. Controls are easy enough to reach The sound is very well balanced, though a touch bass heavy. Which for games and movies is OK. When wired for music only, These actually stand up as good when coming from great of, Sennheiser HD58x audiophile grade headphones. Wireless there is a noticeable drop in sound quality, but that is sheerly the nature of the wireless beast. They still serve quite well enough to delight when Im not critically listening to audio, like when gaming. Even music listening these will easily please most listeners and might well be the best set of headphones you own. I personally found the ear-cups well sized and comfortable. They are fabric, which is wholly superior to the bonded leather garbage most can have that gives you swamp ears. You will still get warm ears with these, but it will be helped some by the poly fabric. Plus fabric doesnt end up breaking up and flaking off in 6 months. IMO earcups should be either 100% real leather, or fabric to be comfortable. The headband design is actually *very* comfortable, and you can adjust the up and down fit slightly by how you fasten its velcro closure. Its also an all metal headband, so its less likely these will meet the fate of my LS40s and just break in freakin half at the center of the headband after a 1.5 year of use. Wireless works well. Connects the first time every time. Range is also considerably better than Lucid Sounds which would break up when I went the next room over to refill a drink while chatting. From your device to your seat, I cant imagine anybody will have any problems. Now for the cons. I dont like the volume and chat balance controls. They NEED detents. You so much as brush them with your fingers and you either max or min the volume. Its easy to brush them just putting the unit on and off. And mute is right next to the volume....so needless to say you will be adjusting the volume a lot. The headband....this will stretch out over time. Its a very interesting idea for comfort, but having a wear part on a headset is suspect. Like everything these days, these have glued in batteries. That means these will only last as long as the battery does, unless you are DIY savvy and own a soldering iron. And now for the felony crime.... These use a proprietary microphone cable for wired use! Yup you read that right. If you want to plug these in via wire, like if your battery died, you HAVE to use the cable provided by Steel Series. Which of course isnt very long, and costs way too much to buy off them should you need another. Instead of accepting a standard 3.5mm headset jack like a civilized company, they had to go and do this. IMO this is business practice that SHOULD be illegal. And its for this more than anything, I have to take a star off the review. The volume nobs were a naggle, the headband is a minor thing. But proprietary cables is a scum-sucking business move.

I work in VR and spend 5 hours a day on a voice call in Discord communicating with coworkers about bugs found and tasks needing to be done. My previous headphones were Bluetooth and worked great for me to hear, but my outgoing audio was atrocious. I got these in 2021 and havent regretted the decision since. The difference in audio is night and day, even to my hearing-impaired ears, and the mic is comparable in quality to my USB condenser mic. Its held up well over this 1+ year span, with being used for over 24 hours a week. Mic still works great, and audio is still top-notch. The only drawback Ive found is when using this with my Quest 2. Plugged in with an AUX cable, it works, but audio from the Quest is much quieter than the audio coming from my PC. Since Im hearing-impaired, I need the audio from the Quest to be as loud as or louder than the PC audio. I normally use a different pair of headphones with my Quest for that reason (Aftershokz bone conduction), but when I go to stream gameplay in my off time on Twitch or YouTube, I need a way to hear Text to Speech reading out my chat; hence needing the dual function of the Arctis 7. Which means I sacrifice being able to hear the game well in favor of being able to hear chat. My situation is not that common, I know; thats why I rated 5 stars and just put 4 stars in Sound Quality beneath that. Overall, these are 5 star headphones.

I have had this pair of headsets for 3 years and I have enjoyed them. when playing an FPS I can actually hear footsteps clearly which gives me a bit of an edge and helps me in games. I also use this to listen to music and play RPGMMOs like FFXIV, the sound quality is amazing. I have recommended these to my friends and family if they have the money for them. Yes they are a little pricey but you get what you pay for and they are definitely well worth the money. I bought a second pair for my gaming laptop. I will say after 3 years the ear pads are a little worn but I think I can replace them without replacing the headset itself. One thing I did have to get used to is the headset did feel a little tight on my head but after adjusting the head band it was perfect.

Been using this headset for about 2 years now. They are a must grab if youre looking for a durable headset with good sound to them. I will say though my biggest complaint will be that eventually you are gonna have to replace the ear pads and headband. My fat head wore out the headband pretty quickly. The ear pads themselves are solid but not comfy if youre using them for hours. I just placed an order for more thick ear pads and a sleeve with padding as a replacement for the headband situation. Besides these complaints, I believe that for a wireless headset this is a solid option.

This review is meant to clarify the actual compatibility of this headset with the PS4, so people can make a more informed decision about whether a purchase is justified. This product is marketed heavily as being compatible for the PS4, and like many other reviews will state, the virtual surround sound setting does not work on the PS4. Ive read SteelSeries representative responses that it cant be done because of the proprietary nature of the PS4 sound output, so that the USB dongle cant communicate correctly with the output from the PS4 to determine positioning (which to me is not valid excuse for not adding any sound improvement feature on the PS4, you can still have EQ settings that help with sound). This explains why for PC use, the sound is good. On the PC, you can install SteelSeries software that will allow the headset to have EQ settings, and a virtual surround sound. It may seem like a small issue, and I certainly thought so before purchasing, but after using them i can safely say these are absolutely not of good sound quality on the PS4 compared to other wireless USB PS4 headsets. I am also confident that many review sites that praise the headset on ps4 didnt actually use them and just wrote about the apparent features. The issue is the non-surround sound quality is average, without any justification for the $130 price tag. Dont be like me and assume that its not a big deal. The response Ive seen to this complaint is to EQ it on the computer. The issue with that method is the only way to adjust the sound profile is on the Surround Sound settings, which doesnt work on the PS4. So the Surround Sound mode can only be turned on while connected to a computer with the SteelSeries software, meaning the sound profile can only be adjusted when connected to a computer. The sound processing does not occur on the usb dongle or the headset, it is processed by the computer application. No application, no EQ. This is a very specific detail that had I known, would have stopped me from purchasing the headset. What about on PC? It sounds good on the computer with the surround sound mode, for anything, regardless of if youre trying to play a game or music that has directionality involved. Thats why its so unfortunate that it doesnt work on the PS4. So what headset is better? The Turtlebeach Stealth Wireless 600 series is what I had been using before, and I assumed that a more expensive headset would be better. I was wrong. The Stealth 600 has virtual surround sound which makes knowing positioning of enemies in competitive games very easy to detect. This is achieved by a button on the Stealth 600 headset that turns on that EQ mode, which is different than the SteelSeries where the virtual surround is tied to settings on the computer (making the SteelSeries claim of not working on the PS4 fall flat, you just have to design the USB dongle to process the sound output instead). I have gone back to using the Stealth 600 (at a $90 cost) on my PS4. I really wanted to like the SteelSeries headset, it looks really good and is comfortable (but not as comfortable as the stealth 600 if you wear glasses). I even considered dealing with the sound, but then people on online games repeatedly told me they couldnt hear me clearly... the mic sucks. Its just not loud enough for other people to hear, and yes I updated the headphones using the latest steelseries software when connected to a computer (which I dont believe makes a difference once you plug it into a PS4). A mic is either good enough for people to understand you or not. And its not, so I completely stopped using it on the PS4. Again I wish this headset had more compatibility with the PS4 because its fine on the PC, but if youre only getting this for the PS4 dont waste your money.

Sound: Lets get this out of the way first: These arent audiophile headphones. However, what you are getting is a good depth and smoothness of sound with just enough bass that you can feel the rattle when things get crazy. What you get here is a headset thats great for music, but damn near life-changing for games - especially if youre coming from the budget class. I highly recommend setting the equalizer software to Immersive and loading your favorite shooter. Its worth noting that bass levels have been improved in this 2019 version over the legacy model. Comfort: As compared to the 2018 model, the 2019 release enjoys a greater standard of comfort with deep, comfortable earcups and a light profile. Its actually pretty easy to forget that youre wearing these, even for someone with an exceptionally large head (sorry mom) like mine. Software, driver support and functionality: In terms of the wireless capabilities, build quality and so on, these feel just as premium as the price would suggest. The driver suite (which is rather mandatory, so go get it) is lightweight and adds some decent equalizer functionality - Nothing exceptional, but its still a solid value add. Additionally, 7.1 surround support has been improved over last year - Setting the surround profile to Large Room produces a good depth of sound that doesnt feel flat, making for an enjoyable music-listening experience in addition to the obvious gaming benefits. Conclusion: Youll probably note that most of the middling reviews for this headset are for the Legacy model. As those complaints have been addressed to varying degrees, I now feel safe in calling this one of the most well-rounded wireless headsets available today - with the caveat that Bass junkies might want to look elsewhere. The bass here is just good enough to rattle your brains just a little bit, but you can tell that its intentionally subdued to bring it more in-line with the rest of the soundscape as compared to many other gaming headsets.

I love everything about this headset except for the headband. Sound: fantastic, plus being able to balance desktop sounds and Discord audio on the fly is tops. Function: great, muting is tactile and you always know when youve done it, mic position is always correct thanks to the flex mic, you can use them while charging, and theres a manual connection option. Minor quibble here: the engravings on the base station are nearly impossible to see, easily fixed with a minute of liquid paper whiteout, pictured. Microphone: Clarity is really good for a headset mic, I only need to switch to the desktop mic when doing a recording, headset mic works great for chatting, phone calls, streaming, etc. Feel: This is where I drop a star. While the overall comfort is great, I wear this almost 12 hours a day and the headband stretched out after only 6 months requiring me to get a replacement from the SS website for $15. Also, the ear cups dont have an obvious way to be removed/cleaned, and if you use these all day like I do they will get gross. All in all a good headset but I wish I didnt have to spend $30 a year on maintenance via replacing the headband, so 4 stars.

I absolutely loved these headphones. They worked amazing for 4 years, but unfortunately, the charging port literally fell out of them today. I feel that the port is a big enough issue where i cant give this 5 stars, but Ill give it 4 for the years of excellent sound quality. The charging port was noticeably loose and didnt connect well after one year, but I made due with adjusting the position of the cord for a while. Wish I could afford a new pair now, but will keep an eye out for a sale.