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

THe sound Quality is GREAT after you warm it up. the first couple days of using it, it almost seemed like it was cutting the audio out and popping as if it was a cold electronic warming up? hard to describe, but after using it for a couple weeks, NOW it sounds GREAT! Problem I have is if you are too close to the Wireless transmitter it can cause audio cuts. Hardly ANY noise cancellation (unless you have the volume turned all the way but, but then its just loud noises drowning out the rest of hte room). The headband is NON-ADJUSTABLE! if you have a small head its fine, Medium size heads would probably feel the metal bar and it could be uncomfortable, and if you have a big head then just forget it because it wont fit anyways.

I read quite a few negative reviews on these headphones and after using them for a couple days now (around 10 hours of gaming) they are by far the best headphones I have used. Comfort is excellent the pads are extremely soft and you can barely tell you have them on your head (reviews had said since the ear wasn’t deep enough that your ear mashed against the metal - this is incorrect as I have large ears and mine fit excellent) Sound quality is the best I have experienced and I have owned PlayStation gold, PlayStation platinum, various turtle beach headsets. Sound localization is excellent and variation of chat and game audio is easily adjustable. It was also brought up that they are “too heavy” in many reviews. For me, the longest I have worn them so far was a 6 hour stretch and I didn’t experience any discomfort and could barely tell they were on my head. They are very well build and I don’t see physical wear being an issue with these at all. Set up was very easy, basically plug and play with the usb for PS4 and my computer. They do work with my switch but need plugged in (no Bluetooth) The mic is fairly quiet for my friends to hear me. This just required adjusting mic volume on the PlayStation up to 75% and it took care of the problem! On PC volume was perfect out of the box. I have used them for 10 hours and have not had to charge them at all yet - the 24 hour battery life I expect is true as my Sony platinums would last me maybe 6-7 of these 10 hours of gameplay. Just a quick review as I saw so much negativity about these headphones prior to buying - I’m not really sure why everyone is so against them. But from me - I highly recommend these headphones to anyone that is looking for a comfortable, great sound quality, durable set of headphones at a decent price!

Wireless Headsets I went through before keeping this one: (problem from memory in parentheses) HyperX Cloud Flight - Bought/Returned (pressed ears slightly?) Corsair HS70 - Bought/Returned (pressed ears) Corsair Void Pro - Tried in-store (pressed ears) Logitech G533 - Tried in-store (clunky, harsh cups) Razer Nari - Bought/Returned (heavy) Astro A20 - Tried in-store (pressed ears) Sony Gold Wireless Headset (late 2018 updated version) - Tried in-store (pressed ears) Bluetooth aptX Headsets (well get into why later if youre interested): TaoTronics TT-BH036 - Bought/Returned (latency) Avantree HT4189 - Bought/Returned (latency, clamping force, pressed ears) Comfort: This is the most common reason I returned/did not purchase many of the previously mentioned headsets. I apparently have a very weird head. Im super sensitive to shallow cups (ears stick out causing pain if pressed for a long time) and clamping force (big head causes headaches if squeezed for very long). Heavy headsets can still squeeze my head due to weight on top of my head even if they dont have much clamping force on the sides. Due to this, I feel confident that I am as critical as it gets as far as headset comfort goes. The Arctis 7 was kept because it did not cause discomfort when wearing for many hours. There is a caveat: As it comes in the box, it has too much clamping force for me. Luckily, the headband is made out of sheet metal and an adjustable strap. The strap can be loosened to let the headset contact as much of the top of your head as possible (distributing weight to remove pressure points). The metal band can be bent backwards to reduce how hard it squeezes your head. I found a forum post somewhere made by an acclaimed Steelseries employee who advised this, so that is what I did, and it worked great. Just be gentle, do it a little at a time, eventually it will be perfect! There is no padding on the interior of the cups which scared me as I usually need it, but these cups do not touch my ears somehow so it is not required. Latency: This is more of a side note for the bluetooth headsets. Most everyone knows that bluetooth headsets will have higher latency than headsets with proprietary wireless transmitters. What some dont know is that there is a variant of bluetooth protocol that aims to correct this, it is called aptX. To use it, both your transmitting and receiving devices must be aptX enabled. I will admit, the latency was very low for the aptX bluetooth headphones. When watching videos it was unnoticeable, however when playing an FPS, it was very very soft but it was there. Switching over to my wired headset confirmed this. If you are going for a wireless headset for gaming, you currently must get one designed for it. The Arctis 7 does not have noticeable latency, nor did any of the other gaming headsets I tried. Speaker Quality: Im definitely not an audiophile but I have higher than average taste in sound. This headset sounds nice. I have not played with the EQ, but I may try to turn up the lows a little bit. Mic Quality: Its wireless, and a gaming headset, so it is what it is. It seems to pick up more depth to the sound than other mics, your voice wont sound as flat, however I suppose this comes at a cost on background noise cancellation as it seems a little more prevalent in this headset than others. Construction: This is one of the more well-built units Ive got my hands on. Time will tell how it holds up, but the build quality seems upper-tier. Battery: I cant comment on this, but I highly advise that you get some magnetic micro usb cables. Basically, the cable becomes two pieces. You plug a little micro usb dongle in your headset and then you can connect the corresponding cable any way around. The dongle and cable magnetically snap together. Makes plugging the headset in so easy that you wont ever be conflicted with should I fumble with the connector or should I skip charging for now and just do it later. Any time I set the headset down, I charge it, because its super easy to do so now. Therefore I will never be able to comment on batter life. If you too are plagued by comfort issues, and maybe do not want to go wireless just yet (cost being the only reason I can think of), I would highly recommend the HyperX Cloud Silver. Theyre not cheap but they are worth it. To this day they are the most comfortable headset I have ever worn, with good sound and great build quality.

Update: I barely use these things, and they broke. The headphones hung in a desk cabinet and were forgotten about for a good 4-5 months because I hate dealing with the new app. I just picked them up and the left ear has no sound. If I turn the left earpiece I get crackle and low sound. Mic doesnt work either. The Volume slider works, but theres a crackle/hiss when the wheel is turned. While not in use, these managed to get a wire loose or something. lol. The new App is also junk..with the old app, the sound would improve a good deal once I opened the app. I didnt mind the trouble of opening each time I used the headphones. Now with the new GG app, I have to fight with it just to recognize my headset every time. Sometimes I have to restart, other times Ive had to uninstall and then reinstall to get my headphones detected. GG? Talk about an ambitious name fail... Used to love their mice and controllers, so I got their headphones. Now, you couldnt pay me to get anything Steel Series again. Just another company that got successful and then switched to cheap goods for profit. Im just tossing these...dont even care if theres a warranty or not. That GG app really sucks. Ive been using the earbuds I use with my phone on my PC instead. The mic isnt nearly as good, but they work and I dont need to spin in a chair 27 times on a full moon in order to get them to connect and work like I do with these headphones. Avoid, Avoid, Avoid. ***************************************** I’ve been using these for about a month. Prior to this I’ve only had in-ear buds for as long as memory serves. Pros + Battery Life +Above average sound. Good for games and movies, slightly above average for music. The surround works for me without a problem. +Great Range, minor blips but only in areas where disruption was expected. +Long battery life, charge indicators, recharges pretty quickly Meh +Mic may require sampling rate adjustment to DVD quality, then works great. - Comfort is tolerable…barely at times. If I was using these for marathon sessions I would have kept looking. Cons - Needs software to really shine. Not just surround, the quality jumps when I open the program. - I would rate volume as being 7/10. Maxed out, volume is totally tolerable unlike just about all of my other headphones. - Minimal instructions don’t cover much. - Volume rockers aren’t super loose to me, but I promise you’re going to touch them each and every time you touch the headphones, so they could benefit from being significantly stiffer. - Mic could be a little longer, an extra inch at max though. For the most part I’m happy and the only thing that will have me considering a replacement is a comparatively priced pair that also has Bluetooth capabilities. Having to use the wire when on my phone is probably my biggest complaint. I knew that going in so I won’t deduct for it. I was completely underwhelmed by the instructions. Basic features and that’s it. Being that these were my first “gaming headset” I was hoping a little bit more would be covered. I can do research, but I shouldn’t have to. The audio is better than 90% of what I have used…mostly mid-end Bluetooth stereo headphones or wired headphones, so I can’t compare it against other gaming headsets…but I’m happy with them. Nothing gets tinny or washes out. Bass is deep without rattling my fillings. The volume could definitely be louder. They work great in a quiet house/office, but quiet movies in a loud environment would be very frustrating. If you’ve got issues with hearing, I wouldn’t recommend these…there has to be louder sets out there. There is no possible way I would rely on these for a plane ride. At low volume, I can hear the dog barking next door. He isnt that loud, so Id give isolation a 4/10. The mic works great, but the default quality is CD and sounds terrible. Going to sounds>heaphones properties>advanced and changing the sampling rate to 48000 hz / DVD quality in Win10 fixed that. Quality after that adjustment is crystal clear and at a regular volume. Still, the little mic wand could be longer so that it could be better adjusted…it hangs near the corner of my mouth which could affect quality depending on how you speak. The range is great. These headphones have a slightly larger range than my default Bluetooth headsets…sometimes I get a little sound blip or brief static when going between rooms, but its gone before I can react. The battery life is as advertised. Lasts me a few days no problem, recharges quickly and there is a charging indicator on the mic. Timeout can be customized which is great for battery life. Comfort is tolerable. This might be just my preference for in-ear headphones…but other over the ear headphones are generally uncomfortable to me. These are…slightly better than others I’ve tried. The top band leaves a dent in my hair, but it is otherwise comfortable. The ear cups get hot in a hurry…the ear cups also cause the tops of my ears to start to ache after a couple hours. Breaks are needed with these….I would not recommend for marathon users…but comfort is subjective, so you never know until you try. The volume wheels aren’t super loose on mine, but I still touch and change the volume levels every-freaking-time I take these headphones on and off…pretty annoying, especially when you turn the volume all the way to chat and think there’s something wrong with them. readjusting volume becomes second nature quickly, but Id rather not have to. These volume controls should have been stiffer, or a tick style wheel instead of a smooth roll. There is a tick at the midway point between chat and sound levels. To sum up the software…I open the profile every time I connect these. More often than not, I notice a jump in quality. I just open the program every time now just in case it needs to be activated. I don’t mind because the jump in quality is worth it and takes a whole 2 seconds to do. Overall, I’m happy. I did a little research beyond all the paid Youtuber reviews beforehand, so I knew to get better I’d have to pay double at the least. I got these during the Primeday sale. Honestly, wait for a price drop or a sale, because I don’t think these are worth the regular retail…maybe if they had Bluetooth also…

well, after 3 years I recomended this to a friend that is fially building his PC it has served me well, It is a must have in games like PUBG for example, I do not play games without these, it being the experiece from 6 to a 10 instantly you just dont know how much you are missing when you dont have these on and the steel series driver, not the windows driver.

I had to give these things some time before I wrote a review. I have had several turtle beach headsets over the past couple years. And they all broke within the time I have had these Arctis 7. The physical build quality is beyond any headset I have ever had. I have gone through three sets of Sony ps4 (2 gold, 1 platinum) headsets in a year. All broke at the foldable hinges. I went through 5 turtle beach headsets (4 600 stealth, 1 elite pro) in 2 years. All broke at the cheap plastic extensions. Yes, including the elite pros. The Arctis 7 is made of metal. Even the rotating cups have metal hinges! These things are solid. I game a lot. I mean a LOT. And the metal frame hasnt even lost its grip on my head. The elastic headband is comfortable and adjustable. I have a larger than average head and they still fit me perfectly. Super comfortable for extended gaming sessions. I didnt believe the battery life until I got them fully charged and ran a 13 hour marathon one night. The next day they still have a good 5 hour charge left. So the battery life is no joke. Even after running them all the way down, the recharge time only took a few hours. Cant really remember how long exactly. It wasnt terribly long. Sound quality isnt what Im used to hearing however. The mids and highs are good, the bass is very flat. I wish they had a lot more oomph to them. I might be able to get more out of them through the equalizer. In order to use the equalizer you have to connect the arctis 7 to a PC or laptop and install the program. Its a simple program to use too. Be aware however, the DTS 7.1 setup is only compatible with PC, not ps4. There is virtually no noise cancellation. The foam around the ears is reasonable but not the greatest at shutting down outside sound. The microphone is very quiet. I had to turn up my mic level nearly all the way for anyone to hear me. And even then I still have to talk louder than I prefer. The range of the wireless receiver is awesome. I can go into my bedroom behind the wall and not lose connection at all. No wire connection to your game controller for microphone use either. Simple plug and play. I did have to change my sound/devices settings on my ps4 to all audio in order to get any sound. So you wont have any sound on your television unless you change it back to chat audio even with the headset shutoff. Overall I love this headset. The sound quality could be better for the price, but they are so comfortable and the super solid build quality wins my approval. If anything happened to these, I would buy another set no questions asked.

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.

Ive never had a headset that is so nice so it is a little hard for me to compare them to what else is out there but I will say that I really do love these. My main reason for getting them was that I wanted a better directional audio experience while gaming and these definitely provide that. Also huge plus is that they are wireless and that happens to be perfect for me. My chair would roll over the long cord I had on my other headphones and these being wireless is amazing. I can wear them around the house and get to listen to my jams while doing the dishes or even while taking the dog out back (although they will start to cut out in the backyard, they work well out there for the most part). These also hook up to my controller so I am able to use them on my Xbox as well, which is a large part of the reason I went for these. My only complaint would be the wireless receiver and its round shape. Its great that you can hook up a line in or out so that when your headset is off the sound will go through the speakers you have. The downside is that because of the rounded shape, you have to jam the aux cord into the plugs so else it will not pick one or even both speakers and appear that it doesnt work. I checked around and found out on reddit that people were having the same problem. Luckily the material is a not-so-hard rubber so I was able to really (and I mean REALLY) jam the aux cord into the line out so that sound would finally play out of both of my speakers and not just one side. That said, I still give this headset 5 stars because it is at such a good price point and I really feel you do get a lot for your money with this one. It looks great, its extremely comfortable and it is so perfect for what I needed. I dont think I could have gotten all of this out of a different headset for the same price and I am very happy with this purchase thus far.

Okay, these SHOULD be pretty nice headphones for $150, BUT there are quite a few caveats that put me off of these. I noticed a few other reviews mention these issues. These issues bothered me so much I returned them. Simply NOT worth the price! First off, I wear headphones 12-18 hours a day, 7 days a week. For work, recreation, and to help me fall asleep. I know headphones, and have a decent collection of a dozen or so. 1) HOLY DISTORTION, BATMAN! Listening to music at volumes any of my other headphones can handle (including the cheap-o $30 bluetooth units), these units produce massive amounts of distortion. I cannot believe how bad these are at volumes over 50%! Give it one tonal range to cover, and it seems to do okay, but toss in two or three (like bass guitar and a high-hat at the same time.... or, ya know, almost all music) and suddenly you cant make out what youre listening to anymore. 2) The volume roller is EXTREMELY easy to accidentally adjust. I mean, unbelievably easy. I am CONSTANTLY messing with the volume when adjusting the headphones or mic, and since its so loose its almost impossible to dial in just the right volume. Very very annoying! 3) Theres no media controls on these. Why? A push-button volume button combination would easily solve the too easy to adjust volume, and allow media controls through long presses. 4) The ear pieces are EXTREMELY hot. I wear headphones quite a bit, but these burn my ears up in a matter of minutes, which makes me adjust or remove them temporarily. This also reiterates point #2 in that the volume knob is ALWAYS being adjusted by accident. 5) These block absolutely no out-side sound, and people often can hear what I am listening to or playing. This doesnt make sense since the ear-pads dont seem to allow ANY airflow. 6) The mic disable button turns ON a light........ What? So when your mic is on, theres no light. When you mic is OFF, such as when listening to music, hanging out, whatever, theres BRIGHT RED LED on 100% of the time....... Huh???? How does this make sense? 7) the audio volume is easily 1/3 of every other headphone I own. I crank every setting up to 100% just to be equal to 30% on any other headset... Why? 8) mic is garbage!!!! I cant imagine anyone with any sense of intelligence thinking this mic is anything other than painfully sub par. Everything either sounds tinny, or incredibly digital (like using one of those $5 voice oscillators that make you sound like a robot. 9) while the ear pads do go around your ears, the speaker mesh is too shallow and will contact your ears. This makes it unbearable by itself, but combined with every other issue..... 10) FINALLY the surround sound effect is negligable. Playing the same surround sound tests, I cannot tell a difference between regular 2.0 phones and these. At all. Theres also a VERY VERY VERY specific place you HAVE to position these, or youll only hear about 70% of what its putting out. Unfortunately the VERY SPECIFIC spot these must be placed is absolutely HORRIBLE. You must bend and fold your ears to position them even remotely correctly. 11) I know I said 10 was the final number, but it brings me to another point. These are so uncomfortable in almost every way. After a short session your jaw will hurt, as the bottoms press right into the hinge of your jaw, your ears will hurt and be sweaty from the complete lack of ventilation (its like putting your ears in a wool coat in July in Florida -- a swamp!) From a company that specializes in headphones, these are full of awfully poor design choices! One of the worst overall headsets Ive ever owned. Do not recommend to anyone for any purpose!

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.