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

Ive gone through a lot of high end headphone including, logitech, corsair, razer, sennheiser, sony, jbl, turtle,hyperx, beyerdynamics,sony, boss, lucid sound,technica, and jabra-just to name a few. Ive owned some that werent aimed at gaming with price tags over 1k, focal, grado, onkyo. The arctis 7 I think are the best bang for the buck, the software is very intuitive with my frp games, the lossless sound once adjusted and maximized is excellent. The biggest thing is the fit, they dont squish my ear in any way, they dont fall off my head when i have to bend down and pick up the pizza I just dropped before the dog gets it. The buttons are placed so you dont change settings while turning them off and on. You know which button your pressing by the feel. No they dont sound as good as the over 1k headphones when playing music, but for gaming the Arctis is an excellent choice.

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.

You know, I want so much to love this headset. In fact, I do, BUT.... This is my second round with this thing. I can say off the top that while the sound quality is great and the dual volume controls are great. Noon e complains that I cut in and out or they cant really hear me- NONE of that technical piece is missing. I have a friend that I game with who has the same headset and he sounds great and there is never any issue. I can even walk almost to the end of my driveway before really starting to cut out. I hate the charging port. I dont think it is sturdy on the inside. I try to be very cautious and deliberate about plugging in the cable, because with my first one, the port completely went into the head-set and I couldnt charge it. Thus the need for round two. I think there needs to be guidance about the multiple settings though that appear in the sound... Arctis chat v. Arctis game...because it is not as intuitive as it seems. This had never happened before, but this last week I got a loud mechanical buzz sound that was fixed when I switched to the other of the two. Whenever it happens, I figure I just picked the wrong one...then I switch to the other and its fine. So not sure what thats about. My friend and I both are starting to notice that and cant seem to figure out why. I like this headset primarily because it is light on my head. I like the dual volume controls, I like the sound quality especially, but not the charging port and this new recent-fixable- buzz noise.

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.

These worked great for a little over 2 years before they started getting a lot of static when adjusting volume and having overall sound issues. Id expect something with this price to last longer. But while they worked they were fantastic headphones.

I could wear these all day and practically forget they are on. The headband cushions the weight wonderfully, and despite my big head, I havent had a problem with the limited adjustability. The biggest complaints in terms of build I have are the two volume dials being a little too easy to accidentally adjust, and that I would prefer a flip up mic rather than roll out style this has, but that hasnt cause any actual problems. Sound quality is quite good, the best wireless Ive had. Im sure for several hundred more I could get better sound quality, but I think these are already at the sweet spot. Battery life is quite decent, enough that I havent really paid attention to how long they last before needing a charge. The signal strength is really where it shines. I can not only go anywhere in my apartment without interruption, I can walk out the door (on the far side of my apartment, with two walls in between) around the corner and down the hall about 30 feet before it finally begins to cut in and out. Other features I appreciate are the line in and out on the wireless transmitter, which is also on a long cord to allow for optimal placement. I also love the 3.5mm output on the headset themselves, allowing me to easily share sound. I actually find this quite useful for linking to my partners headphones when we watch streaming video while chatting with friends over discord, allowing us to cast to our TV without the sound coming over the microphone. Will most people use those features? Probably not, but they are also just the icing on the cake.

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 initially deterred by a couple of the negative reviews about the Arctis 7 headphones, but decided to take the risk and try them out. I have had mine now for about half a month and absolutely love them! Pros: - Very comfortable. I can wear these for 6+ hours at a time, through work and games, without issue. - Good battery life - Granular surround and equalizer configuration options using SteelSeries Engine - There is a dial on the back right earcup that allows you to change the volume balance of a voice chat (e.g. Discord) and the rest of your computers audio output. I love this feature and use it a lot in situations such as when Im playing a multiplayer game and need to hear the voice chat better or vice versa. - Great sound. I own a pair of AirPods Pro and Bose QuietComforts and find that the sound from the Arctis holds up well against those. Im no audiophile but can appreciate a good soundstage and balance. Cons: - The mic extension feels flimsy and Im worried Ill accidentally break it if I tug on it too hard. I definitely try to be extra careful handling that. - Like some other reviews mention, the volume dials are easy to accidentally move if you are putting the headphones on or taking them off. - Like most wireless headsets, the mic isnt going to be absolutely stunning, and Ive had a couple of people comment on my loss of voice quality since switching from a wired headset. This isnt a huge deal by any means, but Id suggest pairing these with a more serious condenser mic if you care about that sort of thing. Overall, I love the freedom afforded to me by wireless headphones, and the Arctis 7 more than satisfy my wants for a gaming headset.

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.

I really wanted to like this headset and have it be the one I relied on for many years. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. Ive recently switched to a Logi PRO X set and like it much better. Out of the box, they worked great. I am on a Win 10 machine, updated, nothing goofy about the setup or anything. Then, they started disconnecting randomly mid-game. This became predictable and happened 1-3 times per session, and I only game for a few hours at a time tops. I dealt for a while, relocated the adapter, checked for interference in my home to the best of my ability. It ended up just stopping one day randomly, kind of like how it started. Fast forward a couple of months of it working without issue. Suddenly disconnects again AND with the update to SSGG 22.0, the EQ broke. I tried every fix I could find online. Reinstalled, reset button on the unit, etc... I can only get the EQ and Sidetone (which I rely on) working if I do this goofy dance of powering it off/on/off/saving an EQ change/reverting the change. But, when they inevitably disconnect shortly after that - it undoes all that and EQ/Sidetone is broken again. Sigh.... Dont bother. I lament not having gone Logi initially, since thats my usual go-to brand for stuff like this.