I’ll be honest: I’m not a fan of gaming headsets. I’ve tried many over the years, including some from some of the most popular brands out there, and there was always something wrong with them. Be it poor audio, a terrible microphone, or a lack of reliability, they always failed me in one way or another.
However, over two years ago, I was gifted the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 for my birthday. I can now confidently say that this is the only headset I’ve ever recommended to gamers, even after having tried around a dozen in the past few years.
At first, I was skeptical
As a PC builder, my focus was always on getting the best gaming PC I could possibly get my hands on. Peripherals, including mice, were always an afterthought. But with headsets, it’s kind of a whole different story,
I never underestimated the impact of having a good headset in a gaming scenario. I play online, so I’ve been through my fair share of people with terrible microphones. Whether it was background noise that made them sound as if they were piloting an airplane through a hurricane, or microphone quality so bad that you could barely hear them, over two decades of online gaming taught me that you must have a decent mic if you’ll be speaking to people.
I learned pretty early on that those mics are usually not found in gaming headsets. Yup, I’m one of those elitists who always try to tell you to get a standalone microphone — sorry in advance.
By the time I received the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7, I was already fed up with the whole idea of a gaming headset. I’ve dealt with several that were all some kind of awful, and my solution was to get a separate pair of Audio-Technica headphones combined with the Antlion ModMic Wireless. I wasn’t all that eager to try another failed attempt at a satisfactory gaming headset when my makeshift combo worked so well. (For reference, the ModMic is essentially a microphone attachment that you can attach to any pair of headphones, but it sounds way better than most headsets I’ve ever tried.)
Still, the SteelSeries headphones were a surprise gift, and I wasn’t about to just throw them in a cupboard and forget about them. I decided to give them an honest try.
It wasn’t love at first sight.
I liked the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 more each day
A couple of years ago, I shared a rant here on Digital Trends, proclaiming that I was done with gaming headsets. I spoke about my Arctis Nova 7, but I wasn’t very generous. “I can’t say that I hate it,” I admitted, if somewhat reluctantly. I then went on to complain about the fact that they turned themselves off constantly. That’d be enough to annoy just about anyone, so I can’t fault 2023 Monica for being frustrated with it.
I can, however, fault past me for not realizing that they only turned themselves off due to a setting and not some kind of hardware failure. Oops.
Once I discovered the battery-saving setting (that for some reason turned off the headset even mid-sentence, which shouldn’t happen, really), I allowed myself to appreciate these relatively affordable gaming headphones.
First of all, the microphone. I run a guild in World of Warcraft, which means I do a whole lot of chatting over Discord. One of my guild members is particularly picky when it comes to microphones, and he’s complained about the quality of mine pretty much whenever I wasn’t using my ModMic setup. He hated my Razer headset, and he had no kind words for my HyperX, either.
The first time I tried the Arctis Nova 7, my incredibly picky friend said, “Wow, you finally have a proper headset.”
I’ve heard recordings of my own voice more often than I care to admit, and I have to say that the Arctis Nova 7 really delivers on the microphone quality. There are better standalone mics out there, but from all the gaming headsets I’ve tried, this is by far the best.
As time went on, I started to appreciate the Arctis Nova 7 for more than just microphone quality. This is one comfy pair of cans, which I often wear for several hours and don’t have any ear pain — especially important for us glasses wearers. The sound quality is solid in games and alright for music, but honestly, I do take these off and put on my Bose QuietComfort for that.
For a gaming headset, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 has everything I could really want. It sounds good, the microphone is pretty great, it’s comfortable, and it’s wireless with a decent battery life. I wouldn’t mind if it was hot-swappable, but I can deal with the charging.
Still not a fan, but kind of a convert
Do I love gaming headsets now, then, since I grew to love the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7?
No, but I realize their value. Gaming headsets are easy, much easier than diving deep into audiophile-grade products and sinking hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars into this hobby. Keep that money for your PC instead.
The only problem is that there are still loads of less-than-great gaming headsets out there, which is why I always make sure to tell my friends about this particular headset. It’s shockingly solid at just $182, and from my experience, it’s not a lot worse than the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro. If anything, I like the microphone on this one better than on the Nova Pro, and again, I am a picky beast.
If you’re a gamer who just wants something that does the job and doesn’t make your Discord buddies burst into tears every time you speak, this is it — and then some. I’ve spent two years with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7, and I now know that I’d buy it myself if something happened to my current pair. Check it out — it’s worth the price.
