SteelSeries Arctis 7 Wireless Gaming Headset Review
SteelSeries Arctis 7 Wireless Gaming Headset Review – How Does It Stack Up?
With its very comfortable lightweight metal alloy construction paired with a well-balanced sound and decent microphone, the SteelSeries Arctis 7 is a truly high quality headset that a wide range of users will be very happy with. While this is a product designed for gamers, anybody looking for a quality, lightweight headset to throw on and forget while they use their PC for a few hours will love the Arctis 7. While the Arctis 7 sound fine when listening to music and movies, games like Battlefield 1 and R6: Siege sounded lively and the SteelSeries offering did a great job of helping me pick up sounds so that I could use audio to my situational advantage. The surround mode (DTS Headphone:X 7.1) worked well, but I found myself using stereo for a more natural sound signature. On-ear controls for volume and mixing work great and are implemented very well. We can’t speak of console capability, but it does seem that SteelSeries has thought a lot of console users, as the Chatmix function is aimed at console gamers. We really like that the Clearcast mic gives visual cues to alert the user of a dying battery during use without interupting gameplay.
We really do appreciate the versatility of the Arctis series, with each unit providing full compatibility across a variety of platforms via wireless USB or 3.5MM support. Users with high end sound cards can use the Arctis 7 in wired mode instead of being relegated to the sound provided across the wireless dongle, which while sounding great for wireless, isn’t as accurate or clean as the potential audio that can be put out by a high quality sound card or DAC solution. The Arctis 7 can also be used while the battery is charging, so there is no potential downtime due to the battery implementation. While the Arctis 7 have a great design and build, it would have been nice to see SteelSeries implement a swappable battery system like they did in their Siberia 840 headset to allow for total wireless use at all times, but that would have added to the cost and also cause the Arctis 7 to compete with a headset that retails for over twice its price, so we can’t really complain. The wireless range of the Arctis 7 was truly impressive and if you have good line of site on the receiver, the forty feet range advertised by SteelSeries is possible.
There are just a couple of areas of disappointment with the Arctis 7. The ClearCast mic works well enough, but it isn’t particularly great and the hype I’ve read about from SteelSeries had me a bit let down by the reality in that it’s a decent mic, but still prone to popping and compression. There were some mic bias issues during testing when the unit first released, but SteelSeries addressed them in the latest update of Engine 3. The LED cues for charging and low battery life were great and definitely appreciated, though. In our experience, sometimes SteelSeries has a tendency to fix one issue with the Engine 3, but then another is introduced. As it stands, the Arctis 7 and Engine 3 software are working well, with the current firmware and software revisions providing a very good user experience, without any game-breaking issues present. Finally, the inability to toggle the automatic turn off due to no sound detection is probably our biggest gripe, as there were several times where we returned to our PC after a break, put on the Arctis 7 and went to continue playing a game or movie we had paused, only to realize the Arctis 7 had turned off. A small issue, but a frustrating one, indeed.
When compared to the various sub-$200 wireless PC gaming headsets we’ve seen on the market, the Arctis 7 is top notch and sit high on our top list, with units like the Corsair Void and Logitech G933 rounding out the pack. The Arctis 7 packs the best mix of comfort, sound quality and style out of any of these competing units and is our top recommendation if you’re looking for a lag-free, wireless gaming headset. The $149.99 street price of the Arctis 7 is a good price point, as it compares well to other headsets in the same range, such as the Logitech G933 ($134.00 shipped), which is a bit clunky when compared to the SteelSeries offering. The Corsair Void, which we previously reviewed, comes in at $79.99 shipped, making them $70 less than the Arctis 7. However, the Void can’t edge the sound quality, comfort and build quality of the Arctis 7. Users who don’t need wireless and still want a stylish, comfortable headset should look at the less expensive Arctis 5 ($99.99 shipped) and Arctis 3 ($74.99 shipped) models. If you already have a good sound card or DAC setup, the Arctis 3 is a really good choice, while the Arctis 5 has a decent sound card built-in as part of its USB functionality, along with RGB support, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Legit Bottom Line: With their amazingly comfortable Airweave earcups, solid build quality and well-balanced sound, the SteelSeries Arctis 7 are our top recommendation for a wireless PC gaming headset under $150.