The latest form of SteelSeries high-end wireless gaming headphones, the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, has had a great opportunity: this new version revises one of our favorite gaming headphones with a sleeker, more adjustable design while adding active noise. -Cancellation, longer battery life and improved audio. And even more impressive, it offers a lot of ways to adjust your game and audio chat per game.
On paper, SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless has it all, but it also demands a high price of $ 350. Personally, I think it’s worth every dollar. It offers great space gaming audio and high-quality music sound, and cross-platform connectivity and simultaneous device support make it the only audio device you need for all your gaming platforms. and for daily listening.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Images
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless – Design and features
These headphones and their cable sibling, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, feature a new design that diverges quite a bit from the existing Arctis line, which until now hadn’t really changed since it debuted in 2017.
The first change you’ll notice is that where the older Arctis line featured a rigid metal strap with an elastic tension band to adjust, the strap now also includes telescopic arms so it can accommodate larger heads. The bigger ones were great unless you, like me, had a bigger head, in which case the tension band would press even when it adjusted to its larger size. I don’t have to worry about that with the new design; I can even extend my arms completely to make the headphones a few sizes larger than my head, which I find makes wearing them even more comfortable.
The elastic headband is also a little different, as it connects to the metal headband with plastic nozzles similar to those found in an adjustable baseball cap. You can adjust the elastic band to make it tighter or looser on the head in three-inch increments, though that means you can’t adjust it as accurately as the old velcro design. But the advantage is that the elastic band of the new model is under the metal headband, it will not be dusted so quickly.
The headphones are also noticeably smaller and thinner compared to the large, oblong headphones of the old Arctis headphones. The stepped profile of the new design looks sleeker in my opinion, less like an ear-shaped gaming headset and more like a sophisticated pair of wireless headphones the size of JBL or Audio-Technica.
Beyond the updated style, SteelSeries has improved several of the built-in controls. The Nova Pro Wireless has large pill-shaped buttons that are well spaced around the stepped design of the headphones, a nice improvement over the small mini-sized M&M and Bluetooth power buttons you should hear around the old design . .
Fortunately, the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless still includes magnetic covers to hide the removable rechargeable battery on the right side, as well as a charging port, which has been moved to the left side. A minor peculiarity is that the removable circular covers only use two magnets to connect to the headphones, so it takes a little more trial and error to put them back on properly. Another funny thing about these circular covers is that they have a ring-shaped micro-engraved finish that is thick enough to file your nails if you touch them the wrong way.
One of the highlights of the old Arctis Pro Wireless was its interchangeable battery system that allows you to charge one battery while the other is in use, so your headphones don’t die when you need it most. The Nova Pro Wireless enhances this system by allowing the batteries to be exchanged hot; the headphones include capacitors large enough to keep it on for a short time, long enough for you to discharge the second battery. It’s not charging enough to power the drivers and keep the audio playing without interruption, but it’s good not to have to turn on the headphones again after a quick battery change.
The inside of the headphones has changed from fabric-based fabric cushions to a more sound-insulated skin. Although the new material is not as breathable, I have never found my ears to sweat, even after wearing them all day. The closing force of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless has also been slightly increased to make a better insulating seal, but it only feels comfortable instead of uncomfortable. I easily used these gaming headphones for eight or ten hours straight without any hassle.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Active Noise Cancellation
In addition to enhanced sound insulation in headphones, the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless now includes active noise cancellation. It uses a hybrid system of four microphones (two microphones inside and two outside) that adjusts the ANC based on outside noises and what you hear on your headphones.
That being said, the Nova Pro Wireless honestly doesn’t offer the strongest ANC I’ve ever heard. It’s a welcome feature, but not quite on the same level as the Sony WH-1000XM5, which I would still prefer for my next long haul flight. Noise cancellation here, on the other hand, is better for drowning out white noise like an air conditioner or your neighbor mowing the lawn, unlike a TV that sounds loud in the same room or the sound of a helicopter flying overhead. It also helps to take advantage of my very loud and clicked Logitech G915 gaming keyboard, but it doesn’t completely mute my keystrokes like the Sony WH-1000XM5 can.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless – Configuration and connectivity
The wireless transmitter case has been slightly modified with a rounded design, a larger control button and a digital touch button to navigate the settings. It has a clear OLED display to show the volume level, the activity of the left and right drivers of the headphones, the battery levels and other necessary information.
Pressing and holding the control button will allow you to immerse yourself in basic headset settings, such as changing the audio source, adjusting the microphone gain, and other system settings. But really adjusting the headphones will come later in the software.
The standard Arctis Nova Pro Wireless can be connected to up to two separate consoles, computers, or other devices via USB. For the most part, the transmitter box is smart enough to switch between its two USB connections when you start playing audio from one of them.
There’s a PlayStation and Xbox version of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, but they’re almost identical. The only difference is that the Xbox version has a Microsoft security chip, which is required to work with the Xbox Series X and S, while the PlayStation version is not compatible with Microsoft consoles.
In the Xbox version, one of the two USB ports on the base of the transmitter is clearly labeled Xbox-specific and only works with Microsoft consoles and PCs. The other port, however, still works well for PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, or any device other than Xbox. Meanwhile, the PlayStation base station has two of the latter ports (which are not Xbox), which makes it compatible with everything except Xbox.
That is, the Xbox version is compatible with Xbox and PS5, while the PlayStation version does not work with Xbox (both versions work with Switch, PC and other USB devices).
That said, despite having broader compatibility than its counterpart, the Xbox version comes at no additional cost. As such, even if PlayStation is your main console, I recommend getting the Xbox version if you have or plan to get an Xbox console.
In my tests, the 2.4 GHz wireless signal between the headphones and the transmitter box was slow and solid. I didn’t hear a single fall signal even if I went to a different room or even a different floor of my house. If you move further away (such as two floors or out of the house) from the transmitter box or your connected Bluetooth devices, you will begin to hear the signal go down.
The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless also has Bluetooth to connect to a phone, tablet, or other device. Better yet, you can play audio from your Bluetooth source and a single 2.4 GHz wireless source simultaneously, so you can listen to music and podcasts (or make a call) while driving through Mexico on Forza Horizon 5.
One unfortunate change is that, unlike the previous model, you can’t adjust the volume of your Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz wireless audio separately from the headset or control box. The volume dial only changes the overall volume of your headset evenly, so you’ll have to go through the pain of individually adjusting the source volume of anything you’ve connected via Bluetooth or your connected console / computer / device.
Another annoyance is that turning off the headset using the power button also does not turn off Bluetooth, but must be turned off separately. To do this, you must press and hold the Bluetooth button to turn it off, and use the power button to turn off the headset as a whole. It seems strange that the dedicated power button doesn’t turn everything off, but it makes more sense if you think of Bluetooth and 2.4 Ghz modes as two separate devices that you can use independently or at the same time. You can, for example, turn on Bluetooth only if you remove the headset from your home and do not need the 2.4 Ghz connection.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless – Battery life
SteelSeries specifies battery life (with ANC enabled) at 22 hours with only 2.4 GHz wireless and 18 hours when using 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth at the same time (which is another reason why it’s nice be able to control them independently). It’s an incredible amount of playing and playing time considering that the physical size of these batteries is smaller than Ghirardelli mini chocolates. I chained up to four days of using a single battery and I think I could also extend it to 30 hours for five days with the ANC turned off.
Add to that the fact that these batteries only take three hours to …