In Review: SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2
Gaming headsets usually look like gaming headsets. They’re usually made of glowing plastic, features odd angles and enough visual clutter to make you embarrassed wearing them outside the house, and sound like something a bomber pilot would user in 1945. The $199 SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 avoids most of that nonsense. It looks restrained, is surprisingly light, and does almost everything well enough that you stop thinking about the hardware and just use it.
The Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 sits in the middle of the SteelSeries lineup, below the Nova Pro but above the cheaper entry-level sets. It is designed as a multi-platform wireless headset for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and mobile devices. The main selling point is versatility. You can run low-latency 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth at the same time, which means you can game on your PC while taking a call from your phone without switching devices. It includes audio cables for connecting directly to your computer or audio device as well as a dedicated wireless dongle for phones.
The design is familiar if you have used SteelSeries gear before. There is a suspended elastic headband, breathable fabric ear cushions, and a retractable microphone that disappears neatly into the ear cup when you do not need it. The construction mixes matte plastic with a metal headband and avoids the cheap creaking feel that plagues a lot of wireless gaming gear. Mute and volume controls are on left side of the headset with the microphone and there are power and bluetooth controls on the right side along with a slider to manage “ChatMix” which brings the game or the in-game chatter to the fore.
Battery life is one of the biggest improvements in the Gen 2 version. SteelSeries claims up to 54 hours on a charge, which is a substantial jump over the older Nova 7. In real-world use, I saw solid battery life of about 40 hours before I needed to charge the headset. In fact, battery life is so good you might end up forgetting to charge your headset.
The sound signature leans clean rather than exaggerated. Bass is present but not absurdly boosted, and the headset works well for music in addition to gaming. SteelSeries also pushes its Sonar software heavily, offering game-specific EQ presets and parametric controls for people who want to fine-tune things endlessly.
Remember: this is not an audiophile headset. You will absolutely noticed a difference between this headset and, say, a properly powered and amped audio-only headset. Drum and Bass and game music sounded great on this headset, but you’re absolutely going to notice a bit of tinniness when listening to fiddly guitar or treble sounds. Interestingly, these cans offer excellent noise repression thanks to their cushy ear pads and closed cups.
What’s most important thing is that these headphones are comfortable. I wore them for a good eight hours one day and barely noticed them. I love the analog wheel for volume and the retractable microphone is extremely handy. Again, this is a gaming headset so the question here is comfort in front of a screen instead of comfort on a train or plane.
The weak point is probably the microphone. It is usable for Discord, multiplayer games, and casual calls, but several folks noted that it sounds thinner and less natural than competing headsets in the same price range. That said, most people buying a headset like this are not recording podcasts or streaming professionally. For normal gaming use it gets the job done.
Another interesting addition is SteelSeries app that allows you to control a number of audio features and even tune the headset for certain games. As someone who rarely, if ever, downloads the app for a pair of headphones I probably would never use it but it’s nice to know they’ve thought of all audiences.
What I like most about the Nova 7 Gen 2 is that it does not scream “gamer.” You could wear these on a train or in a coffee shop without looking like you are about to join an esports tournament. The headset folds into daily life fairly naturally, and that matters more than most gaming companies seem to realize. SteelSeries even lets you swap out the decorations on the ear pads, something quite clever. The company sells “Booster Packs” from different designers and you can pick them up for about $20 to customize your headphones.
SteelSeries has spent years refining this design rather than reinventing it, and that is probably the right call. The Nova 7 Gen 2 is not flashy but it definitely works. Because it includes a number of input and output methods, you can use it with your phone, your laptop, your console, and your gaming PC with equal success. And at $199 you’re getting something that sounds acceptable even when you’re not stabbing aliens on a deserted space station.
