Arctis Nova Pro Wireless - Multi-System Gaming Headset (PS5 & PC / Switch + Bluetooth) - Unlimited Battery Life; 2 Hot-Swap Batteries - Active Noise Cancellation - ClearCast Gen2 Mic

Why did you choose this product over others?: After officially play-testing the Arctis Nova Pro for over 300 hours, I can confidently say this is one of the best headsets I’ve ever used. The comfort is absolutely unmatched—thanks to the over-ear design and soft cushioning, I can wear them for long gaming sessions without any soreness or discomfort. Whether it’s a quick 30-minute play or an all-night session, these headphones stay comfortable throughout. One standout feature is the removable dual-battery system. It’s brilliantly designed—while you’re using one battery, the other charges in the base station. I’ve never run out of power mid-game, which is a huge bonus. The GG Control Panel app is another excellent addition. It integrates seamlessly with your PC and offers a wide range of sound presets tailored for different games and activities. Whether you’re trying to pick up footsteps in Call of Duty or blasting some drum and bass to unwind, this headset handles it all effortlessly. The audio versatility is incredible. Build quality is solid and premium—everything feels robust and well-engineered. I was so impressed, I even bought another set for a family member. One small tip: when powering them on for the first time, be aware of the volume restriction setting (required by EU regulations). If left enabled, it might limit your ability to fully enjoy some of the more powerful sound presets. I’m not advising whether to enable or disable it—that choice is entirely yours—but just offering honest feedback based on my experience. Overall, highly recommended. If you’re serious about sound quality, comfort, and reliability, the Arctis Nova Pro is absolutely worth it. Design: The build quality is unmatched

It would be appropriate to address the price before I give my thoughts on the headset. £599 is quite ridiculous for a gaming headset. That's not to suggest what is on offer isn't a quality product & you kinda feel you're getting your money's worth after using it. But the sticker shock is real, especially when you compare it to rival headsets - which I will get into later. I went through some mental gymnastics to justify paying this much for a gaming headset. Steelseries will no doubt use the current economy as an excuse, but the reality is £450 might be more palatable. Okay, so the price is shocking, so why have I awarded this headset 5 stars? Build quality & Design The build materials of the headset is second to none. A metal headband coated in a quality leatherette fabric. The plush, memory foam ear cushions (removeable). The gloss metal forks just exude premium quality. Even down to the metal volume dial. Great attention to detail is most evident. Comfort wise, I can't fault it. The clamp force is slightly stronger than the previous model (pro wireless), but it doesn't affect comfort one bit. It is clearly a design choice to assist ANC performance. The base station is also upgraded from the previous model. Premium quality is demonstrated throughout. Features It does everything the previous model does + more. You can customise settings via the base station/DAC, mobile phone app or PC software. There are so many EQs to choose from, including a long list of game-specific adjustments. ANC (active noise cancellation) was clearly a focus, because it is now right up there with high-end, dedicated Bluetooth headphones. This easily could be your everyday headset for on-the-go & travel. The passive isolation is also very good, so some won't even feel the need to activate ANC whilst gaming. The headset is compatible with everything you can think of for gaming (PS5, Switch 1 & 2, Xbox & PC). There's no specific Xbox/PS5 models to choose from this time. Mic The retractable mic is better than the pro wireless. The mic cable is now very flexible & stays in shape when you bend it (the previous model never did this). Voice is clear & won't have friends complaining how you sound. Whilst I wouldn't describe the mic as class leading (Astro A50X or Gen 5), it is very good. Arguably the best aspect of the mic is the noise cancellation - which can be adjusted. This feature of the headset is amazing & doesn't invite unwanted hiss. The internal mics on the headset also works extremely well. I expected my voice to sound like I was in a cave, but it doesn't. So using the internal mics for Bluetooth calls works very well. It's somewhat surprising Steelseries put so much emphasis upon the noise isolation & internal mics. Sound quality The key selling point of this headset are the new audio drivers. 40mm carbon fibre drivers, with a brass outer. Reminiscent of graphene drivers I've experienced in the Astro A50 Gen 5, distortion is significantly reduced. The performance is very similar to a planar magnetic driver, as seen in the Audeze Maxwell. The difference here, the audio is warmer & less clinical than the Maxwell. I prefer it. Similar in clarity, but the bass reproduction has more impact, whilst retaining detail. It's the immediate thing you will notice when listening to music or playing video games. Playing the newly released Battlefield 6 with this headset is a real treat. I'm not going to suggest they are some kind of cheat code to enable you to play better. But situational awareness is hightened. Playing the opening level to Indiana Jones & The Great Circle again introduced me to audio I hadn't noticed previously. The level of detail in the environmental audio helped put a smile on my face after spending so much (I haven't told the missus!). I haven't even messed with other EQs so far because the flat EQ out-of-the-box sounds so good. I'm sure I will tinker with various EQs in time. I genuinely cannot find fault with the audio. It's a significant step-up from the previous model. Directional audio is what you expect from a high-end headset. I'm using on a PS5 with 3D audio enabled & it's extremely accurate & immersive. It avoids that cavernous, almost echoey environmental audio of the Nova Pro wireless. There's great separation in every aspect of the soundstage, with voices in-game coming across super clear. Comparisons Audiophile's may still point to the Audeze Maxwell as having the best audio for gaming. Technically, they may be right. But audio is subjective. Even taking my own subjectivity out of it, the Nova Elite's run the Maxwell's damn close. I simply prefer a warmer sound, whilst retaining detail - which is what you get with the Elite's. Plus I prefer a headset that is comfortable to wear for long periods, which is why I rule out the Maxwell's as a direct rival. I would say the closest rival to the Nova Elite, in terms of comfort, build, audio & features, is the Astro A50 Gen 5. They sound great, but not quite as good as the Nova Elite. The A50's don't compare in terms of features either. But importantly, they are a lot cheaper! So whilst my 5 star rating seems like I'm giving a full endorsement of the Nova Elite, & commend Steelseries for the quality on offer. There are some good, more reasonably priced products to choose from. Whilst I would now put the Nova Elite at the very top of gaming headsets currently available. If I was to do a value for money list, the Astro A50 Gen 5 reign supreme - which you can get for around £230 in a sale. I hope my review has provided some help with your purchasing decision, along with some food for thought. I can only give my opinion on how good the headset is, not whether you as a potential buyer thinks it's worth the expense or not? I don't have buyer's remorse, but there will undoubtedly be others who will.

I previously had wired headphones, but these are perfect for nipping downstairs to grab a drink while still chatting to friends on Discord. The wireless freedom is a game changer, and the connection stays solid with no dropouts. They’re super comfortable, the hot-swap batteries are brilliant (never worrying about charging mid-session is amazing), and the active noise cancellation works really well. Overall build quality feels premium and exactly what you’d expect at this level. It is worth remembering that with wireless you do lose some audio and mic quality. While the device shows 48kHz / 24-bit, in practice you’re getting more “DVD quality” audio rather than true studio quality. That said, for gaming and voice chat, it’s absolutely fine and more than good enough. Overall, I’m super happy with them. Excellent headset if you value comfort, convenience, and flexibility—just go in knowing the limits of wireless audio.

IF YOU HAVE BIG EARS READ THIS - This headset has great features but you may need third party ear pads from Wicked Cushions for example to get the comfort you desire if you have bigger than average ears as you WILL feel your ears against the headset because of how slim the stock pads are even though they redesigned the ANC to be less intrusive on bigger ears. Headset is great in terms of sound quality as long as you get the recommended EQ. Swappable battery as well as charging the headset directly is such a nice thing to have. Connection with Bluetooth is really useful and I love this feature. Quite adjustable the comfort is great when everything is set and after using for a week. This being my first wireless headset I've had quite a positive experience even expecting it to have noticeable delay but it was fine, I haven't had anything serious the range is the same as most other headsets (same as my airpods pro 2) but you can change it in the dock to have a bigger range but higher delay.

I've had this headset almost six months now, and here's how I feel about it: When it works, it's great. The active noise cancelling is a great feature, the sound quality is good, the wireless hasn't got amazing range but it's plenty for wandering around a bit, the mic is decent quality (even if it did ought to be just a bit longer). ...but then there are the bugs. Then there are the instances where the headset will just stop working. Literally, it just disconnects from the base station while you're watching a video or playing a game, low battery or not. Or there's the time it wouldn't connect to the base station. For no apparent reason. I had to perform a reset on the base station, and then I had to look up how to re-pair the headset with it. It feels like such a waste honestly. There's great technology here, but some really odd design choices, or flaws that ruin the whole product. I can't rate it higher than a 2/5. Edit: I now have a reoccurring issue where the headset will occasionally just glitch out, disconnect from the base station and play a weird noise until you turn it off and on again. Sorry, but these constant problems dial this 2/5 down to a 1/5. This headset has all the features of a great product, but the problems are so dire and frequent I'd just say it's a product to be completely avoided. It's not worth wasting your time, money and effort on. What a disappointment. Update: About a year after purchase now, and I'm still experiencing frequent problems with just random, unannounced disconnects. Halfway through a movie? Disconnected. Have fun with that, courtesy of steelseries, screw you if you wanted to enjoy what you were listening to. In the middle of a game? Disconnected. Maybe this time around it won't even reconnect without you yanking the battery out. Good luck trying to do that without messing up your game, best regards from steelseries. Thanks again steelseries, for an awful experience.

Great audio, great noise cancellation, great microphone, just all round love the design and quality. I've tested dozens of different headsets and earbuds from budget to premium as part of my job and while many deliver good audio, I've yet to find any that compare to the Arctis Novas in terms of noise cancelling and mic clarity. To find all three of these in one package is (frustratingly) rare. These deliver.

I upgraded to this headset after having a Steelseries Arctis 7 wireless for around 5 years which I loved but was getting pretty worn out. The overall build quality of the Nova Pro is great. It is more comfortable than the Arctis 7 for me (I have a pretty big head which the Arctis 7 was slightly too small for) and the battery swap out feature is great. You can get around one day's full use out of a battery and it only takes 20 seconds to swap them out when needed. Unfortunately, my main gripe with the headset is the software (Steelseries GG/Sonar) that you need to install to make it work. It consistently has had problems ever since I started using it. When updating GPU drivers, for some reason this completely resets all sound setting settings. The biggest issue however is that the sound balance fails to work pretty much all the time despite following all trouble shooting recommendations. I can see that on various steel series forums this is not an isolated issue and that many people are having the same problems. Despite setting all the sounds settings in the correct way, it straight up does not work. The only fix I have managed to find that seems to work is completely unplugging the bluetooth dongle and plugging it back in to reset the system. This works for an hour or two before the issue arises again. Despite there being a chat/game sound balance wheel on both the headset itself and the bluetooth dongle, it does not work without the software. For what is such an expensive headset, this is incredibly disappointing. I would recommend going for a different brand, as I understand that most steelseries headsets use the same software now and are prone to experience the same problems.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite Sage & Gold Initial Review dated 25/11/2025 Priced at £599 Uk. First Off, Please note that I’m comparing the “Steelseries Arctis Nova Elite” to thee “Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless” which was my former headset. The Nova Elite came fast from Amazon and was in a sealed box “See Image of seals” The Nova Elite Magnetic box itself screams high end with nice well package contents which includes The Headset 2, Batteries “1 in the DAC & 1 in the box. The DAC. 3, USB-A to USB-C cables. 1, 3.5 Line in Jack Cable. 1, Pop Filter. 1, Travel Pouch. You can download the Steelseries GG software for the headset “Recommended” as there is a new Firmware Update for them. The Pro Wireless weighs 388g including battery and the Elite weighs 383g including battery, so not much difference there. The Elite ear cup cushions are nice and thick and soft and I have no trouble putting on my glasses when I’m already using the headset. For £599 I would have expected another set of cushions and headband but alas no. Wearing the Elite headset for 4hrs straight, I did notice again slight pain in my left ear as I did with the Wireless Pro which is not good but various heads/ears will differ. Steelseries says the Elite headset battery will last 30hrs but I can’t test this at the moment but it will be greatly improved over the Pro headset batteries as I’ve been using them now since 2020 and to be fair they still last over 8hrs on a single charge. The software is much the same with a few great tweaks for the Elite Headset Mic which has 2 mics “Boom Mic & Internal Mic” which means you can use the headset while jogging or cycling without the boom mic out which then switches to the internal mic for when you get mobile calls ETC. “Watch a YT video for the complete explanation. At this point I will be updating my review when I have more time to use the Elite headset and add more info and Pictures but at the moment the Steelseries Pro Wireless can’t be bought new only refurbished on Amazon but the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless can be bought for £247.49 “Black Friday Deal”, Is this worth paying more than double the price for the Elite priced at £599. I would have to say NO, If you want to connect 4 different devices to the Elite , then maybe yes it’s up to you what you need them for. At my stage, My Pro wireless headset is coming to the end of its life as the Dac has burn in problems and also the Dac menu has been spamming out for over 2 years when I try to put it into standby mode. I hope Steelseries has this fixed in the Elite version but only time will tell and by the time you find that out, it’s too late. I will be giving them 5 stars at the moment for the initial review for their quality. If you are going to spend this type of money on a headset, look at what you need it for. Good Luck in whatever you decide. Update “27/11/2025 I can’t seem to find in the “Elite DAC” menu were to switch the Dac to Standby Mode as I could with the Pro Wireless. I say this because in the Pro Wireless version, switching the dac to standby meant that computer speakers automatically came on. I therefore have to go into the Sound Settings menu and manually select the computer speakers. Now maybe I’m just missing something or Steelseries will have to address this with a firmware update. You can turn the Headset off manually by holding down the power for 2 seconds but that doesn’t turn that Dac off which makes the PC think the sound is stilling running through the DAC. Again I will update this if I’m wrong. Update 13/12/25 On a good point the mic is better as my online friends said I sounded as If I were beside them in the same room, This would be due to the mic eq setting you can have along with the Sonar Software. The bad point of the boom mic would be, when fully out, there is a wobble of the arm which is annoying and you can hear this within the left earcup. The Pro Wireless never had this problem. Also this could just be my headset that has this as I cant speak for others of the same version. The wobble does nothing to affect the mic sound which is good. Update "26/12/25" Also I was able to but a second set of earcup cushions for the headset which was from the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro lineup which also fits the headset, all be it slightly more fiddly to put on but to be honest, this just adds to the overall cost of the headset which "SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED ANOTHER SET AT LEAST FOR THE COST", "See Images"