The SteelSeries Nova Pro Wireless is close to the be-all, end-all gaming headset

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The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is the only headset that can rule them all. It's trying to replace the one you jack into your console, the headset for your PC, and the fancy cans you carry on your commute at the same time. SteelSeries is one of the pricier wireless gaming headsets ever made.

It is packed with tech.

You can listen to three things at the same time with the base station. It has four more microphones to amplify its sound. You get two swappable batteries that can each last a full day of audio, while the other sits in the base station to charge. The base station allows you to switch between two audio devices while also offering 3.5mm line-in and line-out for a pair of speakers. You can use a 3.5mm cable between the headphones and the DAC.

It's the best-sounding wireless gaming headset we've used, and the first good enough that we might consider buying it instead of expensive headphones.

The Nova Pro Wireless and Nova Pro wired headsets are the only headsets on the market that don't have a device behind them. There are some weird design decisions, some flaws, and even a few bugs, but it's difficult to ignore that these products bend over backward to integrate themselves into your gaming arsenal.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The ultimate wireless gaming headset — maybe

By Sean Hollister

It's a nearly perfect device, but sometimes it makes me want to scream. For the past two years, the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless has been my daily driver, and it's packed with many of the same features as the new Nova Pro, like the base station, swappable batteries, and the ability to mix.

The new Nova blows it out of the water. It sounds better with the pumping bass that the original lacked. The original feels flatter and thinner in depth than it does with the Nova's equalizer set completely flat. It made me want to listen to an entire album instead of just a song or two. The bass punch is important in games and movies.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The mic doesn't seem to have been improved, but it is one of the clearer, richer mics we have tried. The richness goes away when it is fully retracted, which is what it was with the original.

SteelSeries has changed its trademark Arctis ski-goggle-style headband for a four-position elastic strap and retractable arms that allow you to adjust the height up and down for taller heads. I wonder if the old fabric earcups will peel as they age, as the new leatherette ear cushions are more plush.

The new base station seems to have the same excellent wireless range as the previous one, and I can chat with my gaming group while down the hall, through two walls, to the kitchen to get a snack. I've tried to clear that bar of wireless gaming headsets. I'm happy the base station ditches the optical jacks and has an easy switch between them. You don't need a proprietary cable to get 3.5mm audio to the headset. Even though SteelSeries includes a 5- to 4-pole cable, a standard 3-pole TRS cable works. Plugging one in turns the Nova Pro Wireless into a totally passive analog headset, with sound that is a little less grainy than in wireless mode.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The weird part is that I don't like how the headset feels. It isn't any more comfortable than the last-gen Arctis Pro for my large head, and I couldn't find a single position where it didn't put pressure on my skull or jaw over the course. It doesn't have the floaty feel of SteelSeries headphones, but that's what Cam says.

I find it odd that SteelSeries replaced the Arctis Pro Wireless dial with a smooth, unresponsive one, which makes my fingers slide off. The base station doesn't feel heavy enough and the swappable batteries are harder to swap in and out with one hand.

It's the most impressive battery system I've used on a wireless gaming headset, so I can't complain much about it. It took me nearly 28 hours on a single charge at 50 percent volume with ANC turned off and 23.5 hours with ANC turned on, which is an around-the-clock charge per battery I actually use to listen to music.

The original Arctis Pro Wireless lasted only 15 hours in the same test, but with both batteries together, that life is more than double that. SteelSeries will sell you a two-pack of extra batteries for $19.99.

The headset makes it impossible to miss when the batteries are going to die, a big complaint I had with the original. The base station's screen is better at notifying you when the battery is low, and you get a low battery beep every 30 seconds for at least the last 20 minutes of life. If you let the battery die, it will turn itself back on if you plug a fresh pack quickly.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The port placement on the left earcup is odd, it's underneath the magnetic plate on the outer face of the earcup, so it looks like it's sticking.

There are still too many pages of menus and too little information on the main screen, but I love how the base station interface has been changed in other ways.

The chatmix that lets you have two audio devices on PC and pick the balance between them, quickly quieting a too-loud game in favor of your teammates on Discord or vice versa, is locked behind the SteelSeries GG PC app. If you use the new Sonar program on the Nova, you can get individual equalizers for each of those channels, but it only works if you use it. The chatmix was baked into the hardware.

Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge

The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless has a new active noise cancellation and transparency mode that can be used when plugged into a PC or console. Do you want to wash out the washing machine noise while you play PS5? I keep an ear open for my kids while I use the transparency mode, and both are a tap or two away from the power button.

The generous amount of sidetone on the Nova Pro Wireless acts as a form of isolation and transparency, though. To get more transparency, you can set sidetone high and use the mic to drown out everything.

The Nova Pro Wireless has a lot of options and flexibility once you get used to the controls.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Not quite a Sony or Bose killer, but great for a gaming headset

By Cameron Faulkner.

I need a set of headphones. On my desk, I juggle between my headphones and my phone to concentrate on ANC and have good audio quality. There is usually a gaming headset or two.

I would recommend the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless to anyone in the same situation as me. They cover all of my gaming needs, and since I can connect to a PC or console, plus my phone, I'm more likely to just keep using these than I am to frantically grab another set and hope they pair before I need to answer the phone.

It is not just a matter of convenience. If I hadn't already spoiled myself by Sony's rich sound and unparalleled ANC, I would think that SteelSeries was close to the top of audio performance. The sound quality is not worse than what the Nova Pro Wireless base station can deliver.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Many of the same things can be found in high-end headphones from the likes of Bose and Sony. I already mentioned active noise cancellation, but there is also a transparency mode that lets the microphones funnel sound from the outside world into the earcups to listen for audible cues that might be important. It has a good build quality, but I wish it was more present in my XM3s. I think these look pretty slick. The fact that you can swap batteries is a very rare trick in wireless headphones.

It's easy for me to say that SteelSeries wants me to use the Nova Pro Wireless as headphones. The headset was designed to be able to power on and off without disrupting the connection. That looks like it in real life.

1. I’m listening to a podcast on my phone and gaming on my PC but suddenly need to leave before I have a chance to pause or quit the game
2. Powering off the headset with its dedicated power button cuts the connection to the PC / console, but Bluetooth audio continues without any interruption
3. Coming back to the PC / console and powering on the headset loops in that audio seamlessly, again, without any interruption to Bluetooth audio

The design of the Nova Pro Wireless is sleek and relatively quiet, but I still use a gaming headset wherever I go. I'm not upset to bring them on my commute because I'm not embarrassed to be seen wearing them.

There is a learning curve for becoming proficient in using the Nova as a pair of headphones. You need to long press the button on the rear side of the ear cup until you hear a chime. If you haven't done it yet, keep holding on a little longer. That is it.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

If you're connected to the base station, the headset's volume dial controls the PC's volume only, not the device's. The dial on the base station will control your device's volume if you turn off the headset. Sean couldn't control his phone's volume because he disconnected while the base station was still set to the game mode. It worked well for me.

When connected to my phone, I can play or pause media or pick up calls. Double-pressing it will skip tracks, and triple-pressing it will jump backward. There is no button on this headset.

The Nova Pro Wireless has a button that is supposed to be used to mute calls. My call recipient told me that my voice sounded the same as when I use a set of headphones. Not great, but not bad. They reported that my voice sounded better when I activated gaming mode and extended the boom mic. It's cool that it makes a difference to audio quality, but I can't see myself doing this in public for casual calls. If I need my voice to be clear, I might use it.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

If I said that the Nova Pro Wireless were better than my Sony headphones, I would be lying. They are short in active noise cancellation. The Nova Pro Wireless didn't provide as much of a night-and-day difference as it could have. In my not-so-loud home environment, some distracting sounds still found their way to my ears, even though they were capable of hushing all but the loudest noises on the NYC subway. The transparency mode here is good enough to allow you to hear when you stop on the subway or hear people talking on the sidewalk. Sean was pleasantly surprised to find that the wind noise didn't turn into a microphone screech in either ANC or transparency mode when he walked outdoors.

My biggest disappointment with using the Nova Pro Wireless as headphones is that they don't offer much customization at all, which could be solved with a companion app. You need to be connected to your base station at home to use the tweaks. That is more of a nitpick than a deal-breaking flaw.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The wired version of the Nova Pro headset is $100 cheaper than the wireless version. It's easy to point out the omission of wireless capabilities, but the Nova Pro stands out for what it can do.

It's almost the same as the wireless model, but with fewer buttons, and it's a bit lighter since it doesn't run on. The driver system of SteelSeries is the same as that of the wireless version, according to the company.

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it. It is impossible for us to read and analyze all of these agreements. We started counting how many times you have to agree to use devices when we review them.

Upon plugging in the Nova Pro's base station, you will be presented with multiple things to agree to or decline.

An agreement is required if the mandatory setting is not met.

• Selecting whether you’re located in the EU (volume will be limited, if so)

More features can be unlocked by using the SteelSeries GG software, which is optional for the Nova Pro. When initializing the app, there are mandatory items to agree to.

• Select language
• SteelSeries end user license agreement and privacy policy

You can back up your settings to the cloud if you create a SteelSeries account.

There is one mandatory agreement and four optional ones.

The second-generation GameDAC station is included in the wired Nova Pro. It has the same big knob and user interface as the base station included with the wireless model, but inside it has an ESS Sabre quad DAC that is capable of outputting Hi-Res 96KHz / 24-bit audio on PC. It's a gaming headset that's ready for high end audio equipment.

I wasn't expecting a noticeable improvement in the sound quality of the wired version of the Nova Pro Wireless. The GameDAC made a difference. The music is warm and close to my ears. The wired headphones have a more powerful sound with more detail.

My experience with games was the same. I plugged the GameDAC into my PS5 and on a rainy day, I could hear individual raindrops hitting my car. It still sounded like rain, but I was hearing it from a distance. You can still get this performance from the wireless model by plugging it into a DAC since it has the same drivers, and SteelSeries even tends to sell its GameDACs separately if you want.

The GameDAC included with the cheaper Nova Pro allows you to connect to just as many audio sources as you want, even if you don't have a wireless connection. SteelSeries makes an Xbox specific model that works with the audio protocol.

I have to choose between the wired and wireless versions of the Arctis Nova Pro since Sean and I want to own one. I would put my money behind the wired Nova Pro since its high-end audio performance makes it a unique addition to my tech collection. If I didn't already own a set of good noise-canceling headphones, I wouldn't hesitate to spend more to get the Nova Pro Wireless.