Closer Examination, Build Quality, and Comfort

Many aspects of the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless are identical to the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, which is why I can only rehash many of the comments from my Arctis Nova Pro Wireless review. Of course, all differences between the two headsets are clearly pointed out, and all of the following photos are those of the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless.


In terms of design, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless can be best described as a thorough refinement of the existing suspended headband design found on the Arctis 7, Arctis 9, and several other older members of the Arctis family. This time around, the emphasis is on the headset being as low-key and travel-friendly as possible. The build quality feels exceptional, with luxurious dark steel covering the outer headband and sturdy matte black plastic used for ear cups and hangers. Judging by the look and feel alone, the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless could pass as a proper pair of travel headphones, which is as big of a compliment as I can give it.


The suspended headband is attached to the outer one with four plastic clips. It's stretchable, with a carefully adjusted tension, and even somewhat adjustable, in the sense that you can shorten it slightly, which will increase its tension. I found it perfectly comfortable in the default setting. It does a fantastic job of distributing the weight of the headset across the top of the head and proves to be exceptionally practical to use. You don't have to lose any time worrying about the "height" of the headset. You simply put it on your head, pull the ear cups over your ears, and you're good to go. The suspended headband will automatically stretch and adjust as needed.


The factory-supplied suspended headband is black, but SteelSeries will happily sell you a more colorful one. The so-called Nova Booster Pack, consisting of a cherry red, lilac, mint, rose quartz, or Pride-themed suspended headband and magnetic ear plates, will set you back $50/€35.


That brings us to the magnetic ear plates. They're found on the exterior of both ear cups and come with a small notch on their lower edge that you fit your fingernail into to remove the plates. There's nothing to be found behind the ear plates, so their function is purely cosmetic.


The ear cups are affixed to a pair of hangers, which allow them to be rotated by 90° inwards, making the headset easier to rest around the neck or on a table. The cloth ear cushions are filled with memory foam. That makes them soft and very comfortable to wear. They proved to be better than leatherette ear pads in terms of heat accumulation, as there's much less of it happening on the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless compared to the Nova Pro Wireless, although the seal and passive noise isolation are slightly worse. Still, you don't have to worry about bothering people you share the room with, as there's no significant sound leak present on the Nova 7 Wireless.


The left ear cup has a mute microphone button and a volume wheel.


The left ear cup also has an analog 3.5-mm audio port, should you want to use the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless in wired mode.


The right ear cup is equipped with Power and Bluetooth buttons. The Power button turns the headset on and off but is also used to pause music (single press), jump between songs (double and triple press), as well as answer or reject phone calls. The purpose of the Bluetooth button is to initiate Bluetooth pairing. One of the great features of the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless is that it can simultaneously connect to devices over 2.4 GHz wireless and Bluetooth. I'll discuss it in greater detail in the wireless performance section of this review.


The right ear cup also contains the ChatMix Dial and a USB-C port. The USB-C port is used for battery charging, and you'll have to use it to connect the headset to your PC when updating its firmware. As for the ChatMix Dial, it should be familiar to anyone who used a SteelSeries USB or wireless gaming headset in the past. It's a clever little feature that lets you adjust the volume ratio between the game you're playing and the voice app you're currently using to communicate with your teammates. Turn it one way, and the game will become louder and your friends quieter. Turn it the other way, and the opposite will happen. This is possible because the SteelSeries GG software suite turns the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless into four separate virtual playback devices. When connected to your PC (ChatMix isn't supported on consoles), you can set the SteelSeries Sonar – Gaming as your default playback device and then select the SteelSeries Sonar – Chat as your playback device in Discord or any other voice app of choice. By doing so, you essentially tell your OS that you use one device for voice playback and a different one for playback of other sounds. The OS doesn't care that both sounds are played through the same physical device. The SteelSeries GG suite takes things one step further and lets you configure two separate equalizers for voice chat and other sounds. You can do the same with two other virtual playback devices (SteelSeries Sonar – Media and SteelSeries Sonar – Aux), essentially using four different equalizer settings for four different types of audio content.


The retractable microphone completely tucks into the left ear cup, which basically makes it invisible while it's not being used. The rubberized arm that holds the capsule can be bent in any direction, and it stays where you want it.


The microphone capsule has a red LED light, giving you a clear visual indication of the microphone being muted. You'll also hear a subtle "beep" through the headphones whenever you mute or unmute the microphone.