SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Review

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is the company’s flagship wireless gaming headset. It has a sharp look, effective simulated surround sound, and useful active noise cancellation (ANC) to block distractions. You get the most features and options when using the headset with a PC, but its base station has two USB ports that let you connect it to a PlayStation or Xbox (depending on the model you buy). Though pricey at $329.99, the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless easily earns our Editors’ Choice award for wireless gaming headsets, justifying its price with superior functionality and performance.

(Credit: Will Greenwald)

Design: New Headset, New Base

The headset, available in black or white, is as premium as a gaming headset can be without entering the extreme audiophile realm (like the $900 Audeze LCD-GX). A metal headband—with plastic and rubber running along the underside for further support—connects the sturdy, matte plastic earcups. On top of that, an adjustable ski goggle-style suspension strap keeps the band lifted above your scalp. The earcups can also extend and retract, which are customization options that most ski-goggle headsets lack.

The faux leather-covered earcups are generously padded with memory foam, though they aren’t removable. You can replace the metal panels and suspension strap with $34.99 accessory kits in seven colors, but you can’t swap the faux leather earpads for fabric pads. Still, it’s a comfortable headset that feels as nice as similarly priced headphones.

Most controls and connections run along left earcup, and include a power button, mic mute button, volume wheel, 3.5mm port for wired listening, and the pleasantly stealthy boom microphone. It’s a plastic capsule that sits on the end of a flexible arm, and rests flush inside a cut-out on the earcup to almost completely disappear when not in use. The right earcup holds a Bluetooth pairing button and Bluetooth/ power indicator LEDs.

The earcups have magnetic back panels, and they easily pop off. The right panel hides the removable battery slot, which is handy. The Nova Pro Wireless, much like its predecessor, includes two batteries so you don’t need to deal with downtime when charging. The left panel hides a USB-C port for charging the headset on the go, when you can’t access the transmitter’s battery slot.

The transmitter has been overhauled with a much sleeker design and different connectivity options. The plastic device features curved sides, making it no longer look like a square, blocky audio component. The multi-purpose knob sits on the right side of the transmitter’s face, with a monochrome OLED display next to it. The back panel loses the previous version’s optical audio input and output, but now features two USB-C ports that let you simultaneously connect two USB devices (like a PC and console). It also holds 3.5mm line-in and line-out connections.

The transmitter’s right side features a unique and useful battery slot. According to SteelSeries, the headset’s two batteries can each last up to 36 hours when connected over the 2.4GHz transmitter (or 18 to 22 hours using both 2.4GHz or Bluetooth). In a nice touch, the batteries provide three hours of use with just a 15-minute charge.

(Credit: Will Greenwald)

The OLED screen displays useful information, including the current device connected to the headset, battery levels, and audio sampling and bit rate. A large, circular meter shows the headset’s volume level, and the sound can be adjusted with a large volume dial. You can click the dial to change the control to ChatMix, which lets you adjust the balance between game audio and voice chat audio.

SteelSeries Software

The headset is designed primarily for use with a PC or Mac over USB, with support for either PlayStation or Xbox depending on the model. Whether you use a PC or Mac, you can install the SteelSeries GG software to get the most out of the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. The program manages and updates the firmware of all connected SteelSeries devices, and provides several useful features for audio devices under its Sonar tab.

(Credit: SteelSeries)

Sonar offers a full parametric equalizer for game (and media) audio, letting you make far more granular adjustments than your standard 5- or 10-band EQ. You still get a conventional 10-band EQ for chat audio, and another EQ for the microphone. Each equalizer has several presets if you don’t want to experiment too much.

Sonar also enables audio features, including spatial audio mixing with seven directional channels. Besides the simulated surround sound, you can turn on Smart Volume to keep your audio from suddenly getting too loud or quiet. For both the chat audio and microphone feed, there’s a Smart Voice feature similar to Smart Volume; ClearCast AI noise cancellation that filters out non-vocal sound; and manual noise reduction and noise gate functions if you don’t want to use ClearCast.

Tweaks made in Sonar don’t apply when the headset is used with a Bluetooth connection, but you can make adjustments using other SteelSeries GG software tools. For example, the Engine tab provides a separate EQ for the headset.

(Credit: Will Greenwald)

A Clear, Tweakable Mic

The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ microphone sounds very good, especially with its features enabled in Sonar. ClearCast AI Noise Cancellation (which is separate from the active noise cancellation the audio that comes in through the headphones receives) reduces outside noise, and Smart Voice regulates volume. Both features worked well, with the former eliminating both laptop fan noise and the chirps of birds outside, and the latter keeping my voice at a listenable level.

You might want to play with the mic EQ presets in Sonar, because the default flat setting isn’t the best; it made my voice sound rough and slightly sibilant. Oddly, the Balanced setting is sculpted, and cuts out the lowest frequency band, as does the Less Nasal setting. Both made my voice sound crisp and clear. In fact, the Less Nasal setting slightly reduced my normal speech’s congested sinus sound.

The microphone sounded excellent after I found the best settings (ClearCast and Smart Voice turned on and EQ set to Less Nasal). A dedicated USB mic almost always sounds better for serious content recording and streaming, but the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ mic works in a pinch with the right tweaks.

(Credit: Will Greenwald)

Strong Noise Cancellation

Active noise cancellation (ANC) has become an increasingly common feature in high-end gaming headsets. Apple, Bose, and Sony all have the strongest ANC technology currently available, but their best noise-cancelling headphones lack the Arctis’ connectivity and gaming features.

The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ noise-cancelling circuitry is surprisingly potent, and superior to the Razer Barracuda Pro. It effectively blocked the sounds from my laptop’s fans, though it didn’t eliminate hum of a nearby air conditioner. It also didn’t completely dampen the rumble of the subway. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra and Sony WH-1000XM5 are more effective across frequency ranges and come closer to eliminating many noises.

Sounds Best With Adjustments

The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless puts out impressive low-end sound, as heard with our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout.” At maximum and unsafe volume levels, the kick drum hits and bass synth notes were palpable and almost painful, without distortion.

The opening acoustic guitar notes in Yes’ “Roundabout” came through with solid low-mid resonance, and still highlighted the string texture. When the track properly kicked in, the bassline sat in front of the other elements, but the guitar strums, drums, and vocals didn’t take much of a back seat. This is with the default EQ settings. Setting the preset to Music: Bright significantly brought out the high-mids and highs. In fact, its curve was a bit too aggressive in the high end, but you can reach an excellent middle ground with some experimentation.

The backbeat in The Crystal Method’s “Born Too Slow” reached deep enough to ominously drive the track, though the riffs and vocals are slightly blunted in the higher frequencies with the default EQ setting. The Music: Bright setting significantly improved the balance, but you can get the sound you want from the headset by playing with the software.

Gaming and Spatial Audio

The SteelEngine software’s simulated surround sound is impressive. Playing Satisfactory, I got a strong sense of directionality from the whirr of machines around me, panning and mixing between the ears to give a solid impression of left-right and forward-back imaging. The sounds of industry were full and clean, with the crunch of construction, the woosh of hypertubes, and the soothing ambient soundtrack well-balanced and clear.

Fortnite also sounds good with the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, again with satisfying simulated surround. I easily picked out the general direction of nearby footsteps and shots; it was about as good a directional sense as a pair of headphones can offer. The Fortnite EQ preset also boosted the game’s sound effects with frequency spikes highlighting loud weapons fire and more subtle ambient sound.

(Credit: SteelSeries)

Verdict: A Top-Tier Wireless Gaming Headset

The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is a bit pricey at $329.99, but it has excellent performance and many connectivity options. It works best when connected to a PC, with the SteelSeries GG software enabling surprisingly good spatial audio and offering preset tweaks that improve the sound balance. The active noise cancellation is effective, too, and the dual-battery setup means you can keep playing without plugging in your headset. For all of these benefits, the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless earns our Editors’ Choice award. If you want good performance for less money, the $249.99 Razer Barracuda Pro is another impressive headset with simulated surround sound, though its noise cancellation and boom mic aren’t up to par with the Arctis.