I recently reviewed a different headset from Turtle Beach that I aimed to use for both my Xbox and PC. It had it’s drawbacks and since I am lazy I decided I would keep it for my Xbox Series X only and pick up what was my second choice, the SteelSeries Arctis 7.
I am unsure what to say other than the Arctis 7 is fantastic. It doesn’t feel as premium as the Turtle Beach Stealth 700X but it’s pretty good on it’s own right.
I do like the adjustable elastic strap and as it came was fine for my head. I do know for some the headset may just be big enough to fit their head but I guess my head doesn’t need to contain as big of a brain thus it’s smaller.
The fit and finish is great. Not too heavy and the cushions are very comfortable though only covered in a fabric unlike the faux leather of the Stealth 700X. The sound isolation is pretty good too.
Sound quality is good but not great. I haven’t experienced any distortion but they don’t have the depth of my Samson studio headphones or the Turtle Beach 700X. It’s not as bad as I may be making it sound. They are still very good. Pretty balanced really which may not interest a lot of people nowadays. So many people like too much bass. I like some bass but I like it balanced with some highs and clear mids. You basically get this here.
The microphone that pulls out of the left ear on a flexible but sturdy cable. It’s unique to SteelSeries and it works fine. The microphone quality is pretty good too though nowhere near as good as the Stealth 700X. If you want to record a podcast I definetly recommend the Stealth 700 but the Arctis 7 will in a pinch.
The controls are spread over both ear cups.
The left cup includes a mute microphone, volume up and down wheel, proprietary port to hook up to a 3.5mm jack, a 3.5mm jack for to hook up someone else to the sound, and a USB micro port for charging. The new Arctis 7+ (which I could not find for sale anywhere here in Canada yet) ditches the USB micro for USB-C. Thank goodness. Of course the Mic is also on this side as well.
The controls are simple and play nice with Windows which is more than I can say for the Stealth 700X. The Arctis 7 easily hooks up via a 2.4GHz connection with the provided dongle. The proprietary dongle for 3.5mm audio is a bit on the dumb side considering right next to it you have a 3.5mm jack for someone else to listen in on your gaming. I’ll never understand that.
The right cup has the chat mix dial and the power button.
The chat mix button will balance the audio between your game or other activities with you chat app you are using like Discord. This works really well. You can completely mute chat or game audio or anywhere in between with this wheel. The Stealth 700X has this as well but it just doesn’t work quite as slick.
I haven’t pushed the battery to it’s limits but I can say it has lasted as long as I have used it which is a full day of gaming or streaming content.
I have found myself using these as headphone for my phone as well even with that proprietary connection though once I am on the road again this will not be the case. These really are too nice to take on the road.
The only question I have now is: How impressive are the Arctis Pro headsets? To me that is a testament to how much I like this headset.
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