SteelSeries Arctis 7 - Lossless Wireless Gaming Headset with DTS Headphone: X v2.0 Surround - for PC and PlayStation 4 - Black

WARNING: Not Plug and Play. Do NOT buy this headset if your system is not administered by you. tl;dr: arrived with a non-functioning mic, otherwise as described. after trying the usual techsupport options (off then on again, settings, hardware reset, change port, change pc, etc) the fix was (seemingly) installation of the companys bloatware. If you dont have install privileges and/or dont want to install bloatware you should look for a different product. This product is decent, with a nice design and good fit. The strap that sits on your head is comfortable and provides a better wear experience than others Ive used. They feel lighter than they are, more like a AKG M220 and (thankfully imo) less like a ASTRO A50. Noise isolation is decent like any closed back headphone, enough that you will want to push one cup behind your ear to have conversations with someone. The mics audio quality is above average for a headset mounted mic, though below average for a stand alone one. The retractable mic seems like a plus, assuming it doesnt become a point of failure. The mute and volume/mixing controls are fine, the audio jack is a nice inclusion but the USB audio jack and cord are fragile. Id be wary of using it daily or for anything important. Look and feel are good, better than a Turtle Beach and on pad with Astros. The hinges and controls feel decent. The only thing that comes of as cheap to me are the USB ports and USB audio cable. Honestly a single USB C solution (or a robust USB B failing that) would be better than going with frail mini/micro options. Packaging and documentation was spartan but fine. The box protected the headphones and was easy to open. Included documentation was spartan but fine. The major failure here was nothing written about the mic needing the companys bloatware to work. Manufacturer support is minimal, web based CS portal and links to their bloatware. No standalone drivers, no forum or faq. The final verdict is that this headset is decent enough once the mic is fixed (see above). If you can get it on sale and handle the mic issue the 7 is an option to consider.

But I cant. In fact, I usually dont write 3 star reviews, but in some ways, I feel like Im being generous. I actually have two of these headsets. I personally found them so comfortable, that when I had to stop b/c of running out of power (and FYI, the 24 hour estimate is hogwash!) I wanted a second pair to put on, despite the annoyance of having to go into Windows to reset my audio every whatever. Heres the thing though. This set has a TON of quirks that Ive just never seen in another set. And, TL;DR - its enough for me to finally give up on the most comfortable headset ever. 1. Beeping. Go google it. Youll find TONS of people saying the thing beeps, and there are just as many solutions, but in my case, none of them work. Get this: even muting system sounds doesnt make it stop. Somehow, this has a receiver thats sitting not three feet from the headset itself, yet, it still makes disconnection sounds, sometimes, about ten in 5 seconds. Yes, that fast. Its insane. 2. As mentioned by others, distortion. Dropping $150 on a headset, you figure you can crank this puppy up, but nope. Particularly with voices (like watching 90% of youtube or twitch), when a person is talking, its very easy to pick up a lot of cracking and distortion. 3. The aforementioned time. Good grief, Im lucky if I get ten hours out of this thing after a year. Its certainly not 20+. 4. is related to 3 so...I did figure out this one issue - I had thought it wouldnt take a charge, but in actuality, theres a bug in the software where the green light on the power button (which is where you know its charged) turns red.. and STAYS RED. It was out of the warranty period, so I bought another headset, but turns out, that if you leave it plugged in while its charging, and then turn it on, while plugged in, the light turns back to green. ...? WTF! Yes, its a known bug, they havent fixed it (and face it, they wont now) but, if you have this headset - youre welcome. /eyeroll 5. Volume. As others have noted, at MAX setting there are times when I can barely hear whats being played, which is kind of insane. I have a Razer Synapse that performs WAY better. I just have to assume their governor in the Arctis 7 is set to protect the user, but in fact, its really disappointing. Im all for not blaring music, but this is ridiculous. 6. Did I mention the beeping? Ive tried so many things - moving the receiver (it comes with one that is already 3 feet long - it sits on my desk). I also learned that plugging a headset into a USB hub can cause issues (and it did seem to get a little better when I took out that thing from the loop) but it didnt fix the problem. And, when its fully charged, it seems like it works a bit better. Sometimes I can get a few hours without any beeps. But then, another time, Ill pull it off the shelf (I have three headsets hanging on the wall behind me) and BAM.. fresh off a charger, it beeps at me about 30 times in a minute, and I just give up and go back to a Razer I have. I definitely cannot recommend this headset to anyone else. I read on many websites a few years ago how this one went back and forth with a few other brands for being the best available at the time, but I just dont see it. When they have several common errors that they refuse to fix, one just has to assume its the company not willing to go the distance. Am now in search of another wireless headset that

I was initially deterred by a couple of the negative reviews about the Arctis 7 headphones, but decided to take the risk and try them out. I have had mine now for about half a month and absolutely love them! Pros: - Very comfortable. I can wear these for 6+ hours at a time, through work and games, without issue. - Good battery life - Granular surround and equalizer configuration options using SteelSeries Engine - There is a dial on the back right earcup that allows you to change the volume balance of a voice chat (e.g. Discord) and the rest of your computers audio output. I love this feature and use it a lot in situations such as when Im playing a multiplayer game and need to hear the voice chat better or vice versa. - Great sound. I own a pair of AirPods Pro and Bose QuietComforts and find that the sound from the Arctis holds up well against those. Im no audiophile but can appreciate a good soundstage and balance. Cons: - The mic extension feels flimsy and Im worried Ill accidentally break it if I tug on it too hard. I definitely try to be extra careful handling that. - Like some other reviews mention, the volume dials are easy to accidentally move if you are putting the headphones on or taking them off. - Like most wireless headsets, the mic isnt going to be absolutely stunning, and Ive had a couple of people comment on my loss of voice quality since switching from a wired headset. This isnt a huge deal by any means, but Id suggest pairing these with a more serious condenser mic if you care about that sort of thing. Overall, I love the freedom afforded to me by wireless headphones, and the Arctis 7 more than satisfy my wants for a gaming headset.

So I purchased this just weeks ago and I was so excited because this was my first foray into wireless headsets. Furthermore, I did my research and was deciding between Razer, Steelseries and Logitech. Most review websites were raving about the superior sound quality of the Steelseries Arctis 7. Well guess what? The sound is crap. Fresh out the box, I updated the Steelseries Engine 3 software and patched the headset, but the soundstage in my ears was skewed around 30 degrees to the left. That means that everything I hear in my ears seems to be coming from the left. Sometimes, there was nothing to the right. Whether I was listening to music or playing games, the sound was skewed to the left. I tried tweaking different settings in the Engine 3 but to no avail. So I did what any logical person would do -- I contacted the Steelseris customer service on 30 September 2018. Every reply from them takes around 2 - 3 working days. Slow responses notwithstanding, the customer service representative did not seem to know why the issue was happening. He only suggested 2 options. Firstly, he told me to reset the hardware via a magical button hidden in the left earcup. I had to peel off the cushioning, find one of those iPhone pins, and then hold the button for a certain amount of time, at which point the headset should reset. There is no indication anywhere so I had to just hope it worked. (It works when you realise you have to re-pair the headset to the USB receiver that came with it.) After re-pairing with the receiver, the issue was improved by maybe 5 degrees but the soundstage was still skewed to the left. The issue becomes more apparent at lower volumes. The customer service reps next solution was to go straight to the RMA process. After asking me to send in my receipt, they agreed to RMA the product conditionally if I send in evidence (screenshot) of the destroyed product - i.e. breaking off the left earcup and showing the serial number. Which I did on 14 October. Its 16 October and my reply from them was that my RMA is declined -- with NO EXPLANATION WHATSOEVER WHY. So basically, lets recap -- Steelseries sold me a product that has some weird issue, took 2 weeks to correspond with me, agreed to RMA my purchase, and then after I had destroyed it, proceeded to screw me over and tell me the RMA is rejected. Take this as a lesson learnt -- DO NOT BUY THEIR PRODUCTS. WONKY. FAULTY. PATHETIC CUSTOMER SERVICE. AND WILL ABSOLUTELY SCREW YOU OVER FOR NO REASON AT ALL.

I really wanted to like this headset and have it be the one I relied on for many years. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. Ive recently switched to a Logi PRO X set and like it much better. Out of the box, they worked great. I am on a Win 10 machine, updated, nothing goofy about the setup or anything. Then, they started disconnecting randomly mid-game. This became predictable and happened 1-3 times per session, and I only game for a few hours at a time tops. I dealt for a while, relocated the adapter, checked for interference in my home to the best of my ability. It ended up just stopping one day randomly, kind of like how it started. Fast forward a couple of months of it working without issue. Suddenly disconnects again AND with the update to SSGG 22.0, the EQ broke. I tried every fix I could find online. Reinstalled, reset button on the unit, etc... I can only get the EQ and Sidetone (which I rely on) working if I do this goofy dance of powering it off/on/off/saving an EQ change/reverting the change. But, when they inevitably disconnect shortly after that - it undoes all that and EQ/Sidetone is broken again. Sigh.... Dont bother. I lament not having gone Logi initially, since thats my usual go-to brand for stuff like this.

I could wear these all day and practically forget they are on. The headband cushions the weight wonderfully, and despite my big head, I havent had a problem with the limited adjustability. The biggest complaints in terms of build I have are the two volume dials being a little too easy to accidentally adjust, and that I would prefer a flip up mic rather than roll out style this has, but that hasnt cause any actual problems. Sound quality is quite good, the best wireless Ive had. Im sure for several hundred more I could get better sound quality, but I think these are already at the sweet spot. Battery life is quite decent, enough that I havent really paid attention to how long they last before needing a charge. The signal strength is really where it shines. I can not only go anywhere in my apartment without interruption, I can walk out the door (on the far side of my apartment, with two walls in between) around the corner and down the hall about 30 feet before it finally begins to cut in and out. Other features I appreciate are the line in and out on the wireless transmitter, which is also on a long cord to allow for optimal placement. I also love the 3.5mm output on the headset themselves, allowing me to easily share sound. I actually find this quite useful for linking to my partners headphones when we watch streaming video while chatting with friends over discord, allowing us to cast to our TV without the sound coming over the microphone. Will most people use those features? Probably not, but they are also just the icing on the cake.

I purchased the SteelSeries Arctis 7 Wireless headphones after a disappointing experience with a Logitech G903 and I have to say there is no comparison. For sound quality these are great at the 100-150 price-point these do well compared with other options. It is important to note that these are not noise canceling so if you are in a noisy environment they will not isolate you that much from your surroundings. The real selling point with these though is the battery life; I still get 15-16 hours out of a single charge after a year of constant use. This is dramatically better than any other wireless headset I have ever used and really makes this product for me. The only issues I have with this product are relatively minor. First the charging is done via a micro-usb cable and I would like to see this updated to use the more modern usb-c. Second the strap that sits between the top of the headset and the users head makes a relatively poor method for securing the device to your person and makes it unusable in anything more intense than a VR experience Seeing as micro-usb is still somewhat relevant and this is not marketed as a sports headset I do not see either of these as serious issues. TLDR: Great battery, good price and quality.

I have been eying wireless headphones for a while. I love the sound quality of my current setup, but I wanted to have a little more freedom to move around while casually using my computer or gaming. When I saw these on sale, I decided to go for them. Sound Quality: The sound quality on these is pretty cool. At first, they sounded a little iffy, but I was able to go into the Steel Series software and tune it to how I liked it. This was really easy. I gave them a 4/5 because they work great for gaming and for casual use for YouTube and stuff like that it is closer to sounding good than great. I briefly tested the microphone so I could include it in this review. I would call it passable. If you are using it for chatting in-game or over discord, I do not think anyone would think it is bad - but I wouldnt do any sound recording with the mic. Comfort: These are some of the most comfortable headphones I have used. I love the headband design and wish it was used everywhere. It is super easy to adjust to fit your head and is barely noticeable while wearing. You can definitely wear them for multiple hours without fatigue. I have tried them with both glasses and without and have not noticed it being much, if at all, more uncomfortable with the glasses on. Miscellaneous There isnt much else to put here. I think the position of the controls is all right. I have been using them for a bit and still have a hard-ish time finding the power button or the mic mute button without looking. The software seems pretty robust (this is used to change the sound settings and all of that). The bright red glow on the microphone when it is muted is a little annoying. When I wear glasses, I can sometimes catch the reflection of it in the corner of my eye. I would have also preferred if it just muted when you slid the microphone into the hidey-hole rather than using a toggle/button. The wireless is amazing. My setup is on the second floor, and I can go literally anywhere in my house without it dropping. Even the basement. The only time the signal got iffy was when I was standing next to a microwave. Verdict Overall, I would 100% recommend these at the price point I got them ($100) if you are looking for a wireless headset with a microphone. Once you move past $100, you start to get into the territory of other headsets that also have good reviews. I have not personally used any other wireless headset for almost 6 years, so I cannot speak to that. I can say I still would have been mostly happy with these at their retail of $140 (as of writing this review). But my complaints about the controls would have been more substantial at that price point.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7 is a well-made, wireless, and aesthetically pleasing set of headphones. I originally bought this because (1) I needed a new set of headphones, and (2) it was recommended by a friend. I am writing this review after four (4) months of almost daily usage. AESTHETICS/PACKAGING The packaging of the product and the aesthetic of the product itself is great. I have zero complaints as I have received the package in brand-new condition. I absolutely love the white colour of the headphones -- it is sleek, matte, and clean. There is no RGB feature, so if you are an RGB junkie, this product is not for you. FUNCTIONALITY (1) PC: I use a Windows 10 system, and so far the functionality has been fine for me for the most part. At first, I didnt know why it just turned off after 30 minutes of being idle. It took me a while to figure out the fact that I can set up the headphones to automatically shut off, or just to leave it on (although thatd drain my battery). The nice thing about these headphones is that if you forget to power it off after shutting down your PC, itll automatically power down after a solid 10-15 minutes, which is great for power-saving. I also love how I can go back and forth with Game and Chat mode on my headphones. At first it was confusing, but with some time and usage, I got used to it and became handy when I utilise Discord and whatever game that I am playing. The fact that I can mute myself without using a mute function on my software has to be the best thing. Sometimes my friends find me suspicious or weird when I mute myself (I... dont know why), or sometimes if I have to sneeze/cough a lot because Im sick, this is a quick and easy way to excuse myself from others during a voice call. As for usage with gaming, it is very smooth and does not break or disrupt. The only time when it will is if you have a connectivity issue with your wireless hub thats provided (probably with your wire or USB), or your Internet connection (for any voice calls). (2) OTHER ELECTRONICS: I have tried using this for my phone, but the only issue is that your phone will not work with the wireless functionality, as it must be wired (wire for 3.5mm jack is provided in the package). Ive used it for my phone once, and never again. The headphones are kind of bulky for me to carry it around unless if I bring it for conference calls in business trips. COMFORT As a female, my head is smaller than an average male head and so sometimes I find my headphones slipping off here and there. The ear cushions are soft and comfortable -- Ive never found an issue with the cushions regarding comfort. CONNECTIVITY The fact that these are wireless are life-changing. If youve never used wireless anything, its really time to change. I can go from my room to the restroom (which usually causes disruption) to another room thats at least 15 feet away, and there is no disturbance or disruption. In fact, I went outside (right by my back door to the back yard) and I can still speak and listen to music/audio clearly. COMPATIBILITY I can only speak for Windows 10 (PC). It works perfectly with the system and Ive had no problems with it so far. BATTERY LIFE Obviously with any system, the battery life is pristine the first time you use it. The headphones have lasted me about 3 days of an average of 4-6 hours of usage/day. I would say thats pretty solid for a set of wireless headphones. The great thing about this headset is you can tell when the battery is going low by the power button light (will not be green) and the sound it makes when you power on/off the headset (will have a slower sound when power is low). Currently, I use the headphones for 4-6 hours a day, for about 3 days of usage, with just a single full charge. I charge my headphones when I do not use my PC (with my PC on since it is USB charge). NOISE-CANCELLING FEATURES This is the one feature I dislike about this product, which is why Im giving this product 4-stars. Ive noticed that the noise-cancelling feature is the weakest point of this product -- the sound leaks A LOT from the headset to the point where if I were to just leave my audio running with my headset off with medium volume, I can hear the music from about a 5-10 feet distance. Id say, thats not a good sign if you want noise-cancelling features. Luckily I do not care so much about this feature and my rooms door does that job, so Im okay with it. OVERALL 4/5 rating, mostly because of the noise-cancelling feature and my grip with these headphones. Otherwise, the general functionality, compatibility, and aesthetic features of the product is very satisfying. Its a great overall product, and Id recommend it to anyone who isnt sensitive about noise-cancelling features.

I had to give these things some time before I wrote a review. I have had several turtle beach headsets over the past couple years. And they all broke within the time I have had these Arctis 7. The physical build quality is beyond any headset I have ever had. I have gone through three sets of Sony ps4 (2 gold, 1 platinum) headsets in a year. All broke at the foldable hinges. I went through 5 turtle beach headsets (4 600 stealth, 1 elite pro) in 2 years. All broke at the cheap plastic extensions. Yes, including the elite pros. The Arctis 7 is made of metal. Even the rotating cups have metal hinges! These things are solid. I game a lot. I mean a LOT. And the metal frame hasnt even lost its grip on my head. The elastic headband is comfortable and adjustable. I have a larger than average head and they still fit me perfectly. Super comfortable for extended gaming sessions. I didnt believe the battery life until I got them fully charged and ran a 13 hour marathon one night. The next day they still have a good 5 hour charge left. So the battery life is no joke. Even after running them all the way down, the recharge time only took a few hours. Cant really remember how long exactly. It wasnt terribly long. Sound quality isnt what Im used to hearing however. The mids and highs are good, the bass is very flat. I wish they had a lot more oomph to them. I might be able to get more out of them through the equalizer. In order to use the equalizer you have to connect the arctis 7 to a PC or laptop and install the program. Its a simple program to use too. Be aware however, the DTS 7.1 setup is only compatible with PC, not ps4. There is virtually no noise cancellation. The foam around the ears is reasonable but not the greatest at shutting down outside sound. The microphone is very quiet. I had to turn up my mic level nearly all the way for anyone to hear me. And even then I still have to talk louder than I prefer. The range of the wireless receiver is awesome. I can go into my bedroom behind the wall and not lose connection at all. No wire connection to your game controller for microphone use either. Simple plug and play. I did have to change my sound/devices settings on my ps4 to all audio in order to get any sound. So you wont have any sound on your television unless you change it back to chat audio even with the headset shutoff. Overall I love this headset. The sound quality could be better for the price, but they are so comfortable and the super solid build quality wins my approval. If anything happened to these, I would buy another set no questions asked.