

Our suggestion is to find one that you can test out, either at a friend’s place or at a retailer that has a demo unit. The only thing keeping us from awarding the Arctis 7 the Editor’s Choice Award is the comfort problems, however it truly is a fantastic headset. Smart shoppers might still be able to find it for about $20 less though. This wasn’t mentioned in the main part of the review because it’s a personal preference, but the good news is that with at least 19 hours of battery life and a 4 hour charge time, the time spent plugged in should be minimal.Īt $149.99, the Arctis 7 is still a steel (see what I did there?), even though it appears that the price has gone up at some of the major online retailers since we reviewed the Arctis 5 last month. Having a second battery ready and waiting means that the H-Wireless remains wireless at all times, whereas forgetting to plug in the Arctis 7 will require you to have a cord dangling from your ear for a few hours. If we had to nit pick further, we would say that the changeable battery setup of the H-Wireless is superior to the plug-and-charge configuration of the Arctis 7. Again there are some “fixes”, but out of the box those who are “cranially gifted” might end up with some sore ears. As the shallow cups are spread further apart, the clamping force on the ears becomes greater meaning those with large heads could experience some discomfort like we did. The only aspect where we were left disappointed was with the comfort of the headset during extended use. From gaming to movies, to music, the Arctis 7 lived up to the hype, and as an all around headset, is an incredible bargain. Like the Arctis 5, audiophiles probably won’t be impressed, but folks who don’t feel like shelling out the cost of a car payment for a headset should be lining up in droves for one of these. The audio truly is lag-free, and the audio quality is fantastic in all situations except for GTA V, which we still can’t explain even after combing through all of the audio options in the game. Without a hands on review of SteelSeries’ other wireless headset, the Siberia 840, we can’t say if the Arctis 7 makes this higher priced offering obsolete, but it should certainly wow the majority. In terms of sound reproduction, the Arctis 7 is about as good as it gets when it comes to an affordable, high-performance, wireless gaming headset.
