SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 Review: Comfort First

This page previously covered the original Arctis Nova 7. It now covers the second generation, which replaced it in 2025 — a different headset, reviewed from a fresh source.

The short version: SteelSeries has built something exceptionally comfortable with unusually deep software, and has left one obvious flaw in place.

The Gen 2 uses a double-headband design, and both bands adjust. The outer arch is metal; the band that actually rests on your head is fabric.

That arrangement spreads the load, and the result is a headset described in testing as genuinely light on the head — light enough that you forget you are wearing it. For anyone who plays in long sessions, that matters more than almost any specification.

The earcups are circum-aural, enclosing the ear rather than pressing on it, which brings usefully good passive isolation. The pads are fabric rather than imitation leather, and the assessment was blunt about why that is the better choice: fake leather crumbles after about two years of use. Fabric lasts.

The cups pivot through 180 degrees, so the headset lies flat for storage or sits comfortably around your neck between rounds.

SteelSeries has dropped the RGB lighting. The Gen 2 follows the plainer direction much of 2025's gaming hardware took, and the styling is deliberately restrained.

One neat touch: the SteelSeries logo plate on each cup is magnetic, so it lifts off — which invites replacing it with something of your own.

Build quality was rated excellent. The frame flexes without creaking, and the adjustment stems for the earcups are rigid enough to inspire confidence rather than worry.

Everything sits on the earcups, and the split is sensible once learned:

• Left cup: volume wheel, and the microphone mute button
• Right cup: power, Bluetooth, and a second wheel for the game/chat mix

That mix wheel is the one worth understanding, because it is tied to the software — more on that below.

Physically there is a USB-C port and a 3.5 mm jack.

The tuning is powerful, and importantly it holds together when pushed: testing found no significant distortion as the volume climbs.

There is bass, but it is not overwhelming — the mids stay clearly distinguishable, which is where voices and most instruments live. The treble does come through, though it sits further back in the mix than the rest.

Spatial audio is where SteelSeries pulls ahead. It was singled out as one of the brand's genuine strengths, and one that works properly rather than as a gimmick. In games it delivers real immersion and, more practically, a considerable competitive advantage — footsteps being the obvious example. If you play anything where locating a sound matters, this is the feature to buy it for.

The equaliser is described as extremely complete, with presets for hundreds of individual games.

This is the flaw, and it is worth being precise because it is partly fixable.

The boom microphone retracts into the left earcup, which is tidy. But it lacks rigidity, and testing found it impossible to position exactly where you want it. Retractable booms are also a common failure point on headsets over time.

On sound quality, the microphone was tested twice — once without SteelSeries' software and once with it:

• Without the software: really quite average, with a lot of background noise
• With the software: markedly better, though still not class-leading

So the microphone is usable, but only if you install the software. If you were planning to run this headset on a console or a machine where you will not install SteelSeries GG, weigh that carefully.

The Gen 2 connects over 2.4 GHz through a USB-C dongle, or over Bluetooth — and crucially, both can run at the same time. Testing called this an excellent point, and it is genuinely useful in practice: game audio over the low-latency wireless link while your phone stays connected for calls or music.

Compatibility covers PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch and mobile, with dedicated 7P and 7X versions sold for PlayStation and Xbox respectively.

SteelSeries GG on PC was rated one of the most complete applications on the market, and this is a real differentiator rather than a bundled afterthought.

The standout is Sonar, which testing compared to VoiceMeeter Banana — a mixer that separates game, chat and microphone. You route the game to a virtual Game input, voice chat to a virtual Chat input and your microphone to the virtual mic, and the app then offers hundreds of per-game templates to tune the sound for what you are playing. That routing is also what makes the headset's physical game/chat mix wheel work.

There is more besides: Moments, a small game for training your ear on spatial audio, plus brand news.

A mobile app for Android and iOS covers the equaliser and microphone settings, and notably the microphone can be configured independently for the 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth connections.

SteelSeries quotes up to 54 hours, and six hours of use from a 15-minute charge.

Testing did not contradict it: in practice the headset ran for many days without difficulty, and the assessment was that the promise holds up.

Buy it if comfort over long sessions is your priority, if you play competitively and want spatial audio that genuinely helps you locate sound, or if you will actually use the software — Sonar and the per-game presets are worth more than the hardware alone suggests.

Look elsewhere if the microphone is central to what you do. A streamer or anyone taking a lot of voice calls will find a fixed, rigid boom or a separate microphone more dependable, and this one only becomes good with software assistance.

Truthful Reviews has not tested this headset. The findings above — the comfort assessment, the audio character, the two-stage microphone test and the battery verification — are published results from an independent French technology publication on our approved source list, which tested this exact second-generation model with its own photography. That source URL is stored as this page's editorial provenance. The source publishes a score on a scale we do not convert, so this review carries no star rating.

We are not quoting a UK price. When we checked Amazon UK on 3 August 2026, the listings for the exact base model were in stock but held by Amazon Resale — open-box stock rather than new — with no new featured offer and no price displayed. The 7P (PlayStation) and 7X (Xbox) editions are separate variants and were not substituted.

Check Amazon UK availability or search Amazon US.