SteelSeries STEELSERIES ARCTIS 7+ SteelSeries Arctis 7 (Open Box)

Quick background, skip if uninterested: I’m absolutely not an audiophile so this review doesn’t come from a place of incredible pickiness. My old (and cheap) headset broke in the middle of playing online with friends. I was very upset and rushed to Best Buy that evening in an attempt to quickly replace it. Needless to say I was tempted into buying something else(a different “gamer headset” brand) and hated it a lot. After fighting with that horrible setup for a few hours, I decided to order the Arctis 7+ here. Start of review for the particular 7+ model I bought off here: DELIVERY- I ordered it and it arrived wayyy earlier than I expected. I was so excited to try it out. So far I’ve used them them for about 2-3 months. COMFORTABLE- I can say they’re very very comfortable. Even after some 10 hour play sessions, I almost forget they’re there and bump them. The pads around the ears are a perfectly soft material. They’re a soft fabric material that does not break down like I’ve noticed the smooth fake leather to. These also don’t get too hot around my ears thanks to the breathable padding material. I have long hair and OTHER headphones tend to grab and pull out my hair a lot- I haven’t had that issue with this set except a couple times where the fault was all on me because I pulled a joint area through my hair. Otherwise, it seems it’s really hard for this to happen on accident like my other sets always did (Owwy!) Unlike most other headphones, this set has an elastic- yet soft- band under the headband that pretty much suspends the headphones over your head rather than resting their weight directly on the top of your scalp. I find that this design choice really improves the comfort for me, as with other headphone sets the weight and rigidity of the headband start to hurt over time. The Bluetooth feature on this also allows me to sit back, play from a couch, or go get a drink (important!) while still talking to my friends. SOUND QUALITY- I once again want to remind that I am no audiophile. After getting these and starting some gameplay, I immediately noticed highs and lows I wasn’t hearing from my old headsets. Little environmental sounds, instruments in soundtracks I never noticed or heard before, subtle feedback sounds from button presses and menus, I recall calling them out to my friends and them being equally surprised I now noticed them. One of my personal gripes with modern headphones lately is that every company wants to make super bassy sounding headphones, as the average person associates quality with bass for some reason. Out of the box, all of the sound levels for these are perfect in my opinion, not too bassy or anything. If you wanted bassy headphones out of this though, you could easily just go in and change that using the steel series sound control app. I haven’t changed anything myself because I like how they sound as is. Another thing I wanted was independent volume control for the headphones, which this has! Not only can you control the volume with a dial on the headset but you can also adjust wether you want chat or game sounds to be louder than the other on the headset. I was also concerned that audio quality may differ between wired or wireless connection, but everything seems fine regardless of connection type. Mic quality is decent for hanging out and talking to friends. We never have static issues, it never catches annoying background noise, no chirps, so far I’ve heard no issue myself. The mic quality probably isn’t something you’d use for high quality production, like making videos, podcasts, or streaming. Though you probably could do any of those things if you’re not a stickler for recording quality. I feel it’s mainly a headset for comfortably gaming- a role it’s more than fulfilled for me! NOISE CANCELLATION- I’m personally indifferent to wether my headsets have noise cancellation or not. I don’t live in a particularly loud place, so I don’t get to test this one out much. Every once in a while another family member may approach me to ask something, and I can hear them at that point, but not if they call from another room. The outer side of the mic has a small mic that picks up sound outside your headset and feeds it back to you with a subtle and quiet delay. I’m not used to that myself but it does come in handy here and there. It does sometimes also trick me into thinking the headset mic is picking up and putting outside noise into my calls (it’s not though, confirmed by friends). I’m indifferent to this feature, as it hasn’t caused me too much issue and I’m pretty sure it can be turned off. OTHER FEATURES- The mic is posable and retracts, it’s a pretty nice way to store the headset or just get the mic out of your peripheral vision until in use. There’s a small button on the left side that mutes the mic, when muted the mic lights red, which is a pretty handy visual reminder as in the past I have often found myself talking for minutes on end to myself while in calls with friends (lol). The headset comes with some other wired connection options, even a headphone Jack option. To connect to your computer it DOES use a wired dongle, so if you are trying to save on USB port space, be aware it does take one. I’m not sure how to measure this, the Bluetooth connectivity works throughout my whole room and even in the rooms immediately over. I am usually able to go to my kitchen and prepare myself food or drinks while still enjoying music or talking, so long as the battery has a decent charge. The battery life is REALLY good. I personally have always made it a habit to charge anything when I’m not using it, so I never see it die. BUT to vouch for its lifetime- one time I didn’t realize the USB end of my cord wasn’t plugged into my computer until after a week of thinking I had been charging it nightly after game sessions and daily use. This thing lasted a whole week of /at least/ 6-8 hour use daily with absolutely no charging that whole time before I just happened to pull on the usb for it and find it had never been plugged back in that whole week. So for sure with this headset, unless you’re playing insanely all the time with the highest volume in use, you’ll never see it die so long as you check it in for a charge here and there! End summary: Overall I can say I’m very happy with this headset. Definitely has become my favorite one. I would strongly recommend it to anyone that wants a headset suited best for comfortable gaming and chatting. I was skeptical of Bluetooth functionality before buying, but it has WELL PAST won me over.