Steelseries Nova 7 Wireless Review

Dec 25, 2023

Yesterday (as of writing), I went out and bought a Steelseries Nova 7 Wireless. My previous Arctis 7’s were slowly dying. I’ve been having issues with the battery, audio, and it was overall just old and falling apart.

I had checked out a few other headsets before this one, namely a HyperX Cloud Flight S. However, they seemingly had the same exact issue that I have with just about every headset ever: The earcups.

All of them suck. They are always a bit too small and press on my ear too much and they make it a pain to game for a longer time.

One of the major requirements for me isn’t audio quality, but it’s that I wouldn’t feel the headset. I don’t want to think about how it’s pressing on my hair or ears, I just want it to do its job without me noticing.

And Steelseries knows how to do just that.

I can’t really explain it, but the unique shape and size of their earcups makes it so that I barely feel them. The only way to understand this is to feel it for yourself.

But, of course, comfort isn’t the only thing. There will be a few more categories. Alongside the existing one of comfort, I will also talk about audio quality, the wireless offers, and software.

Audio Quality

So let’s begin with audio quality. Now, I am by no means an expert in this field, but I am an average user that can provide information on what a non-audiophile thinks about it.

First, it’s good. It’s certainly better than my old Arctis 7. It’s quite good, certainly doesn’t sound cheap. And while some people might go on for hours about how it’s not perfect and there’s a 1mhz differential between proper perfect EQ and the stock EQ on these and how that makes them a piece of shit, I can only say one thing.

It's good.

I never go down the rabbit hole of slightly better audio because there’s so much more that this headset does that makes it worth the slightly worse audio.

Wireless offers

Which brings us to the next category of wireless offers.

Some people hate wireless, and I respect that. So if you do, this headset isn’t for you. But man is the wireless quality great on these things. A major complaint I had with my Arctis was that it would disconnect as I was walking down the stairs as it would reach the theoretical limit of what was possible, but these ones for whatever reason continue playing even with the minor loss in signals, they just don’t pause. Which I really appreciate.

Another great thing is the battery.

It’s been almost two days since I charged these to full and I’m currently at around 45%. I estimate that it could easily last me 3 days of my daily routine which involves constantly using these for every hour possible unless I’m asleep.

I also like the USB C. One important distinction, though, is the charging is better for the people who have their headset charger plugged in to the right of them, as the port is on the right earcup, making it easier on that side. This is great for me as my desktop happens to be on the right side. For some, this might be a bit of an inconvenience.

It connects via 2.4ghz or via Bluetooth, so it works on both desktop and mobile, which brings me to another great comfort: Dual device pairing.

I have my desktop paired via 2.4ghz and my phone via Bluetooth, so if I want to go downstairs to get some food I don’t need to pull out my in ear earphones and use those, I just take my phone and my headset.

Finally, a neat addition is that pressing the buttons for 2.4ghz/Bluetooth will send a Play/Pause signal through the respective channel, so I can easily control audio that way.

Comfort

Next up we have the comfort. I already talked a bit about this, so I won’t say much, but it’s great.

First, the earcups feel really comfortable and nice. As I mentioned before, there’s a sense of weightlessness, you forget the headset is even there. And that is perfect. It’s unlike anything I’ve had with cheap ones.

Another nice thing is the headband, it softens the weight on top and removes the weight from your ears, which is really nice.

One minor complaint is that due to the size, they aren’t comfortable when wearing a big coat, so don’t expect to use them outside in the winter, though, to be fair, the cold is enough of a reason to not. no issues outside of that, though, and they really are great.

Software

Finally, software.

Steelseries GG is the software that you need if you want to get the full function out of these. Some call it bloatware, a resource hog, or just about anything, but I’ve had no issues with it. I also happen to use the additional features of Sonar and Moments as I find it easier than external apps. Though some might prefer something else.

It’s not exactly difficult to navigate, and it gives a few basic options regarding tuning, and generally isn’t bad, so there’s not much to comment on in that regard.

Pros and Cons

So now time for a quick pros and cons chart:

Pros:

Cons:

And that concludes the review. I hope you found it useful!