Review: SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite

How much would you spend on a gaming headset? Most people don't think of a number over a few hundred dollars.

For $600, I don’t feel like the SteelSeries Nova Elite even really qualify as just gaming headphones anymore. Instead, they’re competing for space with high-end audiophile headphones, the kind you’d don while sitting in a plush leather chair to actively listen to your favorite albums, and they have an increased bit rate and redesigned custom driver to match.

They’re a truly impressive piece of gaming kit, but at twice the price of anything else in the category, they’re really meant for people with a discerning ear who also want a premium music experience, or who have many consoles and use them all often.

Elevated Sound

Photograph: Brad Bourque

The Nova Elite look like normal gaming headphones, but they sound incredible for music, with a really deep and rich tone, and a truly impressive level of detail. Particularly with the ANC turned on, I found myself getting lost, hearing little sounds I’d never heard before. With excellent sound isolation and big, beautiful drivers, it almost sounds like the sound is coming from further out than is physically possible, giving these a spacious vibe that most other gaming headsets can’t come close to replicating.

When it comes to gaming, it's hard to find evidence that there's any practical benefit to the higher bit rate that these headphones offer (96 kHz/24-bit) than cheaper models from SteelSeries. That's more a technical limitation of modern gaming than any fault of SteelSeries. With an HDR or OLED monitor, the game is already telling your system that a black pixel is totally black, so the screen doesn't need any help taking advantage of that fact, it just shuts off the backlight.

Meanwhile, audio bit rate is basically a nonexistent data point for video games, with a huge number of variables that start with the original source audio and recording environment, and go all the way up to the game engine and drivers. It would also be demanding for performance with minimal payoff, considering how many sounds often overlap in modern games and how many gamers use earbuds or monitor speakers.

Photograph: Brad Bourque

That doesn’t mean they don't deliver the highest possible fidelity when gaming. Far from it: The same rich tones that raise the level of clarity in your music also works to the benefit of your favorite game. I particularly like these for games with a lot happening, like Cyberpunk 2077, where you can still pick out little details even through the crowded noises of Night City. ANC removes some of the background hum of your gaming PC, fan, and dog, but also helps give the game audio some room to breathe. More than once I found myself just sitting in busy areas in my factory in Satisfactory, listening to the hum and whirr of machines and conveyor belts.

The SteelSeries app adds a lot to the experience, with equalizer presets you can apply to individual audio groups, so you can keep your music punchy and detailed while your games prioritize important sound effects or warnings. The downside to the desktop version of the software is that it's a bit all-consuming. Once installed, you can only change the actual audio output device using the app, which will override your system’s default audio settings. It's a necessary trade-off, but it's mildly annoying, especially if you already have other audio sources you use a lot, like speakers or a VR headset.

Stacking up the Competition

Photograph: Brad Bourque

Lined up against some of my other favorites, I’m particularly impressed with the spatial audio, which has a really smooth gradient between zones. It’s not as sharp as something like the Razer Blackshark V3 Pro (8/10, WIRED Review), which is meant for esports and technical games, instead opting for a more round, immersive implementation. Whether that’s a plus or minus will depend on how serious you are about your Valorant rank, but I know I prefer the more cinematic implementation.

The biggest issue is that I didn’t feel like they sounded way better than the Arctis Nova Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends), especially at twice the price. They both have rich, detailed sound profiles, with the Pro having a punchier, drier profile, where the Elite feel more delicate and rich. The biggest difference is once again the spatial audio, with the Pro model having a lot of overlap between zones compared to the newer and more expensive Elite. If you love surround sound in gaming, the Elite are better.

The microphone, on the other hand, is a marked improvement from the already impressive boom mic on the Arctis Pro. It's up there with the aforementioned Razer BlackShark V3 Pro in terms of clarity, with my friends quickly commenting on the lack of tinny compression you usually get with gaming headsets. Listening back to both in recordings, I found the SteelSeries a little warmer, while the floor and noise isolation on the BlackShark was a little bit better. Both have extensive options for adjusting your audio output, so you can tweak them a bit depending on whether your setup is more quiet living room or crowded LAN party.

Elegant, at a Cost

Photograph: Brad Bourque

Also included with the Arctis Nova Pro, the SteelSeries GameHub acts as both a USB DAC and a 2.4-GHz connection for the headset. In addition to a big knob to control volume and a screen to check settings, there are three USB-C ports around back, plus 3.5-mm input and output, so you can have up to four devices connected at once, including Bluetooth. I imagine most people considering $600 gaming headphones already have multiple consoles, so you can use these headphones for all of them without swapping cables. It also means these have excellent range, and even though my office is in one corner of my house, I can stay connected all the way across the house and into my backyard, with other headsets disconnecting much closer.

The base station has another neat trick; it can charge and house a second battery. I got almost 30 hours of use on a single charge, just short of SteelSeries' quoted life, but as long as you’re near the base station, you essentially have infinite battery life. When the battery gets low, just swap the spare and the dead battery, and your headset will automatically turn back on and reconnect within a few seconds. The spare battery charges in less than two hours, and there’s a sneaky USB-C port on the left ear cup just in case you’re away from home for too long.

Finely Finished

Photograph: Brad Bourque

Fit and finish would be my other big reason to choose these over the Arctis Pro or BlackShark V3 Pro. The Arctis Elite are super sturdy, with an upgraded metal headband that feels really serious. While you could get them in black, you should instead opt for the sage and gold color. It's instantly eye-catching and elegant, particularly among gaming headsets, which tend to be either dark and drab or excessively gamer-coded. Unfortunately, this feature-packed headset is also the heaviest I've tested yet at 380 grams, just about 10 grams heavier than the Razer. SteelSeries headbands are the most comfortable around, thanks to the “goggle band” suspension strap that helps spread the weight across the top of your head, but it can only do so much.

Meanwhile, the ear cups are made from faux leather that gets a little sweaty, especially over long gaming sessions. Razer has managed to crack the code on breathable ear cups and ANC, but the noise reduction in the SteelSeries is better as a result. The difference in comfort between these two will be a matter of preference, but I wouldn't recommend either if you don't have strong neck muscles.

If the price tag here gives you any pause at all, I think you should look at other options, including the excellent Nova Pro, which has a similar base station and app support. The $250-$350 gap between the Nova Elite and any other gaming headset is enough for a jump to a more powerful GPU, or to make a variety of smaller performance improvements across your system.

Ultimately, beyond the ability to connect more consoles, the upgrades are mostly meaningful for listening to music, and less impactful for gaming. For multi-console owners with deep pockets and an expansive music library, this is a feature-packed headset with no real competitors, but I know I'd have trouble finding room for them in my new PC budget.