Steelseries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless Headset Review

Introduction

Steelseries has been a mainstay in the mainstream gaming market for a while now and while its competitors in the gaming peripheral space have been trying to push into other markets, Steelseries has relatively kept to strengths which are gaming, mice, keyboards and headsets. For headsets, we’ve been very fond of Steelseries’ mainstream offering since the Siberia days but their evolution to the modern Arctis has not been as storied as its predescessor. That said, prior to this review, the Arctis Nova 7 Wireless and Arctis Nova Pro were both released 2 years ago.

Typically, they’d fill the product stack but surprisingly the Nova 5 didn’t release until earlier this year and in this review we’ll talk about just that. Completing the Arctis Nova range is the Arctis Nova 5 Wireless. A lightweight, wireless gaming headset compatible with all major gaming platforms and boasts an incredible 60 hours of battery life per charge. You may see this model listed as a Nova 5x or Nova 5P, denoting platform-specific optimizations and a slight mark-up. All models are similar though and our test sample is the vanilla Arctis Nova 5 Wireless.

I’ll share with you my thoughts on this new headset from Steelseries and talk about what I’m feeling about it in this review. Read on!

Features & Specification

• 100+ game audio presets for optimal sound in top games with the Arctis Nova 5 Companion App
• 60-hour battery life to play all week long, with USB-C Fast Charge
• Quick-Switch Wireless to toggle between 2.4GHz and Bluetooth with the press of one button
• Neodymium Magnetic Drivers produce crystal clear highs, pinpoint mids, and deep bass
• ClearCast 2.X microphone with a new high-bandwidth chipset, powered by Sonar Software AI Noise Cancellation
• Cross-Platform Gaming with a handy USB-C dongle for PC, PlayStation, Switch, Mac, VR, handhelds, and mobile devices

Official product page – SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5  Wireless

Closer Look

Steelseries’ packaging for the Arctis Nova 5 Wireless still retains the brand’s design language and packaging style with a full colored box feature a hero shot of the product adorned in a bright orange box. The front indicates the model and special highlights of this headset. The 5P version will have distinct Playstation-certified style packaging adorned in white and blue while the 5X version uses a primarily grey packaging with Xbox-green trims.

Inside the package we get the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless headset, the receiver dong, documentation, a sticker and a pair of USB cables: one for charging and one as an extension plug for the Type-C receiver.

The Type-C receiver is a small dongle with a slim profile. The included female USB-C extension that may not have available USB ports at the front but need the dongle accessible. Users can opt to fix the cable with tape on their monitors if they want, it is quite lightweight.

The other included cable is a USB-C cable for charging and updating the firmware on the headset.

Lastly, we have this sticker sheet as a neat little extra.

The Steelseries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless uses a plastic frame construction with a matte black finish. The matte finish resembles the same feel that their Prime series mice have which feels really nice to touch. The traditional headset design features to flattened earcups connected by a plastic headband.

The SteelSeries logo are pad printed onto the sides of the headset to complete the look.

Steelseries’ has been using the suspended headband support design for many of their headsets since their early days. The main arc itself is completely separate and has good flex to fit different size heads but most of the weight will be on the cups and supported by the support strap.

The Arctis Nova 5 Wireless retains this tradition it shares with the rest of the Arctis family which uses a detachable headband to support and cushion your head when in use. The strap attaches via snap system similar to a snapback cap and is adjustable in 3 different posititions for multiple head sizes.

The headband connects via a more traditional hinge design on the earcups unlike the older Arctis design of a suspended arm on top. The hinge allows slight inward bends and rotating 90* inward for a DJ-style fold. The earcup cushions themselves are memory foam wrapped in breathable woven fabric.

A cool feature of the Arctis Nova 5 Wireless is the retractable boom microphone which is fully integrated into the body of the earcup. The mic arm itself is flexible allowing full articulation on any direction.

On-ear controls feature a large mute button and volume wheel. The right earcup has the USB-C charging port and two buttons: the connection switcher and power button. The volume wheel is easy to move around so make sure to tweak it when using it before you crank the volume on your system.

The connection switch allows 1-button toggle between Bluetooth and dongle mode and it is fast. You can actively connect to two devices at a time via each connection and switch with minimal connection time. This allows quickly switching to your headset for a call on your phone and then diving back to Discord or in-game voice chat.

The mute status is indicated via red LED on the mic itself and retracting the mic also mutes it along with the button at the back.

Steelseries mentions that the Arctis Nova 5 Wireless is compatible with pretty much all modern gaming hardware but just to expand, I can confirm it works directly with vanilla SteamOS on the Steam Deck.

Companion App

One of the key points Steelseries was sure to point out was their new Nova 5 Wireless companion app. This installs on your phone and allows changing audio profile presets and comes pre-loaded with a ton of game audio presets tuned for specific games. The PS and Xbox version also comes with their own profile lists for those platform’s games. The vanilla Nova 5 Wireless still comes with 100+ games and more are being added as the app gets updated and new games get released.

Users can download the app on their phone by scanning the QR code below:

Download links below for desktop and direct links to the app on their respective mobile OS:

SteelSeries GG

Android

Apple

 

The app allows controls some features that aren’t accessible directly via the buttons like sidetone and LED brightness. Users can also go into long range mode which sacrifices mic quality for increased range. This is good for just listening to audio where you don’t need the mic.

On the settings menu via the gear icon, we have the sleep mode timer which ranges from 1 minute to 90 minutes. You can also set it to never go to sleep when not in use if you want it ready to go anytime you turn it on.

One thing the app cannot do is make new profile tuning. For this you still need the PC app so phone-only gamers are out of luck as the app doesn’t support it yet. If you want a new audio profile you can use the GG’s Engine menu to tweak your own tuning. That along with many of the app options are present here.

User Experience & Conclusion

For general consumers who don’t dabble much into audio gear, the Steelseries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless would sound like a very decent gaming headset. Audio quality is good and doesn’t play up the bass for shits and giggles because its what gamers want. I’ve never really understood what Steelseries considers their “house sound” is as all of their releases sound different from each other especially those that don’t share the same drivers. What that means for the general person is that your older Siberia and earlier Arctis don’t necessarily sound improved but rather different from each other.

That said, if you’re coming from the likes of the Logitech G3xx series or the HyperX Cloud family of headset, the Steelseries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless will feel right at home. But if you’re coming off the likes of a JBL Quantum 800 or an ROG Delta, then you’d probably be missing something.

Ultimately though, the Arctis Nova 5 Wireless is very much made for gaming. It is a decent headset audio-wise and it outputs clean audio. If you want to be an audiophile about, as expected from a wireless headphone, there’s a massive lack in power so audio presence is very much average. If you’re gauging it based on music, the soundstage is airy but in games themselves primarily FPS, the Nova 5 Wireless lacks the depth of layering where you can say you’re actually picking out the footsteps or isolate gunfire. Directionality is still good though but that’s mostly due to games like COD (tested this in the Black Ops 6 early access) having great sound design.

Lastly, we have to talk about battery life. Since receiving this headset, I have yet to drain it completely. That’s with me going from first boot to Lvl15 in BO6 beta as  well as going thru the entire Has Fallen movie series starring Gerard Butler on Netflix. That and all the other usage I did, the only charge I did for this were quick bursts before doing some tests and while I know I’ve reached 40% or so, I’ve yet to drain it. Sothe rated 60 hours is definitely useful. I’ve seen headsets promising longer but anything above 40 hours is days worth of usage and is already over the top for battery life. There is simply no argument to have that the battery life of this device is shorter than say a brand that has 90 hours when you’re literally running off a device that will drain in less than a day.

Noting a few negatives, the most glaring one is the need for the app. There’s absolutely no compelling reason to have it but Steelseries took the time to make one dedicated for this headset alone just for the presets. If that’s the case, then allow profiles to be created on the app to give it any semblance of function. The new flexible support band is a new design for the Nova series and is not compatible with previous Arctis velcro bands which had a rich assortment of options for personalization. Aftermarket options have cropped up though but parents picking one up for their kids and want more flare may avoid going for something not from the same brand for compatibility reasons.

Other than that, the Steelseries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless is a reliable headset with decent audio quality with a well thought-off design aimed at gamers and general consumers. Its long battery life make it a nice option for console gamers that charge their headsets only when they’re close to 0%. Thanks to the fast charge of the Nova 5 Wireless, you can squeeze a few hours off a short 30 minute charge. All in all a good all-rounder perfect for everyday gamers that want modern features on a wireless headset.

Steelseries backs the Arctis Nova 5 Wireless with a 1-year warranty. An easy B2G Recommendation in its price point.

 

Steelseries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless Headset Review

Final Thoughts

The Steelseries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless is a reliable headset with decent audio quality with a well thought-off design aimed at gamers and general consumers. 

Pros

Decent audio quality

Quick switching capability

Light and comfortable

Retractable microphone

Cons

Wireless only

Could be cheaper

8.2

Rating