SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X Wireless gaming headset review: sweet sounds for PC and handhelds

Where Arctis cans are concerned, 3 is greater than 7

My archetypal involvement successful the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X Wireless was sparked by it being, essentially, an over-ear mentation of the Arctis GameBuds, with a near-identical USB-C 2.4GHz receiver that lets it propulsion treble work with some a main PC and Steam Deck (slash, handheld PC of your choice). Happily, it’s turned retired to beryllium a precise good headset successful general, performing a convincing content of a higher-end exemplary contempt its existent tag falling towards the lower-middle of wirelessdom.

Sound prime isn’t rather arsenic immaculate arsenic that of the Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2, which manages a clearer (and frankincense much detailed-sounding) separation of antithetic elements and effects. But the 3X inactive has agreeable bass grunt and nice, cleanable highs, arsenic good arsenic the keen left/right positioning consciousness you’d privation for fearfulness games oregon comp shooters. And the humble roar mic is, surprisingly, miles up of the 7X Wireless Gen 2’s connected out-of-the-box clarity. While I privation it wasn’t rather arsenic prone to picking up mechanical keyboard clacks, there’s small of the 7X’s pressing request to employment the software’s much precocious settings. Which, with scarcely believable gall, inquire for an email-linked idiosyncratic relationship earlier they adjacent go available.

This headset does stock the 7X’s somewhat cramped earcup shape, but arsenic it’s astir 70g lighter, the 3X besides staves disconnected caput fatigue for what feels similar astatine slightest an hr longer. Speaking of linear time, artillery beingness whitethorn adjacent stroke past SteelSeries’ 30-hour estimate, too: conscionable past nighttime I ate 6% complaint successful astir 2 and a fractional hours of 2.4Ghz use, which according to my B-grade GCSE maths knowledge, works retired to 41.5 hours from a afloat charge. Not bad.

And, yes, it works similar a charm connected the Steam Deck. For axenic desktop listening, I tin spot myself drifting backmost to the much comfy Razer BlackShark V3, but the 3X deserves information if you’re a regular instrumentality juggler. It’s a overmuch amended woody than the 7X, astatine the precise least.

Quick Kits is simply a hardware reappraisal bid astir pouring arsenic overmuch fully-tested PC cogwheel cognition down your eyes arsenic we tin – wrong 2 oregon 3 paragraphs.