SteelSeriesArctis 7 - Lossless Wireless Gaming Headset with DTS Headphone: X v2.0 Surround - for PC and PlayStation 4 - Black

Wireless Headsets I went through before keeping this one: (problem from memory in parentheses)HyperX Cloud Flight - Bought/Returned (pressed ears slightly?)Corsair HS70 - Bought/Returned (pressed ears)Corsair Void Pro - Tried in-store (pressed ears)Logitech G533 - Tried in-store (clunky, harsh cups)Razer Nari - Bought/Returned (heavy)Astro A20 - Tried in-store (pressed ears)Sony Gold Wireless Headset (late 2018 updated version) - Tried in-store (pressed ears)Bluetooth aptX Headsets (we'll get into why later if you're interested):TaoTronics TT-BH036 - Bought/Returned (latency)Avantree HT4189 - Bought/Returned (latency, clamping force, pressed ears)Comfort:This is the most common reason I returned/did not purchase many of the previously mentioned headsets. I apparently have a very weird head. I'm super sensitive to shallow cups (ears stick out causing pain if pressed for a long time) and clamping force (big head causes headaches if squeezed for very long). Heavy headsets can still "squeeze" my head due to weight on top of my head even if they don't have much clamping force on the sides. Due to this, I feel confident that I am as critical as it gets as far as headset comfort goes. The Arctis 7 was kept because it did not cause discomfort when wearing for many hours. There is a caveat: As it comes in the box, it has too much clamping force for me. Luckily, the headband is made out of "sheet metal" and an adjustable strap. The strap can be loosened to let the headset contact as much of the top of your head as possible (distributing weight to remove pressure points). The metal band can be bent backwards to reduce how hard it squeezes your head. I found a forum post somewhere made by an acclaimed Steelseries employee who advised this, so that is what I did, and it worked great. Just be gentle, do it a little at a time, eventually it will be perfect! There is no padding on the interior of the cups which scared me as I usually need it, but these cups do not touch my ears somehow so it is not required.Latency:This is more of a side note for the bluetooth headsets. Most everyone knows that bluetooth headsets will have higher latency than headsets with proprietary wireless transmitters. What some don't know is that there is a variant of bluetooth protocol that aims to correct this, it is called "aptX". To use it, both your transmitting and receiving devices must be aptX enabled. I will admit, the latency was very low for the aptX bluetooth headphones. When watching videos it was unnoticeable, however when playing an FPS, it was very very soft but it was there. Switching over to my wired headset confirmed this. If you are going for a wireless headset for gaming, you currently must get one designed for it. The Arctis 7 does not have noticeable latency, nor did any of the other gaming headsets I tried.Speaker Quality:I'm definitely not an audiophile but I have higher than average taste in sound. This headset sounds nice. I have not played with the EQ, but I may try to turn up the lows a little bit.Mic Quality:It's wireless, and a gaming headset, so it is what it is. It seems to pick up more depth to the sound than other mics, your voice won't sound as flat, however I suppose this comes at a cost on background noise cancellation as it seems a little more prevalent in this headset than others.Construction:This is one of the more well-built units I've got my hands on. Time will tell how it holds up, but the build quality seems upper-tier.Battery:I can't comment on this, but I highly advise that you get some magnetic micro usb cables. Basically, the cable becomes two pieces. You plug a little micro usb dongle in your headset and then you can connect the corresponding cable any way around. The dongle and cable magnetically snap together. Makes plugging the headset in so easy that you won't ever be conflicted with "should I fumble with the connector or should I skip charging for now and just do it later". Any time I set the headset down, I charge it, because it's super easy to do so now. Therefore I will never be able to comment on batter life.If you too are plagued by comfort issues, and maybe do not want to go wireless just yet (cost being the only reason I can think of), I would highly recommend the HyperX Cloud Silver. They're not cheap but they are worth it. To this day they are the most comfortable headset I have ever worn, with good sound and great build quality.

I was in the market looking for a new gaming headset that wasn't going to break the bank. I was able to snag these for around low 100s and pulled the trigger on them! I have heard many great things about this headset, but I wanted to really try them for myself and see if I liked them. After a year of using these bad boys, I can definitely say it was worth all $100!I think the sound quality is good enough, especially for the price of $100. My favorite thing about this headset is the simple/easy bluetooth connection. I leave the dongle connected to my PC and anytime I want to use my headset I just turn them on and they're prepared to go!The headset is built pretty nicely, very sturdy & strong build. The ear cushion is pretty cozy, I have definitely worn this headset for 4 hours straight gaming. Absolutely no complaints, it's really well-built and nice!The only issue I would have with this headset is that sometimes it loses connection on initial set up & the battery life is aite... I use this headset pretty often so I can see why the battery life has been diminished. I charge mine after every use because I like the portability aspect of it being wireless. If this is a deal breaker for you, the Arctic 7 pros comes with an additional battery for you to swap while the other one is charging.Only regret I have on this headset is that I didn't wait long enough to get the white ones :(. Other than that! Absolutely A1 headset for gaming!

I work from home (remotely for a team based elsewhere), so I'm constantly on conference calls. We use a VOIP app at work (sort of like Skype for Business), so all of our "calls" are through the computer. I've been using a bluetooth headset (Plantronics Voyager 5200) which is great for phone calls, but for conference calls with a bunch of people sitting around a table, it's not great. Some people are close to the phone and are super loud, others are further away and are unintelligibly quiet, and adjusting the volume all the time isn't great.After work, I game a lot. Usually while on TeamSpeak. I've been using a set of desktop speakers and a mic mounted under one of my monitors. With volume detection, I'm able to get TS to pick up my voice when I'm talking, and ignore mouse and keyboard sounds when I'm not, but the speaker audio isn't great (and is only stereo), and the mic is pitiful.So, it was time for a new purchase. I wanted something that would give me great audio quality, preferably with some measure of surround sound, and some good equalizer settings to tune game sounds (accentuate footsteps and weapon clicks, downplay deep explosive bass and such). But it also needed to have clear stereo sound and a good mic, for work. And if possible, be wireless (because I already have too many cables running around on my desk to begin with).After a lot of research, I decided on the Arctis 7, and when it came yesterday, I was completely blown away. My first conference call with them was like I was sitting in the room! Everything was so clear. I turned up the dynamic range compression (which says it compensates for fluctuations in volume), and it was remarkable. The mic worked very well, too, and my coworkers said that the keyboard sounds (which used to be nearly deafening from my mechanical keyboard) were much quieter. They could hear me better, and the keyboard was quiet (though still audible).In the evening, I had an evening of gaming with a friend of mine, and tuning the gaming audio with surround sound settings and such was awesome. The level of detail I've been missing in my games is ridiculous! It sounds great now. The chat mix dial was awesome for adjusting chat levels when needed, but really, all the audio was so clear, I really didn't need to mess with it much.Regarding build quality, packaging, etc., these headphones feel very high end. Great build quality, solid materials, and so comfortable! I wore them for a couple hours during the day, and again for several hours in the evening, and though I can't say I was ever at risk of forgetting they were on and walking away, I definitely can say that they were completely comfortable.The only complaints I have are minor, but in the interest of completeness, here they are:* The cables that come with the headphones don't feel particularly durable. They aren't braided or anything, so I could see them wearing out well before the headphones do. But, they're all standard type cables, so they'd be easy to replace. The mobile audio cable does use a somewhat uncommon 8 pin mini USB, more commonly seen on cameras, but as long as you know what to look for, you can find them for cheap.* The battery indication is pretty disappointing. You have a green light for 50-100%, yellow for 20-50%, and red for under 20% (slow flash for 10-20%, fast flash for 0-10%). Nowhere in the software or on the headphones does it show you a percentage. And, when you're charging them, I really don't know how to tell when they're done charging. All I know is that they're somewhere between 50-100% charged. That's a pretty big range!In summary, I'm blown away by these headphones. I was hesitant to shell out $120 for them, but now that I have them, I can definitely say they were worth it.