SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 White

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless is a comfortable wireless gaming headset with a long battery life. I play many different types of games and every game sounds good, I hear clearly where sounds come from in games. The special Nova 5 app is a nice extra, but ultimately adds little.

First impression I take the Nova 5 out of the box and immediately notice that the headset is lighter than the average wireless headset. The ear cushions are soft and fit completely over my ears. The headset does feel less sturdy than, for example, the Nova 7. The microphone is extendable and easy to bend. The headband is also easily adjustable.

Many connection options After the first impression it is time for a gaming session. The Arctis Nova 5 is a wireless headset, which means that you can only connect the headset wirelessly. Fortunately, I find enough options for connecting in the manual. The headset has Bluetooth and a USB-C dongle. This allows me to easily connect the Arctis Nova 5 to the PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC. I cannot connect this headset wirelessly to the Xbox. Fortunately, SteelSeries has made a Nova 5 model for every platform, so you can game wirelessly on every platform.

Beautiful sound experience I tested the Arctis Nova 5 with several games, from Helldivers 2 to Paper Mario. I also used the headset to listen to music. I actually always think the sound is beautiful and spacious. This is probably due to the special Nova Acoustic System, because even on the Nintendo Switch my games sound good. It sounds even better on PlayStation and PC because surround sound is supported there. The Nova 5 also has a special app that allows me to adjust the settings even further. In the app I can choose from more than 100 audio profiles for specific games, a nice addition, but I don't notice much difference between the profiles. Fortunately, I also adjust the volume of my microphone and other settings in the app.

Good battery life When unpacking, I notice that the Arctis Nova 5 is quite light, which is very nice while gaming. But I was afraid that this would be at the expense of the battery. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth, I played for hours and the battery easily reached the promised 60 hours. So I don't worry about interrupting my gaming session.

Have used it intensively for a few weeks 12+ hours a day. It is very light, well adjustable to increase the comfortable aspect and also glasses friendly which is a plus. You can optionally use the app to adjust the sound depending on which game you are playing and you also have the option to dim the mic mute led light via the app. The only downside I have encountered is that the battery life does not reach 60 hours but an average of 37 hours after some tests.

I have been testing this headset for a number of weeks now. Unpacking was already great because it was professionally and well packed. The sound quality is very solid out-of-the-box, there is a bit of bass missing here and there, but that is certainly not disturbing. In the companion app for either your mobile phone or a Windows PC you can use multiple audio presets, which in many cases allows you to increase the bass or adjust the sound differently so that it better suits your purposes. The wearing comfort is really great, thanks to the elastic band and the memory foam earpads you can wear the headset for hours without experiencing any discomfort. However, you have to be careful if you have larger ears, because the ear cups are not very large. So far I have never had any problems with the wireless connection(s) or the battery, it lasts a long time so you almost never have to charge it. And the connection with both a Bluetooth device and the 2.4 GHz dongle works great, changing this connection is also easy with a button on the headset itself. All in all a great headset for the price, definitely recommended!!!!