It’s been a hot minute since I have had the pleasure of reviewing a headset. My current one, while it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, has suited me just fine for all my Xbox gaming needs. Or so I thought. Introducing SteelSeries ‘Arctis Nova 3X Wireless Headset’, a headset that gets the job done, for a decent price range.

Upon initial inspection, unboxing the Arctis Nova 3X, you will be met with a clean and stylish matte white headset with contrasting grey accents. They do come in a range of colours, though, from black to aqua and even lilac. Packed neatly in the box, you will also find a Nano dongle, a USB Adapter, and a USB-C charging cable. This cable, unfortunately, is only 30cm long, minimising where you can place your device to charge.

Getting into the nitty-gritty, the Arctis Nova 3X Wireless features what I would consider mid-range-sized ear cups. They fit comfortably over my small ears thanks to their Airweave memory foam, but could potentially be a tight fit for larger faces, as they aren’t very deep either. However, they do look stylish due to this. Each cup swivels, too, meaning it can be placed flat on a surface. The right cup features all the controls, including a USB-C charging port, power/switch/pairing button, volume scroll wheel, and tactile mute button. On this side, you will also find the detachable AUX  microphone jack. After a considerable flexibility test, the headband is durable and bendy, with a grey suspension band that also supports the comfiest of fits, offering 4 adjustable size options. The headset’s robustness and overall clean build are very surprising, as it is also incredibly lightweight at 260 grams. It’s tough despite feeling flimsy. 

The most important and probably the most desirable feature of this headset is the fact that it is wireless. You can have it wired in, as it has a USB-C port, but more importantly, you can use it with Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and with the wireless 2.4GHz, quaintly sized dongle. You can switch seamlessly between them, too, as I switched from Bluetooth on my phone to Xbox gaming and back with zero latency or lag. Designed for Xbox, this version can also be used with PC, Mac, mobile devices, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation.

Speaking of the microphone, as stated, it features a detachable boom with a very flexible arm and a fairly average-feeling foam dampener at the end. Including bidirectional noise cancelling, I found this microphone delivered my voice clearly and with clarity in every group discussion and endeavoured to cancel out all that irritating background noise with its -12 DBV/Pa (decibels per pascal).

But how is the audio? It’s satisfactory enough and quite decent for the price range of this headset. The bass is quite punchy due to the Neodymium Magnet drivers, but with increased volumes, it tends to exhibit mild distortion when listening to music.The trebles and mids, though, are pretty clear in games, with voices coming through clearly. Is that the best I’ve heard? No, but is it decent for its price range? Absolutely.

The battery life is phenomenal. With fast charging capabilities, you can charge your headset for only 15 minutes and get hours of playtime. It did boast up to 9 hours, and while I didn’t keep track of the hours of usage I got, I did find that there were many days before I had to put it back on charge.

Like most SteelSeries devices, you have full access to their accompanying software, SteelSeries GG Engine and its mobile Companion app. On the mobile app, you can adjust your headset on the fly. The coolest feature, though, is that they have a wide range of specific game profiles, from A (A New Crisis In Shovel City) to Z (Zenless Zone Zero). The GG Engine is where you can get more technical with your customisation. From more intricate sound profiles to tweaking Equalisers, you can change the sound to whatever you desire.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X Wireless Headset, especially its price-to-quality comparisons. While not the most powerful audio, it is decent for gaming soundscapes, and the microphone is surprisingly clear. SteelSeries has a banger of a headset without busting the bank.

Written by: Stacey