SteelSeries SteelSeries Arctis 7 - Lossless Wireless

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.