SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 ($129.99) is an appealing, midrange wireless gaming headset that offers a similar, though scaled-back, listening experience to the much more expensive Arctis Nova Pro Wireless (an Editors' Choice pick). It’s light, comfortable, and offers a powerful software suite when used with a PC. The Nova 5 Wireless lacks the active noise cancellation, screen-equipped base station, swappable batteries, and metal construction found in the Nova Pro Wireless, but it's an excellent package that costs a third of the price.

Arctis Nova 5 Wireless: Design and Comfort

Due to its all-plastic design, the Nova 5 Wireless is decidedly lighter and less premium-feeling than the Nova Pro models, but it's not flimsy. Like the pricier headset, the Nova 5 Wireless has a thick, sturdy, and flexible plastic headband, and a wide, elastic strap that suspends it comfortably above your scalp. The memory foam earpads wrapped in breathable fabric let you comfortably wear the Nova 5 Wireless for long gaming and streaming music sessions.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

The right earcup features Power and Quick-Switch (Bluetooth) buttons, and a USB-C port for charging the headset. The ClearCast boom mic on the left earcup stays almost hidden when not in use. Its capsule is flush with the earcup, but you can easily pull it out to reveal a flexible arm. The mic is joined by a volume wheel and a mic mute button on the earcup's back edge.

A small, black USB-C transmitter enables a 2.4GHz connection to your PC; Nintendo Switch; PlayStation or Xbox consoles (depending on whether you get the 5X or 5P version); Androids or iPhones with USB-C ports; and Meta Quest VR headsets. The Nova 5 Wireless also supports Bluetooth 5.3 connections, and swapping between them takes less than a second by tapping the Quick-Switch button. Annoyingly, there isn’t a convenient way to store the dongle. On the bright side, SteelSeries sells a $30 replacement should you lose the dongle.

The Nova 5 Wireless lacks the Nova Pro Wireless' two swappable batteries, but the single, built-in battery provides plenty of juice. According to SteelSeries, the battery can last up to 60 hours. You can charge it with six hours’ worth of use in 15 minutes using a fast USB-C charger (no charger is included, though). 

Powerful PC Software, Less Capable Mobile app

SteelSeries doesn’t prioritize Bluetooth mobile use over faster and higher-quality dongle-based gaming audio, but it reaches toward parity with the new Arctis Nova 5 companion app for Android and iOS. It’s a dedicated app for controlling the headset with your phone, and provides access to multiple EQ settings for movies and music (plus more than 100 presets tweaked for specific games, including Baldur’s Gate 3 and Helldivers 2).

The app lets you set a different EQ preset for Bluetooth and 2.4GHz. This lets you keep your preferred audio balance for games when connected to your console or PC, while using a more music-focused setting when listening through your phone. Besides the presets, the app has sparse options, with only three sliders for the mic volume, sidetone, and LED brightness; an audio limiter toggle; and the ability to switch between 2.4GHz and Bluetooth audio by tapping an app button instead using the headset.

(Credit: SteelSeries)

Fortunately for PC gamers, the Nova 5 Wireless works with SteelSeries’ GG software for Windows and its Sonar audio suite. This enables a fully parametric EQ for manual headphones and microphone adjustments; a multi-source mixer for streaming; and spatial audio.

If you want spatial audio on your PlayStation or Xbox, you must use their built-in surround features. You’ll only get stereo sound with your Switch or phone; this is standard for most gaming headsets that work with game consoles.

A Clean, Clear Mic

The Nova 5’s ClearCast boom mic sounds excellent. Test recordings were sharp and clear, perhaps to the point of sounding slightly sibilant if the mic was too close to the mouth. It’s a clean sound without a hint of fuzziness that we’ve heard from lesser headset microphones. You should consider a dedicated USB microphone for serious content creation, but the Nova 5’s mic will work well enough for the occasional stream or podcast.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Sculpted Surround Sound

With the Nova 5 Wireless, our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,�� featured appropriately deep and thumpy bass synth notes and kick drum hits (though they don’t quite reach the palpably head-rattling sub-bass depths). There’s no distortion at maximum volume levels.

For less specifically bass-heavy music, the Nova 5 Wireless is heavily sculpted in its flat EQ preset, but not unpleasantly. The acoustic guitar plucks in the opening to Yes’ “Roundabout” had strong low-mid resonance and good treble finesse to present the string texture. When the track properly kicked in, the bassline, guitar strums, and vocals all stood at the front of the mix, with the higher frequencies taking more of the spotlight than the other elements. It was a slightly bright sound that let every element come through, but the mids felt a bit scooped-out.

Switching to the Music: The punchy EQ preset somewhat filled in that gap, but the high-mid boosts made the track sound less natural. You’ll probably find a balance you like by tinkering with the EQ settings. Overall, the Nova 5 Wireless has detailed sound in each mode, but it isn’t remotely accurate for music.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

The PS5's Fortnite sounds great through the Nova 5, and the console’s built-in spatial audio translates well through the headset. Thanks to strong audio processing combined with a complementary sound profile, the setup let me accurately determine the direction of nearby footsteps and glowing chests (as well as distant firefights) by panning the camera. Gunshots and explosions sounded forceful with a strong, low-end response.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch delivered a full sound, too, even without spatial audio. Although the lively music and whiny kart engines took up most of the audio, I could discern the general direction of opponents and Koopa shells behind me. The racing game doesn't have much bass, but the poppy, horn-heavy soundtrack was nicely bright and energetic.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Verdict: A Midrange Take on one of the Best

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless is a flexible gaming headset with strong sound quality and plenty of features for PC and phone users, taking many of the best aspects of the much more expensive Arctis Nova Pro Wireless and making some reasonable compromises to cut its price by more than half. It works with most USB-C-sporting devices, including the Nintendo Switch, out of the box, and has versions that work with PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The best audio processing and customization features are only available through the PC software, but the phone app lets you switch between dozens of different audio profiles on the fly. It’s reasonably priced for its build and performance, but not quite inexpensive enough to be considered a budget gaming headset like the Razer Barracuda X, the Editors' Choicer winner for low-price cans.