SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless Headset Review

A Closer Look & Performance

The SteelSeries range tends to stick to a fairly similar design strategy and I’m happy to report that’s still true. Very little has been tweaked here from their other flagship headset, and that’s good, as they already are some of the best looking and performing headsets on the market. That frosty white finish gives a great contrast to the matte blacks and that tasteful SteelSeries logo.

On the side of the ear cups, you’ll find all the controls you’re likely to need. There’s the main volume control here, and it’s nicely textured and easy to locate without looking. There’s a microphone mute button too, so you can curse about your team mates in privacy.

Further around, you’ve got three ports, which handle all your charging and connections easily enough. I like that the audio and USB charger aren’t combined, as I can play and charge this way. The microphone is here too, which can be pulled out when required and tucks away when not in use.

On the other ear cup, you have the main power button. Watch out though, as a single tap turns it off, but amazingly it seems to be an instantaneous on/reconnect too, so hardly a big deal once you remember the mute buttons on the other side.

Got the music thumping and can’t hear your own voice in the chat? Dial up the side tone so you can monitor your own environment a little better.

The ear up mounts on SteelSeries are sublime, easily some of the cleanest and most refined on the market today. The ear cups are closed back, giving them an ultra-stylish look, but it’s those ultra-close fitting pivot arms that stand out the most.

They allow you to rotate the ear cups fully flat, so you’ll always be able to find a comfortable fit with the headset over your ears or while it’s hanging around your neck.

They also tilt too, which you can see here at I lightly pull on the top.

Or push to tilt it the other way. Either way, it should always ensure a balanced fit around your ears.

As for the headband, it’s a hard but flexible outer headband that doesn’t adjust. It does, however, feature a soft and elasticated inner section which can be adjusted using the Velcro straps at the side.

Set it to the right tension and you’re good to go. What’s exciting is that their previous headsets always felt a tiny bit too small for me, either my head has shrunk or they’ve given this just a tiny bit more wiggle room, as it fits fantastic!

The fit just gets better too, which some of the softest and most luxurious ear cup pads on the market. The advantage being that they’re breathable and will keep your ears much cooler. However, they won’t lock the sound is as much so if you’re cranking it to 11, people in the room are going to know.

The padding is very forgiving though, and distributes the weight of the headset well, which is important for those long gaming sessions. You don’t want a sore head after a few hours of gaming!

The drivers are what really steal the show though. They are INCREDIBLE. I was expecting to lose out on some low-end thump with these not using leather ear cups. However, those big chambers pack some seriously punchy drivers and low-end thump from Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works was enough to rattle my bones. There’s a real presence of bass here that puts a huge grin on your face. However, it doesn’t feel forced or boosted, the whole range just has power and impact when you need it. The crushing guitars and drums of Ziltoid the Omniscient sounded exceptionally good. Music lovers are going to appreciate the balance and capabilities of this headset.

Make no mistake though, music did well, and the same goes over to movies. However, it’s gaming that this headset was really designed for. If you’ve any experience with top-end SteelSeries headset, you’ll be familiar with the fantastic sound performance, little has changed there. Powerful sound, and rather fantastic surround processing too, albeit I do tend to opt for Atmos Headphones on Windows 10 for my surround testing, but it worked great.

Being able to unplug that dongle from my PC and stick it on my Samsung S20 Plus for a work call and to listen to some music on the plane for a business trip, then into my Nintendo Switch for some Mario Kart, and then throw it on the PlayStation 4 (and soon, the PlayStation 5) for some Battlefield. You don’t need another set of headphones for anything!

The wireless performance is sublime, no distortion, no dropouts, and I was even able to go all the way upstairs and still keep a solid connection chatting on the PlayStation and even on Discord on my PC. The microphone is their latest ClearCast and you’ll struggle to find a headset that sounds as good really.