Our Verdict
The SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ improves happening a angelic design, but too costs a little more money than the previous model.
For
- Retains most good things from Arctis 7/7P
- Better battery life
- USB-C connectivity
- More stout software
Against
- Retains most sad things from Arctis 7/7P
- Sir Thomas More expensive than predecessors
Tom's Pass around Verdict
The SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ improves on a good excogitation, but likewise costs a little more money than the old model.
Pros
- + Retains almost well behaved things from Arctis 7/7P
- + Amended battery life
- + USB-C connectivity
- + More robust software
Cons
- - Retains most bad things from Arctis 7/7P
- - More expensive than predecessors
SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ Specs
Compatibility: Personal computer, PS4, PS5, Switch, Android
Drivers: 40 mm
Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Wireless: Yes
Longtime readers won't be dismayed to determine that the SteelSeries Arctis 7+ and SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ are excellent gaming headsets. That's principally because the SteelSeries Arctis 7 and SteelSeries Arctis 7P were excellent gambling headsets. SteelSeries has adopted an "if it ain't broke, don't fix information technology" policy, opting for a mild ascent that improves battery life and adds USB-C connectivity. The devices now cost $170 rather of $150. On the one hand, that's all you need to roll in the hay about them.
Along the other manus, it's worth analyzing how the Arctis 7+/7P+ is both a welcome update, and an extremely conservative one. The headset sounds great, merely music is still a sticking point, five years later. The software has lots of new options, but still not many presets for gaming. The headset is still compatible with many different systems, but the dongle is still non a great fit for console play.
If you were eyeing a SteelSeries Arctis 7 headset, and have no interest in playing on Xbox, the Arctis 7+/7P is the way to go. If you wanted to hold out for a more significant promote, that besides seems like a just strategy at this channelis. Register on for our full SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ review.
SteelSeries Arctis 7+ vs. SteelSeries Arctis 7P+
Earlier we get into the review proper, IT's probably worth outlining the differences between the SteelSeries Arctis 7+ and the SteelSeries Arctis 7P+. Simply put under: Thither aren't many. While the 7+ is optimized for PCs and the 7P+ is optimized for PlayStation consoles, there are only two minor differences between the devices.
The Arctis 7+ has a black chassis and a ChatMix telephone dial on the far-right earcup. The Arctis 7P+ has a white chassis and a mic sidetone dial along the right earcup. Some headsets support Tempest 3D audio happening the PS5, as well as 7.1 practical surround sound and full SteelSeries Engine software compatibility on the Microcomputer. For review purposes, the two devices are functionally same.
SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ review: Design
If you've worn an Arctis 7, Arctis 7P or Arctis 7X, then you've effectively worn a SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P. This headset features a black operating theater white plastic chassis with large foam-soft earcups and an fictile "ski goggles" headband. The innovation hasn't varied much since 2016, simply I'm likewise hard-pressed to think of anything that really needed changing.
The left earcup is where most of the action happens, featuring a retractable mic, a 3.5 mm audio jack, a proprietary SteelSeries jack (also primarily for 3.5 mm sound), a volume dial and a mic mute clitoris. The volumed upgrade here is the USB-C charging port, rather than the 7/7P's micro-USB port. This offers faster charging with a more roomy cable's length; you ass also get awake to three hours of uptime with a 15-minute charge.
The right earcup is about the same arsenic before, with a power button and an extra dial for either ChatMix, or mic sidetone, depending connected your model.
SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ review: Ease
When it comes to comfort, the SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ is still essentially incomparable. Rather than steel or elastic headbands with rigid notches, most SteelSeries Arctis headsets use an expansile headband, which SteelSeries calls a "ski goggles" design. This means that every time you counterfeit the headset, it will mechanically adjust to a clean fit — and if you share the headset with housemates, it will coiffure the Same for them. Between the cushioned earcups and the automatically adjusting headband, I was able to wear the Arctis 7+/7P+ for hours on end comfortably.
SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ review: Performance
The SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ provides near voice for most games, and slightly subpar sound for most music. This is because from a design standpoint, IT has the identical drivers atomic number 3 early Arctis 7 models. Like its predecessors, the Arctis 7+/7P+ isn't quite "premium" from an audio quality perspective, but the soundscape is perfectly clear and fairly nuanced. Even up so, a lot of competing headsets, much as the Corsair Star RGB Wireless XT, make started to splash around in 50 mm drivers, as opposed to the Arctis 7+/7P+'s 40 millimetre, and it makes a difference.
Since the Arctis 7+/7P+ boasts compatibility with a wide diverseness of platforms, I tested IT on a broad spectrum of games. These include Age of Empires IV on the PC, Until Dawn happening the PS4, Assassin's Church doctrine Valhalla on the PS5, Bayonetta on the Switch (some docked and undocked) and Tales of Crestoria on Android.
The headset acquitted itself well crosswise totally systems — except for some curiously resound-filled voices at certain points in Until Dawn. The foreground, though, was how the headset handled Assassin's Creed Valhalla on the PS5. Thanks to its Tempest audio financial backing, every character's voice sounded rich and reverberant, while the euphony and sound effects stricken a perfect balance.
Then again, music has always been a slightly sore situatio for the Arctis 7 serial, and the 7+/7P+ is no more exception. I listened to tracks from Flogging Mollie, Old Crow Medicine Show up, The Rolling Stones and G.F. Handel, and found the soundscape a little flat and muddled. It's fine for everyday listening, simply audiophiles will probably need a ordinal, tied Sir Thomas More expensive set of headphones.
SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ review: Features
Arguably the biggest selling point of the SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ is that it works with a lot of different systems with minimal fuss. Thanks to a small USB-C dongle, the headset hindquarters connect wirelessly to PCs, PS5s, undocked Switches and Android devices; there's also a USB-A transcriber for PS4s, docked Switches and older PCs.
I let only two complaints approximately the dongle. The first is that the USB-A transcriber is a extended wire rather than a retarded plug. This is arguably better for signal long suit, but makes switching among systems a more cumbersome sue. The second is that the dongle is calm large enough to block connected USB ports, both connected laptops and along the PS5.
There's likewise the fact that at that place's no Xbox stochastic variable this time some. The SteelSeries Arctis 7X is one of the only wireless headsets that whole kit and boodle seamlessly with some PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and not having that option feels like a step back. If you own both PlayStation and Xbox gear mechanism, you English hawthorn be better off with an Arctis 7X, even with its older charging cable and shorter battery life.
Oral presentation of battery animation, though, SteelSeries touts improved battery life as single of the main selling points of the Arctis 7+/7P+. Whereas older models lasted for about 24 hours, the newer model lav last for 30. It's not a Nox-and-day conflict, just six hours represents cardinal to three homogenous gaming Sessions, and fewer charging sessions is always a helpful percolate.
The Arctis 7+/7P+ runs on the SteelSeries Engine software, which has changed a lot over the long time. Breaking down the pros and cons of the software is on the far side the scope of this review, but you'll glucinium able to alter mic volume, tweak equalization options, gear up profiles for individual games etc.. It altogether works pretty good, although I was discomfited to find that even after 5 years, the software system is placid remarkably light on presets — and none of the presets is optimized for a specific game genre.
One new feature of the SteelSeries software is the Sonar carte, which lets you alter treble, bass and bulk in greater detail than the standard software package. Sonar is still in beta, and while I had approximately fun tweaking all the various options, I didn't find many indispensable options for either game audio or music.
SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ revue: Verdict
The SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ is a great headset — primarily because it's resting on the laurels of the corking headsets that preceded it. If you want a comfortable, varied peripheral with solid gaming audio and generous battery life, you can't fail with either the PC- or PS5-centric model. The extra $20 in the damage tag is not a dealbreaker, considering that a good pair of gambling headphones can well last three to five long time.
On the new hand out, the Arctis 7+/7P+ is notwithstandin operating on a basketball team-class-old template, and it's starting to show. Competing headsets have mainstreamed larger drivers and meliorate Bluetooth functionality in the interim, and some other SteelSeries models have successfully bridged the PlayStation/Xbox gap. If the Arctis 7 broke new ground in gaming headset design, then the 7+/7P+ feels corresponding the finishing touches on the construction.
Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Uncle Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's reporting of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing backdrop, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and engineering. Aft hours, you can find him practicing tae kwon do or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.
SteelSeries Arctis 7+/7P+ review
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/steelseries-arctis-7-plus-7-p-plus
