SteelSeries Arctis 7X Wireless  Headphones Review

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X look almost identical to the SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition Wireless. They have the same sleek black ear cups with a ski-band headband and a retractable boom mic. However, the elastic straps are black with a green motif in a similar style to Xbox consoles.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X are comfortable headphones. Just like the SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless, they're a bit heavy and bulky. The ear cups have a good range of motion, and the fabric headband and the padding feel soft. However, not all users may enjoy the ski-band headband design as it can feel tight on large heads, and it can't expand beyond the length of the strap.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have good controls that are easy to use. They have a volume wheel, a mic-mute button, and a channel mix wheel. There are min/max stops on both wheels and a middle notch on the channel mixer wheel to let you know when you have equal amounts of audio. However, the channel mix function is advertised to only work on Xbox consoles. These headphones have a power button that also offers basic call and music controls. Single pressing it answers and ends a call or plays and pauses your audio. Double tapping it skips to the next track while triple pressing skips to the previous track. The power-on function has feedback. The mic mute/unmute has different tones to let you know which setting you've selected, while the mic has an LED light that turns red when you're muted.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have alright breathability. Their padding traps a bit of heat. While it shouldn't be too uncomfortable while you're gaming, you may sweat more if you wear them while running or working out, as they're not designed for this purpose.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X aren't very portable. Just like most gaming headphones, they're bulky, the ear cups can't swivel to lay flat, and they don't come with a case to protect them when you're on the go. It shouldn't be too much of a problem if you're using them at home, though.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have a great build quality. Just like the SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless, the body is made from dense plastic, and they have cloth padding and an elastic ski-band headband strap. They feel sturdy and should survive being dropped on the floor without taking too much damage, although their yokes and hinges seem like weak links. They also don't have an advertised IP rating for water resistance, which is expected for gaming headphones.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have good stability. If you're sitting down to game, they shouldn't move around too much on your head. They're not designed for sports, though, so they could fall off during moderate physical exercise. Luckily, their wireless design eliminates the risk of something snagging the audio cable and pulling them off of your head.

• SteelSeries Arctis 7X Wireless headphones
• USB-C dongle
• Micro-USB charging cable
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• USB to analog cable
• User Guide

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have a boomy, v-shaped sound profile, which can help bring out sound effects as you game while sibilants like cymbals are sharp. However, bass and treble delivery can vary depending on fit, seal, and positioning. Once properly fitted to your head, you should get consistent audio delivery. If you don't like the way they sound, their companion software has a graphic EQ and presets so that you can tweak their sound to your liking.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have sub-par frequency response consistency. Their bass and treble delivery can vary depending on their fit, seal, and positioning on your head. Users with thick hair and glasses may especially notice a drop in bass as these features can affect their seal.

The SteelSeries 7X have decent bass accuracy. Their low bass is underemphasized, so your mixes lack thump and rumble. That said, the mid to high-bass are overemphasized, adding warmth, punch, and boom. However, some users may find it sounds a bit muddy.

Note, their bass delivery is very sensitive to fit, seal, and positioning. This bass accuracy performance represents the average response, and your experience may vary.

The mid accuracy of the SteelSeries 7X is great. There's a bit of overemphasis coming from the high-bass into the low-mids, making mixes a bit muddy and cluttered. The mid-mid is well balanced, though, which keeps vocals and lead instruments present, although the dip in the high-mids can slightly weaken them.

These headphones have decent treble accuracy. The low-treble is underemphasized, so the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments sound veiled. There's also an overemphasis in the mid-treble, making sibilants like S and T sounds sharp and piercing.

Note that treble delivery is sensitive to their fit and positioning. The treble accuracy performance represents the average response, and your experience may vary.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X's peaks and dips performance is satisfactory. There's a peak in the high-mid, which adds boom to your mix. A dip in the low to mid-mids nudges instruments and vocals to the back of the mix. Another dip in the high-mid and low-treble weakens and veils these sounds further. A large peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants like cymbals piercing.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have great imaging. Most of their weighted group delay falls entirely beneath the audibility threshold, resulting in a transparent treble but a slightly loose bass. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in phase, frequency, and amplitude response, so objects like footsteps and voices should be accurately placed in the stereo image. That said, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have a mediocre passive soundstage. While it's large and sound is perceived as coming from out in front of you, rather than from inside your head, it doesn't feel as open or spacious as open-back headphones.

These headphones support Window Sonic Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos, although we don't currently test the performance of these features. Some users have also reported that the headphones have DTS:X compatibility, but we couldn't verify this.

Update 07/20/2021: A user has reported bass distortion when using the SteelSeries GG app's 64Hz EQ band above 0dB. We can confirm that there's slight distortion on the 64Hz EQ band above or below 0dB. However, the issue seems limited to this band when it's adjusted using the companion software. We don't currently test for this, though. As a result, the scoring of this box hasn't changed.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X Wireless have a good weighted harmonic distortion performance. Overall, all frequencies fall within good limits, which should result in clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the SteelSeries 7X. Our results are only valid when using them in this configuration.

The noise isolation performance of the SteelSeries Arctis 7X Wireless is poor. They don't block out almost any bass-range noise like bus or plane engines. They also have a hard time reducing mid-range sounds like office chatter. That said, they do better at cutting down high-pitched sounds like the hum of an AC unit.

These headphones have a decent leakage performance. Most of their leakage is concentrated in the mid-range, which sounds fuller than most in-ear headphones. If you're listening to audio in a moderately noisy environment, people may be able to hear it.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X's mic has a great recording quality. Your voice sounds clear, full-bodied, and natural to whoever is on the other end of the line.

The microphone has an excellent noise handling performance. It can separate your voice from ambient noise around you, even in a loud environment.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have an outstanding battery performance, just like the SteelSeries Arctis 7P Wireless. They have just under 24 hours of continuous playback time, which is quite similar to their advertised playtime, and they take roughly 3.6 hours to recharge. However, battery life can vary depending on your usage. If you don't want to worry so much about battery life, you can use these headphones while they're charging or use them passively with their 1/8" TRRS or USB cable.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X have good app support. They're compatible with the SteelSeries Engine, which offers a graphic EQ and presets, and an adjustable level for the boom mic. You can also change the length of the audio-off timer. Note, surround sound is only supported on the device you're connected to.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X come with three different cables. There's a mini B 8-pin to 1/8" analog cable, allowing you to use the mic or use the headphones passively. There's also a USB extension cable for the USB-C dongle as well as a micro-USB charging cable.

These headphones have outstanding non-Bluetooth Wireless connectivity. Their USB dongle has a switch, which allows you to wirelessly connect to either Xbox or PlayStation (called USB) consoles. We tested this dongle on our PC using the 'USB' mode, and its low latency ensures that your audio and visuals stay in sync while gaming.

The SteelSeries Arctis 7X are fully compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles using their 1/8" TRRS cable or their wireless USB dongle. Note that to use the dongle on these consoles, you need to switch its toggle from 'USB' to 'Xbox'.

These headphones come with a wireless USB dongle, which allows you to connect with PS and Xbox consoles as well as PCs and the Nintendo Switch. However, it doesn't have any inputs.