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  1. Home
  2. Headphones
  3. Compare
  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Style
    2. Comfort
    3. Controls
    4. Breathability
    5. Portability
    6. Case
    7. Build Quality
    8. Stability
    9. Headshots 1
    10. Headshots 2
    11. Top
    12. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Sound Profile
    2. Frequency Response Consistency
    3. Raw Frequency Response
    4. Bass Accuracy
    5. Mid Accuracy
    6. Treble Accuracy
    7. Peaks/Dips
    8. Imaging
    9. Passive Soundstage
    10. Virtual Soundstage
    11. Weighted Harmonic Distortion
    12. Test Settings
  6. Isolation
    1. Noise Isolation
    2. Leakage
  7. Microphone
    1. Microphone Style
    2. Recording Quality
    3. Noise Handling
  8. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. App Support
  9. Connectivity
    1. Wired Connection
    2. Bluetooth Connection
    3. Wireless Connection (Dongle)
    4. PC Compatibility
    5. PlayStation Compatibility
    6. Xbox Compatibility
    7. Base/Dock
  10. Comments

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless vs Xbox Wireless Headset

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless
Xbox Wireless Headset

Tested using Methodology v1.6

Updated Apr 17, 2024 11:28 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v1.6

Updated Feb 16, 2024 01:54 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Picture
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingNo
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingNo
MicYes

Variants

  • Arctis 9X (Black)
  • Wireless Headset (Black)
  • Wireless Headset (Starfield Limited Edition)

Review

See SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Review
See Xbox Wireless Headset Review
2 
7 

Our Verdict

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless

Xbox Wireless Headset

The SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless are better gaming headphones for Xbox consoles than the Xbox Wireless Headset. The SteelSeries are better-built, more stable, and have a more neutral default sound profile. Their boom mic also delivers better overall performance, they have a longer continuous battery life, and lower wireless latency.  

0 

Check Price

Black
Arctis 9X
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Black
Wireless Headset
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Black
Arctis 9X
Searching
Finding store
Starfield Limited Edition
Wireless Headset
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Black
Arctis 9X
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Finding store
 
Black
Arctis 9X
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Black
Arctis 9X
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Main Differences for
Neutral Sound

Threshold 

0.10

Neutral Sound 

7.8
5.2

Bass Accuracy 
 

7.6
1.5

Mid Accuracy 
 

8.9
7.1

Passive Soundstage 
 

6.3
4.4

Treble Accuracy 
 

8.5
6.7

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Design Picture 2  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Design Picture 2
Xbox Wireless Headset Design Picture 2

Type  

Over-ear
Over-ear

Enclosure  

Closed-Back
Closed-Back

Wireless  

Yes
Yes

Transducer  

Dynamic
Dynamic
Show Text 

Comfort 
 

7.5
7.5

Comfort Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Comfort Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Comfort Picture

Weight  

0.82 lbs
0.69 lbs

Clamping Force 
 

1 lbs
0.8 lbs
Show Text 

Controls 
 

7.7
6.7

Controls Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Controls Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Controls Picture

OS Compatibility 
 

Not OS specific
Not OS specific

Ease Of Use  

Decent
Excellent

Feedback  

Great
Great

Call/Music Control  

Yes
No

Volume Control  

Yes
Yes

Microphone Control  

Adjustable Level
Mute/Unmute

Channel Mixing 
 

Yes
Yes

Noise Cancelling Control  

No
No

Talk-Through 
 

No
No

Additional Controls  

Bluetooth Sync + Presets
No
Show Text 

Breathability 
 

6.3
6.0

Breathability After Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Breathability After Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Breathability After Picture

Avg.Temp.Difference  

6.2 °C
7 °C
Show Text 

Portability 
 

5.4
5.6

Portability Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Portability Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Portability Picture

L  

8.6" (21.8 cm)
7.4" (18.8 cm)

W  

7.0" (17.8 cm)
6.8" (17.3 cm)

H  

3.5" (8.9 cm)
3.3" (8.4 cm)

Volume  

211.00 in³ (3,457.66 cm³)
164.70 in³ (2,698.94 cm³)

Transmitter Required  

No
No
Show Text 

Case 
 

0.0
0.0

Case Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Case Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Case Picture

Type  

No case
No case

L  

N/A
N/A

W  

N/A
N/A

H  

N/A
N/A

Volume  

N/A
N/A
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

6.0
7.5

Build Quality Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Build Quality Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Build Quality Picture
Show Text 

Stability 
 

7.5
7.0

Stability Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Stability Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Stability Picture
Show Text 

Headshots 1  

Angled Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Angled Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Angled Picture

Side Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Side Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Side Picture

Headshots 2  

Front Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Front Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Front Picture

Rear Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Rear Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Rear Picture

Top  

Top Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Top Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Top Picture

In The Box  

In The Box Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless In The Box Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset In The Box Picture
Show Text 
Sound

Sound Profile 
 

Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Bass Amount 
 

-3.5 dB
6.59 dB

Treble Amount 
 

-1.51 dB
-3.46 dB
Show Text 

Frequency Response Consistency 
 

5.3
5.4

Consistency L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Consistency R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Avg. Std. Deviation 
 

1.47 dB
1.27 dB
Show Text 

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw FR L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Raw FR R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Bass Accuracy 
 

7.6
1.5

Bass  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

3.2 dB
12.2 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

59.07 Hz
11.72 Hz

Low-Bass 
 

-6.1 dB
9.81 dB

Mid-Bass 
 

-0.36 dB
14.45 dB

High-Bass 
 

2.35 dB
14.85 dB
Show Text 

Mid Accuracy 
 

8.9
7.1

Mid  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

1.45 dB
3.88 dB

Low-Mid 
 

0.93 dB
5.56 dB

Mid-Mid 
 

0.13 dB
0.59 dB

High-Mid 
 

-1.33 dB
-0.34 dB
Show Text 

Treble Accuracy 
 

8.5
6.7

Treble  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

2.29 dB
4.81 dB

Low-Treble 
 

-2.03 dB
-1.67 dB

Mid-Treble 
 

1.13 dB
4.01 dB

High-Treble 
 

-5.88 dB
-2.13 dB
Show Text 

Peaks/Dips 
 

7.9
6.2

Peaks/Dips Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Peaks 
 

1.49 dB
2.54 dB

Dips 
 

0.64 dB
2.1 dB
Show Text 

Imaging 
 

8.2
8.2

Group Delay  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Phase Response Mismatch  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Weighted Group Delay 
 

0.45
0.43

Weighted Phase Mismatch 
 

5.59
7.09

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch 
 

0.65
0.6

Weighted Frequency Mismatch 
 

2.34
2.15
Show Text 

Passive Soundstage 
 

6.3
4.4

PRTF  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.) 
 

3.49 dB
6.03 dB

PRTF Size (Avg.) 
 

5.73 dB
2.53 dB

PRTF Distance 
 

21.61 dB
7.15 dB

Openness 
 

5.7
5.7

Acoustic Space Excitation 
 

2.6
3.4
Show Text 

Virtual Soundstage 
 

2.0
2.0

Virtual Soundstage  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Virtual Soundstage
Xbox Wireless Headset Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling 
 

No
No

Speaker Modeling 
 

On/Off
On/Off

Room Ambience 
 

No
No

Head Tracking 
 

No
No

Virtual Surround 
 

Windows Sonic Spatial Audio
Windows Sonic Spatial Audio
Show Text 

Weighted Harmonic Distortion 
 

7.4
7.2

Weighted Harmonic Distortion  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

WHD @ 90 
 

0.316
0.451

WHD @ 100 
 

0.176
0.193
Show Text 

Test Settings 
 

Firmware 
 

Unknown
0.0.9.0

Power 
 

On
On

Connection 
 

Wireless (Proprietary)
Wireless (Proprietary)

Codec 
 

PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz
PCM, 16-bit, 48kHz

EQ 
 

Default
Game

ANC 
 

No ANC
Off

Tip/Pad 
 

Default
Default

Microphone 
 

Boom
Boom
Show Text 
Isolation

Noise Isolation 
 

4.2
4.2

Noise Isolation  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Isolation Audio 
 

Overall Attenuation 
 

-10.57 dB
-10.87 dB

Noise Cancelling  

No
No

Bass 
 

0.06 dB
1.74 dB

Mid 
 

-9.61 dB
-8.45 dB

Treble 
 

-23.05 dB
-26.77 dB
Show Text 

Leakage 
 

7.7
7.0

Leakage  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Leakage Audio 
 

Overall Leakage @ 1ft 
 

35.49 dB
39.59 dB
Show Text 
Microphone

Microphone Style 
 

Integrated 
 

No
No

In-Line 
 

No
No

Boom 
 

Yes
Yes

Detachable Boom 
 

No
No

Mic  

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Recording Quality 
 

8.3
8.0

Microphone Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Recorded Speech 
 

LFE 
 

85.99 Hz
257.68 Hz

FR Std. Dev. 
 

3.36 dB
1.58 dB

HFE 
 

9,805.86 Hz
6,639.82 Hz

Weighted THD 
 

0.46
0.028

Gain 
 

15.13 dB
12.71 dB
Show Text 

Noise Handling 
 

8.0
7.2

SpNR  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SpNR 
 

34.17 dB
13.45 dB

Noise Gate 
 

Always On
Always On

Speech + Pink Noise Handling 
 

8.0
8.0

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample  

Speech + Subway Noise Handling 
 

8.0
6.0

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample  

Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

8.1
8.2

Battery Type 
 

Rechargable
Rechargable

Continuous Battery Life 
 

28 hrs
19.1 hrs

Additional Charges 
 

0.0
0.0

Total Battery Life 
 

28 hrs
19.1 hrs

Charge Time 
 

2.4 hrs
3.2 hrs

Power-Saving Feature 
 

No
Auto-Off Timer

Audio While Charging 
 

Yes
Yes

Passive Playback 
 

Yes
No

Charging Port  

micro-USB
USB-C
Show Text 

App Support 
 

8.0
7.5

App Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless App Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset App Picture

App Name  

SteelSeries Engine
Xbox Accessories

iOS  

No
No

Android  

No
No

macOS  

Yes
No

Windows  

Yes
Yes

Equalizer 
 

Graphic + Presets
Graphic + Presets

ANC Control 
 

No
No

Mic Control  

Adjustable Level
Adjustable Level

Room Effects 
 

No
No

Playback Control 
 

No
No

Button Mapping  

No
No

Surround Support 
 

Yes
No
Show Text 
Connectivity

Wired Connection 
 

9.1
7.1

Cable Picture  

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless Cable Picture
Xbox Wireless Headset Cable Picture

Analog Audio 
 

Yes
No

USB Audio 
 

No
USB Type A

Detachable 
 

No
Yes

Length 
 

N/A
1.50 ft (0.46 m)

Connector 
 

1/8" TRS
USB-C

Latency - Analog 
 

0.2 ms
N/A

Latency - USB 
 

N/A
58.0 ms

Recorded Latency 
 

Recorded Latency Connection  

Analog
USB
Show Text 

Bluetooth Connection 
 

6.6
6.4

Bluetooth Version 
 

4.1
4.2

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

Bluetooth + Console/Non-BT Wireless
Bluetooth + Console/Non-BT Wireless

Quick Pair (Android) 
 

No
No

Quick Pair (iOS) 
 

No
No

Line Of Sight Range 
 

139.00 ft (42.37 m)
117.00 ft (35.66 m)

Latency - SBC 
 

242 ms
251 ms

Latency - aptX 
 

N/A
N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality) 
 

N/A
N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency) 
 

N/A
N/A

Latency - LDAC 
 

N/A
N/A

Recorded Latency 
 

Recorded Latency Codec  

SBC
SBC

AAC Support 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Wireless Connection (Dongle) 
 

7.5
6.3

Line Of Sight Range 
 

70.00 ft (21.34 m)
189.00 ft (57.61 m)

Latency - Dongle 
 

56 ms
122 ms

Recorded Latency 
 

Show Text 

PC Compatibility 
 

Analog 
 

Audio Only (Not included)
No

Wired USB 
 

No
Audio + Microphone

Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No
Show Text 

PlayStation Compatibility 
 

PS4 Analog 
 

Audio Only (Not included)
No

PS4 Wired USB 
 

No
No

PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

PS5 Analog 
 

Audio Only (Not Included)
No

PS5 Wired USB 
 

No
No

PS5 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

Xbox Compatibility 
 

Xbox One Analog 
 

Audio Only (Not included)
No

Xbox One Wired USB 
 

No
Audio + Microphone

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless 
 

Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone

Xbox Series X|S Analog 
 

Audio Only (Not included)
No

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB 
 

No
Audio + Microphone

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless 
 

Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
Show Text 

Base/Dock 
 

3.4
0.0

Type 
 

Wireless USB Dongle
Wireless Built-In

USB Input 
 

Yes
No

Line In 
 

No
No

Line Out 
 

No
No

Optical Input 
 

No
No

RCA Input 
 

No
No

Dock Charging 
 

No
No

Power Supply 
 

USB
No Base/Dock
Show Text 

Check Price

Black
Arctis 9X
Searching
Finding store
Black
Wireless Headset
Searching
Finding store
Black
Arctis 9X
Searching
Finding store
Starfield Limited Edition
Wireless Headset
Searching
Finding store
Black
Arctis 9X
Searching
Finding store
 
Black
Arctis 9X
Searching
Finding store
 
Black
Arctis 9X
Searching
Finding store
 
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SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless

Xbox Wireless Headset

Comments

  1. Comparison
 • Posted 1 year ago

SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless vs Xbox Wireless Headset: Main Discussion

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