SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni review: the wireless gaming headset without compromise
This wireless gaming headset ticks all the boxes with hi-res audio, ANC, 3x USB-C, and more
🏆 Review score: 5/5
🏅 Editor’s Choice Award
✅ Pros
🎮 Hi-Res wireless audio adds some extra detail for PC gaming, PS5, and Switch 2
🎼 Lossless music over LC3+ Bluetooth rings with more nuance
🔱 Three USB-C connections at last
🖐 Up to five connected devices with Aux in and Bluetooth
🔀 OmniPlay lets you mix audio from four different sources
🔋 Infinite battery life with faster charging batteries
🎙️Microphone offers improved voice pickup and noise isolation
❌ Cons
📟 Not suited for gaming handhelds at all
🥁 Weak to non-existent sub-bass performance
🧑🤝🧑 Largely unchanged design
The Shortcut Review
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni is a wireless gaming headset that checks off all the boxes. It has three wired USB-C connections, letting you plug in all your consoles, an Aux in for your gaming PC, and a simultaneous Bluetooth connection. It goes above and beyond even consumer headphones by supporting 24-bit/96 kHz Hi-Res wireless audio, not just over wired USB-C, and it features strong ANC to keep you focused in the game.
SteelSeries has also designed the Arctis Nova Pro Omni to do more than your average gaming headset by letting you mix up to four audio sources at the same time. You can literally play two different games at the same time with this headset, mixing audio from two USB-C sources while also connecting a Bluetooth device and another Aux device. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni is also possibly the most tunable headset, featuring both a fully customizable parabolic EQ and 336 game-tailored sound profiles.
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni review really is the wireless gaming headset without compromise. Aside from some weak-to-non-existent sub-bass performance (i.e., explosive low-end), there’s little this gets wrong or can’t do. It commands a high $400 price, but that’s just $50 more than the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, which can only support two connections. If you’re even curious about hi-res wireless gaming audio, the only other headsets to support it are the $200 more expensive SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite and the new $349 Turtle Beach Stealth II.
Full Review
📀 Hi-res wireless audio. While most consumer headphones are just now introducing lossless audio support over a wired connection, the Arctis Nova Pro Omni is SteelSeries’ second gaming headset that supports Hi-Res 24-bit/96 kHz sound wirelessly. While the Arctis Nova Pro Omni’s Hi-Res wireless audio offers a lot more bandwidth than your standard 16-bit/48kHz connection, only PC truly supports this format, and you’ll only hear a tiny bit more nuance from game audio. PS5 and Switch 2 consoles can output slightly higher quality 24-bit/48kHz sound, but the Xbox Series X/S USB ports only output CD-quality 16-bit/48kHz sound.
🎵 Lossless music. You’ll need lossless music from Spotify or Tidal to really enjoy this headset’s Hi-Res Audio to its fullest potential. Lossless audio is also supported over Bluetooth using the LC3+ codec, so you can listen to Hi-Res audio streaming from any mobile device connected to this headset.
🎮 Connect 3 (or 5) devices. SteelSeries has added a third USB-C port to the back of the Arctis Nova Pro Omni’s base station. This lets you connect up to three consoles, PCs, and other devices. There’s also no more confusion about which version of this headset supports Xbox, as they all come with a dedicated USB port for Microsoft’s consoles. On top of the three USB-C ports, you can also connect another source, like your streaming PC, to the 3.5mm aux connection and have a phone Bluetooth-paired to the headset. The only thing the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni isn’t really suited for is gaming handhelds due to the nature of its large, stationary base station.
🔀 Mix Master. Not only can you have five different devices connected to this headset at the same time, but you can also splice in the sound from four different sources simultaneously. First, OmniPlay lets you mix in audio from another USB-C source on top of the audio from whichever device you have plugged into USB-1. From there, you can also have a simultaneous Bluetooth connection playing music or other audio, all while mixing in audio from your aux source. It sounds ludicrous, but this could come in handy for a streamer who needs to hear their game audio, livestream playback, Discord teammates, and play a second game, all at the same time.
🚫 ANC glow up. While this headset has only traditional 40mm neodymium drivers, compared to the Arctis Nova Elite’s cutting-edge carbon-fiber, brass-reinforced drivers, its noise-canceling performance is almost on par. The ANC is particularly better at blocking out low- and mid-range frequencies. Sounds that used to bother me, like my clacky keyboard or the constant drone of PC fans, are practically non-existent while I wear this headset. High frequencies still pass through the headset’s leatherette earcups, but that shouldn’t be an issue unless you have background music playing or someone else in your home who just won’t get off the phone.
📣 Neutral sound. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni delivers detailed, balanced sound with a pleasantly neutral tone right out of the box. Unfortunately, there isn’t much sub-bass, so you don’t get a thunderous or booming effect with low-frequency sounds. The Omni is far more focused on accuracy and being flexible for EQ customizations and SteelSeries’ game-tailored sound profiles.
🎛️ Super tunable. What really makes this gaming headset come to life is when you start tweaking the equalizer settings. While you can manually control every aspect of the parametric equalizer down to specific frequencies and Q depths, SteelSeries’ software is also incredibly beginner-friendly with 336 profiles for specific games like Crimson Desert and Marvel Rivals.
These presets make a real difference: I could hear more pronounced footsteps in Battlefield 6, louder engine roars in Forza Horizon 6, and more atmospheric music that blended with the sounds of nature in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. For console gamers, you can pick game profiles in the Arctis Companion app for iOS and Android. It’s more streamlined than the desktop software; however, EQ customization is limited to just 10-bands instead of parabolic.
🔋 Infinite battery life. Two batteries come with this headset, and each lasts a fairly long 30 hours over wireless or 40 hours with Bluetooth. Running simultaneous wireless and Bluetooth connections cuts battery life to below 20 hours, but it’s still more than enough for a nonstop session of Forza Horizon 6 while listening to podcasts from my phone. Short of forgetting to slide in your second battery into the base station, you can never run out of battery with this headset. Just a 15-minute quick charge gives you back four hours of playtime.
📐 Minute changes. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni features a mostly unchanged design. The only real tweaks here are slightly thicker ear cushions and a new textured volume wheel on the headset (and base station) that also steps with distinct clicks rather than spinning freely. Otherwise, the Omni retains SteelSeries’ sleek, sophisticated design without even a hint of RGB. Personally, I would prefer a new, even cleaner design, like Fractal Design’s recent Scape gaming headset.
🎙️ Microphone. SteelSeries headsets have classically integrated unidirectional microphones, but the Omni (fittingly) has an omnidirectional boom mic instead. This microphone has a wider pickup area, but SteelSeries has also improved its noise isolation to keep out unwanted PC fan noise, AC units, and other general distractions. There are no secondary microphones built into the Omni like on Arctis Nova Elite, but SteelSeries has made one tweak so that the mic now automatically mutes when it’s retracted into the headset. Also, the AI noise canceling comes built into the headset rather than only SteelSeries’ PC, so it works on all platforms now.
Should you buy the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni?
✅ Yes, if…
🎮 You want one headset for all your gaming consoles, PCs, and more
🕹️ You’re consistently playing two games at the same time
🎧 You always listen to music/podcast while gaming
🔌 You absolutely abhor plugging in your gaming headset to charge
❌ No, if…
👾 Consoles are the only gaming systems you have (get the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless instead)
💵 You want something more affordable (get the Turtle Beach Stealth II instead)
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam