If you thought SteelSeries‘ Arctis Nova gaming headsets couldn’t get any more premium, you just haven’t been paying attention. There’s always room to squeeze a new descriptor onto your product’s name, and SteelSeries has opted for the ‘Elite’ branding here. It’s certainly fitting, with the ultra-premium gaming headset becoming the world’s first to be Hi-Res certified. ANC and hot-swappable batteries are just the cherries on top.
SteelSeries’ super Nova
The company’s latest flagship entry hopes to convince gamers that it’s a proper audiophile-grade pair of cans, supporting 24-bit 96 kHz hi-res audio over a low-latency wireless signal (via the LC3+ codec). 40mm carbon fibre drivers are buried under the ‘cold-rolled steel’ and die-cast aluminium that make up the premium build.
There’s also a Wireless Gamehub included, complete with a mini OLED display, plenty of ports, and some fiddly bits, which SteelSeries claims can “mix audio from up to 4 audio sources at once, with zero audio degradation,” thanks to the new OmniPlay system. That means hooking up a PS5, Xbox, and PC all at once, if you wish.
42% stronger ANC and a SteelSeries staple, hot-swappable batteries, offer an easy way to shut out the world completely, with practically infinite battery life to help accomplish this. Each battery offers roughly 30 hours of juice, making the entire thing last up to 60 hours if you aren’t all that concerned about planning ahead.
On top of SteelSeries’ claims that the accompanying PC and mobile apps pack more than 200 “pro EQ presets”, it’s also got 16-bit/32kHz auto-switching microphones that the company claims block out 97% of background interference. “So powerful, even a helicopter can’t beat it.” Bold words, SteelSeries.
When we said that the Arctis Nova Elite had come to bankrupt you, we weren’t kidding. SteelSeries is hoping gamers are willing to part with an eye-watering $600 (∼R10,300) for the Sage & Gold or Obsidian colourways. There’s no telling when this headset will come to SA, and we’re not entirely looking forward to the price when it does.
