It’s rare these days to across a new headset that changes how you feel about a brand, yet that is exactly what the Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 has done.

What you may not know about me; is I love headsets. Like some girls collect shoes or bags, I collect headsets & have well over like 20 sets at home…… & counting. It is weird to think, I have been a fan of SteelSeries for the longest time but I’ve never actually owned one of their headsets. So, when the Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 arrived to say I was excited was an understatement.

The Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 are cross compatible wired headset with a simple but elegant design that is both lightweight and comfortable but that also packs a punch. Its sleek black exterior gives the headset an almost timeless feel to it embodying the elegance and grace we’ve come to expect from SteelSeries.

That sleek black exterior is only broken by the fully customizable LED ring that circles the ear cups & the ghosted Steelseries logo. And the design elements don’t just stop there; with all the controls at your fingertips on the ear cup with a microphone mute button & volume dial on the left & the RGB light on the right cup.

As mentioned before the Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 packs a punch into its 253-gram body. With the audio drive delivering slightly under empathise the subbase and midrange with a beautiful boost in the bass and treble ranges giving for a more well-rounded sound. Which I tested out while waiting for a flight home from Melbourne.

Word of advice do not lose the cables they come with cherish them. As after borrowing a friend’s type C cable, as my back up one was too big due to the inset nature of the type C plug on the Nova 3s. The RGB turned on, followed by the clear, crisp and smooth sound of AC/DC. They transported me back to when I saw them live only a few years ago.

As the elegant screams of Angus took me back to the concert many years ago, I was transported in my own little world. it was as if the world had just shut off around me, I couldn’t hear anything all I could feel was the music. They’re not 100% fully immersive I can’t tell you how how much I love the isolation qualities of the Steelseries Arctis Nova 3. My friends on the other hand may not agree with me as they were trying to get my attention to let me know the flight was about to board and I was just fully immersed in the dulcet tones of AC/DC.

After wearing Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 for a few hours prior to the flight about an hour into the flight started to notice a little discomfort on the right ear but nothing too bad but after removing the year cup for a few minutes it was fine, but we are talking after 4-5 hrs of use.

During the boarding I did notice that I could hear the flight attendant clear as day in the headset, as well as talking to other passengers, not realising I was plugged into the inflight entertainment system. Once I switched off the inflight entertainment & plugged into my switch followed by my laptop, no mic pickup. Or watching a video I had on my laptop.

The Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 fully retractable microphone has great recording quality that giving your voice a crisp clear sound whether using 3.5 mm Jack or the USB C. Though there iis no onboard processor the boom microphone handles the ambient sound well it will still come through a little.

Regarding sound quality I tried to test the Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 on as many different consoles and games as I could. So here is a breakdown of my testing of the sound quality:

PC – I mean, seeing as I just been on a flight, I had to play flight SIM. And this headset just makes the immersion something special. I felt like I could do anything, I was flying this plane, taking in the sights, hearing the roar off the engine & I may have got a little bit cocky and crashed once….. twice…. Ok, six times.

Switch –  My Nintendo Switch peeps, often forgotten, I got you covered! I tested this out with Two Point Campus and the crisp clear sound of this Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 just makes this game better. By adding in the ambience sound, it transported you back to what it sounded like at school. I have never experienced anything like iy and it just made you get even more immersed into this already amazing game.

Playstation – Lawn mowing simulation, Oi! do not knock it till you try this game!A few hours and multiple yards later, it feels like you have just finished your first day working on Jim’s Mowing franchise.… but from the safety of your couch.

And tested them on Last of Us Part 1 & man, did that opening hit hard!  It was like the difference between watching a movie of your iPad vs going to the cinema. The sounds that you might have missed or the in-game events you didn’t noticed on your first play through were there; & it just drag you into the story. You were no longer playing a game, you were there!

Mobile Gaming – I mean, if it has not already become apparent, I have a slight addiction to my phone. I tested these out with both music on YouTube Music and in numerous games and the sound was crisp, clear & immersive Not to mention, so simple to connect and get going with the type c cable or using the supplied mobile 3.5mm jack cable adaptor, if your phone needs that.

 Pros

• Noise isolation, or in my case friend isolation, works great when the music is loud in more open spaces
• RGB is fully customizable to your favourite colour
• Comfortable and even glass friendly
• Not playing on plane entertainment but…. An actual movie you own… well damn be ready for the audio to make you jump out of your seat with explosions.
• Microphone is easily assessable and slides away nicely.
• Non-proprietary type C connector
• Clean crisp and clear sounding music in variety of genres… I played some AC/DC, Britney, David Guetta, Linkin Park… (let me say Chester’s voice on this = goosebumps).

Cons

• when you’re at an airport and don’t have a type C cable or 3.5 mm Jack cable… you can’t use them lol…. so good idea to not misplace them 🤣🤣
• Noise isolation… not fun on a plane…. I could hear the flight attendant severing other passengers as the mic picked it up if you are playing something via the inflight entertainment.

Verdict

The Steelseries Arctis Nova 3 is the best bang for your buck at this price point.

As somebody that is a big fan of wireless headset; the crisp clean sound of the headset allows you to fully immerse in game and far out shadows the need for a wireless free life. If you’re in the market for an amazing all-round headset with possibly the best microphone at this price point, I highly recommend you immerse yourself a pair Steelseries Arctis Nova 3