The SteelSeries Arctis 7P is an all-rounder headset that’s been designed for PlayStation 5 users but performs just as well on a multitude of other devices thanks to its connectivity flexibility. The SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ is the enhanced version of the 7P featuring a much longer battery life and USB Type-C fast-charging.
Should you then consider the SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ if you’re in the market for a new headset ?
Before getting into this, let’s dive into the headset’s technical specifications.
Neodymium Drivers: 40 mm.
Headphone Frequency Response: 20–20 000Hz.
Headphone Sensitivity: 98 dBSPL.
Headphone Total Harmonic Distortion: < 3 percent.
Headphone Volume Control: On Ear Cup.
Microphone Frequency Response: 100–6 500Hz.
Microphone Pattern: Bidirectional
Microphone Sensitivity: -38 dBV/Pa
Microphone Impedance: 2 200Ohm.
Microphone Location:Retractable
Range: 40 ft, 12 m.
Battery life: 30 hours.
Package Contents: Arctis 7P+ Headset, USB-C wireless transmitter, Mobile audio cable, Charging cable, USB-C to USB-A adapter.
PlayStation Aesthetic
The SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ comes in a blue and white box that honestly screams “PlayStation” and you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is an official Sony PlayStation product instead of a SteelSeries one.
Unboxing the headset, users will see that SteelSeries have generously provided 3 sets of cables along with a USB-C wireless transmitter.
The three cables are plastic coated and aren’t braided so we have some doubts about their longevity though. Thankfully, since this is a wireless headset, you’ll primarily be using the charging cable, and not all that often either given the headset’s ridiculously good battery life.
SteelSeries claim that the headset will last you up to 30 hours on a single charge but in our testing, we got significantly more than that.
SteelSeries GG software doesn’t report a battery percentage, but instead displays a battery bar which makes judging the actual amount of charge remaining a bit of a hit and miss affair. This really needs to be changed in their software suite and hopefully a future update enables a percentage to be reported instead.
Circling back to the battery life though, on a full charge, the headset lasted well into the 40 hour region and possibly more since we only had to charge it after a full work week’s worth of usage.
SteelSeries state that 15 minutes of charging will provide you with around 3 hours of battery use time, but we recommend charging the headset back up to full so that you don’t have to constantly be plugging it back in to charge.
The headset will remind you when it needs to be charged. Only when the battery is really about to run completely dry will it start having connectivity issues and this really shouldn’t happen if you charge it when it notifies you to.
The Arctis 7P+ has both wired 3.5mm connectivity along with wireless 2.4Ghz via the included USB-C transmitter. The USB-A adapter included in the package is great for users that want to use this device with platforms that don’t have USB-C ports available.
The Arctis 7P+, while clearly intended for use with the PlayStation 5, can be used perfectly fine with PC, Nintendo Switch and Android phones too. This makes it a great choice for gamers who would prefer to buy one headset and use it across all their devices.
Xbox users can also use this headset with their console albeit only via the 3.5mm jack option. SteelSeries does sell an Xbox variant of this headset (The SteelSeries Arctis 7X), but it hasn’t been given the “Plus” treatment yet.
Sound Performance
When it comes to the headset’s sound performance, the Arctis 7P+ delivers very punchy bass but does sound a tad muddy with certain songs at times because of this. Playing Bastille’s Pompeii, the bass was definitely well defined and so too were the vocals.
Listening to Monster Hunter World’s Seliana Theme and Monster Hunter Rise’s Kamura Village Theme were both an absolute pleasure and the Arctis 7P+ did not disappoint with both song’s highs, lows and various orchestral instruments being audibly crisp and clear.
The muddyness creeps in with songs that favour heavy bass over other instruments which can be drowned out a bit when the volume is ramped up. This can however be mitigated by playing around with the equaliser settings in SteelSeries GG software suite.
The Arctis 7P+ is a pretty loud headset and even when snuggly fit on your head, there is some sound leakage once you increase the volume. This of course shouldn’t be too much of a problem if you keep your volume levels at an acceptable range.
If you’re maxing out the slider though, other people nearby in the same room as you are definitely going to be hearing whatever it is you’re playing through the headset.
When it comes to gaming itself, the Arctis 7P+ was excellent with SteelSeries early access “Sonar” surround sound providing a bit of a boost to footsteps and movement sounds in games that rely on this to convey enemy positioning. The Arctis 7P+ is also fully compatible with the PS5’s Tempest 3D surround sound features and this sounds ridiculously good in action.
Playing Scarlet Nexus, the background music, enemy attacks and voice acting sounded great with the Arctis 7P+. The 40 mm drivers and the frequency response of the headset covers a wide range of sounds in games. More than enough really for every modern gamer out there.
The Arctis 7P+ uses SteelSeries “Ski Goggles” style headband which, while extremely comfortable, can be slightly problematic for people with larger head sizes. You can adjust the elasticated headband a bit, but there isn’t much extension given here so it’s best to try the headset on first if you’re not sure about its comfort level on your own head.
We found that the elasticated band is barely noticeable once on your head and is super comfortable even after extremely long periods of wearing the headset. The main headband itself feels sturdy and the overall build quality is extremely solid with metal being used instead of plastic.
When it comes to the earcups, SteelSeries have opted for soft ear cushions that surround your ear quite well. Once on your head, the Arctis 7P+ feels great and provides some noise cancellation to the outside world but not enough to completely immerse you in a void.
If you’re playing Resident Evil Village for example, the creepy ambient game sounds along with the headset’s ability to muffle outside sounds really adds to the scare factor while still letting you be able to hear the outside world. Users who prefer more intense noise cancellation will have to look elsewhere though.
The parts where the headset connects to the earcup don’t instill a lot of confidence in us and we suspect this is a weak point which could break if the headset is dropped repeatedly or thrown around in a fit of rage.
Please don’t do that to headsets though folks.
The mic boom is retractable and is easily pushed back into place into the left earcup. Unfortunately, muting the mic isn’t as easy as with some other headsets on the market. You’ll have to press a button on the left earcup and this is slightly less ideal than simply flipping a mic boom up to mute yourself.
Users may want to enable push to talk in their games and chat programmes instead if they don’t want to end up fumbling with trying to press a mute button on the headset while wearing it. Though you do get used to the button’s positioning over time.
The Arctis 7P+ features a volume wheel on the left earcup and a “Sidetone” wheel on the right earcup. Personally we never use sidetone but should you need to use the feature, it is there and available. It also works well with the mic picking up your own voice and other nearby sounds perfectly fine.
Speaking of the mic, using the headset for both Discord calls and Microsoft Teams meetings was excellent with voice quality being crisp and audible on the receiving end. This was expected though given that the headset has a noise-cancelling bi-directional “Discord Certified” mic.
Surprisingly, even with the mic slotted into the earcup, it still picked up voice perfectly fine. Extending it and using the boom to position it helped with loudness but it was quite evident that it wasn’t really necessary for the voice sound quality to be maintained.
In fact, we just used the headset with the mic safely positioned back in its slot and never encountered any issues or problems with voice clarity. SteelSeries really did a great job here.
The only major gripe to be had with the Arctis 7P+ lies with the fact that the USB Type-C wireless transmitter is elongated. This effectively takes up a lot of space and given how some PC motherboards have their USB Type-C ports in positions next to other ports, the Arctis 7P+’s wireless transmitter will block the other ports.
On the PlayStation 5, if you plug in the Type-C wireless transmitter, you cannot have your controller plugged in since the standard USB port next to it will be blocked. Users may want to use the extension adapter cable to plug the wireless transmitter into a port at the back of the PS5 instead of directly into the Type-C port in the front.
If SteelSeries can shrink the size of the transmitter down in a future version, or change its shape, that would be greatly appreciated.
Final Verdict
For the average consumer/gamer, the SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ is a well-rounded peripheral delivering a great user experience. This isn’t an “Audiophile” music orientated headset so do bear that in mind.
This is instead, a solid multi-purpose gaming headset with a fantastic mic, lots of bass, PS5 Tempest 3D surround compatibility and remarkably long battery life with wireless connectivity that never falters.
If you want one headset to use across numerous devices, this is the one to pick. The wireless transmitter’s size is its only major drawback. SteelSeries if you’re reading this, you have a great product here, please just reduce the transmitter’s size or reshape it in a future version.
The SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ is a tad pricey coming in at around €199.99 or ~R3 499 but given the two year warranty period and the compatibility across multiple devices, this is definitely a quality headset to consider buying.
