Everyone knows I love a good headset, but I have yet to find one that delivers incredible audio for music, as well as being a solid all-rounder for mobile games. Many find a balance, few do both perfectly, and while the Apple AirPods Max might be great for music, they're getting replaced if the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite can stand on business like the company is promising.
While I do play plenty of the best mobile games on my iPhone, I also float around other consoles. Some of the best handheld consoles, like the Steam Deck and the Switch 2, sit neatly on my desk, with a gaming PC underneath them, before I shut them all down to enjoy some Apple Arcade. I'm not picky. Well, I am actually very picky about headsets and earbuds, and I genuinely might replace my Apple AirPods Max with this new release.
I love the SteelSeries Nova Pro; they're a mainstay headset in my setup, connecting to my PC and my PS5, as well as joining me on the occasional travels when playing on my iPhone. However, SteelSeries is coming for Bose and Apple's throats with the upcoming Arctis Nova Elite, offering everything I want from a Nova Pro successor, while adding on some audiophile treats.
Offering impressive 24‑bit / 96 kHz audio for those looking to get truly lossless audio, a first in gaming headsets, according to SteelSeries, the Arctis Nova Elite is positioning itself as the best of both worlds. The base station, my favorite feature of the Nova Pro Wireless, makes a return, offering hot-swappable batteries for quick and easy charging, and it's honestly a life-changing feature that not enough companies take advantage of.
40mm Carbon Fiber Speaker Drivers deliver impressive audio, alongside the 'best ANC in a gaming headset', according to SteelSeries' own press release. Apparently, that's an independently lab-tested result from August, so it's definitely piquing my ears, as I look to my collection of the best earbuds with disgust and disappointment, eager to replace them.
Even the battery doesn't seem to be a problem, with SteelSeries promising 30 hours of life in each battery, an issue solved anyway with the hot-swappable battery system. Sure, all of this is a little overkill if you only play Switch games, but if you're a multi-platform person like myself, these are extremely enticing at least, if you can afford them.
All of those incredible-sounding features come at a frightening price - $599.99 / £599.99, to be exact. While we have yet to test it (and I hope I can soon), it's certainly a high price that many will likely avoid. However, if you're in the market for getting the best of both worlds, like Hannah Montana, you can buy the Arctis Nova Elite at the SteelSeries website.
The headset comes in two different colors: a boring, yet premium-looking Obsidian, or the gorgeous, luxurious Sage & Gold. I'm definitely opting for the latter, but at least SteelSeries got the memo that people want dark black tech - see, Apple, there's a market for it.
If the Arctis Nova Elite can deliver what it promises, well, I can't wait to play the best FPS games with the sounds of bullets ringing in a way I've never heard them before. Give me a mobile controller, and I think I'll be using these all of the time.