SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X Wireless - Review

I’ve long been a fan of SteelSeries’ audio equipment. They typically sound great, have pretty good software support, but above all are comfortable, and it’s that last point that really keeps me coming back. I’ve been using a pair of wired SteelSeries headphones on my desktop PC for over a year now, but with the Arctis Nova 3X Wireless, it was time to take it on the road. 

The Nova 3X Wireless is a great pair of headphones. Out of the box, they feel a little bit cheap and plasticky but that feeling fades away instantly when you put them on your head. They’re very light, which is excellent for long listening sessions, and they don’t apply too much pressure to the old noggin, which is a big plus compared to some other brands. They also have nice, fabric ear cushions, which are not as great at sound isolation as the leatherette seen on higher end models, but make for very breathable headphones nonetheless. 

The headset comes with two options for connecting to devices — the usual Bluetooth, and a 2.4GHz wireless dongle. We’ll go over the dongle first, because it’s pretty straightforward. Plugging the dongle into a device, 9 times out of 10, it works instantly. There’s no real setup needed, you plug it in and most of the time the device you’re plugging into automatically switches to it as the output and you’re good to go. I’ve tried this on a tonne of devices, from my Switch 2 (where it works perfectly and offers wireless microphone input, which is brilliant) to my PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, my PC, and even multiple smart TVs. All of them just worked right away. There were a couple instances where I had to unplug and replug it for some reason, but it was very rare and once I did, it worked flawlessly. 

Bluetooth is a bit more of a mixed bag. It connects to most of my devices just fine, although it’s more susceptible to needing a reboot than the wireless dongle, and I appreciate the support for the AAC codec rather than just the basic SBC, since I use an iPhone. I would’ve liked to have seen some lower latency codecs like AptX LL for devices that support it, but I understand that’s just not realistic on a device in this price range, and the wireless dongle is more than sufficient for low latency audio streaming anyway, so it’s a very forgivable omission. 

One issue that I did find popping up on my iPhone is that Bluetooth had some issues every now and then with signal drops and audio breaking up, even when my phone was just in my pocket or in some cases in my hand with a straight shot to the headphones. I can’t say with certainty that this is an issue with the headphones, as it could very well be an iPhone issue and I’ve experienced something similar on another pair of earbuds (the Redmi Buds 6), but it’s worth pointing out nonetheless. The wireless dongle does work on iPhone, so if it’s a major concern for you, you can always use that instead. 

There are a few notable omissions, too. The lack of simultaneous audio is a bit of a bummer, especially for me as somebody who likes to listen to music while I play games on my Switch 2. Again, this is something that is rarely present on headphones in this price range, so it’s definitely not expected, but I would have liked to have seen it nonetheless. The other major omission is a wired 3.5mm headphone jack connection, which is far less forgivable. I’m a firm believer that every pair of headphones – not earbuds but proper, full-sized headphones – should have a passive audio mode for when the battery runs flat, and plenty of other headphones in this price range offer it, so it’s frustrating to see it missing here. 

Thankfully, with that limitation in mind, the battery life on the Arctis Nova 3X Wireless is excellent. Steelseries says they’ll last for “up to 40 hours” and I have absolutely no reason to doubt that. I recently took them on a 5-day trip to China, and used them for the entirety of my plane trips – a little over 20 hours all up – and liberally before, during, and after the trip, and when I landed back in Australia they still reported ~40% battery life remaining in the Arctis app. That’s very impressive, especially since I switched often between Bluetooth and wireless modes, and even when they did eventually run out (after a mammoth Donkey Kong Bananza session) they took only an hour or so to charge back up to full. It makes the lack of a wired option much less of a problem… although I’d still rather they had it. 

There are a few other, smaller bits and pieces that are worth mentioning, too. The detachable mic is a godsend, and I much prefer it over the retractable mics Steelseries has used in the past. It sounds pretty good too, much better than most headsets, although it’s not quite good enough to use as a daily driver for streaming or anything remotely professional. Still, it’s more than good enough for gaming and phone calls, so there are absolutely no complaints from me on the microphone, it’s better than I could have expected. 

I’m also completely in love with the lavender colourway SteelSeries sent me. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an absolute fiend for anything purple, and lavender is among my favourites for shades of purple, so I’m very happy with how these turned out. I will say that the colour is a very slightly lighter shade in person than it is in SteelSeries’ pictures, with a slight shift towards the bluer end of the spectrum, bringing it closer to lavender than the almost lilac shown in promotional shots, but that’s absolutely fine by me. 

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X Wireless is a fantastic pair of wireless headphones that work on just about every device without much hassle. The lack of a wired option is a little bit disappointing, but with phenomenal battery life, excellent sound quality, and the best comfort for any headset in this price range, it’s an easy sell for anyone looking for a wireless headset. 

The Score

8.5

Review unit provided by SteelSeries

The Pros

Extremely comfortable, even after a dozen hours

Good wireless connectivity options

Phenomenal 40-hour battery life

The Cons

No wired connection options at all

Bluetooth can be a bit dicey on iPhone

No simultaneous audio