SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni Review

As someone who games primarily on Nintendo consoles – hardly the frontrunner in integrated voice chat solutions – I’ve long been in the market for a good quality headset that mixes game audio with Discord voice chat (VC). Unfortunately I’m picky as hell, and finding a product that I adore can often be a challenge.

Enter the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni, the headset designed to solve all of my problems forever – at least as far as VC with friends is concerned. At $799, the unit doesn’t come cheap (or, let’s be real, even modestly priced), but what it lacks in affordability it makes up for in utility. The system’s main selling point is its audio mixing of up to four inputs simultaneously – three that can be wired into a base station which transmits to the headset over a 2.4GHz wireless channel, and a fourth that connects directly to the headset via Bluetooth.

After having spent a couple of months with the Omni now, it’s safe to say I really couldn’t go back. It’s not so much that you’ll want to mix four active inputs simultaneously (which, to be clear, you absolutely can do) but rather that having them all connected through the hub allows you to move seamlessly between your devices with minimal faff. Just switch on your headset, hop on a call, and boot up your game, whether that’s on Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, or PC, and change between them as you will – it really is as simple as that.

The Omni offers one-touch audio mixing that allows you to easily adjust the relative volume of your wired inputs using the dial on the hub or the wheel on the headset, and you can switch to an overall volume dial with just a click. The volume granularity is excellent, allowing for fine-grained control at even the lowest volumes. There are some small annoyances, such as the inability to adjust Bluetooth volume through the headset while you’re also connected on the 2.4GHz band; although these are fairly minor grievances, they do add friction into an otherwise seamless user experience.

The headset ships paired to the dock, so the only real setup required is linking the wired inputs to the dock and connecting the headset to your Bluetooth device. The hub itself is easy to use, thanks to the volume dial which doubles as a scroll wheel to allow you to move through the menus, and there are plenty of settings ranging from EQ and sidetone to system volume (turn this down if you value your hearing) that can all be adjusted to customise your experience. The headset can be used with the SteelSeries Arctis phone app, available on iOS and Android, but access to firmware updates and the full range of EQ settings is currently only available through the SteelSeries GG desktop app, which is available on Mac and Windows PC.

The Omni’s audio quality is miles better than what I’m used to, with clear audio layering that helps to bring new life into your games and music. This is further enhanced by a wide range of preset EQ profiles out of the box, including game-specific presets, music genres, and movie settings, which can all be further customised using SteelSeries GG. I’m admittedly not an audiophile, so I can’t give you a technical deep dive on exactly why it sounds good – but I do know that once you set up the EQ and lock in, the music will absolutely take you away.

The first game I booted up to test out the headset was Splatoon 3, using the dedicated EQ preset for the game. Within one match I felt like I was listening to an entirely new soundtrack to the one I’ve known for the last four years – the headset brought out a gorgeous clarity in the audio with its distinctive layers for each instrument, allowing the music to take on new dimensions and richness. The lower frequencies are particularly lovely, with the basslines and resonant harmonies solid and rounded out.

I’m also more than a little obsessed with the electro-pop soundtrack of the psychedelic indie racer Sayonara Wild Hearts, and while there isn’t an EQ setting for this game specifically, tweaking the Synthwave preset to bring out a little more of the bass and mid tones revealed a resonance that I didn’t know the soundtrack was holding back. Going back to the Flat preset afterwards (or, god forbid, a different headset altogether) felt like tuning into a slightly staticky radio station, and not one I had any intention of staying on for long.

That said, if you’re in the habit of listening to video game soundtracks for music, I’ve found that the EQ presets tend to be tuned to games’ overall audio profiles, rather than being the best fit for their self-contained soundtracks. In Splatoon 3, for example, the EQ preset brings out a lot of the percussion in the frequencies that are used by sound effects in battle – this is of course helpful for the audio cues while you’re gaming, but lends the music a scratchier profile than how it sounds best as a pure listening experience. The genre-specific music presets are better suited for listening, although I typically found I got the best results from custom profiles – so prepare to spend a bit of time tinkering if you’re after the best sound.

Good spatial audio is also something that I really value in a gaming headset, and the Omni holds up really well here. I found the audio signalling to be excellent, with the unit’s clear sound and well calibrated directionality helping me to identify the source of danger quickly in high hazard Salmon Run games. Lag is also negligible over the 2.4GHz band, allowing for split-second responses when you’re in a fast-paced match.

The microphone reflects a similar quality to the rest of the build, with in-built active noise rejection to isolate your voice from any other noise in your surroundings. This was a little overzealous and cut out my voice a bit at the higher settings, but worked well after adjusting the sensitivity. The mic’s quality is noticeable too; on more than one occasion, friends who didn’t know I had switched to the Omni mentioned that I sounded very clear when we were speaking and, entirely unprompted, asked whether I’d picked up a new mic. The box includes a foam pop filter that you can place over the mic, but as it doesn’t fit on the mic when fully retracted into the headset, it seems like something of an afterthought in the overall package – or at the very least, not something you’ll use constantly. The mic is also a little fiddly to pull out and retract back inside the left ear cup – the boom is flexible, making it hard to do one-handed, and since you have to grab onto the microphone element to guide it, it also picks up the sound of your hand unless you specifically have yourself muted.

Among the other features of the Omni is its active noise cancelling, which unfortunately left me unimpressed. While the ANC does dampen background noise to an extent, you can still hear most sounds, and it doesn’t do much for noisy neighbours or even the sound of my keyboard as I’m typing this review. Surprisingly, the ANC also creates a very quiet, low static in the background that you can hear when you’re not playing something else, which isn’t what you’d expect from a headset of this calibre. While the Omni is designed for gaming rather than focus and I’m probably a little spoiled for ANC with my work headset, a Jabra Evolve2 85 specifically designed for office spaces, I was surprised that the Omni didn’t hold up at least a little better on this front given the premium price point.

Nevertheless, there’s still plenty to love about the Omni. The build quality is on the whole very high, and it’s extremely comfortable to use for hours at a time. The adjustable, elasticised inner headband helps to evenly distribute the unit’s weight across the top of your head, preventing aches and sore spots from extended use. The cushion padding is exceptionally squishy, and although the ‘vegan leather’ (can we just call it synthetic?) offers limited breathability, on the whole it’s comfortable enough that you can easily forget you’re wearing it. The only real comfort issue I experienced from very long sessions was where the ear cups pressed into the arms of my glasses above my ears, which won’t be an issue for the glasses-free – or for people blessed with the ability to remember to take breaks.

The Omni’s battery life is also solid, offering slightly upwards of 20 hours of active use before the low battery chime kicks in. The Omni uses a hot-swappable battery system in place of a more traditional charging method; one of the two batteries can be stored charging in the hub station while the other is in use, and it’s very easy to switch them over as needed by popping off the magnetic cover on the outer shell. Although I’m fairly convinced that charging stands are the most user-friendly charging solution for wireless headphones, the hot-swappable battery system is probably the second best, and not having yet another set of wires to wrangle on one’s desk is always a plus.

Aesthetically, the Omni is appealing – even if its chunky profile takes this down a notch. The ear cushions are around 3cm thick, and while this does squash down a bit when worn, between that, the large ear cups, and the raised outer headband, there’s really a lot of bulk. I’m a fan of the Midnight Blue colourway, and while it’s deep enough to come up as near-black on a video call depending on your lighting, the colour introduces a little more visual interest than a basic black while still maintaining a modern profile. The reflective SteelSeries logos on the outer shells are a nice touch too.

Final Thoughts

Two and a half months with the Omni later, it’s safe to say I’m a convert. Being able to mix audio regardless of your device setup adds a flexibility and ease of use that I’ve been chasing for a long time, and while the headset falls short on noise cancelling, the quality that you get across the rest of the build is undeniable.