The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P has easily become my favourite gaming headset for my PlayStation 5 since it launched this year. While it's not the highest tier of gaming headset SteelSeries has to offer, it's lightweight comfort, easy setup and handy-to-use accompanying app have made it my go to PS5 accessory. Launching at $129.99, it was already easy to recommend for those who still want that recognised SteelSeries quality, without the eye-watering price tag that goes with it. Now, it's more of a no-brainer, as Amazon has knocked the price down to its lowest ever.
You can now grab the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P wireless gaming headset for $94.99 at Amazon, a whole $35 off its original MSRP. The Arctis Nova 5P has earned its place as one of the best gaming headsets, especially for those looking for a mid-range master. However, with its new lowest-ever price on Amazon, you’re getting the SteelSeries recognised quality, and a huge range of gaming audio pre-sets, for a price you’d expect for a budget pair of cups.
Unlike the other SteelSeries headsets in the Arctic Nova range, the Nova 5P is specifically designed to be compatible with your white Sony console beast. For months now, its Xbox counterpart, the Arctis Nova 5X hasn't budged much from its original price. But, in the console headset discount war, the Nova 5P has steadily got even cheaper over the last few months, reaching it's new under $100 price range. At that cost, you'd expect sub-par audio quality, a wireless only connection and a host of tacky RGB effects. But the Nova 5P manages to pack bassy audio, Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connections, a retractable mic, long battery life and huge list of audio pre-sets on a free to use app all in tired in to a budget-friendly headset package.
Should you buy the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P?
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless isn’t the beefiest headset in the Arctis lineup. Instead, it forgoes the RGB gimmicks and provides an array of easily selectable audio pre-sets. Developed alongside notable streamers and developers, there’s a huge list of pre-sets to choose from, ranging from support for titles like Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, and Dead by Daylight, the perfect pickup for this spooky season.
Dead by Daylight fans can get a kick out of the precisely picked EQ settings, where the Neodymium drivers makes the killer’s terror radius sound its scariest. As someone who loves their asymmetrical horror games, but isn't necessarily good at them, I regularly found myself winning more survivor matches as the Nova 5P let me hear every subtle movement of any killer I was up against.
If pre-sets aren’t for you, the app also lets you tinker with the EQ settings yourself, all without needing to use a gaming PC. With the Arctis app, you can also adjust the settings of the ClearCast retractable microphone, which can slide out the right cup at a moment's notice. It can be a bit fiddly to do this with the headset on. However, if you’re too shy to chat on Discord, or want to also use the Arctis Nova 5P for music, popping it back in turns the headset into an ideal everyday pair of cups.
The Arctis Nova 5P accompanying app doesn’t just save you from messing around with EQ audio settings but gives you an overview of the whole headset. Here you can check the remaining battery, or select between a Bluetooth, or its 2.4GHz connection (so long as you have the provided dongle sticking out of your PS5.) The only downside with this is that every time you turn your PS5 on and log in, it will automatically make the headset your audio output. I recommend changing this in your PS5 settings just as soon at you get this headset on your head.
Speaking of which, the Arctis Nova 5P also provides an added layer of comfort I find lacking with other mid-range headsets. Thanks to the elastic headband, even after racking up hundreds of hours on Dead by Daylight, I’d regularly forget the headset was on my noggin altogether. Coming in at only 1.61 lbs, it’s super lightweight, and its plush foam ear cushions only add to its cloud-like comfort.
The major downside to the headset is it’s microphone quality isn’t the best, but that’s pretty typical as far as gaming headsets come. The ClearCast mic doesn’t come with a foam cover, mainly so you can retract it with ease, so you can find yourself sounding pretty harsh and overbearing to friends from time to time. However, it makes it for it by providing audio monitoring in the form of ‘sidetone’ which you can adjust on the headset itself, or through the handy app.
The Arctis Nova 5P also comes with its own carrying case, which has protected my favourite PS5 accessory in every type of bag I’ve popped it in. It even comes with a handy pouch so you won't lose that tiny 2.4GHz dongle either.
At its original price of $129.99, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P is still one of my favourite mid-range headsets to recommend, but at that price, it's isn't going to suit everyone’s budget. But, at its current lowest-ever price on Amazon, your PS5, and your head, will find it difficult to find a better match.
If your PlayStation 5 is yearning for something higher-range, check out the best PS5 headset list where we've outlined our other top picks. If your Xbox is feeling envious, our best Xbox X headset list is full to the brim of the best gaming headsets for the Microsoft machine. Of course, with Black Friday gaming headset deals coming up there are plenty more savings around the web as well.
