The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless has sat in the best gaming headset top spot for as long as I can remember - and for good reason. The multi-platform powerhouse is compatible with everything from the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2, and the PC, and sounds even better than it looks.
Yet now, SteelSeries has finally been pushed off its headset pedestal for the first time in over a year, but it just so happens it's by its own new headset. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni has now overtaken its own Arctis Nova brethren as the best pair of cups that myself, and the rest of the GamesRadar+ hardware team, have tested. It wasn't an easy defeat as the Pro Wireless is still a formidable piece of audio tech, but the new Omni takes all its best features and makes them just that little bit better with just a $20 / £20 price difference too - what's not to like?
The Arctis Nova Pro Omni is very similar to the Pro Wireless, but its small differences are what make it worthy of GamesRadar+'s best headset moniker. It's available in a new 'Midnight Blue' colorway, and it's a little bit more comfortable to wear thanks to its thicker earcushions. At first glance, I thought these may make the Omni less glasses-friendly than the Pro Wireless, but I was happily mistaken.
I wear glasses every single day, and yet I experience no discomfort whatsoever. There is a bit of a tighter clamping force with this pair, which was a bit unnerving to feel when I first plopped the pair on my head. Yet it only took a matter of days for the Omni to loosen up and feel attuned to my noggin', just like the Pro Wireless before it. Outside of these changes, the design is pretty much the same with this new pair as the brand has followed the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule to a T.
It's not in its design that makes the Omni worthy of knocking the Pro Wireless down a peg, but in its features. Everything that made the Pro Wireless great is back, but with additions that make the $20 / £20 price difference feel more than justified. The first major upgrade is that SteelSeries has imbued the pair with certified Hi-res audio.
Not all gamers will be able to fully appreciate its 96kHz/24-bit Hi-res ways as consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S max out at 48k/16bit. However, this makes the Omni far more futureproof than previous Arctis Nova headsets, as it's very likely the upcoming PS6 and Xbox Project Helix consoles will support the higher standard of sound when they launch in the near future. Meanwhile, PC players can take advantage of this regardless, as can any audiophile music fans looking for a multi-purpose gaming and music pair of cups.
Even without its Hi-res ways, the out-of-the-box sound of the Omni far outstretches the Pro Wireless. One of the few cons of the older pair was that its sound relied on its EQ settings and the game-audio presets available through SteelSeries GG to truly make it sound as leveled as it could be. I have a pair of my own, and I usually have to at least push up the bass to give the lower sounds of my games more warmth. This time around, I had to do none of that, as the Custom 40 mm Neodymium Magnetic audio drivers did all the hard work for me.
So it looks and feels better to use and sounds better to boot, but what else makes it even more worthy of that best headset title? It's unmistakably its new and improved Game Hub. This little device came with the Pro Wireless and was at the center of what made it truly special. With it, you could connect to multiple consoles at once, and it could charge a spare battery pack at the same time.
The hot-swappable battery tech is still a key feature with the Omni, and the design of the Game Hub is essentially identical (albeit with a new textured dial). However, this time around, you can connect to up to four consoles at once and mix the audio of those platforms simultaneously. My gaming setup is not unified, so I've not been able to take full advantage of this, but being able to keep my Spotify playlist on while chatting to co-workers while I'm hooked up to both my work laptop and my gaming PC never gets old.
Overall, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni is essentially the Pro Wireless but better, so it makes all the sense that it's over-taken the Pro Wireless. I'll be writing up a more in-depth comparison between the two high-end headsets shortly, but if you're looking for the best headsets out there (and don't want to part with $699.99 (Amazon) for the SteelSeries Actis Nova Elite), the Omni is a must-have.
- View all SteelSeries gaming headsets at Amazon
Check out our guides to the best PC headsets for gaming, the best Nintendo Switch headsets, and the best Xbox Series X headsets for a full range of SteelSeries pairs to suit budgets of any size.
