Eons in the past, I labored a retail job promoting gaming headsets (amongst different issues) through the PS3 period. Even again then, I used to be irritated that the majority headphone producers had nearly similar variations of the identical headset, distinguished solely by whether or not they have been appropriate with the Xbox or PlayStation. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5X Wi-fi might not be the primary headset to place this explicit nuisance to mattress, however it’s my favourite.
The core of this explicit downside comes all the way down to how the completely different console producers deal with wi-fi audio. Bluetooth is the default system for wi-fi audio on most gadgets, however there’s simply sufficient of a latency concern that players would discover. Particularly should you play on-line aggressive video games, the place split-second timing issues.
Each Microsoft and Sony have their very own proprietary wi-fi audio programs to cope with this downside, however, shock, they’re not interoperable. Worse but, it’s often too costly to trouble including help for each right into a single headset, since most players are likely to have both one console or the opposite. Luckily, the Arctis Nova 5X Wireless has a helpful answer to this downside.
Enter the Dongle
The Arctis Nova 5X headset is designed for the Xbox Sequence X/S (as denoted by the “X” in its identify), however the USB-C 2.4-GHz dongle has a small swap that lets it swap between Xbox compatibility and … all the things else. You should use this headset together with your PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC, heck even your cellphone simply by plugging this little man in.
{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft
This isn’t the primary SteelSeries headset with this function—my earlier prime gaming headset advice for Xbox, the Arctis Nova 7X, included the identical dongle. Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless unusual for many wi-fi gaming headsets to help such a big selection of gadgets. Most frequently, the Xbox is the odd one on the compatibility checklist.
On prime of this, the Arctis Nova 5X Wi-fi has a separate Bluetooth connection, so you possibly can pair it together with your cellphone or different gadgets to reply calls, hearken to music, or put in your favourite podcast. Whereas the 7X can play audio from each Bluetooth and a couple of.4 GHz on the similar time, the 5X solely allows you to hear to 1 or the opposite, although there’s a helpful button on the correct ear cup to swap between them. In my expertise, the handoff was practically prompt. Whereas it gained’t aid you hearken to music when you recreation, it’s extremely helpful for swapping duties.
Extra Energy
The Arctis Nova 7X Wi-fi was a stable contender for some time, however the battery life on the 5X places it to disgrace. SteelSeries advertises about 60 hours of battery life on a single cost (in comparison with lower than 40 on the 7X), although that may be reduce fairly quick should you swap to Bluetooth mode. In my testing, I used to be capable of get near 40 hours of life from combined use, which continues to be longer than most (although not all) gaming headsets available on the market.
The headset additionally helps fast charging through USB-C, and it will get a powerful quantity of mileage from simply quarter-hour of charging. SteelSeries claims that you simply’ll get six hours of gameplay from such a brief charging session. I put my unit on the charger and walked away lengthy sufficient to make a sandwich and watch a fast episode of a present. By the point I got here again, it was near 50 p.c, greater than sufficient to get me by the remainder of the day after which some.
The Arctis Nova 5X can be the primary SteelSeries headset to help its new mobile companion app. I say “first” not as a result of SteelSeries has promised to help different headsets, however as a result of I badly hope it does. The SteelSeries GG app for PC could also be a robust device to customise your recreation’s audio, however I discovered the companion app less complicated and extra pleasing to make use of.
