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 almost all headphone producers had just about an identical variations of the identical headset, distinguished solely by whether or not they have been suitable 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 right down to how the totally 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 difficulty that avid gamers would discover. Particularly in the event 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 methods to take care of this downside, however, shock, they’re not interoperable. Worse but, it’s often too costly to hassle including help for each right into a single headset, since most avid gamers are likely to have both one console or the opposite. Luckily, the Arctis Nova 5X Wi-fi has a helpful answer to this downside.
Enter the Dongle
The Arctis Nova 5X headset is designed for the Xbox Collection X/S (as denoted by the “X” in its identify), however the USB-C 2.4-GHz dongle has a small change that lets it swap between Xbox compatibility and … all the pieces else. You should use this headset along with your PlayStation 5, Nintendo Change, PC, heck even your telephone simply by plugging this little man in.
{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft
This isn’t the primary SteelSeries headset with this characteristic—my earlier high gaming headset suggestion for Xbox, the Arctis Nova 7X, included the identical dongle. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless unusual for many wi-fi gaming headsets to help such a wide selection of gadgets. Most frequently, the Xbox is the odd one on the compatibility listing.
On high of this, the Arctis Nova 5X Wi-fi has a separate Bluetooth connection, so you possibly can pair it along with your telephone or different gadgets to reply calls, take heed to music, or put in your favourite podcast. Whereas the 7X can play audio from each Bluetooth and a pair of.4 GHz on the identical time, the 5X solely enables you to pay attention to at least one or the opposite, although there’s a helpful button on the suitable ear cup to swap between them. In my expertise, the handoff was almost instantaneous. Whereas it received’t aid you take heed to music when you sport, 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 lower fairly brief in the event you swap to Bluetooth mode. In my testing, I used to be in a position to get near 40 hours of life from combined use, which remains to be longer than most (although not all) gaming headsets in the marketplace.
The headset additionally helps fast charging through USB-C, and it will get a formidable 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 %, 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 cell 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 strong device to customise your sport’s audio, however I discovered the companion app less complicated and extra pleasant to make use of.
