SteelSeries has unveiled what it describes as the world's first Hi-Res Wireless Certified gaming headphones in the form of its new flagship Arctis Nova Elite.
The £600 wireless headphones promise to deliver audiophile-grade performance through 24-bit/96kHz transmission over both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth 5.3 connections, powered by SteelSeries' new GameHub technology and the next-generation LC3+ codec.
The esports brand's goal was to create "the best high-end gaming headset on the planet" and also offer "audiophile-grade" performance.
At the heart of the Arctis Nova Elite are custom 40mm carbon fibre speaker drivers, designed to reproduce frequencies from 10Hz to 40kHz.
These two-piece drivers feature a custom-designed brass ring that adds rigidity, creating what SteelSeries describes as a pistonic driver movement, similar to a car engine piston.
The headphones also introduce SteelSeries' OmniPlay technology, which allows users to connect and mix audio from up to four sources simultaneously – including PC, console, Bluetooth, and aux inputs – through triple USB-C connections.
This means that users can chat on Discord, participate in game lobbies, and watch content all at the same time, without, reportedly, any audio interference.
Other features include active noise cancellation, which SteelSeries claims offers the best ANC performance in gaming, based on independent lab testing from August 2025.
The headphones also feature 16-bit/32kHz auto-switching microphones, with AI noise rejection that can block up to 97 per cent of background noise.
In theory, this should allow users to clearly be heard by other players, even in noisy environments.
On the battery life front, the Arctis Nova Elite lands with its Infinite Power System that provides "unlimited battery" life through a dual-battery setup. The ability to simply hot-swap a fresh battery for practically zero downtime between charges sounds very useful – this feature is already available on SteelSeries existing models.
SteelSeries has also confirmed that you should expect about 30 hours per battery on either 2.4GHz or Bluetooth connections, and the headphones can also be charged via USB-C as normal.
The accompanying Arctis App also serves up more than 200 game-specific audio presets that can be adjusted on the fly.
The design has been developed in collaboration with Danish designer Jacob Wagner, combining Scandinavian minimalism with what SteelSeries describes as functional elegance.
The headphones feature an all-metal frame with a metal control wheel and plush memory foam earcups.
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite is available now directly from SteelSeries and select retailers worldwide, priced at £600 / €650 / $600, and $650 for the APAC region.
Needless to say, that’s at the extreme end of the gaming headphone spectrum.
For contrast, the Audeze Maxwell – widely regarded to be one of the best gaming headphones that money can buy – is less than half the price of SteelSeries’ offering, at £250 in the UK.
On the pure audio side, there are some superb wireless headphones from audio brands such as Apple, B&W, Bose, Focal and more, that are available at this high asking price, so it will be interesting to find out how the gaming-focused Elite's proposed "audiophile-grade" sound quality might compete with any of these established rivals.
Equally, we're starting to see higher-quality connections being prioritised in wireless headphones, with AKG's N9 featuring an integrated USB-C dongle that also allows 2.4GHz connection to your devices.
Time will tell if the Arctis Nova Elite’s performance is worthy of its asking price. Watch this space.
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