I love the Arctis Nova Elite, but man, it's really tough to recommend a $650 headset. What if there was a cheaper option?

It's not only compatible with literally every platform; it's simultaneously compatible with every platform. You can mix audio from PC, Xbox, mobile, and other platforms through its powerful 3-port DAC, complete with Bluetooth LE now with Hi-Res certification and boosted ANC.

Its design is subtle enough to be used out and about, its powerful enough for music, movies, and communications. It's cinematic enough for single-player games and smart enough for tactical audio in multiplayer titles.

It's simply a fantastic headset and joins the Elite in becoming one of my daily drivers. The Arctis Nova Pro range continues to be the best Xbox headset overall, especially for multiplatform gamers.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni: Specs and price

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni is mostly comparable to the Arctis Nova Pro, although it brings in some bells and whistles from its most pricy "Elite" cousin.

It drops the metal accents and carbon fiber drivers for more "affordable" plastics and more traditional neodymium magnets, but it brings across Hi-Res certification, a triple-input DAC, boosted ANC, and various other enhancements.

It beats the Nova Pro in every way, and although there's a fire sale for the Nova Pro going on right now, it's only slightly more expensive with regard to RRP.

$399 is still a fairly big ask for a headset, though. You're going to need and want all of its features, but if you are someone who will make use of them (like me), it's arguably the best multi-platform headset on the market right now.

Read on to find out why.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni: Comfort and design

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni looks similar to its regular Pro and Elite counterparts, sporting an all-black design with dark grey accents, bright SteelSeries logos on the speaker plates, and a retractable mic.

The headband itself is metal, with a floating strap keeping the pressure off your skull. It has adjustable connectors for the cups for different-sized heads and swivel pivots for alignment.

The microphone is retractable and has a red mute light indicator. The on-ear controls are well constructed, with high-quality materials and a high degree of design variance and shapes.

Why?

It makes it easier to figure out which button you're reaching for if they all feel different. You can adjust ANC, power, muting, Bluetooth pairing, and volume without reaching for the digital audio controller, but when you need to get more complex, it's right there for you.

The Digital Audio Controller is an impressive piece of kit, with three ports for USB-C devices, as well as a 3.5mm audio port on top. With this, you can connect your PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, or PlayStation simultaneously and switch between them on the fly.

You can mix sound sources between them as well, using the volume dial and visual cues on the DAC to shift volume balance between your PC and Xbox, as well as controlling chat volume and game sound on the fly.

It's incredibly well-designed and deserves some kind of legitimate award beyond our meager Windows Central Award.

The cushions on the earcups themselves are thick and comfortable, with an almost delicate-feeling texture on the leatherette finish. You'll play for hours and not even notice you're wearing them.

I'm also grateful that the Omni didn't make the mistake of its predecessor, which had large protruding microphone modules inside the earcups for the ANC. For many, this position proved incredibly uncomfortable. The Omni has no such problem.

The only complaint I could potentially leverage here is that they quite easily slip off if you lean forward or backward or get too "animated" while streaming or raging at your teammates. This trade-off means that it's not very tight at all while in use, so it delivers maximum comfort. But if you're traveling with them as a Bluetooth lifestyle kind of headset, you might need to take some extra care so they don't slip off your head.

The sound quality on the Arctis Nova Pro Omni is absolutely immaculate and something I can't recommend enough.

While not offering the detailing of the more expensive Elite, the Pro Omni remains at the top of its game for delivering audio that can be as cinematic as it can be tactical. Using Dolby Atmos or Windows Sonic, you'll get an exemplary surround sound experience, elevated further if you drop in SteelSeries' in-game profiles tuned for specific games.

The app indeed is quite powerful on that front. There's a variety of audio profiles for dozens of games, as well as some default profiles for EQ profiles like bass boost and so on. Whether you're trying to boost your tactical awareness in games like Overwatch or Arc Raiders or immerse yourself in a single-player cinematic experience like Death Stranding 2, you absolutely will not be disappointed with the sound quality here.

I do wish there were more options to control the profiles on the included DAC, admittedly, but it's not a huge deal. You can configure them via either Bluetooth on your phone or a connected Windows PC, as well as control additional settings like microphone sidetone, EQs, and so on.

Speaking of the microphone, it's another retractable option from SteelSeries, easy to tuck away into the headset itself if you're planning to go fully mobile. It has a red LED light for mute indication and offers pretty decent quality for a headset microphone. Albeit a little tinny-sounding. You probably won't create content with this headset, but it's more than adequate for gaming comms.

As features go, there's not much competition out there, save for other Arctis Nova products. The fact that you can simultaneously mix sound from two separate USB-C sources on top of an additional Bluetooth LE source is fantastic for content creators and podcasters, as well as those who are heavy into multi-platform gaming.

Indeed, if you only play on one or two systems at a time, there are arguably far more affordable options out there for you. But if you want a headset that can do absolutely everything, there's no real competition here.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni: Competition

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni sits in a category alongside very few peers. Only the Astro A50 series has some similar options for multi-platform capabilities, but they're nowhere near as open as what SteelSeries is offering.

I've been using the Astro A50 2015 model for over ten years purely for its optical audio cable. Being able to mix Xbox sound via my TV's optical port and PC audio via the Astro A50's USB was a functionality that I haven't found reliably anywhere else, until the Arctis Nova line. Sure, I could use Bluetooth, but it's always a bit susceptible to interference, and that's a problem when I'm podcasting or streaming.

Indeed, the fact that you can simultaneously mix two USB-C sources is, as far as I can tell, something utterly unique to the Nova Pro range. Other multi-platform headsets, like the more recent Astro A50, only let you do one USB-C source at a time; even if you can plug them in simultaneously, they're still bound to a switch.

The ability to mix three seems to be unique to the Elite and Pro Omni on top. As more and more of us play across multiple systems and storefronts, I suspect this type of modality will become increasingly popular.

The audio quality is not quite up there with the Elite as you'd expect given the price delta, but the extra features you're getting over its predecessor and competitors like the Astro A50 make it more than worth it in my view. I am someone who will frequently use these across Bluetooth, USB-C on Xbox, and USB-C on PC, though.

If you're not planning to use them to their full multi-platform potential, a cheaper, more focused headset is probably going to be a better option. If you were playing on just Xbox by itself and wanted to save a heap of cash for something with comparable audio, for example, I'd recommend the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen-3 for the vast majority of people.

But for multi-platform gamers, this is the best option for the vast majority of people. If you want to go super-premium, consider the Arctis Nova Elite as well.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni: Should you buy it?

Even though it's far more affordable than the Arctis Nova Elite, it's still a pricy pick at $399 RRP. The savings on the materials and the like aren't as big a compromise as you might expect, and the audio delivery is still very impressive despite losing the carbon fiber drivers of its $649 cousin.

But you're really going to want to use all of those features to justify the price. If you're someone who typically plays only on one platform, you could pick up an alternative headset that does away with the DAC and the multi-capable platforms and opt for something more affordable. If you do play on multiple platforms, however, there is frankly no better option right now. SteelSeries has a banger here.

✅You should buy this if ...

• You frequently play across different console and PC platforms.
• You want a headset that can be reliably used for lifestyle scenarios, i.e. music in public, etc.
• You don't mind spending the big $$ for big features.

❌You should not buy this if ...

• You primarily play on only one platform.
• You're more of a sofa gamer, since the DAC will be out of reach.
• You don't really need Bluetooth or lifestyle capabilities.

For sure, it always feels a bit iffy recommending a headset that costs as much as a console itself, but this is something you can happily use as a lifestyle headset on top. It's far more than a simple "gaming headset," as a result, and the price reflects that multi-modality.

If you don't need all that capability in a single product, then definitely look elsewhere, like our best Xbox headsets list, for example. But, if you frequently find yourself annoyed manually switching between audio devices across Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, PC, or even the Xbox Ally range ... this is your best-value option right now by a country mile.

Congrats to SteelSeries; you finally helped me retire my battered 2015 Astro A50 with the optical audio port!

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Jez Corden is the Executive Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem — while being powered by tea. Follow on X.com/JezCorden and tune in to the XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!