To what extent is a game helmet of $ 600 well? I listened.

Let’s say that you are looking for an upgrade of the game helmet and that you have a lot of consoles in one place. The newly announced Steelseries helmet Arctis Nova Elite could offer audiophile quality sound for players who wish to listen to the cacophony of their consoles (Xbox and PlayStation), a PC and a telephone at a time. It looks good, right? Know that the elite will tear your wallet into a desperate search of $ 600.

The Arctis Nova Elite costs so much money, I would expect the headphones to be in solid 24K gold. No gold, unfortunately, although the frame and the control wheel are both in robust metal. The $ 600 helmet was built for high-end luxury players, with the affirmation of the company that it pushes Hi-Fi Sound dedicated to audiophiles, players and a combination of it. The transmission indicated 24 bits / 96 kHz of the helmet is relatively standard for lossless audio, although it is the audio configuration of play in hi -fi of the “first” – as the steelseries are more confused. The Sony Inzone H9 II headset of $ 350, which uses the same engines as the company’s main WH-1000XM6 earpiece, offers a different high quality audio variety, although the Nova Elite supports the LC3 +codec. The SteelSeries told me that it was the first product of this type certified by the Japan Audio Society. The helmet is available from today, on September 30, although the big question is whether it is worth the obscene cost.

Sound solid, but is it worth $ 600?

All that really matters is how it sounds when you attach the Nova elite above your Noggin. I slapped the heads in soft memory foam on my two ears and listened to a few minutes of music and played a round of Counter-Strike 2Trying to get a range of heavy and lighter songs. From what I could say, the audio was very well balanced. The bass was thick, even if I was not there long enough to test how far I could push it. I would add that the cancellation of the active noise (ANC) and the tight ears continued to turn off the noise to silence a nearby conversation while the music was playing. The device uses 40 mm carbon fiber speakers surrounded by a brass ring to allow “pistonic” behavior near your ears. Steelseries says it can represent between 10 Hz and 40 Hz frequencies with space audio support.

If it was just Hi-Fi audio as a sales argument, the Nova elite would seem even more ridiculous. The other big addition is GameHub. It acts mainly as the connection point of 2.4 GHz of the helmet, similar to other expensive headphones such as the Razer Kraken V4 Pro. This center allows up to three connections to various PCs and game consoles. Normally, headphones need to develop a specific Xbox and PlayStation device, as the Microsoft console requires a specific type of connection. GameHub allows you to connect an Xbox Series X / S, PS5 or Nintendo switch and simply switch between the three using the commands on the devices. It supports consoles and PC, as well as Bluetooth and audio, all simultaneously.

The closest we have had a transparent multi-consoling helmet was Astro A50X of Logitech G. This helmet uses a base station to act as an HDMI Passthrough for all your consoles in the TV. Logitech has also just published the A20X, which costs less and uses a tiny base Playysync to connect up to two audio signals of consoles at the same time. Nova Elite’s gamehub allows thinner audio controls without having to use headphones or software, although you are inevitably to an application to modulate the equalization options.

The GameHub hides a special surprise

The SteelSeries have tried to involve that users would be ready to make it their main helmet for more than the game. The ears fold at 90 degrees to easily adapt inside the transport housing doubled of felt. In motion, you will have to opt for the Arctis application, useful for the more mobile devices of the company like its Arctis Gamebuds. If you take it in town, the Arctis Nova Elite should obtain around 30 hours of autonomy on average. Although it is certainly not as strong as devices like the hyperx Cloud Alpha 2 promised 250 hours, it supports a hot battery if you cannot bear the idea of ​​connecting your helmet. There is an additional hidden battery inside the GameHub that you can enter in an emergency.

Steelseries has a few budget helmets, such as the Arctis Nova 3P, that we find the audio support relatively good for the price. The last high -end headsets of the company, such as the Nova Pro, were launched at $ 350 and came with the same swappable battery and the retractable microphone. Now customers are invited to examine the opposite end of the spectrum, according to if the players are ready to spend a lot, much more for what would be their only helmet.