Design
Type Over-ear
Enclosure Closed-Back
Wireless Yes
Transducer Dynamic
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless are very similar in design to the rest of the Arctis lineup. They have a wide metal headband with a pronounced curve wrapped in an elastic strap to adjust the fit, reminiscent of ski goggles, that has a premium, durable feel. They’re a bit bulky, but have a retractable microphone for added versatility. They have a sleek, uniform look that's more understated than gaming headsets with flashier designs like the Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019, but is more versatile for everyday use. If you want your headphones to stand out more though, you can purchase more colorful headband straps, magnetic ear cup plates, and leather or velour ear cushions directly on the SteelSeries website.
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7.5 Design
Weight 0.8 lbs
Clamping Force
Like the SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition Wireless and the SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC, the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless are comfortable gaming headphones. They have a curved metal headband frame with a ski goggle-like elastic that adjusts the fit. The ear cups are large, spacious, and well-padded, and are coated with breathable and soft padding that feels nice on the skin. Unfortunately, the sizing is limited by the length of the elastic strap and the shape of the metal frame, which can’t expand to accommodate all head shapes and sizes. The fit will be fine for most but may feel a little tight for some.
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LEARN ABOUT COMFORT
7.8 Design
OS Compatibility
Ease Of Use Good
Feedback Great
Call/Music Control Yes
Volume Control Yes
Microphone Control Mute/Unmute
Channel Mixing
Noise Cancelling Control No
Talk-Through
Additional Controls Bluetooth Sync
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have good controls that are easy to use and provide great feedback. Like the SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC, these headphones have a control dial and a microphone mute switch on the left ear cup. When using Bluetooth, the control dial only adjusts the volume. If you're using the transmitter, you can also adjust the volume by default, but clicking the dial accesses more settings like channel mixing, EQ presets, and audio sources. The right ear cup has a power button and a dedicated Bluetooth Sync button, which controls music and calls when you're using a Bluetooth connection. The power button also curves outwards while the Bluetooth button curves inwards, which helps to distinguish the two.
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LEARN ABOUT CONTROLS
5.3 Design
Avg.Temp.Difference 8.5 °C
Like most closed-back, over-ear headphones, the SteelSeries Arctis Wireless Pro Wireless have poor breathability. These headphones aren't suitable for sports or exercise since they can make your ears sweat if used while working out. They can also warm your ears up a bit during longer or more intense gaming sessions. That said, you won't have a problem during more casual gaming or listening sessions, especially if you take breaks every now and then.
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LEARN ABOUT BREATHABILITY
5.5 Design
L 7.5" (19.1 cm)
W 6.9" (17.5 cm)
H 3.5" (8.9 cm)
Volume 181.00 in³ (2,966.05 cm³)
Transmitter Required No
Like most gaming headphones, the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless aren't very portable. Even though they have practically the same design as the SteelSeries Arctis 7 Wireless 2017 and the SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC, they’re a bit larger too. They have large ear cups, a rigid headband, and they can't fold into a more compact format. Their wireless transmitter is also fairly bulky. However, you don't need to carry it with you when you're on the go as these headphones have Bluetooth support or can be used passively with their audio cable. Still, they're not the easiest to carry around unless you have a bag or backpack to stash them in.
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LEARN ABOUT PORTABILITY
0 Design
Type No case
L N/A
W N/A
H N/A
Volume N/A
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless don't come with a case or a pouch. However, you can purchase one directly from SteelSeries.
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LEARN ABOUT CASE
6.0 Design
Despite their high-end price, the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have a mediocre build quality. They’re nearly identical to the SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC with a mostly plastic frame and a headband that's a mix of metal and silicone-like material. Unfortunately, there have been multiple user reports of the hinges of the headphones breaking over short and long periods. The plastic yoke area can crack and cause the hinge completely break off, which is very frustrating.
Unlike most other gaming headphones, the right ear cup houses a removable battery, and the headphones come with two swappable batteries. The microphone is flexible and can withstand being bent in different ways without breaking. It also smoothly retracts into the left ear cup when not in use.
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LEARN ABOUT BUILD QUALITY
7.5 Design
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have similar stability to the SteelSeries Arctis 7 Wireless 2017 and the SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition Wireless. They have a tight yet comfortable fit that prevents them from moving much once on your head. Since they’re also wireless, there’s no audio cable that can snag on something and yank them off your ears. That said, their fit is tight enough that you can jog with them if you want to, provided you don’t mind your ears getting a little warm.
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LEARN ABOUT STABILITY
Design
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Design
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Design
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Design
- Arctis Pro Wireless headset
- Wireless USB transmitter
- Mini-USB to USB audio cable
- 8-pin to 1/8" TRRS audio cable
- Toslink optical cable
- Micro-USB to USB charging cable
- DC to USB power cable
- Microphone windscreen
- Additional battery
- Manual
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Sound
Bass Amount
Treble Amount
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have a sound profile that depends on how they fit on your head. Their position, seal, and whether you have glasses or thick hair can all affect sound delivery, resulting in inconsistent bass and treble. Once properly fitted to your head, however, you'll get a consistent sound. However, you can easily tweak their sound using the EQ on their wireless transmitter. They're also compatible with SteelSeries Engine companion software, which offers a graphic EQ and presets.
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LEARN ABOUT SOUND PROFILE
5.5 Sound
Avg. Std. Deviation
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have sub-par frequency response consistency. The bass delivery varies, and a drop in bass can occur if the ear cups aren't flush to your head, like if you wear glasses or have thick hair. The treble range is also inconsistent. As the overall frequency response depends on fit, seal, and positioning of these headphones, once you achieve a good overall fit, you'll get a more consistent frequency response each time you use them.
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LEARN ABOUT FREQUENCY RESPONSE CONSISTENCY
Sound
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LEARN ABOUT RAW FREQUENCY RESPONSE
9.1 Sound
Std. Err.
Low-Frequency Extension
Low-Bass
Mid-Bass
High-Bass
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have outstanding bass accuracy but its delivery can vary across users. The bass is accurate and neutral and while some listeners may find that they sound a bit light on the bass, you can use the EQ in the companion software or on the transmitter to adjust the sound to your liking. However, the bass delivery is sensitive to the quality of the fit, seal, and whether you wear glasses. This represents the average bass response and your experience may vary.
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LEARN ABOUT BASS ACCURACY
9.2 Sound
Std. Err.
Low-Mid
Mid-Mid
High-Mid
These headphones have an excellently accurate and flat mid-range, resulting in the clear reproduction of vocals and lead instruments.
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LEARN ABOUT MID ACCURACY
8.0 Sound
Std. Err.
Low-Treble
Mid-Treble
High-Treble
The treble accuracy of the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless good but its delivery can vary across users. The low-mid is balanced, and although there's a slight dip, lead instruments and vocals sound present and detailed. There's also a small peak in the mid-treble which can make sibilants like S and T sounds slightly sharp. However, this treble accuracy performance represents the average response and your experience may vary.
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LEARN ABOUT TREBLE ACCURACY
7.8 Sound
Peaks
Dips
The peaks and dips performance of the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless is good but their position, seal, and whether you have glasses or thick hair can all affect sound delivery, resulting in inconsistent bass and treble. Although there are a few peaks and dips, most are very slight. However, the peak between the high-mid and low-treble is less balanced than the rest of the range but it's unlikely to be noticeable to most listeners.
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LEARN ABOUT PEAKS/DIPS
8.8 Sound
Weighted Group Delay
Weighted Phase Mismatch
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have excellent imaging. Although there are two small spikes in the low-bass and mid-bass that are above the group delay's audibility threshold, it may not be audible for most users. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit are exceptionally matched, which is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects and instruments (like voices and footsteps) in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.
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LEARN ABOUT IMAGING
6.3 Sound
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
PRTF Size (Avg.)
PRTF Distance
Openness 5.5
Acoustic Space Excitation 3.4
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have an unremarkable soundstage. Although it feels relatively large and sounds as if it's coming from out of the listener’s head, the soundstage may still be perceived as a bit unnatural. As they have a closed-back design, it results in a soundstage that may not feel as open as that of open-back headphones.
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LEARN ABOUT PASSIVE SOUNDSTAGE
2.0 Sound
Head Modeling
Speaker Modeling
Room Ambience
Head Tracking
Virtual Surround
These headphones have virtual sound support and a speaker modeling feature.
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LEARN ABOUT VIRTUAL SOUNDSTAGE
7.8 Sound
WHD @ 90
WHD @ 100
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless' weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. Although there's a small spike in the low-bass, this likely won't be audible to all listeners. Otherwise, all frequencies fall within good limits, which will result in clear and pure audio reproduction.
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LEARN ABOUT WEIGHTED HARMONIC DISTORTION
Sound
Firmware
Power
Connection
Codec PCM, 16-bit, 48kHz
EQ
ANC
Tip/Pad
Microphone
Update 07/23/2021: We originally reported that we tested these headphones using PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz codec. However, this was incorrect and thanks to user feedback, we've updated our results with the correct codec settings: PCM, 16-bit, 48kHz.
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro's results are only valid for these settings.
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LEARN ABOUT TEST SETTINGS
4.4 Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
Noise Cancelling No
Bass
Mid
Treble
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have poor noise isolation. They don’t isolate sounds in the bass range at all and instead, they can let the rumbles of a subwoofer into your audio. Although they block out slightly more mid-range noise like office chatter, it won't be enough for an office or cafe setting. On the upside, they do a better job of reducing treble range noise like A/C fans. However, if you want gaming headphones with better noise isolation, check out the EPOS Sennheiser GSP 600. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless are also worth considering as they have an active noise cancelling (ANC) system.
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LEARN ABOUT NOISE ISOLATION
7.0 Isolation
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
The leakage performance of the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless is decent, similar to that of the SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition Wireless. They mostly leak between the low-mid to low-treble and it sounds fuller and speaker-like than leakage coming from in-ear or more tightly closed-back, over-ear headphones. If you're listening to music at a high volume, it may be audible to those around you, even in a moderately noisy environment.
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LEARN ABOUT LEAKAGE
Microphone
Integrated
In-Line
Boom
Detachable Boom
Mic Yes
Update 04/03/2019:A few reports mention a hissing noise that could be a deal-breaker for some users. This issue seems to be related to the mic as setting the sidetone level to 0 and turning volume limiter off slightly helps. However, this seems inconsistent and may vary per unit, as some users don't have this issue. We have a very slight hiss with our unit, but it's barely audible, especially when you have audio playing.
These headphones have a retractable boom microphone that also comes with an optional windscreen.
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LEARN ABOUT MICROPHONE STYLE
8.4 Microphone
Recorded Speech
LFE
FR Std. Dev.
HFE
Weighted THD
Gain
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless' microphone has a very good recording quality. Speech recorded sounds full-bodied, clear, and detailed. However, it lacks airiness and brilliance. As the microphone doesn't have volume control, it's always at max volume, which causes the recording to sound distorted in our test PC.
There have been numerous reports on user forums of the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless' microphone being too quiet on consoles and mobile apps. Resetting the wireless transmitter and updating the firmware seems to resolve this issue for many. You can visit this link to see the discussion surrounding this issue.
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LEARN ABOUT RECORDING QUALITY
8.3 Microphone
SpNR
Noise Gate
Speech + Pink Noise Handling 8.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling 8.0
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
The microphone of the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless has remarkable noise handling. It can easily separate your voice from demanding or noisy environments like gaming events, so you can be heard clearly.
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LEARN ABOUT NOISE HANDLING
8.8 Active Features
Battery Type
Continuous Battery Life
Additional Charges
Total Battery Life
Charge Time
Power-Saving Feature
Audio While Charging
Passive Playback
Charging Port micro-USB
Update 10/12/2021: We retested both batteries to see if we could achieve a result closer to the advertised 10 hours of continuous battery life. We were able to measure roughly 13 hours of playback time. However, our unit is over a year old and has seen a lot of use, which could explain the difference between our original measurement of roughly 15 hours and this measurement of 13 hours. We also managed to get more than the advertised 10 hours of battery life after both retests, and even though these headphones have been regularly used for several months. As a result, we haven't changed our results.
These headphones have an excellent battery system. Two swappable batteries can be inserted into the wireless transmitter for charging when not in use. They use one battery at a time, and they each have over 15 hours of continuous battery life, which means that you don't have to worry about running out of juice during more intense gaming sessions. When you're deep in gameplay, the transmitter can also show the charge level of your headphones as well as the battery that's being charged. There's even an auto-off timer that can be set via their companion software, and if you can't put down the game, you can also use these headphones while charging. You can also use them passively with their included audio cable.
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LEARN ABOUT BATTERY
7.5 Active Features
App Name SteelSeries Engine
iOS No
Android No
macOS Yes
Windows Yes
Equalizer
ANC Control
Mic Control Mute/Unmute
Room Effects
Playback Control
Button Mapping No
Surround Support
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless are compatible with the SteelSeries Engine desktop app, which is a good app with lots of customization features for gamers. You won’t get as many features as you do with the SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC, but there’s a graphic equalizer with presets, DTS surround sound, live mic preview, bass boost, and dialogue enhancement, to name a few. The charge level of the battery in the headset and the battery in the transmitter is available on the app, and the app specifies when the charging battery is fully charged.
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LEARN ABOUT APP SUPPORT
7.0 Connectivity
Analog Audio
USB Audio
Detachable
Length
Connector
Latency - Analog
Latency - USB
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Connection Analog
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless come with an uncommon mini B 8-pin connector cable that connects directly to the headphones. However, the other end is a 1/8" TRRS cable that's compatible with most gaming consoles and operating systems. When the headphones are on, they have slight latency via analog, but your audio and visuals are still well-synced. Using them completely passively drops the latency to virtually imperceptible levels, though.
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LEARN ABOUT WIRED CONNECTION
6.8 Connectivity
Bluetooth Version
Multi-Device Pairing
Quick Pair (Android)
Quick Pair (iOS)
Line Of Sight Range
Latency - SBC
Latency - aptX
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
Latency - LDAC
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec SBC
AAC Support
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless have okay Bluetooth connectivity. Although they don't support multi-device with more than one Bluetooth device like the Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless, you can still pair them with a Bluetooth device. You can also connect to a PlayStation console and a Bluetooth device simultaneously. With this setup, you can listen to audio from your smartphone while still gaming.
These headphones only support the basic SBC codec. The latency using this codec is quite high, causing lip-sync issues. Some apps and devices compensate for latency, though. Bluetooth also isn't really the best choice for gaming, so if you're looking for lower wireless latency, you'll want to see how the wireless transmitter base performs.
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LEARN ABOUT BLUETOOTH CONNECTION
8.9 Connectivity
Line Of Sight Range
Latency - Dongle
Recorded Latency
These headphones have excellent wireless connectivity via their wireless transmitter base. Their audio latency is quite low, ensuring your audio and video stay in sync. They also have a very good line-of-sight range, allowing you to use them further away from their audio source.
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LEARN ABOUT WIRELESS CONNECTION (DONGLE)
Connectivity
Analog
Wired USB
Non-BT Wireless
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Connectivity
PS4 Analog
PS4 Wired USB
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
PS5 Analog
PS5 Wired USB
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
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LEARN ABOUT PLAYSTATION COMPATIBILITY
Connectivity
Xbox One Analog
Xbox One Wired USB
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
Xbox Series X|S Analog
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless can only receive audio when their wireless transmitter is connected to the Xbox One via an optical connection. If you like to stay in touch with your teammates using your microphone, you can use a Bluetooth connection with a phone or other device that has the Xbox app for chat. However, you have full audio and microphone support when you plug their analog cable directly into the controller.
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LEARN ABOUT XBOX COMPATIBILITY
9.6 Connectivity
Type
USB Input
Line In
Line Out
Optical Input
RCA Input
Dock Charging
Power Supply
Update 03/27/2019: The SteelSeries don't have native mic support with the Xbox One. You have to use the Bluetooth connection with a phone or device that has the Xbox app for chat. You can also use a USB connection with your PC. For full instructions on how to set this up, you can read more by following this link. However, since the microphone isn't being routed through the Xbox console, we have adjusted the score to reflect this.
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless come with a USB wireless transmitter base. The headset's battery is charged directly in the transmitter and is inserted like a cartridge. You plug the transmitter into a USB port of a PC or console to use the headset wirelessly. Optical audio is required to use these headphones with the Xbox One or to access the surround sound and ChatMix features on PS4. If you're looking for headphones with a base station that supports HDMI passthrough and offers simultaneous connectivity with PC, Xbox and PlayStation family consoles, it's worth checking out the Astro A50 X Wireless instead.
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LEARN ABOUT BASE/DOCK