a few months back i put out a video comparing the playstation 5 to the xbox series x and for
a snippet of that video i compared sony's post 3d headphones to microsoft's xbox wireless headset
and my biggest gripe considering all facets for each headset was the continuous static and audio
drops during gameplay that i was only experiencing with the xbox wireless headset well after hours
of troubleshooting with microsoft support resetting the headset resetting the console etc
we came to the conclusion that the wi-fi router inside my room and or 2g connected smart devices
were interfering with the xbox proprietary wireless signal so i could either remove my router
and reconfigure my entire room in hopes of gaining a stronger signal from the headset to the console
or i could look elsewhere well needless to say i decided on the latter but it really took some time
because the majority of wireless headsets that will work with the xbox series x connect to the
console in the very same manner as microsoft's own manufactured headset using that same proprietary
signal that is constantly being broken up that is until i picked up a pair of steelseries arctis 7x
headphones you see this headset does not rely on microsoft's proprietary signal
instead it uses a 2.4 gigahertz signal that's transmitted from the console to the headset
via a connected usbc dongle i wasn't 100 sure if this would solve all of my problems at the onset
but i've been using the arctis 7x for over a month now with my series x and it has been
working flawlessly the arctic 7x has been on the market for a little over a year now
but for those that aren't as familiar i'll give you the short rundown the 7x is manufactured by
steelseries and was specifically designed and marketed for the xbox series x and s it uses
an adjustable ski goggle headband system that literally conforms to the shape of your head
eliminating the need to extend or retract the headband itself as with most traditional headsets
they have an adjustable retractable mic they ship with weave memory foam cushions for the ear cups
they can be used wirelessly using a rather large dongle that eclipses nearby ports or they can be
used wired using the proprietary usb to 3.5 cable to solve the port issue still series includes what
in my opinion is a fairly poorly designed usb adapter with a very long conspicuous wire that
you'll need to manage somehow for a clutter free look however a workaround is to purchase
a third-party usb 3.1 adapter such as this one or mini usb hub to help keep things tidy behind
your series x but here is the feature that has me ready to practically crown the arcgis 7x wireless
headset it not only seamlessly works with the xbox series x and s pc and nintendo switch oled but the
playstation 4 and the playstation 5. with the flip of the switch on the usb-c dongle from xbox to usb
you can simply insert the dongle into your ps5 using an angled adapter if you want to
retain your second port and for this switch you can insert the dongle into the very bottom
or for the dock station you can simply use something similar to this usbc adapter that
works perfectly turn on the console turn on your headset and you're ready to go it's that simple
i've been using the 7x for both my series x my ps5 and most recently nintendo switch oled for several
weeks now and i can tell you that i've been absolutely blown away by the performance
across the board after making a few initial eq adjustments using the steelseries engine app
as you can see i also swapped out the stock ear weave cushions for third party these are not by
wicked cushions which are roughly 20 millimeters in thickness these particular cushions are 30
millimeters thick and are made up of a combination of a lower and pu leather and i think that they
really take the 7x to the next level because while the airweave cushions are super comfy they're a
bit on the thin side so occasionally i found that my ears were rubbing up against the mesh lining
additionally i noticed that the wii full fabric design leaks more audio than your
typical leather red ear cup which also means that noise cancellation won't be as prominent either
these third-party cushions that i added on solved both of these issues in addition to providing
more clearance inside the ear cup i noticed a significant increase in noise cancellation
and an improvement in the overall sound stage still series actually just recently dropped the
arc to 7p plus for ps5 which is the successor to the original arc to 7p and because i never
owned the original i decided to pick up the 7p plus to see if any differences exist between the
arctis 7x and the 7p plus from a performance and functionality standpoint specifically for the ps5
without drawing things out i'm going to tell you that these two headsets are virtually identical
with a few small variances here and there the most immediate physical difference outside of color of
course is that the 7x uses a micro usb charge port while the 7p plus uses a usbc port the 7x also has
a chat mixer for the right side rocker while the 7p plus unfortunately has a side tone adjustment
side tone and chat mixer are not one in the same chat mixer allows you to control how much
game audio you hear versus your friends voices while the side tone acts as a microphone monitor
adjustment so that you can tweak the amount of mic input that is being redirected back into your
ears the idea behind side tone is to better help you gauge the volume of your voice so that you
aren't hurting other gamers ears but personally i would much prefer a chat mixer on the headset
over side tone because i think that you're more likely to use chat mixer on the fly spec wise
as you can see these headsets are pretty much identical microphone drivers frequency response
nothing has changed here however the 7p plus does have an estimated battery life of 30 hours versus
24 hours for the 7x and the 7p plus also features quick charge which can provide up to 3 hours of
gameplay from a 15 minute charge for good measure here is an audio test for the arctis 7x versus the
7p plus this is a mic test for the steel series arctus 7p plus you are watching another stellar
video from mr tech suggests your support allows me to allocate more time to producing videos for you
so make sure to subscribe if you haven't already this is a mic test for the steel series arctis 7x
you are watching another stellar video from mr tech suggests your support allows me to
allocate more time to producing videos for you so make sure to subscribe if you haven't already
as far as sound quality these headsets sound pretty much identical to me when using the same
curved eq setting from the steel series engine sony's 3d audio for headsets works and functions
just the same across both of these headsets and microsoft atmos for headphones sounds phenomenal
on the 7x and of course i can't speak to the 7p plus in this area because they do not work with
xbox i did notice however that for whatever reason standard audio presets within steel series engine
slightly differ from headset to headset but again these can always be modified to your liking
when comparing the 7x to microsoft's wireless headset the only noticeable difference from a
functionality standpoint is that you lose the convenience of being able to adjust in-game
equalizer bass boost and a few other minor settings all within the series
x itself so this feature equivalent for the 7x is the steel series engine desktop app but you will
have to connect the dongle in the headset to your computer each and every time you like to make any
adjustments because you cannot toggle in between presets at the headset level and i'm happy to say
that both the 7x and the xbox wireless will now automatically mute external audio sources on the
series x when the headset is first powered on and the external audio sources will be automatically
restored when the headset is powered off a very very welcomed and appreciated update
and we now have a 4k dashboard bravo microsoft okay so here's an audio mic test for the arctis 7x
versus the xbox wireless headset this is a mic test for the steel series arctis 7x
you are watching another stellar video from mr tech suggests your support allows me to allocate
more time to producing videos for you so make sure to subscribe if you haven't already this
is a mic test for the xbox wireless headset you are watching another stellar video from mr tech
suggests your support allows me to allocate more time to producing videos for you so make sure
to subscribe if you haven't already before i move back over to the ps57p plus i also wanted to note
that both the 7x and the xbox wireless headset can be used simultaneously so you could literally be
listening to a game with one of these headsets while your buddy sitting right next to you is
listening with the other this can also be achieved by using the 3.5 audio jack on the 7x but if you
want it to go fully wireless that option is there when comparing the arctis 7p plus to the 3d pulse
headset much of the same nuances persist when using the 7p plus you lose the ability to adjust
eq settings and audio presets at the console level so you will need to fire up the steelseries engine
to make these adjustments just as with the 7x but here is a big one that i touched on earlier
you won't be able to toggle the chat mixer when gaming on ps5 with the arctis 7p plus as it seems
that this was another feature reserved for the proprietary 3d pulse which now that i think about
it is probably the reason that we have a side tone rocker included in the first place rather
than that chat mixer so when using your 7p plus or the original 7ps your in-game chat mix is pretty
much locked at 50. however you are able to adjust the chat audio even by user at the console level
specifically for party chat here is an audio mic test of the arctis 7p plus versus sony's 3d pulse
headset this is a mic test for the steelseries arctis 7p plus you are watching another stellar
video from mr tech suggests your support allows me to allocate more time to producing videos for you
so make sure to subscribe if you haven't already this is a mic test of the sony pulse 3d wireless
headset you are watching another stellar video for mr tech suggests your support allows me to
allocate more time to producing videos for you so make sure to subscribe if you haven't
already there's one other gripe that i have for the 7p plus which is more than likely another
proprietary element that sony is keeping close to the chest when the 7p plus usbc dongle is plugged
into the ps5 it sort of acts as an audio override and that whether the headset is turned on or off
the ps5 always thinks that it's still connected meaning that the audio will not be switched back
to external speakers even when the headset is powered off and the only means of redirecting
the audio other than by removing the dongle altogether is by going into the sound settings
to manually switch the headset back to my hdmi connected speakers now in order to make this less
of a pain i added the sound icon to quick menu so that i can easily toggle the audio source in
between headset and external speakers but the entire process is still a bit of an adjustment
because a lot of times i'll turn on my ps5 the next day without the headset and for a brief
second i'll think that something's going on with my soundbar only to be reminded that i still need
to go in to toggle the sound settings from headset back to hdmi on the console first things first
i absolutely love the arctis 7p plus and the 7x headsets they're without a doubt the most
comfortable and one of the best sounding gaming headsets that i've ever owned and if it were not
for the audio drops that i experienced early on with the xbox wireless headset who knows i may
have never even started down the steer series path in the first place however when it's all
said and done i do believe that the 7x represents a better value proposition than the 7p plus even
considering the 7p plus quick charging and 30 hour battery life because the arctis 7x completely
solved my wireless headset issues with xbox and it supports both next-gen consoles which outweighs
quick charging and six hours of additional battery life in my book guys if you're having any
connection issues with your xbox headset or you're simply in a market for a third party headset
that can support both the ps5 and xbox series x and s look no further because the only thing that
the 7x is missing is a 7x plus with usbc and quick charging and the only real drawback for
using the 7x for multiple consoles is that only a single dongle can be paired up with the headset at
a time in short this means that you will have to physically move the dongle from device to device
which is definitely a bummer i actually discovered this the hard way when i picked up a second dongle
in hopes of pairing them both up to the 7x for added convenience but as soon as you pair that
second dongle using the steelseries engine the original dongle will be unpaired on the back end
so to summarize as i wrap this one up there's always going to be some drawback for opting for
third party versus stock but when looking at steel series specifically you honestly
aren't missing out on very much where features are concerned by opting for the 7x over the 7p
or the 7p plus with the exception of battery life and quick charge the limitations that exist for
the 7x where the ps5 is concerned are the very same limitations that exist for the 7p plus
now if all you're going to be using is the ps5 and you can't ever see yourself possibly picking
up a series x or s then i would go with the 7p plus you'll still be able to use the headset for
your pc nintendo switch android and the oculus quest which is not listed as compatible for the
7x and of course you'll have those cool ps5 theme colors and you'll be able to take advantage of the
new added features that the usb c port brings but i'm curious to know your headset of choice
for either the ps5 xbox series x or s or even the nintendo switch and what features do you enjoy for
your particular headset the most i'm sure you guys heard sony's vr2 official announcement so
if you do own a ps5 are you planning on picking that up when it finally drops as always thanks
for watching and supporting the channel and i will see you guys in the next one peace
you