SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P Gaming Headset Review UK 2026

The wireless gaming headset market in 2026 is a proper minefield. At the budget end, you’ve got £30-50 offerings like the Ozeino Gaming Headset UK 2026 and Betron Gaming Headset UK 2026 that promise wireless freedom but often deliver compressed audio and dodgy build quality. The mid-tier £80-120 bracket is where things get interesting, with the HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Wireless Gaming Headset and KAPEYDESI Wireless Gaming Headset UK competing for your attention. Then there’s the premium space above £200, where the Logitech G PRO X 2 LIGHTSPEED Gaming Headset lives with its audiophile aspirations.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P Wireless - PS5 Gaming Headset - 100+ Audio Presets via App - Neodymium Magnetic Drivers - 60H Battery - 2.4GHz/BT - ClearCast Gen2.X Mic - Supports PS4, PC, Mobile

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 (523 reviews)

£99.99

• 100+ GAME AUDIO PRESETS — Unlock tailored audio presets for top games like GTA V, FIFA, Call of Duty, and more, with the Arctis Nova 5 Companion App
• 60-HOUR BATTERY — Play longer than ever with the next-gen battery. Go 8 hours a day all week; plus with USB-C Fast Charge get 6 hours of use in just 15 minutes
• QUICK-SWITCH WIRELESS — Toggle between 2.4GHz gaming and Bluetooth 5.3 with a tap of a button to take a call or listen to media; notification beeps keep you posted on incoming calls while gaming
• HIGH-FIDELITY AUDIO — Forged from a rare-earth metal, the custom-designed Neodymium Magnetic Drivers create an ultra-detailed soundscape of clear highs, pinpoint mids, and deep bass
• NEXT-GEN MIC — Our upgraded, fully retractable ClearCast 2.X microphone has 2X the clarity with a high-bandwidth chipset supporting 32KHz/16Bit audio

View on Amazon →

Price checked: 10 Jan 2026 | Affiliate link

📸 Product Gallery

×

‹ ›

View on Amazon

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P Gaming Headset sits right in that competitive middle ground at £99.99. It’s positioned as a PS5-optimised wireless headset, but works across PC, Switch, and mobile via Bluetooth. The question is whether SteelSeries has actually delivered something worth the premium over cheaper wireless options, or if you’re just paying for the brand name and some fancy app presets.

I’ve spent several weeks with the Nova 5P, putting it through marathon gaming sessions, voice chat torture tests, and comparing it directly against both cheaper alternatives and more expensive competitors. Here’s what actually matters.

Wearing Experience: The Make-or-Break Factor

Let me start with what actually matters most in a gaming headset: can you wear the bloody thing for more than two hours without wanting to rip it off your head? I’ve tested headsets that sounded incredible but felt like a vice grip after 90 minutes. The Nova 5P gets this right in ways that surprised me.

The weight comes in at 266 grams, which is lighter than it looks. For context, that’s about 40 grams lighter than the Logitech G PRO X 2 and noticeably less fatiguing during extended sessions. The ski-goggle style headband that SteelSeries has been using for years remains one of the best designs in gaming. Instead of a single padded band that creates pressure points, the elastic strap distributes weight across your entire head. It’s the same principle that makes ski goggles comfortable for all-day wear.

The clamping force sits in the Goldilocks zone. Not so tight that it causes headaches, but firm enough that the headset stays put when you lean back in your chair or turn your head quickly during intense gameplay. I wear glasses (progressive lenses, because I’m apparently 45 now despite being in my thirties), and the Nova 5P didn’t create that awful pressure on the arms that some headsets do. The ear cups have enough depth that my ears don’t touch the drivers, which is essential for comfort.

Speaking of ear cups, they’re covered in what SteelSeries calls “AirWeave” fabric. It’s a breathable material that doesn’t make your ears sweat like pleather cups do after a couple of hours. During a particularly intense six-hour session of Helldivers 2 (yes, I have a problem), my ears were noticeably less sweaty than with my previous headset. The fabric is also replaceable, which matters for longevity. After a year of use, fabric ear cups can get pretty grim, and being able to swap them out for £15-20 beats buying a new headset.

The adjustment mechanism is simple: pull the ear cups down to extend, and they click into place. There are clear numbered markings on each side, so you can match your settings if someone else uses the headset. My setting was 4 on each side, for reference. The build quality here feels solid, with metal reinforcement in the headband where previous Arctis models had issues with cracking.

One specific moment that sold me on the comfort: I fell asleep at my desk wearing these after a late-night gaming session. Woke up three hours later with the headset still on, and my head didn’t hurt. That’s never happened with any other gaming headset I’ve tested. It’s a weird metric, but it tells you everything about long-term comfort.

The only comfort niggle is the USB-C dongle. It’s a small rectangular unit that plugs into your PS5 or PC, and while it works flawlessly, it sticks out quite far. On my PS5, it blocks the adjacent USB port. Not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing if you’re tight on USB real estate.

Sound Quality: Gaming Audio That Actually Matters

Right, let’s address the elephant in the room: this headset claims “100+ game audio presets” via the companion app. I tested about 20 of them across different games. Most are subtle variations that you’d struggle to identify in a blind test. The “Call of Duty” preset adds a touch more treble for footsteps. The “FIFA” preset boosts mids for commentary. It’s marketing more than meaningful functionality.

What actually matters is the baseline sound quality with the default tuning, because that’s what you’ll use 90% of the time.

The Nova 5P uses 40mm neodymium drivers with a frequency response of 20Hz to 22kHz. The soundstage is good for a closed-back gaming headset, though not as wide as open-back alternatives like the Razer BlackShark V2 X (which is wired, mind you). In competitive shooters like Valorant and Counter-Strike 2, I could accurately pinpoint enemy positions based on footsteps and gunfire. The imaging is precise enough that I wasn’t at a disadvantage compared to my usual setup.

The bass response is punchy without being overwhelming. In Helldivers 2, explosions have proper weight and impact, but they don’t drown out important audio cues like enemy movements or teammate callouts. This is where many “gaming” headsets go wrong, tuning the bass to absurd levels because they think gamers want their heads to rattle. The Nova 5P is more balanced, which makes it versatile for different game genres.

Mids are clear and well-defined. Voice lines in games like Baldur’s Gate 3 come through with excellent clarity, and you can hear the nuance in voice acting performances. This also translates to music listening, where vocals sit nicely in the mix without being recessed or overly forward.

Treble is where things get slightly more divisive. There’s a noticeable peak in the upper treble that makes some sounds sharper than they should be. Cymbals in music can sound a bit splashy, and certain in-game effects (like metal clanging or glass breaking) have an edge to them. It’s not harsh enough to cause fatigue, but it’s there if you’re sensitive to treble peaks. The upside is that this tuning makes footsteps and positional cues very clear in competitive games.

I compared the Nova 5P directly against the Razer BlackShark V2 X Gaming Headset, which is often praised for its sound quality despite being a budget wired option. The Razer has a wider soundstage and more neutral tuning, but the Nova 5P isn’t far behind, and you’re getting wireless freedom in the bargain. Against the HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Wireless, the Nova 5P is noticeably more detailed across the frequency range.

The “360° Spatial Audio” feature is SteelSeries’ take on virtual surround sound. I tested it in several games, and honestly, I preferred stereo mode. Virtual surround tends to make positional audio less precise, not more, and it adds an artificial quality to the sound. This is true for almost every gaming headset I’ve tested. Proper stereo imaging beats fake surround every time.

For music listening, the Nova 5P is surprisingly competent. I wouldn’t choose it over dedicated music headphones, but for casual listening between gaming sessions, it’s more than adequate. I tested it with tracks I know intimately (Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes”, Daft Punk’s “Touch”, Kendrick Lamar’s “Wesley’s Theory”), and the Nova 5P rendered them with decent separation and detail. The bass extension is good enough for electronic music, and the mids are clear enough for rock and hip-hop vocals.

Mic Performance: Actually Impressive

This is where the Nova 5P genuinely surprised me. The ClearCast 2.X microphone is a retractable boom mic that extends from the left ear cup, and it’s one of the best mics I’ve heard on a sub-£150 gaming headset. SteelSeries claims it supports 32kHz/16-bit audio, which is double the bandwidth of most gaming headset mics.

I recorded voice samples in Discord, tested it during ranked Valorant matches, and even used it for a couple of work video calls (yes, really). The results were consistently good. My voice came through clear and natural, without the thin, tinny quality that plagues cheaper headset mics. There’s proper body to the voice, and consonants are crisp without being sibilant.

Background noise rejection is solid. With my mechanical keyboard clacking away (Cherry MX Blues, because I’m a monster), the mic picked up far less keyboard noise than my previous headset. It’s not noise-cancelling in the active sense, but the pickup pattern is focused enough that it doesn’t broadcast every sound in your room to your teammates.

The mic monitoring (sidetone) feature lets you hear your own voice in the headset, which prevents that weird phenomenon where you talk too loudly because you can’t hear yourself. The level is adjustable via the app, and I set mine to about 30% – enough to be aware of my voice without it being distracting.

One mate I play with regularly asked if I’d upgraded my mic setup. When I told him it was just a gaming headset, he was genuinely shocked. That’s the best endorsement I can give. For context, he’s used to hearing me on a £40 wired headset that made me sound like I was calling from inside a biscuit tin.

The retractable design is cleaner than detachable mics, but it does mean you can’t replace it if something goes wrong. The mechanism feels robust, with a satisfying click when fully extended or retracted. There’s also an LED indicator on the mic boom that glows red when you’re muted, which is genuinely useful for avoiding those embarrassing moments when you’re talking to yourself.

Comparison: How It Stacks Up Against Alternatives

The wireless gaming headset market between £80-120 is crowded, so here’s how the Nova 5P compares to its closest competitors:

The Nova 5P sits in a sweet spot. It’s not the cheapest wireless option, but the quality gap between it and budget alternatives like the KAPEYDESI is massive. Compared to the HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Wireless, the extra £20 gets you triple the battery life, a significantly better microphone, and more refined sound tuning. Check the current Nova 5P price here.

Against the Logitech G PRO X 2, the Nova 5P can’t match the sound quality or premium build, but it’s also half the price. Unless you’re a competitive esports player or a proper audiophile, the Nova 5P delivers 85% of the experience for 45% of the cost.

Extra Features: What Actually Adds Value

The 60-hour battery life is the standout feature here. I charged the Nova 5P fully on Boxing Day and used it for several hours each day. It finally died on 5th January. That’s genuinely impressive, and it means you can go over a week between charges even with heavy use. The USB-C fast charging is also brilliant: 15 minutes of charging gives you six hours of use, which means even if you forget to charge it overnight, a quick top-up while you make a brew is enough for an entire evening session.

The quick-switch wireless feature lets you toggle between 2.4GHz wireless (for gaming) and Bluetooth 5.3 (for your phone) with a button press. This is more useful than it sounds. I could be playing on PS5, get a phone call, tap the button to switch to Bluetooth, take the call, then switch back to gaming without taking the headset off. The notification beeps when you get an incoming call while gaming are subtle enough not to be annoying but noticeable enough to be useful.

The Arctis Nova 5 Companion App is available on iOS and Android. It’s where you access those 100+ game presets, adjust EQ settings, update firmware, and tweak mic monitoring levels. The app itself is well-designed and responsive, but as I mentioned earlier, most of the presets are subtle variations that don’t dramatically change the experience. The custom EQ is more useful if you want to fine-tune the sound to your preferences.

There’s also a “Sonar” spatial audio feature that requires downloading separate software on PC. I tested it briefly and found it added latency and made positional audio less accurate, not more. I’d skip it entirely.

The on-ear controls are straightforward: volume wheel on the right ear cup, power button and wireless toggle on the left. The volume wheel has a nice tactile feel with clear steps, so you’re not constantly overshooting your target volume. The mic mute is a physical flip-up mechanism on the boom itself, which is more intuitive than a button.

One feature I genuinely appreciate: the headset announces battery level when you power it on. “Battery high” or “Battery medium” or “Battery low”. Simple, effective, no need to check an app or guess based on LED colours.

Owner Experiences: What Other Users Are Saying

With 523 verified Amazon reviews and a 4.5/5 rating, the Nova 5P has a substantial sample size of user feedback. I’ve read through several dozen reviews to identify common themes.

The most frequent praise centres on comfort and battery life. Multiple reviewers mention wearing the headset for 6+ hour sessions without discomfort, which aligns with my experience. One reviewer with a larger head size (hat size 7 7/8) specifically noted that the Nova 5P fits comfortably, which is reassuring for those who struggle with headset sizing.

Microphone quality gets consistent compliments. Several users mention friends and teammates commenting on how clear they sound, with one reviewer noting their Discord server asked what standalone mic they’d bought. That matches my testing exactly.

The main criticisms fall into a few categories. Some users find the treble too sharp, particularly in games with lots of high-frequency effects. A few reviewers mention the USB dongle being bulky and blocking adjacent ports. There are also scattered reports of connectivity issues, though these seem to be outliers rather than widespread problems.

One interesting tangent: several reviewers compared the Nova 5P favourably to the more expensive Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, saying the Pro’s extra features (hot-swappable batteries, active noise cancellation) aren’t worth the £200+ price premium. That’s a sentiment I’d echo. Unless you specifically need ANC for travel or the convenience of swappable batteries, the Nova 5P delivers the core experience at a fraction of the cost.

A small number of users reported the headband elastic losing tension after 6-12 months of use. This is a known issue with the Arctis line, though SteelSeries has apparently improved the elastic material in recent revisions. Time will tell if the Nova 5P suffers the same fate, but it’s worth being aware of.

Who Benefits Most From the Nova 5P

This headset is ideal for several specific use cases. If you’re a PS5 gamer who wants wireless freedom without spending £200+, the Nova 5P is sorted. The 2.4GHz wireless connection is rock-solid, the battery lasts long enough that you’ll forget what charging anxiety feels like, and the sound quality is more than good enough for any game genre.

If your current headset’s microphone makes you sound like you’re underwater, the Nova 5P is a massive upgrade. The ClearCast 2.X mic is genuinely excellent, and your teammates will thank you. This matters more than people realise. I’ve been in Discord servers where someone’s awful mic ruins the experience for everyone else. Don’t be that person.

For glasses wearers, the Nova 5P is one of the more comfortable options I’ve tested. The ear cup depth and moderate clamping force mean you’re not getting pressure on your glasses arms, which is a common complaint with tighter-fitting headsets.

If you frequently switch between gaming and taking calls or listening to music on your phone, the dual wireless connectivity is brilliant. Being able to toggle between your console/PC and your phone without taking the headset off is more convenient than it sounds.

Who should look elsewhere? If you’re an audiophile who prioritises sound quality above all else, the Logitech G PRO X 2 or even wired alternatives like the Razer BlackShark V2 X Gaming Headset will serve you better. The Nova 5P sounds good, but it’s not going to blow your mind if you’re used to high-end audio gear.

If you’re on a tight budget and can live with mediocre mic quality and shorter battery life, the HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Wireless saves you £20. But honestly, I reckon the extra £20 is worth it for what you get with the Nova 5P.

Wrapping Up: The Wireless Headset to Beat

After several weeks of testing the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P Gaming Headset across multiple games, platforms, and use cases, I’m genuinely impressed. This is the wireless gaming headset I’d recommend to mates without hesitation, which is saying something given how many I’ve tested over the years.

The combination of exceptional comfort, excellent microphone quality, and 60-hour battery life addresses the three things that matter most in a gaming headset. The sound quality is good enough for competitive gaming and casual music listening, even if it’s not going to replace dedicated audiophile headphones. The build quality feels solid, though only time will tell if the headband elastic holds up better than previous Arctis models.

At £99.99, the Nova 5P sits in a competitive price bracket, but it justifies the cost with tangible quality improvements over cheaper alternatives. The 90-day average price of £112.75 suggests it occasionally goes on sale, so if you’re patient, you might snag it for £90-95. Even at full price, though, it’s solid value.

The app presets are mostly pointless, and the USB dongle could be more compact, but these are minor niggles in an otherwise excellent package. The Nova 5P is proof that you don’t need to spend £200+ to get a genuinely good wireless gaming headset.

If you’re in the market for a wireless gaming headset in 2026 and your budget sits around £100, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5P should be at the top of your shortlist. It’s not perfect, but it’s bloody close for the price. Check the latest price and availability on Amazon.

For more gaming headset reviews, check out our full coverage including the Turtle Beach Recon 200 Blue Gen 2 Gaming Headset and the budget-focused EKSA E1000 Gaming Headset UK.