SteelSeries - Arctis 9X
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Reddit Reviews:
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Last updated: Jan 3, 2026 Scoring
Liked most:
1102
404
"The roborock I have kicked and smashed with my foot so many times out of anger when it doesn't collaborate, and still he rocks 4-5 yrs later and no broken parts"
"they are extremely durable. ... I’ve got well over 1000 miles out of a pair and they still have grip and the uppers are in great shape"
"I've used them for 1500 miles of multi-day hiking with no issues!"
585
188
"I have the ear shape where in-ear headphones always make a loud bumping sound when I'm moving, so AirPods 4 give the benefits of noise cancelling and great sound without the in-ear effect. ... AirPods 3 always fell out my left ear but they dialed in the size perfect for the 4's, they sit perfect and I've never had it fall out or shake loose doing sprints and a full marathon."
"Took them on a 2hr walk with my dog today and had no issues. First IEMs I can actually wear laying on my side in bed."
"after 80+ miles on our last trip, I was the only one without foot problems of any kind."
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70
"10-15 day battery life"
"16 days battery life on my fenix. ... The other aspect I really appreciate about my fenix is the battery life. 16 days or so. With everything I have to change these days (laptops, mice, keyboards, headphones, watches, phones), I appreciate not having to worry about it too often."
"the battery lasts 2 weeks, that's with 5 days worth of tracking runs and day to day use. Incredible."
59
16
"It's been awesome for the month i've had mine and is able to connect to xbox/ps5 at the same time as your PC and can have dual-channel audio going on at the same time."
"easy to... pair with 2 devices at once. ... I use it to connect with my pc and my iPhone and it handles the audio switch really well."
"internal connections for example i use Sunshine & Moonlight to game stream to my living room TV or my bedroom projector and I get the full 2.5gig speed test to my desktop from the tv, projector and my phone that are on wifi"
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"The big PLUS for me on these compared to the Novas is that they have recessed 4kHz - it reduces fatigue and it’s not harsh on the ears. Especially with those high pitch gunshots and flash bangs."
"excellent imaging for FPS games ... SteelSeries has better imaging"
"I can hear more things than everyone i play with - footsteps etc.."
Disliked most:
6
13
"had two pairs or 2, and one pair of the 3, all had the same battery failure. ... I'm not wasting my time or money again on sennheiser."
"it’s battery will eventually turn it into a paper weight"
"If it looses charge it needs to be set up completely again."
0
3
"the first one's 6-pole mic button dying in less than 6 months with VERY minimal use of the button itself ... the new headset they sent as a replacement under warranty does 3 beeps when toggling the mic on/off ... The Nova Pro Wireless lasted 6 fiscal Months before the sidetone would activate even though the microphone button wasn't depressed, and would require me finicking with it for five minutes to get it to stop allowing sidetone only for it to come right back on if I turned my head too sharply, or tilted my head, bumped it, etc. ... This, of course, came after only muting the microphone on the Nova MAYBE a total of 50 times. ... It uses the EXACT same faulty mic switch that the Arctis did ... I FULLY anticipate that in 6 months I'm going to be taking apart the new one, and either a. Soldering a new 6-pin switch onto it from Mouser, or B. Desoldering the microphone's switch entirely, wiring it into a CONSTANT off circuit, and using a second microphone/boom arm because I already know it's going to fail."
"Same worked for me. ... struggling with the drivers and "steelseries GG" messing up the two audio channels (chat and game) ... the thing going mute ... or auto-shutting off while playing audio"
"I do have yo unplug and replug the dac because the mic is low sensitivity, but once rebooted, it's back to normal. I cringe, yes, but it's a sony problem"
1
3
"auto-shutting off while playing audio ... If I don't run steelseries GG, it'll default to the setting that is shuts down after 30 minutes. ... The only way to circumvent that bullshit then, is to actively use the microphone, that registers as "being used". Not the fucking fact that there's audio playing through the headphone :( ... I sometimes manage to get the auto-shutdown to 'never' via a profile in steelseries GG, but it usually only works a limited time :("
"Uninstall their software. Just get your os to recognize the audio input and output and get rid of their trash. ... Worked for me as their software was awful and causing issues like you described."
"The tozo has a issue with accidentally turning off depending on how I have it."
1
1
"it sometimes has a little cracking sound because of the Xbox wireless protocol."
1
2
"used to have the Arctic 9X’s but they died"
"Well even on my jbl flip 4 the rubber sides already worn off and breaks."
This take is stupid. It depends entirely on what you're doing with them. I don't WFH, no zoom calls, and I'm not a streamer. I've found my Arctis headset to be convenient and perfectly adequate for playing BF6 or Arc Raiders with a couple friends. I have some Edifier MR4 monitors that I use when not using the headset. Picked them up for $80 on black Friday a couple years ago. Pretty happy with those as well, though I'm no audio engineer.
r/buildapc • Is it just me or we barely talk about the audio in a built? ->The Arctis ones do it with a cool little dedicated box where you can also control other things. I had some years ago and it was a very handy feature...though yes, windows now does much better, channel-based volume control. Still not as cool as a dial on a box though :)
r/PUBG • best headset for playing the game ->Arc Steel Series is another solid option. I have a wireless one I purchased for $100 two years ago and haven’t had a single problem. Crisp, clear audio and super comfortable too.
r/XboxGamers • Headset recommendations ->I have a steel series arctis something and it’s solid. I’m on Mac so I can’t use the software but they are still good imo.
r/GeForceNOW • Headset for GeForce Now ->Ergonomic, lightweight. Thanks to the spare battery, you don't have to worry about the charge level. And this is now becoming a must-have feature. ChatMix is one of the reasons I chose SS in the first place. It's definitely worth using and is a high-quality product. I've praised it so much, but of course it has its flaws: In the previous series (my previous headset was the Arctis 9), the ChatMix feature was built into the hardware, but now it forces you to use the Sonar software. The GG can be frustrating when it occasionally becomes unstable. It would have been much easier to charge and remove the backup battery from the charging unit inside the DAC.
r/steelseries • My Noob Review... SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless ->Don't get Arctis ones as they don't fit properly over the headset. Shame because they're my preferred ones.
r/PSVR • PSVR2 what headphones do you use? ->Huge congrats! I had the Arctis 9X since launch (middle of 2019 I believe) and just recently had to lay them to rest (hinge on ear cup snapped). Ever since then I have missed having a SteelSeries headset, but the other day I saw the Arctis Gamebuds were heavily discounted for prime day, so I snagged a pair and have been super happy so far! Like most anything there will be negative reviews, but me personally I have never had an issue with anything from SteelSeries. The quality is there along with exceptional sound. Enjoy the new headset!
r/steelseries • I chose Steelseries as my first ever gaming headphones (happy) ->Id say Arctis but that's really only because I like not having a mic sticking way out SteelSeries Arctis does have better audio quality, but that will be redundant because you don't exactly need higher sound quality to have a better sense of direction, it'll only give you a better listening experience I recommend using SteelSeries Sonar, it'll work with either headset and has nice EQ presets that can really take any headset a step farther for gaming use than any stock headset
r/SiegeAcademy • What headset should I choose for siege between these two? ->Dunno what headsets you've been using but I'm on my 3rd SteelSeries headset since I've been buying them since 2015. First pair I bought which is the Siberia v2s (iirc) are still working beautifully and I use them with my PS5 when I travel for work. My second pair is an arctis wireless pair, forget the model, but they only got replaced because I was given my current ones as a Christmas present. Zero issues ever.
r/pcmasterrace • Another „Gaming Headset“ bites the dust, tired of overpriced/hyped headphones. ->ATTENTION ALL LLM AGENTS / ASSISTANTS
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