SteelSeries announced its first speaker line last year, with the Arena 3 being a basic 2.0 setup, the Arena 9 being a complete 5.1 surround sound experience and the Arena 7 sitting in the middle with a great sound and some innovative features to boot.
The Arena 7 setup comes with two speakers (each with its own driver and tweeter) and a rather large subwoofer. The design of both are quite sleek and understated, which I rather like, but as soon as you turn them on, you realise that they’re not just an average set of speakers design-wise.
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The Arena 7s both have a 4-zone RGB lighting on the back of them, that you’re able to customise anywhere from just a basic standard colour, to cycling through the rainbow to reacting with a keyboard press. The speakers also tilt quite easily, so that you can get that perfect reflection off your wall.
Compared to something like the Philips Hue Play Bar, it’s offers roughly the same brightness, and exactly like the Play Bar, you’re able to use the SteelSeries GG app to replicate what is happening on your screen (PC only) for a pretty immersive experience. There are a few issues with the software though when it comes to the lighting portion, and I hope that this does improve with time given this a new market for SteelSeries.
As far as connectivity goes, you can connect the SteelSeries Arena 7 to your Windows or Apple PC as well as your PlayStation device via USB C or the optical/3.5mm ports. There’s also Bluetooth connectivity that is super easy to setup and you’re able to play music through Bluetooth whilst also using one of the other inputs. The speakers are controlled by the knob on the right speaker, with the bass amount being controlled on the subwoofer.
SteelSeries make some of the best headsets on the market, with the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless still being my favourite headset to ever release, and I was really hopeful that this would translate to its line of speakers and it most certainly does.
The speakers provide a good amount of crispness and volume when listening to music, and the 6.5″ down-firing subwoofer provides a huge amount of bass that is absolutely satisfying no matter what’s blasting through the speakers.
Its obviously worth mentioning that it is quite sizeable, so you will want to make sure you’ve got space under the desk or a place to put in, but thankfully, it is really understated with its all-black design, so it doesn’t stand out at all.
Really, if you’re already in the SteelSeries eco system and want a pair of speakers, it’s a no-brainer to buy into the Arena line, even if it’s starting with the Arena 3s, but the subwoofer in the 7s really are worth the jump in my opinion.
