So much of what the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7X Wireless Gen 2 does, it does right. Its build quality is outstanding, having a thickness and solidity that most wireless headsets lack. Its stretchy headband, as on pretty much all SteelSeries headsets, successfully tricked my entire skull into thinking it was lighter than it is. It’s flexible, working over Bluetooth or a 2.4GHz dongle, the latter’s USB-C connection also making it a plusher Steam Deck alternative to the Arctis GameBuds. And it sounds, both in games and music, fabulous: audio is powerful but detailed, like you could peel apart the stacked-up layers of a song mix or shooter soundscape into its individual tracks.

When it gets something wrong, though, oof. The biggest culprit is that retractable microphone, which on default settings – and regardless of all the immediately available EQ and slider options in the companion software – sounds rubbish. One fellow Discord dweller complained that I sounded like I was trapped in a tin can; listening back to recordings, the terms of my imprisonment may have been exaggerated, though it still sounded far too fuzzy and phone-like. Dig deep enough and the software does eventually offer some preset effects that make it sound cleaner, but these are locked behind a nakedly data-grabbing account requirement, and if anything, the idea that I need to give SteelSeries my email address to fix the mic on a £180 headset only makes me more annoyed at it.

Even if you’re not much of a talker, 7X Wireless Gen 2 still disappoints with its barely-big enough earcups – these are comfortable at first, but tightness takes a toll after an hour or so – and that unappetisingly high price. For less than half the money you could get the Arctis Nova 3X Wireless, which sounds fine, weighs less, and has a much, much better-sounding talk-stick out of the box.

Quick Kits is a hardware review series about pouring as much fully-tested PC gear knowledge down your eyes as we can – within two or three paragraphs.