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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-16 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
• SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P — biggest strength: a dual 2.4GHz + Bluetooth wireless setup with a USB-C dongle, 40-hour battery, fast charging, and 200+ game presets through the Arctis Companion app.
• SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P — biggest trade-off: it's a full over-ear gaming headset at 9.12 ounces, so it's bulkier and more "gaming desk" than "office desk."
• ZGUKJ Open Ear Headphone — biggest strength: an open-ear hook design with an adjustable boom mic, ENC noise reduction, and a USB-A/USB-C dongle that makes it plug-and-play on PCs without Bluetooth.
• ZGUKJ Open Ear Headphone — biggest trade-off: 10 hours of battery (about 2 hours to charge) and Bluetooth 5.1 — fine for a workday of calls, short for marathon sessions.
• Pick the Arctis Nova 3P if you game on PS5, PC, Switch, or handhelds and want one headset for both competitive audio and music.
• Pick the ZGUKJ if your day is meetings, calls, online teaching, or call-center work and you want your ears left open.
The Arctis Nova 3P is, first and foremost, a gaming headset that happens to be unusually flexible about where it plugs in. The headline feature is the USB-C dongle: you get low-latency 2.4GHz wireless on PlayStation, PC, Switch, handhelds, phones, and tablets, and you can quick-switch to Bluetooth 5.3 when you'd rather stream music from your phone. That's two radios in one headset, and it means you're not juggling devices when you move from the console to the couch.
The tuning side is where it gets interesting for competitive players. The neodymium magnetic drivers are designed for a detailed soundscape — clear highs, pinpoint mids, deep bass — and the Arctis Companion app layers 200+ game presets on top, with per-game profiles that sharpen specific sounds like footsteps, reloads, and heals in real time. If you play shooters and want to hear an opponent before you see them, that preset system is the reason to care about this headset.
Comfort and endurance are the other two pillars. At 260 grams with a stretchy headband and multiple adjustment points, plus a dual-hinge design for durability, it's built for long sessions rather than a quick call. Battery life runs up to 40 hours, and fast charging gives you up to 9 hours of playback from a 15-minute top-up — genuinely useful when you forget to charge before a ranked night.
Who should skip it? If your priority is keeping your ears open to the room — taking calls while watching a door, a classroom, or a shared office — an over-ear closed design like this works against you. It's also more headset than you need if you only ever take voice calls on a laptop.
The ZGUKJ Open Ear Headphone is designed around a single idea: your ears stay open. The hook-style earpieces sit outside the ear canal instead of inside it, so you keep awareness of your surroundings while still hearing the call. For anyone who spends hours on PC calls, online meetings, remote work, online teaching, or call-center shifts, that's a meaningful difference from a sealed headset — nothing is jammed into your ear for eight hours straight.
The mic setup is the practical selling point. There's an adjustable boom mic with ENC environmental noise reduction to pull your voice forward and push background sound back, plus a mute button for quick on/off during calls, classes, webinars, and private meetings. If you've ever scrambled to mute on a video call, that physical button matters more than it sounds.
Connectivity is aimed squarely at desktops and laptops. The package includes a USB Bluetooth dongle plus a USB-C adapter, so it's plug-and-play on computers that don't have Bluetooth built in — a common headache with cheap wireless headsets. Audio runs over Bluetooth 5.1 with Qualcomm tech supporting aptX, aptX LL low latency, and aptX HD, and the rated range is 33 feet. Battery is a 250mAh cell good for up to 10 hours, recharging in about 2 hours at DC 5V. The neckband is lightweight with silicone construction, so it stays put without pressing into your ears.
Who should skip it? If you want deep, immersive sound for gaming or music, the open-ear, bone-conduction-style design won't deliver the same isolation or bass weight as an over-ear gaming headset. And 10 hours is a workday, not a weekend.
• Best for gaming audio and presets → SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P. Per-game audio profiles and 2.4GHz low-latency wireless are built for competitive play.
• Best for all-day PC calls and meetings → ZGUKJ Open Ear Headphone. Open-ear comfort, boom mic, ENC, and a mute button are exactly the call-center toolkit.
• Best for battery life → SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P. Up to 40 hours versus up to 10 hours, plus fast charging that adds up to 9 hours in 15 minutes.
• Best for PCs without Bluetooth → ZGUKJ Open Ear Headphone. The included USB-A/USB-C dongle makes it plug-and-play; the Arctis Nova 3P uses a USB-C dongle primarily for gaming platforms.
• Best for awareness of your surroundings → ZGUKJ Open Ear Headphone. The open-ear hook design never blocks the ear canal.
• Best for cross-platform flexibility (console + handheld + phone) → SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P. PS5, PS4, PC, Switch, mobile, with Bluetooth quick-switch for music.
• Best for marathon comfort with deep audio → SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P. 260g with a stretchy headband and multiple adjustment points.
• Best for a hybrid work + light gaming setup → depends on which half dominates. Calls win → ZGUKJ. Games win → Arctis Nova 3P.
In my opinion, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P is the better buy for most people reading a headset comparison, because it covers more ground: 2.4GHz gaming on console and PC, Bluetooth 5.3 for music, 40 hours of battery, and app-driven presets that actually change how you hear a game. It's the one headset that handles a ranked match, a music break, and a Discord call without swapping gear.
That said, I'd recommend the ZGUKJ Open Ear Headphone without hesitation to anyone whose job is talking — meetings, teaching, support calls — because the open-ear fit, boom mic, ENC, and physical mute button are purpose-built for that life, and the bundled dongle kills the Bluetooth-less-PC problem. Buy the Arctis Nova 3P for play. Buy the ZGUKJ for work.
FAQ
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P, clearly: up to 40 hours per charge and up to 9 hours from a 15-minute fast charge. The ZGUKJ runs up to 10 hours and takes about 2 hours to charge.
Yes — that's one of its main design goals. It ships with a USB Bluetooth dongle and a USB-C adapter for plug-and-play audio on computers and laptops. Note the dongle is for audio only, not for a mouse or keyboard.
The ZGUKJ, for most people. Its open-ear hook design sits outside the ear canal so nothing presses into your ears, and the lightweight silicone neckband stays secure. The Arctis Nova 3P is light for an over-ear headset at 260g, but it's still a closed over-ear design.
Yes. Both are different products with different hardware inside, so the current price on Amazon is worth checking before you commit — the page's button will show you the live listing.
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