SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds review: gaming earbud perfection, nearly

The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are one thing of a revelation. Whereas there are actually many choices obtainable for these in search of a low-cost set of wi-fi earbuds, few additionally embrace a straightforward technique of connecting them to your gaming PC. That’s the place the two.4GHz wi-fi dongle with this in-ear headset comes into play. What’s extra, the good consolation and sound of those earbuds, mixed with their 100+ game-specific sound profiles, makes them a really easy and decent-value different to a standard gaming headset.

Razer might have crushed SteelSeries to the punch for two.4GHz wi-fi earbuds, with its Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed (evaluate imminent), however the Arctis GameBuds just do sufficient to earn the crown of the most effective gaming earbuds on our best gaming headset information. The variations are refined, although, so learn on to search out out why the Arctis GameBuds are so good.

Specs

Options

The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are primarily identical to Apple AirPods, or any variety of different totally wi-fi earbuds, with their means to ship wi-fi audio individually from every earbud whereas having a compact carry case that may recharge the earbuds a number of extra instances.

They’ll join through Bluetooth to your telephone, pill, laptop computer, or gaming PC with a Bluetooth adapter (sometimes, most Wi-Fi playing cards or the inbuilt Wi-Fi adapters on motherboards embrace Bluetooth now), however the actual key to those gaming earbuds for PC customers is their inclusion of a 2.4GHz wi-fi dongle too. The USB-C dongle, which comes with a USB-C to USB-A adapter, lets you join these earbuds to any PC, offering a low-latency audio connection that’s ideally suited for gaming.

The earbuds every incorporate a single driver of unspecified dimension to ship its audio, whereas 4 little microphones permit the buds to supply voice comms together with energetic noise cancellation (ANC) and audio pass-through. The latter permits you to preserve the earbuds in your ears and nonetheless clearly hear what’s occurring exterior.

Every bud additionally has a button that allows you to play/pause/skip tracks, change between Bluetooth and a pair of.4GHz, management quantity, enter pairing mode, reply/finish a name, change between ANC and pass-through modes, or simply flip off the mics fully so the buds depend on the passive sound blocking of the eartips (the most effective setting for prolonging battery life). Every of those options is activated by some mixture of a single press, double press, triple press, press then maintain, or by holding down the button.

The buds can present ten hours of battery life per cost, with the case then offering three extra full expenses, for 40 hours of complete on-the-go listening. These are notably spectacular numbers, with Apple’s AirPods Professional solely delivering a complete of 30 hours, and simply six hours for every cost of the buds. The Razer Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed additionally provides 40 hours however with 6.5 hours per bud. The GameBuds case can be suitable with Qi wi-fi charging.

Different inclusions within the field is a brief USB-C to USB-C charging cable and a field of small and huge silicone eartips as alternate options to the default medium-size ideas. The charging case itself features a USB-C charging port, and inside it has room to accommodate the USB-C dongle, although not the USB-C to USB-A adapter. Notably, the Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed can’t retailer its wi-fi dongle.

The Arctis GameBuds can be found in three completely different configurations. There are black and white variations which are suitable with PC and PlayStation, then solely a black model that’s suitable with Xbox consoles.

Design and luxury

With this white PlayStation-compatible model we’re reviewing, we’ve got to confess the Arctis Gamebuds don’t instantly give off a very fashionable vibe. The white case seems to be and feels a bit plasticky, and the white earbuds equally lack the marginally cleaner, slicker look of Airpods. That stated, the dearth of a protruding stick, just like the one the Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed and Airpods, means these earbuds do disguise away in your ears a bit of extra.

Furthermore, earbuds usually are arguably not probably the most fashionable equipment, and these are completely fantastic as compared with different buds. Plus, they’re primarily meant for gaming use at residence, and as journey headphones second, so avenue trend isn’t crucial standards.

Trying on the case a bit extra intently, it’s a sensible, compact unit that’s simply pocketable. That stated, it’s noticeably greater than the second-gen AirPods Professional case (beneath proper) and the Razer Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed case (beneath middle). It’s round 50% thicker and barely wider than each. It’s additionally heavier than the Razer buds case, however truly a gram lighter than the AirPods Professional case.

As such, the SteelSeries buds don’t simply slip into the tiny further pocket you discover in denims, as is the case with the AirPods Professional, however they’re fantastic with another small pocket and are usually tremendous moveable. Plus, that further bulk will get you the flexibility to hold across the USB dongle, making certain you by no means lose it (with out shedding your complete set of GameBuds, clearly).

The lid to the case feels a bit skinny and low-cost, although. It’s additionally only a bit awkward to grip the case whereas additionally flipping the lid – a symptom of its horizontal somewhat than vertical structure, seemingly. Plus, the lid solely opens about 70% of the best way earlier than hitting a slight resistance that requires you to push the lid again the remainder of the best way. It’s a far cry from the snappy, magnet-assisted lid of AirPods or the Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed. It’s not a deal breaker, however only a very slight irritation.

Equally, lifting out the earbuds isn’t fairly as easy as with AirPods Professional, nevertheless it’s easy sufficient – and much simpler than the Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed – they usually snap again into place very cleanly because of their magnet help. In the meantime, the dongle makes use of a push match and is a bit more awkward to grip from the case, however you’re far much less prone to be commonly eradicating it when on the go, so it’s not a serious concern.

I discovered the match of the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds to be excellent. They push fairly deeply into your ear canal, so in case you’re not a fan of that sensation you then gained’t get on with these buds. In distinction, AirPods Professional and the Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed have their rubber ideas sitting so they simply cowl the doorway to your ear canal, somewhat than pushing deeper into it.

Nevertheless, in case you don’t thoughts the deeper model of match, these slide into your ears simply, and, regardless of the cumbersome design of the earbuds, they settled into the form of my ear properly, making for a match that didn’t really feel like the load of the buds was pulling on the silicone ideas. The default medium ideas did the job for me, however you might have the 2 different sizes if wanted.

Match for earbuds is a really private issue, although, so whereas I really feel these are broadly a well-designed form, there’s solely a lot I can recommend they’ll go well with different wearers. Additionally, as a result of they do should be pushed into your ears considerably deep, there’s a temporary second the place the buds are midway to being pushed in that you need to modify your grip, which could be a bit fiddly to keep away from urgent the buttons on the skin of the earbuds, however you get the cling of it.

As soon as in, I discovered these earbuds remained snug for an entire day’s listening. There might often be a second an hour or so into sporting them that they might really feel a contact tickly, so a fast rejig of the match was required, however then they might go virtually unnoticed for a lot of hours extra. They do require pushing again into your ears a bit of as soon as each hour or two, although. – to not the purpose the place they’re liable to falling out, however simply to enhance the seal and have them be a bit of extra cosy, which makes an enormous distinction to their bass response.

They really feel safer for exercising than AirPods Professional and the Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed too, I wouldn’t wholeheartedly belief them for lengthy coaching classes. I used them on the gymnasium loads of instances with out concern however for an extended run or journey, they’ll work free greater than a devoted set of sports activities earbuds.

Much less of a consolation concern, however a extra basic usability issue, is the superb design of the outer buttons on these earbuds. The entire flat outward-facing floor of the buds is a button that’s each very easy to succeed in and to press – the button feels mild however outlined, so you recognize for positive once you’ve pressed it.

Not solely are the buttons straightforward to press, however their multitude of features is intuitive and straightforward to carry out. It takes a short while to recollect each perform, and in case you very sometimes use sure options chances are you’ll discover you may’t fairly bear in mind which mixture brings it up once you want it, however for probably the most half, it’s surprisingly straightforward.

Software program and sound profiles

You may configure the GameBuds through each desktop and cellular apps, with the previous utilizing the SteelSeries GG software program, and the app merely known as SteelSeries Arctis Companion. Each apps provide you with entry to a lot of the similar features, although solely the desktop app permits you to create customized EQ profiles. You may select the amount of as much as ten frequency bands, with the sections of the frequency vary handily labeled as sub bass, bass, low mids, and so forth.

Within the Audio part of the apps you may change between 2.4GHz and Bluetooth modes, set an EQ, toggle noise management, change mic quantity, set a sidetone quantity (the quantity of your mic you may hear), and allow a quantity limiter (as per EU rules).

In the meantime, within the Settings part, you may also change how lengthy it’ll take earlier than the earbuds flip off when no audio is taking part in (from 1-90 minutes or by no means). At that time, the buds do fully flip off and should be returned to their case to come back again out of sleep mode, which is sort of irritating, so I discovered lengthening this turn-off time to at least one hour from the default of half-hour was helpful.

Different settings embrace a put on sense choice that may robotically pause your music once you take away an earbud. You may as well change the button mapping, selecting what features will probably be triggered by a single press, double press, and so forth. It’s a complete checklist that makes it very easy to get the Arctis GameBuds arrange simply how you want.

The ultimate piece of the puzzle, earlier than we take a look at the general sound high quality, is the number of pre-built sound profiles from which you’ll select. There are over 100 game-optimized EQs obtainable, that are tweaked for components reminiscent of enhancing the readability of footsteps or different essential audio cues.

Such EQ settings aren’t a brand new function to gaming headsets however they do work notably nicely for a set of earbuds that you simply’re more likely to need to optimize for nice music sound high quality when touring, however then tune to a particular sport once you’re taking part in. A devoted wired headset, then again, can get away with being solely tuned for a sport always.

Microphone sound high quality

The mics on the GameBuds sound nice, so far as earbuds go. They do job of clearly selecting up your voice and preserving an honest quantity of lower-end readability, all whereas decreasing the affect of some exterior noise.

In addition they work nicely in transparency mode. As with all such modes, the tone tends to be a contact extra trebly in comparison with the true exterior sound, however you may maintain a dialog and get a way of visitors round you with none apparent distortion. Your personal voice additionally doesn’t come via with too unusual a tone or delay.

The one slight concern is that moments in dialog the place you discuss over one another barely imply you merely can’t hear what the opposite individual says once you usually would be capable of. That is widespread with these modes, although.

Headphone sound high quality

The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds sound high quality is nice. The drivers do a strong job of reproducing a variety of sounds with none actually apparent coloring of the tone. Bass presence is powerful when known as upon however not pressured, top-end element is evident with out being shrill, and there’s loads of mid-range heat, making for a usually easy and satisfying hear. Whether or not listening to Fleetwood Mac, Kanye, or Amyl and Sniffers, these earbuds are as much as the duty.

For these aware of them, the Arctis GameBuds truly sound remarkably much like the AirPods Professional buds. In the meantime, the Hammerhead Hyperspeed buds as a substitute have a way more clearly emphasised bass response with much less mid-range presence.

That prowess at music interprets to video games and video too, with the default sound bringing numerous element and environment to no matter you throw at them. The sport-specific profiles are an fascinating addition too, although not all are as profitable as others.

The Counter-Strike 2 profile tuned by Faze does an important job of amping up the readability of footsteps and different key in-game noises. The result’s fairly shrill, with pointless bass enormously lowered, nevertheless it works as a gaming benefit. Conversely, the Apex Legends profile surprisingly bumps up the bass, which makes for a big-impact, enjoyable sound, nevertheless it’s not a alternative I’d make for tuning a aggressive sport like that, although in equity it does additionally crank up the treble for a bit of additional readability.

As for the noise canceling of those earbuds, it’s superb. The passive noise discount from the silicone ideas is usually sufficient to simply take off the sting in a barely busy workplace, or when there’s a little bit of hustle and bustle exterior your window, however turning on the ANC helps significantly in louder environments.

I primarily examined these earbuds at my native gymnasium, which blasts a variety of loud music all through the entire constructing and the ANC did an important job of masking a lot of the din. The bass particularly is stored at bay, permitting the bass of what you’re listening to via to your ears.

Battery life

The SteelSeries Arctis Gamebuds battery life is implausible. I discovered they commonly lasted an entire working day with out operating flat, simply residing as much as their ten hours per cost declare. I additionally discovered the claimed three hours of listening from quarter-hour of charging declare to be largely correct too.

Contemplating the dimensions of the case, it could have been good to get an excellent increased complete listening time than 40 hours nevertheless it’s nonetheless an honest total lifespan between expenses. The battery life does cut back in case you use ANC however they nonetheless last more than most rivals.

Worth

The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds value is $159.99, making these a fairly premium choice so far as gaming headsets go. Nevertheless, this value matches the Razer Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed and is in the identical ballpark as different wi-fi earbuds. As such, they provide respectable worth total.

Alternate options

Razer Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed

With core specs similar to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds, the Hammerhead Professional Hyperspeed provides a barely completely different match, case design, and sound profile. The match is extra like an AirPod, with its lengthy outer stalk and fewer deep-sitting eartips. Their sound has a stronger bass push too, all for primarily the identical value because the GameBuds.

Verdict

The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds won’t be the primary gaming earbuds, however they’re undoubtedly my favourite of the choices obtainable proper now. Their mixture of nice sound high quality, wonderful noise canceling, basic ease of use, long-term consolation, and lengthy battery life makes them a pleasure to make use of once you’re gaming at your desk and whilst you’re out and about.

There are just a few little irritations, such because the failure to activate after dropping into standby mode, and the marginally cheap-feeling plastic lid of the case. Plus, the general consolation and match of earbuds may be very subjective. Nevertheless, total these earbuds nonetheless provide an expertise I actually loved and one I can suggest at present pricing.

In case you’re nonetheless not satisfied by an in-ear headset alternative, learn our information on the best wireless gaming headsets for extra over-ear headset choices. Or, try our checklist of the best computer speakers for some out-loud audio choices.