SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds assessment: earbuds on your PlayStation or Xbox

SteelSeries’ Arctis GameBuds are the primary gaming earbuds I truly wish to purchase. Sony, Razer, and Logitech all provide comparable gaming-focused earbuds, however SteelSeries is the one firm providing low-latency earbuds with Bluetooth connectivity and console compatibility, a cell app with highly effective per-game EQ settings, energetic noise cancellation, and a wi-fi charging case, all for $159.99.

It’s a singular mixture at this worth, and I’ve come to understand it in latest weeks, even swapping my trusted Arctis Nova Professional headset for these earbuds for PC gaming. Not like Bluetooth-only earbuds, the GameBuds additionally work on PlayStation or Xbox, so I’ve been utilizing them to play Name of Obligation: Black Ops 6, amongst different video games.

The Arctis GameBuds look similar to Jabra’s discontinued Elite line of earbuds, housed in a pill-shaped wi-fi charging case that may ship as much as 40 hours of battery life in complete. The case additionally consists of the two.4GHz USB-C dongle that may be hooked up to a sport console, PC, or telephone. There’s a cable contained in the packaging that turns this right into a USB-A dongle, for these with out a USB-C port.

Every earbud has a single button. Urgent the left-hand-side button cycles by means of transparency and noise cancellation, whereas the right-hand button is play / pause. You too can faucet and maintain the precise earbud to extend the amount or faucet and maintain the left earbud to lower it. 

Switching between Bluetooth and a pair of.4GHz wi-fi is simply three faucets away with the facet buttons and is on the spot. Sadly, you possibly can’t use Bluetooth concurrently the two.4GHz mode, so you possibly can’t take heed to music out of your telephone alongside sport audio out of your PlayStation or Xbox. It’s a disgrace as a result of a lot of SteelSeries’ different headsets, like my Nova Professional, are able to this.

The GameBuds include quite a lot of silicone suggestions that can assist you discover one of the best seal on your ears, so you may get one of the best use out of the energetic noise canceling mode. They use 4 microphones to tune out distractions, they usually do a very good job of filtering out sounds round you in the event you’re taking part in music or a loud sport, however they’re nowhere close to pretty much as good as Apple’s AirPods Professional or the Bose earbuds. You’ll nonetheless hear some ambient sounds when you have the amount low or your sport doesn’t have a ton of audio.

The audio high quality is sweet for $159.99, and the equalizer presets allow you to select choices with extra bass in the event you’re listening to music or a flat EQ in the event you’re listening to podcasts. There’s additionally a transparency mode, and you may management the degrees of each the ANC and transparency modes within the Arctis cell app. This app is well one of the best a part of the Arctis GameBuds as a result of it additionally consists of the gaming equalizer presets which have develop into so fashionable and helpful on SteelSeries’ line of headphones. There are presets for greater than 100 video games, and you actually discover the variations while you toggle between them. The Valorant preset is tuned in a approach that makes it rather a lot simpler to listen to footsteps in that sport, and it will possibly actually be the distinction between profitable and shedding a struggle since you hear the opposite participant earlier than you see them.

The identical presets can be found on the SteelSeries GG desktop app, so in the event you use these on a gaming PC, you’ll have the ability to reap the benefits of Sonar — SteelSeries’ glorious audio system for Home windows. I used to hate that SteelSeries pressured you to make use of Sonar, but it surely’s truly a far superior system for managing audio in Home windows than what Microsoft gives out of the field. It even has spatial audio and AI-powered noise cancellation for microphones to filter out issues like your canine barking in the course of a sport or video name.

I’ve been utilizing the GameBuds totally on a PC, but it surely’s simple to plug the USB-C dongle into an Xbox or PlayStation so long as you’ve purchased the proper model. All fashions of the GameBuds work with PlayStation, PCs, and different consoles just like the Swap. However Xbox customers might want to get the Xbox model, which is identical worth however consists of an extra chip to stick to Microsoft’s safety insurance policies plus a slider button on the USB-C dongle to change to Xbox compatibility. It’s disappointing that the Xbox model solely is available in black; the white model appears to be like good.

I used the GameBuds with my Xbox, and the setup is seamless. You merely plug the dongle in and the Xbox acknowledges there’s a headset hooked up and assigns it to your profile similar to some other headset. You possibly can then management the EQ settings, ANC, and extra from the Arctis cell app.

The cell and desktop apps additionally listing battery life, which I’ve discovered comes near matching the ten hours SteelSeries advertises. Utilizing ANC and the microphone commonly, I averaged round 9 hours, however when you have these disabled, it’s nearer to 10 hours. It doesn’t appear to make a distinction whether or not you’re on Bluetooth or 2.4GHz mode.

The case has sufficient additional battery life to cost the GameBuds round 4 instances earlier than you want to plug them right into a USB-C charger. You too can cost the case on a Qi wi-fi charger, so I’ve been in a position to make use of the identical charger I take advantage of for my AirPods Professional.

The one points I bumped into whereas testing the GameBuds had been associated to video calls on my PC. Generally the audio would distort to the purpose the place the buds felt like they had been vibrating on calls when the opposite particular person’s microphone peaked too excessive. I managed to get this below management by decreasing the chat quantity within the Sonar app. I additionally discovered that the two.4GHz sign nonetheless breaks up in the identical spots of my home that the Nova Professional Wi-fi headphones do. It’s solely once I go too distant from the dongle, although.

I do want the GameBuds had a mode that allow you to swap microphone inputs on the fly. I take advantage of a devoted XLR microphone on my PC, however once I stroll away from my desk with the GameBuds in, I’d love to have the ability to faucet the facet buttons and swap to the microphone enter on the buds as a substitute. I’d additionally love to have the ability to use Bluetooth and a pair of.4GHz modes on the identical time, so I’m hoping SteelSeries will regularly enhance these GameBuds prefer it has the remainder of its headphones. However that doesn’t imply you should purchase them hoping they’ll get higher sooner or later.

For those who’re searching for one thing much less gaming-focused with higher sound high quality, and also you’re prepared to spend somewhat extra, there are many different earbud choices. However for $159.99, these are an incredible choice on your PlayStation, Xbox, or PC. The GameBuds are snug, sound good, and provide nice sport presets that you simply gained’t discover on different earbuds.

Pictures by Tom Warren / The Verge