SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds review: gaming earbuds almost perfected
Our Verdict
The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are some of the best earbuds on the market, and they are the best for gaming. Delivering brilliant performance, incredible battery life, and a sleek design that feels comfortable, this is a must-have for any gamer.
- Incredible performance
- Brilliant battery life
- Amazing design and comfy fit
- ANC could be slightly better
It’s easy to write off buying earbuds as simple as “they’re all the same, just pick any good ones”. Despite many sets coming relatively close to their rivals, especially in the more premium price range, plenty do things better in different ways. The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds offer a gaming-focused approach to the market, as well as delivering brilliant audio quality in general, with very few issues.
Alongside an excellent design and no platform preference, the SteelSeries’ debut earbuds are incredible – whether you play the best iPhone games or the best Android games. It’s not hard to argue that these might be the best gaming earbuds on the market, delivering a combination of an affordable price, a sleek design, and some brilliant features, even if there are a few improvements to be made with the next generation.
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Specs
| Earbud type | Wireless earbuds |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Active-noise cancellation | Yes |
| Spatial audio | Yes |
| Battery life | 10 hours per charge, up to 40 hours with case |
| Colors | White, Black |
| Earbud weight | 5.3g per earbud |
| Case weight | 48.7g |
Price and availability
Considering that many premium earbuds launch between $200 / £200, it’s surprising that the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds only set you back $159.99 / £159.99 for the standard retail price. There are two color schemes – a sleek-looking white and a discreet black, and they’re available at a variety of retailers, including SteelSeries itself.
This is far cheaper than most flagship earbuds from companies boasting similar features, such as the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 3 or Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, even if both have had their fair share of discounts since they launched.
Design
The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are the most comfortable earbuds I’ve used since the Galaxy Buds Pro 2, delivering a simple in-ear bud that is easy to hide away on your commute or during a nice walk. While companies like Samsung are moving toward a stem-like design similar to Apple’s AirPods, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds provide a punchy sound despite the smaller size, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Similarly to the AirPods Pro 2 and the Galaxy Buds Pro 3, the touch controls are capacitive buttons, giving physical feedback rather than forcing you to randomly touch your earbuds and pray for accuracy. They require a fair amount of force, which isn’t as simple as Samsung and Apple’s premium offerings, but it’s not as annoying as it may sound.
They fit superbly well, even with the medium tips, which is something I usually have to adjust whenever getting new earbuds. Typically, I’ll find myself opting for the smaller size, but the GameBuds felt comfortable straight out of the box – well, the case, actually.
Speaking of the case, I’m a big fan of its design, which feels easy to open but doesn’t let your earbuds suddenly fly out of your pocket. The fact it easily stores the dongle inside, as well as the two buds themselves, makes it easy to switch between gaming on my phone or just simply listening to music, whether I decide to use the dongle or not. Additionally, you can charge the case wirelessly with Qi – something I don’t use, but I imagine that’ll be a great feature for many.
Performance
As a gaming-first pair of earbuds, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds achieves everything it sets out to do. The choice between using Bluetooth or a dongle for a 2.4GHz connection makes it easy to choose between the two options, even if I found myself going for the latter for ease of use.
Out of the box, the sound quality is excellent. Despite being such a small form factor, the Neodymium magnetic drivers deliver a range of detailed sound, following similarly great performance as the various lineup of SteelSeries Arctis headsets. That shouldn’t be any surprise to those who have used headsets like the Arctis Nova 5, 7, or even the powerful Pro, but it’s impressive in such a small pair of buds.
However, where the GameBuds truly shine is with the SteelSeries app – which is available on both mobile and PC. There are over 100 different presets specifically designed for various games, ranging from (GAME) to (GAME), allowing you to quickly adjust the EQ depending on the genre or experience you’re playing. Even still, the basic EQ levels are great for simply listening to music, offering punchy beats when listening to Kendrick Lamar’s various diss tracks, or immersing me within the world of emo as I cry to My Chemical Romance.
Unsurprisingly, they excel at gaming. The crack of stone bricks in Minecraft, the seemingly endless amounts of weapons in Fortnite, or the gunshots in Call of Duty Mobile all sound crisp and pleasant to hear, especially when set to the correct game profile. The fact that you can connect to your PC, cell phone, and console of choice (between Xbox Series X|S or PS5) makes this a great purchase, especially if you don’t want to don heavy headphones – which is something most people won’t want on their daily commute, for example.
It also helps that the battery life is equally as impressive as the rest of the package. You’re getting roughly 10 hours of battery in your earbuds charge, with a maximum of around 40 hours stored in the case. Considering the fact they’re fairly low-profile, as well as the dongle taking up space inside the case, the battery is spectacular.
Admittedly, the active noise cancellation (ANC) isn’t the best in the world. Other premium options, like the ones found in products from Bose, Apple, Samsung, or Google, offer much better noise cancellation – but that’s a small problem in an otherwise incredible package, and because it impresses more often than it disappoints, I can’t fault it for being a little bit worse here.
Should you buy the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds?
You’ll be hard-pressed to find any earbuds better for gaming than the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds – in fact, I doubt there’s any near as good. With a comfortable, sleek design, stellar performance, and topping it all off, great battery life, I had no trouble using these buds as my daily drivers, even if the ANC could be a little better.
Alternatives
ASUS ROG Cetra SpeedNova earbuds
The ASUS ROG Cetra SpeedNova earbuds give you a flashy pair of buds that offer the same connectivity options as the GameBuds. With great audio quality and an appealing design, these are a worthy alternative to SteelSeries’ offering.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds
Alternatively, if you don’t need a stellar pair of earbuds for gaming, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds offer best-in-class ANC, as well as some incredible audio quality. It’s definitely one of the best options if you’re planning to listen to music or watch YouTube videos with your buds.
