SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds Review: Dongle Earbuds

Transparency mode, then again, actually impressed me. On this mode, the GameBuds picked up refined ambient sounds and piped them into my ears so successfully that I forgot I used to be sporting earbuds. In a single occasion, I didn’t notice I nonetheless had them in till my voice sounded muffled. I may hear everybody else I used to be talking to only tremendous.

ANC does drain the battery quicker, as does utilizing Bluetooth. SteelSeries claims the GameBuds will rise up to 10 hours on a single cost, with the charging case extending that period as much as 40 hours. In my testing, the earbuds lasted a bit longer than 10 hours with blended ANC use, however I hardly ever wanted to make use of them for greater than 10 hours straight. Between the charging case topping them off, and popping the case on a wireless charger at night time, I by no means bought a lot as a “battery low” warning.

Constructed for Gaming

The two.4-GHz dongle isn’t the one factor that makes the Arctis GameBuds very best for gaming. SteelSeries has put a good quantity of improvement behind its Arctis app, with almost 200 game-specific profiles designed to spotlight the sounds you’d need to hear in every recreation.

I attempted this out in my go-to aggressive recreation, Overwatch 2. With this profile, the extra bassy tones had been considerably muted. In the meantime, the higher-pitched sounds—like, say, a Tracer’s footsteps—caught out far more than they do on my normal headsets. I gained’t declare that the GameBuds gave me superpowers, however the refined footsteps of a flanker behind me now seemed like lightning hanging subsequent to me.

{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft

At instances, it was virtually a bit an excessive amount of. I discovered myself taking part in on a decrease quantity than I sometimes do, simply in order that the tough sounds weren’t fairly so piercing. Nonetheless, video games like Overwatch 2 rely closely on sound cues to know what’s taking place round you, and noticing a Reaper sneaking up behind you a second earlier will be the distinction between life and loss of life.

It’s onerous to say how useful each single one of many almost 200 profiles could be. And, it goes with out saying, however a barely extra optimized audio expertise isn’t going to magically make you higher at no matter recreation you play. That stated, I’m grateful the choice is there. It feels and sounds nicer when care has been taken to tailor my audio expertise to a selected recreation.

Earlier than making an attempt out the Arctis GameBuds, I wasn’t satisfied that “gaming” earbuds wanted to be a factor. Now? I’m extra satisfied. The two.4-GHz dongle, the audio profiles, and the spectacular Transparency mode all helped make my gaming periods simpler and extra snug than I might usually get sporting a full-size headset.