I look down at the SteelSeries’ $160 Arctis GameBuds case, and I feel my face screwing into a tight ball of puzzlement. I’m not confused by the GameBuds, a simple and—mostly—effective design for taking good-quality gaming audio on the go. I’m perplexed why more companies don’t do something as obvious as what SteelSeries has done. As in, they put the damn dongle inside the buds case. If you’re looking for the best way to get personal, wireless audio for your Steam Deck or handheld, these are easily your best option.
Bluetooth earbuds are universal and near-ubiquitous, but—inexplicably—the low-profile buds design hasn’t become popular among gamers. More specifically, gaming gear brands haven’t jumped into the space with as much gusto as they have with headphones. This past year’s most recent, notable attempt was Sony’s PlayStation Pulse Earbuds, a companion to the Pulse Elite headset. While they supported PlayStation 5’s 3D audio features, they were contained in a long strip for a case, not something I would call portable.
SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds
The Arctis GameBuds have a long battery life and solid sound, plus they make gaming on-the-go as good as it can be.
Pros
- Dongle design fits inside the case and doesn’t cover up other buttons
- Solid sound with a wealth of EQ options
- Comfortable fit
Cons
- Buds may occasionally turn off if it twists in your ear
- Not all games sound any different with their EQ profile
Other wireless bud options like Razer’s Hammerhead Hyperspeed and Turtle Beach’s cheap Scout Air lack 2.4 GHz connectivity. What I really want from these gaming earbuds is the 2.4 Ghz connectivity and Bluetooth in a package I can take everywhere. SteelSeries put both the buds and dongle in the same case. One of the bare few buds with a similar design comes from Sony with the $200 InZone buds.
The GameBuds are the follow-up from the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Headset. Those over-ear headphones were alright for their price, but the low-profile dongle was poorly designed, and it would cover up your console’s or PC’s other USB-C slots. The GameBuds’ USB-C dongle is offset, meaning you can plug two into a PlayStation 5 Slim’s front ports. It also means it won’t stick out the side of your Steam Deck like an antennae, ready to break or bend if knocked the wrong way.
Considering all that, you’re still getting good audio with solid ANC, a strong battery life, and a fit and feel that make me keen on swapping out my usual buds for listening to music on my commute. My only real issue was their tendency to disconnect if the buds ever jostle inside your ear.
SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds Review: Build Quality and Comfort
I have routine issues with earbud comfort. I often have to try on multiple sizes of silicon in-ear buds, and even then, they tend to slip out of my ear. The design on the GameBuds is the sweet spot for me, at least on most occasions. I might need to adjust one or the other if I’m walking about, but they’re particularly snug and—for the most part—comfortable.
You won’t forget they’re in your ears, but there’s no sense of tightness either. The plastic is meant to sit flush against your ear, so the automatic shutoff will work if you remove your buds. I had occasional issues when moving where they would jangle in my ears and cause them to switch off when I didn’t want them to, though only for a moment. You can turn off this setting in the app, but that’s a pain if you’re used to similar features on your AirPods or other high-end earbuds. The issue is only when you’re moving around, so it shouldn’t be a problem if you’re playing a game sedentary.
The GamBuds also use physical buttons for their controls rather than the capacitive ones on other expensive buds like the Pixel Buds Pro 2. The right side controls your song or game, while the left lets you select from transparency or ANC modes. If you triple-tap the buds, you can switch between 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth on the fly. If you want more control over your buds, you’ll need to use the Arctis app. Once connected, you fiddle with the low through high ANC settings or adjust the microphone’s sidetones. You can’t use the app at the same time your buds are connected through Bluetooth to another device, though you can if you’re set to 2.4 GHz mode.
SteelSeries says you should get a 40-hour battery life with the GameBuds’ case or a little more than 10 hours for each bud. In my experience, using them for gaming and music for a full week is right on point. I didn’t charge them for a full week and a half, using them daily, and still had enough power to use when writing this review.
The other major feature of the app is the huge selection of EQ presets. SteelSeries claims all 179 are built for specific games. I couldn’t find a major, recent title that wasn’t there, but even with the regular Flat EQ preset, I wasn’t uncomfortable in any game. Depending on the game, it can be hard to spot the difference, though, for certain titles, the EQ difference can be significant.
SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds Review: Sound Quality
You don’t get an obscenely loud pair of earbuds with the Arctis Gamebuds, but they do the job of immersive audio when playing across both console and PC. I’ve used them across PC, Steam Deck, and PC and didn’t find a situation where the GameBuds weren’t welcome, even if they won’t be as intense as an over-ear headset.
I was satisfied with the bass levels on the gamebuds, especially for something priced at $160. The treble was also fair, but the sound quality could depend on the game. I was very happy with the sound in a game like Cyberpunk, but I found it was just fair when playing Mortal Kombat 1, with or without each game’s separate EQ profiles. Then, when playing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor with 3D audio on PS5, the EQ profiles would mean the difference between ok audio and excellent directional audio, where the kick of a lightsaber felt like it was humming right next to my ear.
On Steam Deck, I’ve used the GameBuds to play Metaphor: Refantazio on the couch while my roommate finished Persona 5. There’s currently no EQ profile for that game, though I enjoyed it for the sake of listening to the game’s soundtrack anyway. The ANC does a good job suppressing all by the highest or lowest tones. I’ve taken the buds out as my day-to-day pair of earbuds, and the ANC is good enough to block out all sounds save for a passing subway train. It was good enough to drown out a bongo busker on a train in motion, which is solid enough in my book.
SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds Review: Verdict
For the sake of simplicity, I think these buds are the perfect companion to a gaming handheld like a Steam Deck. I’ve had issues connecting my Bluetooth earbuds to my Steam Deck and similar issues with Windows 11 handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally X and the Lenovo Legion Go.
These are the kinds of buds you can take with you anywhere and still get good audio even when you need to plug it into your PC, PS5, or Switch. There’s a separate pair for Xbox that’s also compatible with PC, but unless you’re an Xbox mainstay I would suggest opting for the more open audio device. There’s plenty of other quality buds out there, some for slightly cheaper than the GameBuds. But for pure portability, SteelSeries is my current pick for gaming on the go.
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