Customer Ratings & Reviews

Overall these are great – the sound quality is outstanding and the overall functionality is great. Setup – setting them up via Bluetooth was easy and straightforward. To use the WiFI setup I had to have the app but once I did it was pretty easy to flip back and forth. The app asks for an account so I had to set one up and assume there be the weekly promotional-type emails – I’m sure there will be a way to opt out but haven’t really seen anything other than a welcome and there are a couple of features on the earbuds. Functionality – let’s start with the sound – these may in flat response be the best-sounding earbuds I have ever used – I tried a bunch over the past 2-3 years some good some bad but not found anything that I would replace my Big A pros with (based on sound and feature) but these may make me think twice. The app is very useful and really needed to assist in functionality, especially if you use the WiFi feature or in gameplay. As far as that goes I didn’t notice delays or lag. I did try out some of the preprogrammed eq for the games and it did increase the game sounds but nothing that I would say was a “gamechanger’ – In other words if that went away it would not change my opinion. I really like the fact that you can easily switch between Bluetooth and wifi – makes them a one-stop solution. I will comment on the noise canceling not the best I ‘ve heard but not bad – I’m not sure that you can get great NC out of earbuds and there are better ones out there but at this price point it's really pretty good. Comfort – I was able to wear them for about 4 hrs with no discomfort – using one of this nature of fit gets tiresome after a couple of three hours Battery life – played for 4 hours with NC on and still had life left Overall I would give this a 5-star rating – they are by no means perfect but the sound quality and flexibility far exceed any shortcomings.

Never really thought about using earbuds for gaming so I was really looking forward to see how the Arctis GameBuds would perform and to see what type of use I could get out of them. The quick decision is these Arctis are really good at everything, but not great. So not only do I play games, I also work out at the gym almost daily so I was hoping that these would be my 1 earbud for all situations. In the box you get the earbuds itself, different size eartips, usb-c dongle that sits in the case (very convenient), usb-a to c adapter and a usb-c charging cable. The case itself is slightly larger than my other earbud case but nothing that is out of the ordinary and the case is capable of wireless charging, which IMO, should be the norm on all earbuds today, but it's not. These earbuds are also very light and comfortable making long time use not a problem. The fit is good for my ears but I did have it come loose during gym sessions. Not a big deal because I don't mind just adjusting them when needed. The noise cancellation is good but the hear through mode could have been better. The mic noise cancellation was excellent. When I took phone calls at the gym, people couldn't even hear the music in the background. Battery life is good as well, really like the 15 minute charge for 3 hours of use feature. For gaming and music, these are very good. Again, not great. I think for gaming, a good over ear headphones are better and for music, there are earbuds that sounds better. But, the Arctis is the only earbuds that does both very good. At this price point, I don't think you can go wrong. It is perfect for multiple uses and works on different platforms.

Taking back because we couldn't get mic to work and need phone for app to make it easier to trouble shoot.

These earbuds exceeded my expectations. I was very weary of gaming headsets that aren't "headphones" but this one seemed very interesting because it seems very similar to other earbuds that you might use on the daily so it's very portable and I'm not disappointed with it so far. The customization you get with it is very in-depth SteelSeries GG app on the PC. You can customize your 5 channel equalizer to your liking. You can choose to have more chat or game in your earbuds too. You can also choose to have the spatial audio as well which can give that sense of direction to your hearing. I personally cannot figure it out too much so I leave it off. There is a volume boost option as well which might be useful for some games. The phone app has customization options too like the ANC option but if you really want to customize this, you have to use their PC app. The ANC seems to work fairly well and it'll get you by just fine. The sound quality is superb though and I find it very nice listening to music, playing games, and watching movies. You can obviously customize the EQ to fit your liking so your mileage will vary with this one, but it does come with a lot of presets already so you might just have to tinker with that. The case itself is pill shaped and it can easily fit in your pocket. The earbuds design is very slick and stylish, but I find that it's hard to grasp when in your ear. I end up clicking the button on it. Overall, this earbud is a great portable setup for whatever you might need. Gaming at home and on the go.

No good bad sound no bass. For what you paying you would think they would be great. Honestly my 40$ headphones are better

More expensive than AirPods and feels/works like Amazon knockoff

Noise cancellation wasn’t good and you could be in the room by yourself and everyone still has everything around you

I am happy with my purchase. I've used Sony linkbud S, and Pixel A buds prior to these steel series. I have small ears and comfort and stability is important to me. The Sony and Pixel earbuds would hurt and cause discomfort after 30mins of use or so as well as start moving out of place if I talk or move my jaw in anyway. I've used these steelseries for several consecutive hours multiple days this past week without any discomfort and I've only had to reposition once per session. The Bluetooth and 2.4ghz modes have also been convenient when receiving phone calls while playing games, however as they do advertise these buds do not give simultaneous audio from both sources, so while in the call I would not get any sound from the PC. This can be good or bad depending on situation or your setup but it works for me. I think the artist nova headset will do simultaneous audio if that's what you are looking for. Battery life has been good. They did not die on me in use during an 8 hour session so I'm happy. I haven't done any in-depth testing of charge rates and dissipation but I'm sure there will be someone who does. Audio quality is great, no complaints from me there. As for the mic, it's just okay. Even playing around with the settings it's no replacement for an actual mic. For me it does what I need. I give it five stars for working as advertised and meeting my needs.

Noise cancellation wasn’t good! Even in a room with no other people

Didn't work on either Xbox X or Pc! So I returned them.

I'm an audiophile or something very close to it. I like the purest sound you can imagine be it to listen to soft classical, heavy rock, hip hop or whatever type of music you throw at me. I tend to get the best headphones and earbuds available just because I am too critical. But very few such devices are comfortable enough for me to wear for extended period of time. Unfortunately, I have sensitive ears and I can't stand the pressure for long. But comfort is probably what I liked the most about this device as it allows me to wear it a bit longer than others without feeling it's too much to bare. If I were going to use these earbuds on my phone for instance, I would not just because it doesn't produce the audio quality I would expect. However, when it comes to games, I am a lot less critical and I'm very happy with its performance. It's far from what I get with high quality over ears headphones, but the comfort is superior and as I said earlier, I can play for a lot longer without removing them which is a big bonus when I don't want to bother the rest of the family with my games. That's a big plus to me. And yes, the audio quality is not bad all for gaming. I just wish the noise canceling was a little better. It's okay and much better than nothing but they still let more sound in when my wife is vacuuming the floor nearby than I hoped. But I can live with that and I wouldn't expect many to complain. My main use has been with a PS5 but I have also used with my gaming laptop and gaming PC and they performed just as well in all of them. One thing to note is that these are the first gaming earbuds I ever had. Maybe I would have been more or less critical had I tried others before, buy overall, I am very satisfied, especially with the comfort for sensitive ears like mine.

In general I am an over-the-ear headphone person for just about anything audio when I need discrete sound, they just are more comfortable for me. I think I sacrifice some active noise cancellation with this, but it’s a comfort thing for me. I have always used over-the-ears for gaming because that has been the only thing available for dedicated gaming sound historically, especially if little to no lag is crucial. The GameBuds by SteelSeries change all that. Two things come into play for me when gaming sound is needed. An immersive experience, and no lag. These GameBuds provide both very convincingly. First, you have two modes for connecting to a device, Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless by dongle into your controller or computer. This is where the no lag comes in. I tested both BT and the wireless dongle modes and had a noticeable difference in lag between the two, with the dongle connection being superior by far. One goal hit for me. The other is immersive experience. Here I plugged into the companion app (free download for computer or mobile device). In the app you can tweak the sound of these buds and make them your own sound. This includes toggles for computational effects (like surround), and a graphical equalizer. The toggles work about the same as most headphones with these features, it’s ok, but for many sources they are marginal at best. The equalizer is truly great though, especially on the computer. You are able to select preset configurations based on specific games, or actually use sliders to create a custom profile These profiles stay with the GameBuds and will be your sound for any source. The mic is fine for earbuds, I do prefer a boom closer to my mouth for clearer communication, but these have decent pickup and do suffice. The side tone feature is ok, it reduces the “pressure” you might feel when you talk, but it’s nothing remarkable. I’m glad it is there. For music sources these are pretty good actually. I believe it relies solely on one codec (SBD) so it’s not going to be high bit rate, but the equalizer gives you a level of sound elevation that many earbuds do not. As for active noise cancellation and pass through I would say these GameBuds don’t deliver class leading performance. Pass through sounds muffled compared to other options and ANC works, but it’s not enough for me to keep the volume of my sources lower. I would overall recommend these if you like earbuds and want a no compromise, anti-lag solution for gaming, as long as you use the dongle connection. For BT connections, music listening, video, etc, I’d say there are better solutions out there.

Order has yet to arrive. It’s been stuck with FedEx and I cannot get a reason as to why or how to fix it.

Not loud at all easy on the ears but not good sound

My order keeps getting cancelled even though I have had best buy for years

Uncomfortable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awful. Didnt even get to use them. Best buy is awful

Right out of the box - They are attractive, lightweight, and feel like they have a good durability / quality. Set up - I didn't have any issues pairing it with my xBox but when trying to pair it to my phone it took a few tries. Once it was paired, connection seemed strong on both devices. The case doubles as a charger, storage and contains the USB dongle. This was a great idea and works well. Sound quality - These are pretty decent but I feel like they could be louder. I messed with the settings but nothing felt quite like a regular over-the-ear headset. This could just be a me thing, because my teenage son prefers these over the over-the-ear style. When playing COD or Fortnite, I just didn't think I heard the footsteps as well as I could have. The noise canceling was decent, but definitely not up to par with some of the more established noise cancelling headphones. I could still her kids in the backgroud while wearing them, but it definitely did lower the outside noise. Comfort - These are comfortable and you won't have to deal with your ears being squished. Overall - I'd give them 4 out of 5 stars as they are serviceable depending on the style of game you play.

When I think of an ideal headset for gaming, rarely if ever, prior to trying out the arctus game buds, do I think of earbuds instead of headphones. That has all changed with the Arctis Game Buds. Let me first talk about convenience. I have a great gaming setup, but every time I get something new, it becomes more cluttered. These are one of the first accessories that I have gotten that do not clutter the area more, and in fact, keep it much. Tidier. Another feature that these have that you do not expect out of earbuds is both Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity via a USBC dongle. I can confirm that these work on PC, PlayStation, Nintendo switch, and my cell phone. I suspect, however, that using the dongle these may even work on Xbox One. I mentioned before space saving, these are also great for people who can live in more confined spaces and don't have a dedicated gaming area. The active noise canceling and targeted microphone make these excellent for use even in a crowded apartment. For those audiophiles out there, you can download the app for these to get hundreds of preset audio settings for various games on PlayStation 5, tweaked to enhance the enjoyment of each individual game. On a lighter note, I found it very funny that there were so many warnings on this product, presumably because it is for children, but talking about how you can die if you swallow these. So just in case you were thinking about it, these are not edible.

I prefer these over the Steelseries Nova Pro Wireless headphones since they isolate noise much better and don’t cause my ears to overheat. I haven’t used my NPW’s since I got these. The battery runtimes seem adequate for my gaming sessions and I play mmorpg’s. Time will tell how the battery holds up though, since they can’t be freely swapped out like the NPW’s. Sound is good enough and I’m using the same custom EQ from my NPW’s (from GadgetryTech on youtube). They’re also loud enough but I haven’t tested for distortion at the higher output levels. Hooks into the Steelseries software platform just like any other hardware just fine. It automatically switches to my speakers when I place the earbuds in the case. Sometimes I need to remove and place again because it doesn’t register but so far it just one retry. Minus 1 star because they’re not as comfy as I would like.