Customer Ratings & Reviews

Bought PS5 version. Satisfied with product. Bass is better than average for TWS earbuds and overall sound quality is great. However some games do have a crackling sound that emits during low sound effects. App has nice features and battery life is better than average TWS earbuds as well. Even with volume limter setting off, volume is a bit too low on PS5 but that seems to be a PlayStation problem. Maybe with future firmware updates, this can be improved. Overall, best gaming earbuds that are out right now in my opinion.

I really liked these until the right ear bud began making a constant low bass sound after just over three months. I’ve factory reset them multiple times but it always come back.

I really didnt like it stays in your ear but the quality of the sound wasnt for me I will stick to my arctis nova pro wireless

In the box is the headphones with charging case, USB-C to USB-C charge cord, a dongle (USB-A to female USB-C in which you can use to plug the headphones into your Xbox), a quick start guide and different sized buds for the headphones. First Impression - This is my first pair of in-ear gaming headphones and I can’t wait to test the comfort and sound and battery life of this product. Connection - Out of the box, you will need to connect the headphones to your phone (or PC) Bluetooth first. (I would like to add to don’t forget to disconnect them or you won’t be able to connect via 2.4GHz the first time. The App - When using the Game Buds on PC there is an update that requires your PC to restart, which was less than ideal but didn’t take long so it wasn’t too much of a hassle. After that you can connect them both ways (thank goodness because you have to have them connected in order for the app to work.) But the app itself is very user friendly, there is a side tone feature, so you can hear yourself speaking in case you want to know how clearly or loudly you’re coming through to your peers; as well as variable settings for the button presses and Active Noise Canceling (ANC). Sound/Mic - The ANC works great, mutes most background noises like fans running etc (my computer fans are very loud so this is a huge bonus); transparency is great for playing when you want to listen to your surroundings on the go. Fair warning these game buds can get very loud. I myself didn’t need to turn up the volume past around ten or fifteen percent if the ANC was active. Playing at full volume makes various game sounds feel like they are quite literally next to your ear, which is very fun when exercised with caution. The microphone equipped to these game buds is better than any mic I currently own; both on Xbox and PC. I am known to have a softer voice, but I am heard clearly with no need to adjust settings or my go-to which is to shout every word. Battery Life - The buds also have an extremely long battery life. I am known to play until I fall asleep, and thankfully about 5 minutes of inactivity (no sound at all); the buds will turn themselves off. When I wake, the battery level seems unchanged and ready for another long night of gaming. Overall I expect these to be my number one headset for a long while; as their comfort and sound exceed all of the other headsets in my collection. I would recommend this product to friends and family.

They’re easy to use but the sound quality isn’t great and the mic didn’t work well people had trouble hearing me.

bad quality case , bad connection, feels cheap compared to the price

I have gotten to the point where I really prefer having earbuds rather than using a headset for my gaming needs. Earbuds don’t squeeze my head in a long gaming session, don’t get hot if I wear them to long, and in general are just more comfortable by comparison. With this in mind, I was very excited to try the Arctis Gamebuds for use with my PS5. While the headset is very good, I still had a couple of minor issues. First off, the Gamebuds come in a very nice charging case. So, you have everything you need. This includes a charging cable and adapter so you can charge easily with USB-C or USB-A. Whether you have a new PS5 or the original one, you can still use the front charger. Inside the case, you have both Gamebuds and the USB-C dongle. There are even different sized rubber tips so you can fit the gamebud to your ear. Getting started is easy. However, this is where my first complaint comes in. When connecting the USB-C dongle to the PS5, this was a very tight fit. I don’t think I have ever had a USB-C connection where it really felt like I had to force the connector into the socket. With this connector I did. I was worried that I may break something in my PS5. I didn’t break anything, but it wasn’t as smooth as expected. However, once it was in place, the gamebuds connected immediately. There is also a companion app which works with these gamebuds. I highly recommend this app. This app allows you to customize you listening tastes. Being that it was being used on a PS5, there are even over 100 presets to match whatever game you are playing. All of the popular games are listed. You just pick which game you are playing. If you do not like it, you can customize it yourself. There is a 5-channel EQ that you can set. As far using the gamebuds goes, I was hoping that they would be a little more comfortable. The earbuds feels like it goes down into the ear canal a little more than I thought it would. With control buttons on the side of the gamebuds, when you press on the button it pushes it farther into your ear causing discomfort. It just felt like more force was required than should have been. With all of that out of the way though, the sound quality of the gamebuds is amazing. Whether playing GT7, Call of Duty, FortNite, or Rocket League or if I just wanted to watch a movie, the sounds are great. I was even pleased with the bass response from the gamebuds. And with the companion app, I was able to dial in the sound I really liked. The active noise cancellation worked fairly well too. The battery life is listed at 10 hours. I would say that is accurate from what I could tell. I had no problem using these for a couple of days without recharging. In the end, I liked the SteelSeries Arctic GameBuds for the PS5. The sound is amazing. Game chat with friends is crisp and clear too. I just had a couple of minor issues with the system, but once I got everything dialed-in, I was fine. I recommend getting a pair of these gamebuds to enhance your next gaming session.

these lasted for 3 months and died, pure trash. DO NOT BUY

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.

I was excited to receive these game buds because I felt that they could make my gaming experience even better, however after the first few minutes with them I realized that they were going to be unusable. Once I paired the Game Buds to my phone and downloaded the app, I then connected to my PC and updated the firmware via the Steel Series Engine App and made sure I was properly setup and up to date before I used them. Once I started using them, I noticed the Sound was really good. Playing games on XBOX sounded great. Lots of bass for explosions and there was decent level of detail in the game. I then proceeded to play some music through them and was again surprised that they sounded decent. I was now excited to use them as my primary device. Once I joined my friends through the XBOX party, the first thing they said to me was " you sound like you're in a tunnel" meaning there was a noticeable chamber like sound, almost an echo coming from me whenever I would talk. I wasn't bummed yet as I figured there was a setting I could adjust to fix this. I went through the app and even reached out to technical support. The app did nothing to solve this and technical support was useless. They told me to make sure they are up to date and then reset the Game Buds. This did not work either. So, the fact remains that since I play online with my friends in a party chat every single day, I cannot use these. They say it's really annoying to listen to the way my voice sounds and so I have gone back to my other Artis Headset. Other features of the headset are the ability to use them via Bluetooth with your phone as well as 2.4Ghz mode for XBOX or PC. You can fully customize the EQ via the phone application as well as change your sidetone and microphone volume. If only the microphone quality was better, they would be awesome. Another feature that I find is not particularly good is the transparency and ANC modes. The transparency is lack luster at best and the ANC barely sounds different then ANC OFF. These headphones feel rushed and not well thought out. I wanted to love these but the microphone being on the sides of your head means that your voice just won't come thru the same as if you were using a conventional headset with a mic right Infront of your mouth. I guess this is why no one has tried this before. I feel like if you don't regularly participate in voice chats, then they could work for you as they do have decent sound, but I cannot use these for how I game.

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.

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

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

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.

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.