Customer Ratings & Reviews

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.

These are pretty solid gaming earbuds if you're looking for something wireless that works across multiple platforms. The noise cancelling is a nice touch too, especially if you're gaming in a noisy environment or just want to block out distractions. Sound quality seems decent for gaming. SteelSeries usually does a good job with audio, so you should get clear directional sound for competitive games where footsteps and stuff matter. Battery life is around 10 hours which is pretty standard for wireless earbuds, maybe a bit less if you're using ANC constantly. Price-wise, they're in that premium range - you're paying for the multi-platform compatibility and gaming-specific features. If you just need something basic, there are cheaper options, but if you want something that's actually built for gaming and works everywhere, these are a solid choice. The white color looks clean but might show dirt over time, just something to keep in mind.

The audio on these are much better than I could of imagined, great sound quality and you can change your settings insanely on the SteelSeries app, highly recommended!

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.

I got these specifically to game on PC. If you've ever used bluetooth headphones or buds to game with then, if you're like me, the lag/sync will drive you crazy. Even with low latency buds there's still enough lag to make me want to trash the sets. Having a set of gaming buds with dongles are essential. Since these are buds there's some quality you give up versus using a set of headphones. Biggest are soundstage and location. While even headphones aren't as good as a 5.1 or larger set up, they're pretty decent for locating the source of the sound. Buds, while great for isolation, just don't perform as good when it comes to location. It's an issue you have to deal with that comes with the portability. While some are a bit better, none I've tried ever come close to headphones. Out of the box, playing music on the PC was decent. Bass is too heavy, highs not bright enough, and the volume has to be cranked to 3x what I set it for my other headphones. This is with turning on some of Window's audio enhancements and without. I couldn't match the level of two other buds I use for gaming. So, I figured I'd download the software and see if I could tweak the sound. Installed, icon in the tray, launch the UI and a big black blank window pops up. Force quit, try again. Same thing. Reboot, same issue. Uninstall, reboot, install, reboot, lanuch. Still no go on the app. Tried on a laptop...same issue. So basically I'm stuck with the preconfig sound which is horrible for gaming. It sounds like I'm playing underwater with the muffled sounds clouded by too much bass and not enough everything else. So, these are going into storage until the next version of the software and hope I can actually make them sound better than just decent.

I will start by saying that if you’re looking for a pair of gaming headphones for competitive play these are not it. There are other options out there around the same price range, BUT if you are looking for some gaming headphones that do the job and you can use outside of gaming for music and exercise, then I think these might be great for you! Personally, I am the type of gamer that sometimes plays competitive fps games and so I need me over the ear headset with a great microphone. However, other times, I am casually playing a story game mode or good RPG game, and I just need good sound, so I don’t disturb the wife the sound from the game. I have found that these Arctics GameBuds are perfect for me in these scenarios. Further, when I am done playing, and I want to listen to some music while cooking or cleaning the house, these have been my go-to headphones. I have some AirPods, but I actually find myself grabbing these now because of the audio files provided by the Arctis app. There are so many audio profiles it’s awesome. I love it! Likewise, using them at the gym while running or doing some weightlifting, has been a good experience for me. I have the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless for my serious gaming, and these are now my favorite for my casual gaming. Love them! I highly recommend them if you think you need some casual gaming buds that you can use outside of gaming as well.

I bought these to be my daily driver earbuds. I typically listen to things throughout the day sometimes upwards of 4 hours a day. The battery in the case has lasted really well all week and kept the earbuds charged as I took them in and out all day. The ANC is really clean and doesn't add any distortion or odd tone to the music, podcast, or audiobook I'm listening to. The transparent mode is the best I have hear outside of really high-end noise canceling over ear headphones I use when I fly. They charge really fast for the amount of power the case seems to have. I liked the mobile app to be able to control the ANC and to choose from the preloaded EQ options. I didn't like that I couldn't customize one on the app. The PC application is used to update the firmware and to make custom EQ. It was not impressed as I turned on the option to use the game specific EQ and ended up with the software taking over my PC audio settings. Every time I logged in, it changed my default audio to the USB-C dongle even if it wasn't plugged in. I would change it and then next time I logged in it was change it back. If you use the PC application, don't set it to automatically run unless you are going to use these for your PC audio all the time. Overall, I like them and foresee using them for a long time.

These are the best earbuds I have ever bought. They have better noise cancelation then Jabra and sound quality is on par with all other SteelSeries products. They also fit in my ears more comfortably than any Jabra, Samsung or cheap set of earbuds I have bought in the last several years. Would highly recommend.

I use this mainly for gaming. These are great earbuds. Sound quality is nice and using the app is easy. Earbuds are secure enough to do a full workout with as well.

sound pretty good, setup guide needs work. a little quiet for my taste, when on 2.4ghz i pretty much have volume close to max

Sound great a lot of bass in such a tiny package, easily connected to my devices. Only complaint is that it was super easy activating the buttons on them when you just trying to adjust them or take them off

Great quality, feel and sounds good. Only complaint is that the noice cancel is too strong. I can't hear someone screaming at me.

Absolutely spot on super comfy Great sound highly recommend

Amazing earbuds. I use them for gaming and they sound amazing. The STEELSERIES mobile app and pc application make them 1k times better with many options to choose from. Definitely a keeper and better than my AirPods.

If you want overpriced mediocre earbuds to listen to music on your phone, these are it. I've had nothing but issues and frustration trying to get these set up. First the good- Paired easily by Bluetooth to my phone (Pixel 6 Pro) Sound quality is ok, nothing special. ANC sort of works. The bad- There are no instructions or tutorials on how to use these Artis Gamebuds. Just basic generic instructions. I really wanted these to be used with my Xbox One X for gaming and had high hopes. These do not work with my Xbox. The dongle won't connect at all. The app is no help. It states there is a firmware update, that can only be done on PC. If you don't have a PC, you're out of luck. What is the point of having a phone app, if you're going to require a PC to make any updates? I downloaded SteelSeries GG on my PC, created a SteelSeries account, Earbuds wont connect. The instructions on the SteelSeries website are for headphones, not earbuds. Plugging the case into my PC, with and without the earbuds, yields no results. I can connect the earbuds to my PC via bluetooth, but the GG app still says not connected. Tried connecting to the dongle on my PC. That connection stays connected for PC audio, but the PC SteelSeries GG app Still shows nothing connected. I've tried every manner of connection, restarting, unpairing, etc without success This has been an exercise in frustration and futility, along with precious time (hours at this point) wasted. No reply to email sent to SteelSeries. Cannot recommend at this time.

Super Comfortable and great quality, love the app you can change settings on your phone

Used these for about a week then realized the left bud was consistently dying faster than the right. You also have to constantly adjust them as the plastic piece towards the end rubs against the ears. The case feels as cheap as the plastic from a pez dispenser and the audio is very sub par. The sonar application also has many unaddressed bugs making it harder to find an ideal audio option. Overall these are a total cash grab when you could get better audio from AirPods. I recommend the Sony Inzone buds instead. I have worn those up to 8 hours with no irritation and great audio quality.

Very nice audio quality and fun to mess with the preset EQs but the volume is definitely lacking. Since I’m on console I’ll be returning to out toward something I can use and feel like I’m getting enough volume

So initially I loved these earbuds. The only real complaint I had was that they are nowhere even in the same ballpark in terms of comfort or range (as in distance from PC) as the Logitech GFits I was replacing. They had better software, easier firmware updates, and more consistent ability to switch back and forth between bluetooth and 2.4 which is why I bought them since I use these to answer work calls while gaming. After a few months the problems started. I'm unsure if its related to a firmware update or windows or what but thes things will simply not stay connected for long periods of time. They suddenly drop connection in both bluetooth and 2.4 mode for 20-30 seconds then reconnect. I spent about 4-5 hours going through reddit and looking for official support on the topic but apparently Steelseries has an issue with connectivity across multiple peripherals. I tried everything I could find on the net including modifying power settings and going into every single USB device in the device manager and changing settings there. It's still a problem. I have 3 different sets of wireless audio devices and none of them have this issue except the Arctis earbuds. A few weeks after that a new problem started popping up. 90% of the time when I pull them out of the case now the left earbud doesn't get recognized and I have to put that one back in the case and then pull it back out to get it to work. That's pretty much the last straw and I'm going to attempt to RMA these. I'll come back and update if/when that fixes the issue.

Best wireless earbud for gaming. Have the same quality with the wired one but extra features like transparency, anc and eq are the real winner.