Customer Ratings & Reviews

I use the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless and the SteelSeries Alias Pro XLR for my primary gaming PC, and for good reason, as they are simply the best headset and microphone that I have used. However, neither is portable and earbuds are so much easier to travel with. So with that I was very excited to try the new Arctis GameBuds. Inside the box are the two earbuds, a 2.4Ghz USB-C dongle and a charging case which supports Qi Wireless charging. Each earbud has a single flat button where the SteelSeries logo is. You can customize the single or double press of each button using the Arctis mobile app. Customizable actions include a mute toggle, volume up or down, ANC/transparency modes; 2.4ghz/Bluetooth toggle, voice assistant, play/pause, next track and previous track. Pressing either button three times will always toggle between 2.4Ghz and Bluetooth audio modes. You can also change these options with the excellent SteelSeries GG software for PC or Mac. If you have a Windows PC, I highly recommend installing their Sonar app, which for me is the best audio application I have found for gaming. I was hoping the Arctis Gamebuds would give me an excellent audio experience and so far, they do not disappoint. The sound quality is superb and if it’s not exactly to your liking you can tweak the EQ with over 100 presets for almost all the most popular games such as Fortnite, Forza, Elden Ring, League of Legends, and Minecraft. If you want to create your own custom EQ profile, unfortunately you can’t do that in the mobile app. You’ll need to use the Engine software in SteelSeries GG on PC or Mac to do so then sync it to the GameBuds. While the GameBuds feature Active Noise Cancelling I’ve found it to be quite weak compared to even other competitor’s earbuds. It does a decent job of minimizing most low frequences but that’s about it. Most of the noise cancelling you do get is passive through only the seal between the eartips and your ear canal. That said, I was still able to use them on a flight last week. I played a few rounds of online competitive games on PC with friends and asked if they noticed any difference since I’m using new earbuds. They said no, but that was with the Sonar software enabled, which features excellent AI-based noise cancellation for your mic. When I turned Sonar off, they told me they could hear the football game I had on the TV in the background. With the AI noise cancellation software enabled they could not tell the difference between my Nova Pro Wireless I usually use and the GameBuds. The best thing I’ve found about these earbuds besides the excellent sound quality is that they are truly multiplatform. Bluetooth connectivity is one thing, and every other earbud or headphone offers it, but 2.4 Ghz wireless allows for higher bandwidth audio with much lower latency. It should be any gamer’s preferred connection method. With the USB-C transmitter it works with any of my gaming PCs, including handhelds like the ROG Ally. It works on my Steam Deck, even though that is running Linux. They work with my Nintendo Switch Lite, PS5, and because I have the Xbox version of the GameBuds, my Xbox One Series X. I even tested them with my Meta Quest Pro. The only thing that won’t work is Xbox if you don’t have the version of Gamebuds that support it. However, since they are the same price, I would suggest getting the Xbox version unless you must have these in white, as the Xbox version does not come in white. The one downside for the Arctis Gamebuds after having used the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is that you have to manually switch from 2.5Ghz to Bluetooth. The Gamebuds do not automatically switch between the sources as the higher end headsets do. In fact, the Nova Pro Wireless will play from both sources at the same time, something I’ve gotten accustomed to as I can watch a video someone sends me on my phone while still listening to the game audio from my PC. However, it's easy enough to press either earbud just three times to switch audio modes. Pros - Great Sound Quality - Works with Xbox, PS5, PC, Mac, Switch, iOS, Android, Meta Quest - Low Latency 2.4Ghz Wireless and Bluetooth 5.3 - Multiple Sound Modes including ANC and Transparency - Qi Charging - Includes Small, Medium, Large Eartips - IP55 Water and Dust Resistance - Comfortable to Wear In-Ear for Long Periods Cons: - Doesn’t do Bluetooth and 2.4Ghz wireless simultaneously - ANC is not the best Overall – these are excellent earbuds for gaming, music, watching videos, etc, especially on the go, giving you high quality audio for gaming that works with nearly any platform.

Feels like a beta product. Pairing is downright awfull. I would lose synch while playing a game. Had to constantly re pair. Not ready for prime time.

Didn’t like this. The tips are uncomfortable and I wish there was a version without the silicone tips that you have to put inside your ear canal.

These are great initially, but the new car smell only last about 4 months, returning them tomorrow, battery last about an hour and sound goes in and out on right ear.

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.

It is virtually impossible to get the earbuds to play audio from the Xbox. They connect to the dongle but no audio plays and/or the mic doesn’t work and the rest of the party can’t hear me. There seems to be no clear path to fixing this, restarts help sometimes but not always.

does not have a good microphone and my friends were listening badly to me.

Like the title says, after about 1 weeks, I had the left earbud give little to no audio. The week I had it, there were no issues but I couldn't do ANC as it made me feel sick, that is a me problem but worth noting.

The fit was good. It just sounded bad. Even with the app the custom sound was that of a cheap pair of buds. Not for me.

They took a crap on day 15 of use. Best buy refused to return or exchange them. I picked them up on april 30th. Agent said im 3 days over due for returns or exchanges. Waste of money. Nice paper weight i guess. Will not be returning to best buy for any purchases

First time ordering from Best buy online and having delivered. Once delivered and opened no earbuds just empty box and I reported right away. They reviewed it and said there is nothing they could do. They couldn't even replace the item. So upset will never order from them again. It happens from reviews I've read but they treat it like no big deal.

Was hoping for AirPods Pro, but for PC. Not really great sound for the price you’re paying. The Arctis nova pro wireless is still their best offering. The mic on these straight up do not work no matter what you change. It IS possible to have decent mics on earbuds like these.

when in a party chat. my friends alway complain to me that i sound far away.

honestly not a good buy for console gaming.. you need a pc to update these headphones and personalize them which is a huge inconvenience. Audio is ok, but the real problem is the mic.. my friends no matter what I did cold barely hear me

These weren’t worth the money. I was very disappointed.

Bad mic goes in and out all the time hard to get working right

Sound quality is lacking. Followed the directions on connection and I have to reconnect at least 5 times for sound to come through. For this amount of money, I expect a crap load more.

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.

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 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