Customer Ratings & Reviews

These are the most complete earbuds for all purposes

Can’t control voice chat and game chat like older models

These gamebids suck. Wont connect, volpme too low, crappy build quality. -5 stars on all points. Dollar general makes better, uts sad.

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.

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.

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

This review is on a SteelSeries - Arctis Gamebuds true wireless noise cancelling gaming earbuds for Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Switch, Mobile and VR. I have been waiting a long time for an earbud solution for Xbox. This is an excellent pair of earbuds. They sound great. Volume is loud and the bass is good. Battery life has been great so far. They fit perfectly inside the curve of my ears as if a mold had been created from my ears. They hold in place and I can sling my head around without them falling out. Setting them up is easy. They come with a USB-C to USB-A adapter to connect to your Xbox. Once the adapter is plugged in, all you have to do is pull them out of the case and they immediately connect. Put them in the case and hold down the buttons on the earbuds for 3 seconds to enter pairing mode and connect them to the Bluetooth device listed. Press a button once and you can swap between Bluetooth and 2.4 wireless. The app on mobile can turn features on\off\up\down or you can do it by the buttons on earbuds. The buttons are easy to push and you can tell when you have pushed them. There are many equalizer settings you can change between in the app on mobile or PC. All of them are tailored to popular games. One of them is for footsteps and yes it does enhance footsteps. Other equalizer settings are for music, movies or your own custom. You can turn ANC on\off or in transparency mode. I do not like ANC mode. They have a horrible overpowered popping sound when in ANC at full volume. You can turn it down to get rid of the sound. There is an update that you need to perform when you get them. It can only be done through the PC and it was a little difficult to find the program due to different titles. Once I installed it and connected the earbuds while in the case to the PC, it only took about 5 minutes to update. I think after the update it helped with ANC a little but the popping sound is still there. Really there is no need for ANC though. The difference between ANC on\off and transparency is barely noticeable other than the popping sound. I would recommend these to anyone looking to get away from those bulky and funny looking headsets while streaming or playing games.

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.

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.

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

The best thing I can say about the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds is that they are gaming earbuds, which is not extremely common. The sound is good for earbuds and you get some directional audio, although this is much better with an on or over ear set of gaming headphones. These are very convenient, and are easy to carry along for a game night with friends which is a huge plus. The microphone quality is also decent, it definitely works for a casual game night. The pairing process is great using the USB C dongle, and they GameBuds connected right away. I did experience a decent amount of connection loss to one side that would only be remedied by placing the single GameBud back into the case and then putting it back in my ear. After doing this the issue would be resolved for that gaming session. Pairing this to my iPhone was no problem either, but connectivity to my Android tablet was hit or miss. The ANC on this set is mid tier, defnintely not going to match what you may be used to with a high end set of ANC headphones. The GameBuds are fairly comfortable for shorter sessions, but I did experience some decent ear fatigue after around an hour. Overall I would recommend these if you are looking for a earbud style gaming setup, but you will have shortcomings that you would not experience with an on or over ear set.

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.

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

More expensive than AirPods and feels/works like Amazon knockoff

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.

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

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.

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.