The Arctis Gamebuds surprise me positively

Are you one of those people who prefer in-ear headphones for gaming, but want short latencies? Steelseries offers you one option with the Gamebuds. They come with a dongle for the 2.4 GHz connection. Bluetooth is available for everything else.

In addition, there are features such as active noise cancelling (ANC), IP55 certification, which certifies that the Gambuds are protected against water jets and dust, and numerous equaliser presets for games. Two drawbacks remain: In terms of codecs, there is only SBC - the one with the lowest sound quality - and the microphone sounds like a tin can.

Good sound for gaming, although voices are sometimes drowned out

The Gamebuds offer great immersive sound. In "Silent Hill 2", for example, I can hear acoustically when something sneaks up behind me on the left. In "Neva", the grandiose orchestral soundtrack gives me goosebumps. Nobuo Uematsu's fantastic music in "Fantasian Neo Dimension" also comes into its own. However, I notice that dialogue is drowned out during battles - I use the preset from "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth". If I change the preset to "Movie: Clear Dialogues" or the standard "Flat" rate, it's better. So it's worth experimenting with the numerous presets available - but they are not always beyond reproach.

Music also sounds good with the Gamebuds. However, I notice that they have less punch than other listeners, especially in the low bass. On the other hand, the mids and highs are clear and balanced. Hip hop tracks like "Goin' Through It" with deep bass don't awaken the aging head nodder in me as much as my more bass-heavy JBL Tour Pro 2. Instead, rock sounds like Ben Howard's "Oats in the Water" really get under your skin.

Films and series sound just as good. The second and final season of "Arcane" is great fun with Gamebuds. With the "Movie: Clear Dialogues" preset, I can also hear the voices perfectly during action scenes. The latter is not neglected either - the gamebuds deliver the necessary punch.

Top ANC

I expected the Gamebuds to offer good sound for gaming. But what I didn't expect was that they would also deliver ANC at flagship level - they can keep up with the Sony WF-1000XM5. I can hardly even hear the rattling of my rather loud mechanical keyboards any more. On the train, I'm not bothered by fellow travellers who share their music with everyone without headphones, nor by those who chat loudly.

Sits comfortably and controls well

With their triangular shape, the Gamebuds stand out visually. I find them nice to look at and the Steelseries logo, although large, doesn't detract from the overall picture. Thanks to their ergonomic shape, they sit comfortably in my ears - I can wear them for hours on end.

In contrast to the recently tested Linkbuds Fit from Sony, the silicone tips extend further into the ear canal. This ensures better insulation. As with earphones, additional attachments - in sizes S and L - are supplied alongside the fitted ones in size M.

I don't usually operate earphones using the built-in control functions. These are usually touch-based and unreliable in my eyes. Steelseries does it right here and integrates mechanical switches. These respond reliably and, as little pressure is required, I don't adjust the fit of the earphones. Only the robotic voice that informs me about the (in)activity of the ANC or the ringing when the buds are paused are annoying. Speaking of pausing: The Gamebuds have wear detection and pause playback when I take them out of my ear.

The Arctis app offers the essentials

In addition to the physical controls, I control the Gamebuds via the Arctis app. There are almost 180 presets available for games, music and video. Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to make your own presets via the smartphone app. I have to use the desktop application for this. At least these presets can then be transferred to the mobile application.

I also select the connection mode in the app, activate or deactivate the ANC or transparency mode and set their strength. Overall, the setting options are solid, but no comparison to the comprehensive Sound Connect app from Sony, for example.

Speaking of connecting: I connect to my smartphone via Bluetooth 5.3, while the wireless dongle ensures almost latency-free transmission for consoles or PCs. Steelseries packs the latter in the charging case for transport. I connect the dongle via USB-C. If no such connection is available, an adapter to USB-A is included. Unfortunately, the dongle does not have USB passthrough for simultaneous charging of my handheld - that would be the icing on the cake.

The absence of hi-res codecs such as AptX is more serious. The Gamebuds only offer SBC, which offers the lowest bit rate and therefore the lowest sound quality of the current codecs.

Huge charging case - for reasons

According to Steelseries, the Gamebuds offer up to ten hours of uninterrupted sound. When I used them with ANC activated with a mixed Bluetooth and wireless connection, it was around eight hours. So I don't get anywhere near the promised ten. This probably refers to a Bluetooth connection with ANC deactivated, which is more power-efficient than a wireless connection with ANC activated.

The charging case is huge compared to others because it houses the dongle as well as the earphones. I have to pull out my baggy trousers to make sure it fits in my trouser pocket. I can fully charge the earphones up to four times with the case. Fast charging is also on board: 15 minutes of charging provides a further three hours of listening. I charge the case itself via USB-C cable or wirelessly with Qi.

Weak microphone quality

The Gamebuds' microphones are probably their weakest point. I find the quality barely usable. In the example below, you can hear a recording I made in my home office on my PC - I sound like I'm sitting in a barrel. It gets even worse when background noise is added. Then I'm barely audible. If you add poor network quality during calls, it gets even worse.