I reviewed the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds late last year and whilst I loved them, I don’t think I truly appreciated how versatile and great they are no matter the console.
If you know me I love my handhelds, and they’ve been perfect for absolutely every handheld that I’ve used including the ASUS ROG Ally X, Steam Deck and any other Windows PC handheld I’ve plugged them into, but it wasn’t until I got my Nintendo Switch 2 that I truly appreciated them.
Without any fuss at all, I was able to put the little dongle into the top or bottom USB-C port and instantly my GameBuds were recognised both for game output but also as a microphone, which is more important than ever with the Switch 2 because it now s party chat at a system level.
THE CHEAPEST PRICE: $253 FROM AMAZON
I jumped into Mario Kart World with the Press Start crew and my buds instantly had my gameplay audio coming through as well as my GameChat audio and my microphone was working crisply as well.
In of comfort and size, the GameBuds are absolutely fantastic sitting in the ear nicely and as far as looks they’re extremely discreet even more-s0 than AirPods so there’s absolutely no issues wearing these out of the house as they don’t scream gamer buds at all.
The Arctis GameBuds have active noise cancellation, and it’s not best-in-class but it’s more than serviceable both when inside your house gaming or on day-to-day transport. Transparency mode is fantastic and lets through a good amount of noise if you’re wanting to chat to someone whilst wearing them, and the seal of the buds does a decent enough job of blocking out noise at it is.
There’s also fantastic app it goes a long way to controlling the buds as well, with the app automatically connecting when the buds are in use and letting you control volume, turn ANC on/off and also change EQ settings.
This is one of the major selling points of the Arctis GameBuds in my opinions. Being able to change between 100+ EQ settings on the fly based on what game you’re playing and it making a tangible difference is almost unheard of in the console space.
Given everything that I said in my original review in of comfort, the fantastic noise cancelling, bluetooth , I now recommend the Arctis GameBuds more than ever, regardless of the console you’re using. These are compatible with the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC as well, so if you’re after a pair of all purpose buds for the Switch 2 and otherwise. This is it.
The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are available now for $253 with free shipping from Amazon.
