Product test
Stealth 700 Gen 3: missing that certain something
by Kevin Hofer
The Arctis Gamebuds surprise me positively
12.12.2024
Translation: machine translated
With the Gamebuds, Steelseries combines gaming and everyday use. The earphones impress in both areas of use with good sound and numerous features. The price is also attractive.
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
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.
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.
In a nutshell
Gaming and music in one
I didn't expect the Gamebuds to convince me as much as they did. As we all know, there's no such thing as a perfect match - but the earphones from Steelseries come pretty close. After playing around with the numerous EQ presets, they are acoustically convincing in games, series and music. There is also a rich feature set such as the additional wireless connection, first-class ANC and splash protection. I particularly like the fact that the Gamebuds are controlled via real switches and not via touch.
My only criticism is that only the weakest codec, SBC, is on board and the microphones are barely usable.
The price of the earphones is also impressive. They are significantly cheaper than the Sony WF-1000XM5, for example, which offer comparably good ANC. If you prefer to game with earphones instead of a headset and want to use them for listening to music on the go, I can recommend the Gamebuds.
Pro
- Good sound quality when playing games and listening to music
- excellent ANC
- IP55 certification
- Additional wireless connection for gaming
- Over 170 equaliser presets in the app
- Pleasant wearing comfort
- Tactile control
Contra
- SBC codec only
- Weak microphones
Header image: Kevin Hofer
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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