Summary
- Bluetooth earbuds have noticeable latency for gaming; audio can lag by over 200ms.
- Gaming earbuds use a dedicated 2.4GHz USB dongle for low-latency audio.
- Gaming earbuds still double as Bluetooth earbuds, with the added benefit of low-latency audio via the dongle.
Wireless earbuds are the greatest thing since sliced bread. They’re a compact audio solution that lets you listen to music, block outside noise, hold meetings, and so much more. Unfortunately, they have one fatal flaw that makes them fall short for gaming—latency.
Why regular wireless earbuds suffer from latency
Wireless earbuds use Bluetooth to transmit data from the device you’re listening to to the earbuds themselves. This is great because the vast majority of devices that you would want to use them with also have this standardized protocol.
Really, the biggest flaw that audio via Bluetooth suffers from is latency—the audio that you hear through the earbuds occurs a bit after what happens on screen. This is usually only around a couple of hundred milliseconds, which is fine for music and even watching videos and movies if the delay isn’t too noticeable.
However, when it comes to gaming, any form of latency can be detrimental—especially the kind that you can notice yourself. This can be particularly bad in online games, where hearing footsteps and other audio cues can make the difference between winning and losing a match.
Even in single-player games where reflexes might not matter as much, latency can still spoil the experience because it wrecks the audio-visual sync. When you click your mouse or tap on the screen to fire a gunshot, and the sound comes later, your brain will notice this discrepancy immediately. Everything will feel off.
Although newer Bluetooth protocols have worked on minimizing this delay, it’s still far from ideal. A specialized low-latency codec called aptX Low Latency (aptX LL) advertises a latency as low as ~32–40ms—but it falls short in practice due to software audio processing and interference. In most scenarios, the latency will still be noticeable—and very few devices actually support aptX LL.
All hope is not lost, yet, though. A new Bluetooth version called Bluetooth 6.0 is finally hitting the mainstream—and it introduces further optimizations that could push latency down to around 20ms in ideal conditions. That’s a massive improvement—but hitting those numbers still requires full compatibility between the device, earbuds, chipset, codec, and implementation.
Why I Refuse to Go Back to Wired Earbuds and Headphones
But you’re more than welcome to keep yours.
What makes wireless gaming earbuds special
When we say gaming earbuds, this usually means that the earbuds include a low-latency 2.4GHz USB dongle that enables wireless gaming. If you want low-latency wireless audio today, this is the best and most headache-free solution you can get.
It’s worth noting that Bluetooth uses the same 2.4GHz band as these gaming earbuds and other wireless gaming peripherals. However, instead of having to handle things like pairing, encryption, and compression, these proprietary 2.4GHz technologies allow an optimized, direct link thanks to the earbuds and dongle working together. You never have to worry about Bluetooth codecs, compatibility, or the like.
So, how low latency are we talking?
In the case of my SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds, they’re advertised to be up to seven times faster than Bluetooth. RTINGS tests show a latency of 48ms with the included dongle, whereas Bluetooth latency (SBC codec) clocked in at a whopping 230ms. That’s not quite seven times faster, but it’s still a very impressive result.
I’ve been using these earbuds extensively for the past eight months, and I haven’t noticed any latency with the dongle even once, whereas it’s very apparent on Bluetooth. The latency is just as good as on any 2.4GHz wireless gaming headset I’ve tried—that is to say, indistinguishable from wired audio (at least to the naked ear).
- Noise Cancellation
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Yes
- IP Rating
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IP55
The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are wireless earbuds optimized for gamers. With support for Bluetooth 5.3, ANC, and a battery life of up to 40 hours with the included Qi charging case, they’re one of the best earbuds to bring with you or game at home.
Wireless gaming earbuds are the most versatile audio device you can have
Gaming earbuds might have the word “gaming” in them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re just for gaming. Quite the contrary, actually. Many gaming earbuds also support Bluetooth, so you can use them just like any other pair of wireless earbuds.
I connect my gaming earbuds to my phone via Bluetooth to listen to music while working out, taking a walk, on a plane, during work meetings, and around the house. If I’m watching a YouTube video while doing chores, I typically use Bluetooth because the lip-sync delay isn’t noticeable to me. For movies, though, the dongle is a must.
Of course, I use the gaming earbuds for their intended purpose as well. What makes my gaming earbuds so great is that the low-latency connection works with any device, not just my phone. If I’m gaming on my laptop, the earbuds are by far the most portable and convenient option I have.
The included USB-C to USB-A adapter lets me connect the dongle to my desktop PC. I like to play games from my bed on my OLED TV, and I find the earbuds much more comfortable than my SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset because they’re so much smaller.
Beyond gaming, you could argue that wireless gaming earbuds have low enough latency to be used for latency-sensitive work, like syncing the audio track to the video you’re editing. Ideally, you’d use speakers or wired headphones for this, but wireless gaming earbuds can work in a pinch.
Gaming earbuds combine the best of both worlds—all the convenience of wireless Bluetooth earbuds and the low-latency performance of 2.4GHz gaming peripherals. They’re truly one of the best, most versatile audio devices out there.
I refuse to buy earbuds without this game-changing feature
Once you get used to this feature, it’s hard to go back.
