I can confidently say that Asus’ newest earbuds are the best open gaming earbuds ever made.
That’s because, as far as I can tell, they’re the only open gaming earbuds ever made, at least from a major brand.
Asus is basically creating a new niche here and one that I have personally been waiting for. I play games most days for work but I need to be able to hear what’s going on around me, whether that’s my wife talking, a delivery at the front door, or a crying baby. I find earbuds more comfortable than headsets but “transparency modes” on existing gaming earbuds are universally terrible. Open earbuds – so-named because they sit outside your ear canal – are far better for hearing what’s happening.
The promise of the Asus ROG Cetra open wireless gaming earbuds is therefore huge: the sound quality, low latency and comfort we expect from Asus (which feature twice on our best gaming earbuds list), with the added convenience of an open design. Can these $230 buds live up to it?
Chunky Design but Oh-so Comfortable
The Asus ROG Cetra buds feel good but they don’t look good. The chunky cylinder at the back is ugly and the case feels cheap and bulky. They’re thick enough that it’s a pain to carry in my pocket, and I wouldn’t recommend them as everyday earbuds for commuting.
But that’s fine with me if they shine where they’re needed: gaming. Those ugly cylinders keep the buds stable and secure on your ear. They never waggled or shifted position, even when I pressed the sturdy control buttons on each side. Out of pure curiosity I used them on a half-hour run and even then they wouldn’t budge.
I favor earbuds over headsets because I find the straps uncomfortable, but eartips in your ear canal can sometimes be annoying too. The Asus ROG Cetra avoids that by sitting just outside your, and I could wear them all day without taking breaks.
These are genuinely the most comfortable gaming earbuds I’ve ever worn, partly because the flexible loop design bends to match my ear, and partly because of the inherent comfort of open buds. Once, I actually walked around the house looking for them – forgetting they were on my ears.
That design sacrifices some sound precision – as I’ll explain in a bit – but means you can hear what’s going on around you. They don’t let in quite as much noise as I’d hoped because the actual buds are thick and cover a portion of your ear canal, but they are miles better than any transparency mode on any earbuds. As long as I turned the volume down below 50% (these buds are loud, so that’s more than enough for gaming), I could keep one ear on my surroundings.
I could comfortably maintain conversations while playing Crimson Desert, and I never had to worry about missing the doorbell during a busy day of deliveries. That makes them feel unique among gaming buds, and ideal for somebody like me.
Naturally, it won’t impress people who prefer to be as focused as possible when they play, and the buds’ version of noise cancelling, called immersion mode, barely lowers the background noise. Instead, you just have to turn the volume up. They’re loud enough to drown out most ambient sounds but some will inevitably slip through, especially if you play in a noisy environment.
Rapid, Reliable Connection and Sound That’s Merely Solid
So they’re great for letting in ambient noise, if that’s what you want. But how do they actually sound?
Pretty good, honestly. With open earbuds you always lose some precision, detail, and immediacy, simply because of the space between the bud and your ear canal. Imagine the difference between listening to somebody talk in your ear versus hearing them across the room and you won’t be far off. Similar sounds can be harder to distinguish and quieter noises harder to hear.
They sounded merely fine when listening to music, but I was hoping for more, given the enormous price tag. Their lack of precision shows in complex tracks like The Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony, which sounded more tinny than I’m used to. Its weak bass shows in Hip Hop songs and a “phantom bass” booster makes punchy tracks like Kendrick Lamar’s m.A.A.d city sound distorted. High-end in-ear earbuds will sound a lot livelier.
But I still enjoyed playing games with them. The separation of different sounds is good enough that, in Marathon, I could still hear individual footsteps clearly, even if explosions lacked oomph. I could also tell where my enemies were around me, and roughly how far away. The quad mic is clear and cancels out some background noise – when I had music quietly playing from a speaker in the same room, my teammates couldn’t hear it but they could hear me.
I particularly enjoyed playing Crimson Desert, where audio detail is less important than the overall soundscape. The mixture of ambient music and environmental noises – swirling winds, a bonfire’s crackle – was rich and welcoming. Turning on “virtual surround” washed out the audio but the “reverb” option added the right amount of depth to everything.
These buds paired consistently with my phone over Bluetooth and, for gaming, with my laptop, Steam Deck, and PS5 via the low-latency 2.4GHz wireless dongle. The dongle is relatively slim, sturdy, and connected instantly every time, and I couldn’t feel any lag between my screen and my ears. In my weeks of testing the connection only dipped twice and came back after a second, which is pretty good going.
Unlike many 2.4GHz dongles, this one has an external USB-C port for “pass-through charging” so you can charge your device with the dongle plugged in. That’s especially useful for top-ups of handhelds like the Switch or Steam Deck: my aging Deck leaks battery like a sieve, so it was especially useful.
Solid Battery Life but Confusing Customization App
As for the battery on the buds themselves, Asus claims you can squeeze a full 16 hours out of them – but that’s in Bluetooth mode with the mic muted, no RGB lighting, and every setting toggled off.
In practice, they lasted between 8 and 10 hours for me with the USB dongle, depending on how many audio effects I used. That’s excellent for gaming earbuds: they won’t last quite as long in a single session as the best-in-class Sony Inzone Buds, but they’ll come close.
To toggle on these various settings, you’ll need to use Asus’ Gear Link app. It’s downloadable on your phone but browser-only on your PC, which I prefer because it keeps my hard drive clear.
It houses a decent selection of features including a fully customisable EQ, a noise gate for your microphone, and all the settings I’ve already mentioned such as phantom bass and reverb.
Unfortunately, the app doesn’t really explain what each feature does. Should I use the compressor, or not, and at which level? Why is there a setting for “voice clarity”, and shouldn’t my voice always be clear? What does the “perfect voice” switch do?
Toggling between preset profiles changes all these settings automatically, simplifying matters, but the profiles themselves are confusing. Why does the “gaming” preset have more compression than “RPG”? You can work these things out if you know what the terms mean, but a short description explaining each one would’ve helped.
You do, at least, get in-depth RGB lightning customization. I found it easy to use, and it’s something few gaming earbuds offer.
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