“True wireless earbuds for gaming” may seem like an eye-rolling phrase, but it’s become a real thing in 2024. These earbuds use the same 2.4Ghz lossless wireless audio as full-size gaming headsets, which eliminates the poor latency of Bluetooth. The Asus ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova is one of many earbuds that offer this feature, with the EPOS, Razer, and Sony brands also offering similar products.
The Asus ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova comes with a hefty price tag of $299. However, it offers a range of features, including dual-mode, multi-point connection, active noise cancellation, bone-conducting AI microphones, 24-bit Hi-Res audio, and RGB lighting. This price is not uncommon for gaming earbuds, with Sony InZone earbuds costing $349.99 and Razer Hammerhead Hyperspeed earbuds being cheaper at $249.99.
But can gaming earbuds truly replace larger headsets? Technically, yes, and there are many things to like about the ROG Cetra’s. Unfortunately, there are some caveats that prevent these earbuds from being a love-at-first-sight affair.
Design and build
The earbuds have a similar design to Apple’s AirPods, featuring a bud-and-stem style that is both functional and stylish. The buds come in either Black or White and feature two zones of Asus Aura RGB lighting that is vibrant and bright. If you plan to use them in public, you might want to turn off the lighting, but if you want to use them for streaming, they’ll certainly stand out.
The buds come with several pairs of silicon tips to ensure a good fit, but some users may find them uncomfortable during long gaming sessions. You can improve the comfortability of the earbuds by switching the silicon tips out for some Memory foam ones. Overall, comfort is good and a nice break from heavy, bulky headsets.
The earbuds have quick-touch controls on the driver portion that allow you to do a number of things through a dizzying array of taps like regular wireless earbuds. However, some users may not like the controls. If you plan to use the earbuds on a PC or PlayStation, you can simply use the on-device controls instead.
The carrying case is nice and small and supports wireless and wired charging. Additionally, the case features some RGB lighting on the inside and the signature “For those who dare” etching. It’s a cool looking package, and it’s always nice to open it and see the case and buds light up.
The bundled USB Type-C dongle is nice and small and comes with a USB Type-A adapter for machines lacking the port. A bonus tip: if you’re looking for a place to store your dongle when you’re traveling, you can plug it into the charging port of the case.
Connectivity and battery
Connecting the ROG Cetra SpeedNova earbuds to your devices is easy thanks to their Bluetooth and 2.4GHz USB Type-C dongle options. The SpeedNova connection is preferred as it has no latency and offers extra functionality via Asus Armoury Crate on PCs. The Cetra earbuds support a hybrid-multipoint connection, allowing you to pair them via Bluetooth to your smartphone while playing games over SpeedNova. However, note that you cannot use them simultaneously, but they will switch when you receive a phone call. Also, keep in mind that you cannot pair the Cetra earbuds via Bluetooth to more than two devices, which can be inconvenient for those with multiple smart gadgets.
The Cetra earbuds have an impressive battery life of up to 46 hours, depending on usage and RGB lighting effects. To maximize battery life, use the Cetra in Bluetooth with both RGB and ANC off, which will give you 11.5 hours in the earbuds and an additional 34.5 hours in the case. Using 2.4GHz in the same settings will give you 9 hours in the earbuds and 27 hours in the case. The earbuds also support quick charging, and just five minutes of charging will give you an hour of playtime, which is convenient for quick gaming sessions.
The charging case supports wireless charging and has a USB-C port for traditional charging methods. The RGB lighting on the case indicates the charging status and adds to its aesthetic appeal. Overall, the connection over SpeedNova and Bluetooth is excellent, with no dropouts and a good distance from the source device. The dual connection feature allows you to use the Cetra earbuds for gaming on your couch and then take them with you on a run, paired to your smartphone.
Enhanced Audio Experience
Asus says the ROG Cetra SpeedNova earbuds are engineered to deliver an exceptional audio experience thanks to 10mm neodymium drivers and a frequency range of 20Hz – 40kHz and support for LC3+ codec for 24-bit , 96kHz high-resolution audio. So they sound amazing, right? Yes and no.
Out of the box, the Cetra’s sound quite sibilant with a lot of reverb that makes the sound echoey. Even so, they are very detailed and you can pick out voices, instruments and cues perfectly well but the experience isn’t enjoyable — its confusing. Sharp details with subdued bass and reverb makes listening to most things below average.
It was worse when I plugged into my PlayStation 5 and was bombarded with reverb in games that was really distracting and off putting. Thankfully, this is an issue that can be easily remedied with a quick launch of Asus Armoury Crate where you can tweak the sound to your hearts content.
It offers you a host of tools like Genre presets, EQ’s, Virtual surround and more. I was able to reign in the audio using a personalised EQ to bring down the highs and boost the bass and things improved dramatically. I also noted that the audio sounds fullest when ANC is active which is a shame because you are forced to waste power on a feature that you may not need.
In Armoury Crate, you can activate DIRAC Opteo audio, a virtualisation feature similar to Dolby Atmos or THX. This enhances the staging and detailing of audio and by itself immediately improves the overall experience. It’s rather unfortunate that the settings can’t be stored locally on the earbuds, so when you disconnect from your PC running Armoury Crate, you will be back to the default audio tuning. However, Armoury Crate is now available on iOS and Android devices, so you can still benefit from it.
Once you have adjusted your EQ and settings, the Cetra earbuds become much more suitable for gaming, with excellent detailing that captures all the game cues and environment impressively. However, I am not fully convinced of their positional accuracy, so Warzone and Valorant players might need to avoid these. On the other hand, single-player and other games that do not depend on accurately pinpointing where enemies are will sound great on these buds.
I do not like that you have to fiddle around with the Armoury Crate to get an enjoyable sound out of these buds. They should have been tuned flatter and with less reverb out of the box, or at the very least capable of storing AC settings for use elsewhere.
The earbuds feature active noise cancellation, which is far less useful than it sounds. I tested the Cetra in a variety of environments and the difference with the ANC on or off was very marginal. This is not surprising, as I have tested dedicated ANC earbuds that also fell short of expectations. There is an adaptive mode that well, adjusts the noise-cancelling based on your environment but that too didn’t really do much for me. Note that turning off ANC compromises the bass output and costs you battery life.
I think these buds would have been fine without the ANC feature, which undoubtedly adds to the overall cost for consumers. For most gaming headsets, ANC is unnecessary, as you usually have your gaming setup in a quiet area. If you are commuting and gaming on the go, you might need noise-cancellation, but don’t expect Cetra to really make a difference.
The ROG Cetra SpeedNova headphones are great for solo gaming and listening to music. However, they may not be the best option if you need to communicate with your party chat in-game or make phone calls. The headphones use a new AI-powered bone-conducting microphone with beam-forming technology to capture your voice.
Unfortunately, the microphone quality is not great. Your voice may sound tinny and distorted, and the AI may struggle to distinguish your voice from the background noise, resulting in fluctuations in volume. While the Armoury Crate has a noise gate and a Perfect Voice feature, they don’t do much to improve the microphone quality. Therefore, if you plan on doing a lot of talking, you may want to consider other options.
Final Verdict
The Asus ROG Cetra SpeedNova True Wireless earbuds are a mixed bag. They have a great design, good battery life, and can produce great sound, but only if you tweak the settings in Armoury Crate. Otherwise, they are an expensive pair of lackluster-sounding buds, especially when connected to devices that don’t support Armoury Crate.
It would be great if Asus included Dirac technology in the buds to improve their sound quality. The bone-conducting microphone is not very good and is not recommended for use over compressed party chat. Moreover, the silicon tips may not work well for everyone, and Asus should consider including memory foam tips at this price point.
Asus has done a good job with these gaming earbuds, but they face tough competition from other brands and really need to dial in the audio of these buds. I wouldn’t buy these for PC or console gaming but if you have a portable gaming device like the Lenovo Legion Go or Asus ROG Ally, they are well worth considering. For everyone else, get a full-size gaming headset and save some money.
Asus Australia kindly provided the ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova to PowerUp for the purpose of this review
