CPU, RAM, Graphics card and Monitor.
These are the normal things that come into your mind whenever you try to either assemble a new gaming PC, or upgrade an existing one.
Sure, these things are really important. After all, who wants to play a game while its graphics stuttering?
Having all of these PC components will make your games run optimally – just how you want them to be.
But amid all of this so called ‘PC Master Race’ – where all the emphasis is put just on the specs and numbers – there’s much more in gaming PC building than just updating your graphics card.
It also includes how a game feels and sounds.
Best Gaming Earbuds 2020 Buying Guide
- 1MORE Triple-Driver In-Ear Headphones (Best Gaming Earbuds 2020)
- Jaybird X3 Sports Bluetooth Headset
- Skullcandy Strum (Best Budget Gaming Earbuds)
- Shure SE215-K
- RHA MA750 Wireless (Best Wireless Earbuds 2020 For Gaming)
In today’s post, we will be concerned with the latter aspect; how a PC game sounds. And how we can make it sound better.
In PC gaming, or in general audio too, there’s only two ways you can listen to sound.
One of them is speakers. Yes, I love them because they sound too natural. But there’s a problem in this setup, because everyone have to listen whenever you play any game. This thing makes a lot of disturbance, especially in congested homes.
This is where the second option come in it. The headphones.
One biggest advantage headphones give you is that the sound/music you’re listening is limited to you only, and the other people aren’t going to be affected.
Among headphones too, there are different types like full-sized headphones and earbuds/in ear headphones/earphones.
Although full-sized headphones are generally preferred over the earphones, there can be many reasons for you to buy an earphones pair, instead of headphones.
Many of our competitor websites have stated pretty weird reasons why gaming earphones are better than gaming headphones.
We’re not going to call them out, but one of them stated that gaming earphones are better because they are good for traveling (Seriously? Who plays PC games while traveling?).
Instead, the proper reason for you to prefer an earphones over a headphones is because of its smaller driver (which don’t require as much power, really good for gaming on laptops) and price (yes, they’re cheaper than full-size headphones).
Last, and most important thing, is the ergonomics. Most people play games for hours and don’t like the idea of giant headphones placed on their heads for too long.
Earphones, on the other hand, are very tiny little pieces for sound reproduction and don’t make you feel tired.
OK, so now you have read the possible benefits for having a gaming earphones. let’s start our review.
Note: Before starting this review, here are number of things I want to make clear.
a) The words ‘earbuds’, ‘earphones’, and ‘in ear headphones’ are interchangeably used for each other, by most people. These words have almost same meaning with just a little difference between each other.
The common difference is that the ear-tips of in ear headphones are generally longer and stick deep into ear canal. The ear-tips of earbuds, on the other hand, isn’t too long. That’s why, in this post, you’ll often see us using one word for the other.
b) Some of the earbuds here have built-in mic, but many do not (we’ll mention for each product if it has a built-in microphone). For them, you’ll probably need a good gaming mic.
If you want mic experience in a headphones pair, than go for a gaming headset. It’s because many people have reported that headphones’ mics aren’t good enough anyway.
On top of that, there are many other features presented in gaming headsets, like remote control, noise cancelling as well as 5.1/7.1 surround sound experience.
c) While compiling this list, we didn’t go for too many ‘gaming’ brands. Instead, our focus was on audio quality. It’s because if any earbuds pair sounds better overall, there’s a high probability that it’ll sound good for the games too.
Best Earbuds For Gaming In 2020
1MORE Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones: Check Out On Amazon
Best Earbuds For Gaming Overall
Photo Credits: pooraudiophile.com
1More is a relatively new player, and you can figure that out by realizing they don’t have a large headphones’ portfolio.
But in the meantime, many people have started to like them, thanks to the quality of the headphones they bring in the market.
Triple Drivers earphones are one of those. Being released more than 2 years ago, they still hold a spot among best in ear headphones in the market.
The reason for that, believe it or not, are the number of goodies these headphones bring, which are basically non-existent in their price range.
Let’s first discuss its design. Each of its earpeices is made of Aluminium and have gold color, which contrasts well with the grey color in some other areas.
The eartips are a bit inclined, which results in a really nice fit. Thanks to their low profile, only a little part of them remains outside your ears.
Things get a bit interesting in it comes to the cable. It’s because 1More has opted for not one, but two types of cable. The part of cable from Y-connector to the headphones jack, is covered with fabric for extra durability.
However, the upper part of this cable, the one which connects y-connector to each of the earpiece, is rubbery. It’s not a big deal but it would be nice if all the cable was sheathed, not just half.
These headphones also comes with an in-line remote which works with Android as well as iOS devices. It’s a nice feature to have, even if you’re buying it just for gaming perspective.
Sound quality is an area where these headphones truly excel, thanks to 3 sound drivers they have, when most of their competitors have only 1 or 2.
Its warm sound signature means there’s more energy in lower frequencies than the one in higher frequencies. Sound feels very spacious and detailed. On top of that, its tight fit also cause a great level of noise isolation.
All in all, this is really a great pair, and aside from some little downsides, we can’t really found any fault in it. That’s why these are our recommendations for best gaming earbuds.
Note: 1More has recently released the new version of these headphones: Quad-drive headphones. This new version is better but also two times more expensive. That’s why we’re going to stick with these headphones, at least for some time.
Jaybird X3: Check Price On Amazon
Photo Credits: gearpatrol.com
Jaybird X3 is the new iteration of the older X2 Bluetooth headphones. These headphones are geared towards the younger audience, who do travelling and workout. That doesn’t mean its bad for gaming though.
Being a newer version of the X2 reflects in the design of X3. It’s a neckband headphones pair with the small-sized earpeices. One good feature of its design is the cable managements clip.
Considering a number of different styles in which this thing can be wore, this clip comes really handy because it can extend/shrink the cord to a good extent.
These headphone come with a number of different eartips like wing tips, foam tips and silicon tips etc. Among these, wingtips are the most funky looking. These eartips enable this earphone pair to fit better in your outer ear as well as your inner ear.
All of this combines to form to very good fit overall. The other eartips are good too but for different purposes. But these foamy tips work best for noise isolation.
Being wireless earphones mean that you ave to charge it every time it runs out of battery. Good thing is that it can go past 7 hours of constant playtime on a single charge.
But things get weird when you come to know that, unlike many other wireless headphones, this one doesn’t charge through a mini USB port. Instead, a proprietary clip is required every time, and all that clip has in itself is the mini USB port.
This means you have to be careful regarding that clip and make sure not to throw it away.
That clip need to be attached on the back of in-line remote controls. Speaking of inline remote, it’s worth mentioning that it enables you to adjust sound volume, skip soundtracks and use microphone (only for calls).
Our only concern related to this earphones pair was it sound quality. It’s because, having only a 6 mm sound driver, you can’t expect it to separate different audio frequencies. Much to our surprise though, it sounded far good than any average earbuds, for the most part.
Mids and Treble were prominent, but it was that punchy Bass who got all the attention.
Skullcandy Strum: Check Price On Amazon
Best Budget Gaming Earbuds 2020
Skullcandy is a popular brand known for its “affordable” audio devices and these strum earbuds aren’t any different.
From looks, this one hardly looks like a budget earbuds pair, thanks to its shiny black color. On the backside of its eartips, there’s a silver-color skullcandy logo, with matte back coating from the eartips to the wires.
There are a lot of goodies in this design. First of all is the cable. Although it’s not braided as some expensive earbuds are, it’s a flat, tangle-free cable.
Next is the in-line remote. What makes its in-line remote different than others, is that it features a volume-slider to increase/decrease volume level, instead of a volume rocker.
Needless to say, a slider makes make volume adjustments way faster than a volume rocker. Apart from that, this remote has a multi-functional button that can start/stop music and answer/end calls.
Skullcandy claim that these earbuds have the “best” fit ever for an earbuds pair. In my opinion too, these earbuds offered a very good fit and blocked any ambient noise. But to be frank, they aren’t the the best ones around in this area.
The audio quality of these earbuds is very good for their price, and have decent amount of bass, but it’s not too overwhelming. One bad thing I noticed in ’em, is the shortage of any extra eartips pair.
Shure SE215: Check Price On Amazon
Photo Credits: inmotionstores.com
Shure SE215 is another sub-100 bucks earphones pair in this list.
First thing you’ll notice is their design is that these earphones are pretty big earpeices. According to shure, these large earpeices are necessary to fit extra hardware.
Another difference you’ll notice in it, are the eartips.
Eartips in this pair, are a bit stretched and almost look to be separate from main earpeices. These eartips stick deep into your ear canal while the earpeices rest in the outer ear, and provide an optimal level of sound isolation.
Sound isolation is the main reason why the wires take a back-of-the-ear route, instead of coming from the front side.
Finding the perfect fit can be potential issue (at least one of my friends has faced this issue with these headphones). To fix that, there are a lot of optional eartips that come with this pair. They have different sizes to accommodate different people.
Its cable is detachable, which makes it easily replaceable.
One big feature missing in these in-ears is the in-line remote controls. You can actually buy a separate cable (the one that has an in-line control feature) but it would be great if that cable would have come out of the box, in the first place.
Other than this, I am hugely satisfied with its design and build quality.
Its sound is pretty neutral but very multifaceted. Treble, too, isn’t any harsh, and also it has just the right amount of bass.
5. RHA MA750 Wireless: Check Price On Amazon
Best Wireless Gaming Earbuds 2020
Photo Credits: digitaltrends.com
Not so long ago, people were doubtful then there exist such a thing as “high sound quality” wireless headphones.
This was partially due to limited technology of the past. But now, thanks to the improvements made in Bluetooth technology, many people as well as manufacturers have started to take wireless headphones seriously.
The popularity of these wireless headphones is the reason why many big brands have entered this market, like Google and Apple. Meanwhile, many established headphones brands have also entered this foray, which is basically good for an average consumer.
The headphones we’re looking now are MA750 wireless from RHA.
Although RHA as a brand has mostly produced wired in-ear headphones, these wireless earphones didn’t look like it’s one of their first product in wireless headphones genre. Let’s find out other things we learned about it.
First thing you’ll notice while holding MA750 earphones is their metal body which them a pretty modern feel. In addition to that, a good amount of rubber has been used on its neckband and earplugs’ wires. On the wire of the right earplug, there are volume and call buttons.
Its standard eartips have a good fit (at least for me) but if that’s not the case, there always a option to go for some additional eartips that come in different sizes.
Nest thing to come is the setup. Setting ’em up is really simple. You can use any of the Bluetooth and NFC to pair for smartphone for this device, but we love Bluetooth for its extra range.
There are two microphones in these earphones, which definitely helps in the voice clarity. Being wireless means you don’t have to worry about cords while paying games. On top of that, its battery life goes on for more than 11 hours, which is (again) a big plus.
The sound comes form these earphones feels really full and crisp. Although you won’t find the typical bass-centric sound (as in other wireless earbuds) here.
In fact, it’s the opposite. In some tracks, I felt like even the necessary bass was missing. Nonetheless, the sound is balanced on average.
Its sound is definitely not as good as some of these other premium earbuds, but it’ll get the job done in games.