The Asus ROG Cetra True Wi-fi Speednova earbuds give a improbable first impression. The attention-catching RGB-on-black aesthetic of each the earbuds and the charging case lend them a premium really feel. That goes for general audio high quality, too, the place there’s a powerful degree of element that you just received’t usually discover even among the many finest gaming earbuds. As such, we are able to extremely suggest them as a powerful various to the likes of the Sony Inzone Buds or the Razer Hammerhead Hyperspeed.
That stated, there are some missteps when it comes to each design and efficiency. Regardless of coming with rubber suggestions of various sizes, there’s an absence of consolation that makes the Speednova buds not finest suited to longer classes of play. They’re additionally not notably nice for multiplayer, with middling directional audio and a few slightly tinny voice high quality. These might admittedly be dealbreakers when contemplating the earbuds value $199.99 (they usually’re but to launch in territories past the US).
Nonetheless, if you happen to usually follow single-player video games or simply need a wealthy music-listening expertise, you’ll discover that the Asus ROG Cetra True Wi-fi Speednova earbuds critically excel in these areas.
Design and options
The Asus ROG Cetra True Wi-fi Speednova earbuds come packaged in a sensible little field that provides all of the necessities. You’ve in fact obtained the earbuds housed of their charging case, alongside three totally different pairs of suggestions of various sizes, a USB 2.4GHz dongle, and a USB-C cable for charging.
The charging case itself would possibly simply be my favourite among the many extra premium earbud choices. The outer shell solely bears the ROG brand and a light-weight strip to point charging. Opening it up reveals one other ROG brand, this time illuminated by some pretty RGB lighting. The buds themselves additionally share this RGB brand impact, they usually, together with the case, are constructed from sturdy, high-quality plastic.
Sadly, the buds don’t really feel notably nice within the ears after an extended time frame. I examined every of the three tip sizes (small, medium, and huge) over prolonged classes and there wasn’t a lot of an enchancment to general consolation. Your mileage might range right here, in fact, however I did must take them out after one to 2 hours of use and swap again to my wi-fi gaming headset as a substitute.
There’s various touch-based performance to the earbuds, too. A single faucet of both bud will both play or pause audio – however doing this throughout a name will mute your microphone. Different capabilities embrace double-tapping to toggle lively noise canceling (ANC) or a quadruple press to regulate quantity. There’s so much right here, but it surely’s all fortunately very responsive.
Efficiency and battery life
Sadly, the buds’ degree of consolation – or lack thereof – is an actual disgrace, as a result of the audio high quality offered by the Asus ROG Cetra True Wi-fi Speednova earbuds is phenomenal. The high-quality soundscape is bolstered by way of Dirac Opteo expertise which supplies enhanced sound that’s in a position to actually hone in on these finer particulars. This permits for general a lot richer, detailed audio seldom heard in different gaming earbuds.
This was particularly clear in busy single-player video games like Rise of the Ronin. Right here, the buds introduced the bustling, winding streets of Yokohama and its varied districts to life by enhancing background NPC chatter and ambient sounds, all with out drowning out the broader soundscape. The in-depth sound of Tetris Impact: Linked was one other spotlight right here, and I used to be tremendous impressed with simply how properly the earbuds had been in a position to catch even the subtlest particulars of the sport’s remarkably layered soundtrack. Briefly, the Speednova earbuds allowed for an impressively immersive expertise.
Nonetheless, it’s price noting that the heightened audio high quality offered by Dirac Opteo is barely accessible by way of 2.4GHz connection. Over Bluetooth, whereas audio remains to be serviceable, noticeably flatter general. The trade-off right here, then, as you would possibly count on, is that Bluetooth connectivity is far simpler on the Speednova’s battery life. In response to Asus, you’ll stand up to 46 hours from the charging case by way of Bluetooth 5.3 right here, and that’s with lively noise canceling and RGB results switched off.
You may count on this quantity to be roughly halved with these results enabled, as per the outline on the Speednova’s product web page. And in my expertise, I discovered this to be largely true if a bit on the beneficiant aspect. On common, the earbuds themselves carry wherever between 6-12 hours of cost primarily based on the combos of options enabled. Although, principally choosing a 2.4GHz connection, I discovered a single cost to hold round 4-5 hours with RGB disabled and ANC switched on.
Sadly, the buds fall wanting being completely excellent attributable to lackluster multiplayer efficiency. Directional audio isn’t the perfect right here, and positively lower than the extent of a few of the finest PS5 headsets that are higher in a position to hone in additional precisely on footsteps and distant autos, for instance. The built-in microphone can be missing, rendering my voice with a fairly tinny register with an general decrease high quality than some less expensive buds in the marketplace just like the SteelSeries Tusq.
Ought to I purchase the Asus ROG Cetra True Wi-fi Speednova earbuds?
Regardless of some points with consolation and name high quality, the Asus ROG Cetra True Wi-fi Speednova earbuds are among the many most spectacular in the case of sheer audio high quality, largely helped by the improbable Dirac Opteo expertise. If you happen to’re after one thing for immersive single-player experiences or are one thing of an audiophile, these buds come extremely advisable.
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How we examined the Asus ROG Cetra True Wi-fi Speednova earbuds
I examined these earbuds for almost two weeks throughout most of the finest PS5 video games, in addition to titles on PC and Nintendo Change. To place the earbuds by way of their paces, I largely elected to check them with all options enabled, together with Dirac Opteo audio by way of 2.4GHz connection and lively noise canceling.
The buds shone in single-player titles, and I discovered it very onerous to tug myself away from titles like Rise of the Ronin, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom consequently. Whereas I did discover the battery life to be slightly inconsistent primarily based on the variety of options enabled, I finally selected to disable the RGB impact to squeeze a pair extra hours of use out of them earlier than needing to cost them up once more.
