{"id":549152,"date":"2026-03-18T21:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/549152\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T21:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:21:13","slug":"less-annoying-than-a-headset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/549152\/","title":{"rendered":"Less Annoying Than a Headset"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m a big fan of open wireless earbuds<\/a>, and I\u2019m a big fan of gaming, so when I saw that Asus ROG was mashing the two together at CES 2026<\/a>, I had my controller ready, waiting to get my ears on the Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait, and based on my experience, that applies to open-style wireless gaming earbuds, too.<\/p>\n

Asus ROG Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds<\/p>\n

The Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds are comfortable, sound good, and have great mic quality.<\/p>\n

Good sound Great mic quality Very comfortable Low-latency audio via 2.4Hz dongle Long battery life Not great for anything other than gaming Lazy EQ options in Gear Link app Huge charging case I never want to go back to regular gaming buds <\/p>\n

Open-style wireless earbuds are great for a few reasons<\/a>, and one of the biggest reasons is comfort. They don\u2019t plug your ears up, and that\u2019s just more tolerable during longer periods of use. Not plugging your ears with silicone tips also has another benefit\u2014it makes talking more natural. When your ears are all stuffed up, you hear the reverberation of your own voice in your head, and it just sounds\u2026 bad. With open earbuds, though, your ears can breathe, so to speak, and conversations sound a lot more natural.<\/p>\n

\"Asus\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo <\/p>\n

Arguably, the biggest perk, though, is that\u2014without silicone tips or earcups over your ears\u2014you can hear your surroundings when wearing open earbuds, making them ideal for running or biking; pretty much any activity where you need to hear your surroundings to stay safe.<\/p>\n

While wireless earbuds for running and general audio playback, like the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds<\/a> or Soundpeats Clip1<\/a>, have taken advantage of the open form factor to much success, gaming earbuds in an open style haven\u2019t been easy to come by, which is a shame, because after using the Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds, I never want to go back to gaming earbuds with tips on them.<\/p>\n

As I suspected, the $230 Cetra are very comfortable. Similar to the excellent Shokz OpenFit Pro<\/a> that I recently reviewed, the Cetra wrap around your ear, with a speaker that rests on the outside, leaving space between your ear canal and the part that actually projects audio. Without silicone crammed in your ear, it\u2019s easy to forget that you have the Cetra earbuds on, which is ideal since you\u2019re probably going to want to game for at least an hour\u2014that is, if you have self-restraint, unlike me. If you find the wireless earbuds unstable in any way, though, they also come with a strap that connects them that you can toss on the back. I suspect most people won\u2019t use the head strap, but it\u2019s nice to have.<\/p>\n

\"Asus\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo <\/p>\n

They also allow you to hear your surroundings and still get all the crucial game audio. While sitting at my desk playing Cyberpunk 2077<\/a> on a Lenovo Legion Go S handheld<\/a>, I was still able to hear my colleagues address me as gunfire exploded in the background. As is the case with any open-style wireless earbuds, it\u2019s not the most immersive experience since there\u2019s no active noise cancellation (ANC) or passive noise cancellation that comes from over-ear wireless headsets<\/a>, but I didn\u2019t find the mix of ambient and game audio distracting.<\/p>\n

Even with simulated noise on my laptop\u2014someone scrubbing dishes in a sink to mimic the racket you might encounter at home\u2014I was able to hear a game of Fortnite just fine at about 50% volume. If you were to use these wireless earbuds on the subway in New York, for example, you might struggle, but in most settings where you\u2019re gaming, these provide a great mix of ambient and in-game sound.<\/p>\n

\"Asus\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo <\/p>\n

The other good part is that talking to teammates feels natural since you don\u2019t have anything blocking your ears. You can hear your own voice clearly, and there\u2019s no weird pressure in your ears. Just like non-gaming open wireless earbuds are great for taking calls, Asus ROG\u2019s Cetra are great for in-game comms. From a comfort and usability standpoint, everything that makes regular open wireless earbuds awesome for listening to music and podcasts or calling, also makes the Cetra solid for gaming.<\/p>\n

For gamers only \"AsusThe Cetra come with a 2.4GHz USB-C dongle that plugs into any device, like a PS5. \u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo <\/p>\n

As the name implies, the Cetra are definitely geared towards gamers. One hallmark of any pair of gaming wireless earbuds is that they often come with a USB dongle that transmits audio at 2.4GHz, and the Cetra are no different. With the included USB-C dongle, you get super-low-latency audio, which is crucial when you\u2019re playing fast-paced games. I tested the Cetra by playing about an hour of Fortnite on an Asus gaming laptop<\/a> and was pleased with how responsive they were. I don\u2019t feel like I missed a step, even if they\u2019re still technically higher latency than wired audio.<\/p>\n

One cool perk about the Cetra\u2019s USB-C dongle is that it has its own USB-C port on the outside, which allows for charging passthrough. That means if you plug it into your phone, for example, you can just plug in the charging cable to the outside and continue topping up your device. I tried it on my iPhone 17<\/a> and my MacBook Air<\/a>, and it worked just fine\u2014dongle makers should take note.<\/p>\n

\"Asus\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo <\/p>\n

As for the sound, I also have no complaints here. I find that the Cetra hold their own across different types of games\u2014I tested them on Fortnite, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Cyberpunk 2077, Gears of War: Reloaded, and Minecraft.\u00a0While these wireless earbuds don\u2019t supplant my favorite gaming audio headset in the sound department, Sony\u2019s Inzone H9 II<\/a>, they\u2019re more than suitable for lots of games. And as solid as they are in the sound department, they\u2019re also great for capturing your voice.<\/p>\n

I played about an hour of\u00a0Fortnite with my partner, with the dongle hooked into an Asus Zephyrus laptop, and she said my audio was coming in loud and clear. She gave the audio quality a 10\/10, which is a strong endorsement, though I typically use a cheap over-ear headset when I play online, so maybe the bar is low.<\/p>\n

I even tried to simulate noise while we played (again, dishes being scrubbed and clanging around in the sink, playing at full volume on my phone), and the Cetra remained steadfast on my voice instead of the ambient noise. That\u2019s thanks to the four-mic array with AI noise cancellation, which is a critical inclusion for not annoying the sh*t out of your teammates with disruptive background noise.<\/p>\n

Another welcome surprise is that the Cetra are as easy to use as they are versatile. I tested these gaming open wireless earbuds on a MacBook, an iPhone 17, a Nintendo Switch<\/a>, a Lenovo Legion Go S, and a PlayStation 5<\/a> using the dongle and had almost zero issues. I say \u201calmost\u201d because when I connected the Cetra to the PlayStation 5, the audio became fairly quiet despite the fact that the console audio was turned up all the way, though I suspect there\u2019s some kind of setting, unknown to me, that I need to tweak on the console to fix that. One thing you cannot do is use the Cetra with an Xbox, though that\u2019s not Asus ROG\u2019s fault. Microsoft has specific codecs that make USB-C dongles unsupported on its Xbox consoles, which is why competitors like Razer, for example, have to sell specific gaming earbuds for Xbox consoles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Asus\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo <\/p>\n

Generally speaking, the Cetra felt very plug and play, which is ideal for when you want to just pop in your buds and start gaming. You can also use the Cetra as regular Bluetooth wireless earbuds, though you won\u2019t get the same low latency, and the sound quality definitely diminishes somewhat. I tested the Bluetooth connection on my phone, laptop, and Switch, and I see no reason not to just use the dongle.<\/p>\n

You could theoretically use the Cetra for things other than gaming, like listening to music, but these aren\u2019t the open wireless earbuds I\u2019d recommend for that. I tested the Cetra out by listening to a few songs off Neil Young\u2019s album \u201cOn the Beach,\u201d and they were serviceable, but not great. You won\u2019t get nearly the same nuance and dimension as you would on the Soundpeats Clip1 or Shokz OpenFit Pro.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s okay, though, since these are ultimately gaming wireless earbuds for, well, playing games, and on that front, they\u2019re an appealing mix of convenience, functionality, and good-quality sound.<\/p>\n

RGB is the way to be <\/p>\n

The Cetra scream gamer in the looks department, with obligatory RGB lights on the side and all. If wearing the buds outside your house is on your agenda, and you don\u2019t want to look all gamer-y in public (or if you want to conserve battery), you can also turn the lights off with Asus ROG\u2019s free Gear Link app. (A note here: to use the Gear Link app, you need to connect to your device via Bluetooth, and not\u00a0the USB-C dongle since that\u2019s not currently supported, though Asus says that will be added in the future update).<\/p>\n

Alternatively, if you want to lean into the gamer of it all, you can customize the lighting on the outside, choosing between different effects (static, breathing, strobing, and color cycle) as well as different colors and brightness settings. It\u2019s a nice touch! Probably not something you\u2019re going to be playing around with all the time, but hey, maybe you want the perfect effect for your next Twitch stream\u2014who am I to rain on your RGB parade? Speaking of obnoxious, the case is also huge, like many open-style wireless earbuds cases often are, so just be prepared for that if you plan on keeping these in your pocket.<\/p>\n

A few power-ups \"Asus\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo <\/p>\n

Inside the app, you can also do other useful stuff, like choose between different preset EQs. There aren\u2019t a ton, to be honest\u2014seven in total, including one for music, RPGs, FPS, and a general \u201cgaming\u201d setting. I tested a few out while playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and didn\u2019t notice a huge difference, so while the thought is nice, I can\u2019t see myself going into the app and messing around with EQ a lot.<\/p>\n

One of the more intriguing features is \u201cImmersion Mode,\u201d which is a competitor to the noise cancellation of similar wireless earbuds like Shokz\u2019s OpenFit Pro, and according to Asus ROG, can block out low-frequency noise like fans. Unlike actual ANC, which requires a tight seal around or in your ear to work, open earbuds suppress noise, making it less intrusive, theoretically. While I was pretty impressed with Shokz\u2019s noise cancellation abilities, I\u2019m less enthused with the Cetra\u2019s version.<\/p>\n

To test the feature, I played simulated fan noise on a MacBook Air at about 50% volume while also listening to music, and I can\u2019t say I noticed much of a difference. I even turned the volume down to a little less than halfway, and I can\u2019t say I felt any more immersed. If you\u2019re looking for Shokz-level noise-cancellation here, you may be disappointed.<\/p>\n

While Immersion Mode felt underwhelming, Asus ROG\u2019s \u201cPhantom Bass\u201d feature definitely has the opposite effect. Phantom Bass is basically just a bass boost that you can turn on in the Gear Link app, which is designed to amplify the low end. It definitely does its job. When listening to audio with Phantom Bass on, I would argue that the whole soundstage feels a lot bigger. In fact, it may be my preferred way to use the Cetra earbuds, especially when gaming. While playing Fortnite,\u00a0I could hear footfalls and other in-game cues with much greater ease when Phantom Bass was turned on.<\/p>\n

Like other companion apps, you can also adjust settings, like what the buttons on the earbuds do. By default, those buttons (there\u2019s one on both earbuds) control play\/pause, tracking skipping, and pairing mode. It\u2019s also probably worth noting here that they work just fine\u2014in this case, I prefer the physical buttons over something touch-sensitive, just because it\u2019s easier to tell if you correctly pressed one or not.<\/p>\n

Pretty solid battery life <\/p>\n

The Cetra also get good battery life or even great, depending on how you use them. After a little over an hour, the Cetra dropped from 98% battery to 86% while listening to audio at about 50% volume via the USB-C dongle on my phone. Asus ROG says these wireless earbuds are rated for about 16 hours of battery life with an additional 48 hours in the case, for a total of 64 hours, though that\u2019ll depend on how you\u2019re using them. The 16-hour figure is with Immersion Mode, Phantom Bass, and RGB lighting turned off. If you\u2019re using a mix of those features like I did (namely Phantom Bass and RGB lighting), you may get closer to 12-14 hours based on my testing.<\/p>\n

Either way, that\u2019s a good battery life and maybe even better than some of my favorite open-ear buds like the Shokz OpenFit Pro, which get up to 12 hours with noise-cancelling turned off and just 6 hours with the feature turned on.<\/p>\n

Time to open up to open-ear gaming? <\/p>\n

Whether these Asus ROG Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds are the gaming earbuds for you will depend on how much you value ANC. If you want something to block out non-gaming noise while you play, you can forget about the Cetra for now. If you value comfort and the ability to hear your surroundings, however, these are among the most comfortable you can buy, and you don\u2019t have to worry about blocking out people around you.<\/p>\n

And with great mic quality, the ability to cancel environmental noise, and solid audio for gaming, I personally would find myself reaching for the Cetra before competitors with silicone ear tips. It took a while for gaming buds to adopt an open-ear style, but to me, that trend is better late than never.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a big fan of open wireless earbuds, and I\u2019m a big fan of gaming, so when I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[43100,64,1590,63,1853,229,105,79453],"class_list":["post-549152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-asus","tag-au","tag-audio","tag-australia","tag-gaming","tag-reviews","tag-technology","tag-wireless-earbuds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}