Best earbuds for gaming 2025

There's a good reason that, whenever I get the chance, I wax lyrical about the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds. Their performance in gaming is unmatched, with the company's confidence in calling them 'GameBuds' very reasonable, but despite that, they're still absolutely solid for watching videos or listening to music. And that's why they've become my daily driver.

Sure, the ANC isn't the best, especially when comparing it to the AirPods Pro 2 or Bose Ultra earbuds, but that's a minor problem for what is my essential handset companion. The Arctis GameBuds are well-designed, very comfortable, have a hefty battery life (even more so with the case), and the dongle fits in the case for constant storage. It's hard to beat all of those.

They're also a fairly respectable price, setting you back just $199.99 / £159.99. That's still way past being budget-friendly, but it's cheaper than some other options that aren't as good and don't have the game-ready aspect.

Few buds have a claim to be the best around, but the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) are certainly worthy. Delivering Bose's best-in-class ANC to a pair of luxury, yet admittedly hefty buds that are only made even better by a rich soundstage of quality.

Whether you're hearing the gunfire in FPS games or listening to your entire playlist, these are beastly earbuds that unsurprisingly deliver everything you could hope for. It's pricey, and it'll likely hurt your wallet, but I can confirm they're worth it.

It won't fit every ear type, considering how bulky they are, and a lack of a 2.4GHz connection keeps it from being the best of the best, but if you're looking for an all-around luxury pair of earbuds, they're a strong suggestion of mine.

While they're nothing special to look at, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro offer incredible sound quality and call experience, as well as great interconnectivity with other Samsung devices, letting you save your favorite sound profiles. They're around the same price as the AirPods Pro 2, and you can benefit from Samsung's trade-in offers to get them even cheaper.

The biggest reason to buy these buds is for the sound experience. We go into it more in our Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review, but the sound range is a significant upgrade from the previous iteration and other competitors. Unfortunately, the ANC falls a little short, but it is still usable.

For pure style, I definitely think the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless Earbuds are some of the most stylish on the market. Sleek AirPod-style design meets a gamer-friendly approach, sporting the ASUS ROG logo shining on the top, while a light reaches down the stem. Will you see it when wearing it? No, but it's still cool.

That's on top of decent audio quality with great ANC, even if the neutral sound isn't very consistent. Unfortunately, battery life isn't great either - you'll still get up to 22 hours with the case, allowing you more time to enjoy your best gaming phone, but other options easily beat it on this list. They're still solid options, especially when on a discount, and considering it comes with a dongle for a 2.4GHz connection, allowing for low-latency audio when playing games.

If you've been playing games for years at this point, chances are you've heard of Razer. The company's line of Kishi controllers are still some of the best mobile controllers on the market, and its long lines of keyboards and mice remains top-tier for esports and playing games on PC. It should be no surprise that the Razer Hammerhead Hyperspeed earbuds deserve a spot on this list.

Unfortunately, you can't hide the handy 2.4GHz dongle in the case, but even then, Bluetooth isn't too bad with the Hammerhead earbuds, thanks to the great Game Mode that lowers latency when connected through Bluetooth. Alongside the comfortable fit and solid EQ presets within the app, the Hammerheads are great for those like me who frequently switch between games on their handheld console.

However, it lacks some key features. The audio quality isn't as great as you'd hope, and the battery life? Well, it's the worst on this list, hitting six hours if you don't have ANC or RGB on, and for many, that's a dealbreaker. It's still a great choice if you can get it on sale and prefer playing lots of games.

I jump from brand to brand each year, never sticking with one handset. One year, I'll have an iPhone, next I'll go for Samsung, and so on. However, I have to find a handset manufacturer that nails its earbuds like Apple, and the Apple AirPods Pro 2 are essentially the California-based company's victory lap after changing the landscape with the initial AirPods.

Sporting a comfortable design that houses some powerful performance, the AirPods Pro 2 are truly… pro. The audio quality is absolutely superb, and the Active Noise Cancellation is stellar, rivaling the likes of Bose, which has had the best ANC on the market for years. Spatial Audio is a bit of a gimmick, especially when playing the best Apple Arcade games, but it's a neat trick I regularly use just to remember how great it is.

Unsurprisingly, they aren't developed with gaming in mind, but the Apple AirPods Pro 2 are truly worth buying - if you happen to have an iPhone. It still works on other Bluetooth-ready devices, but it's not as brilliant as it is on any Apple devices, so this one's for the iPhone users out there.

In most cases, I'd pick other entries on the list before I grabbed the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid earbuds. However, I cannot fault how impressive these things are when it comes to design and overall build quality. With decent sound quality that most people will enjoy, and a strong case made of metal - one that feels unapologetically premium - the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid earbuds aren't ones to pass on.

The battery life is, admittedly, pretty disappointing, and that's without any ANC at all. But the USB-C dongle provides excellent low latency, meaning that it's ready for any games you may throw at it. In fact, even over Bluetooth, it still has fairly low latency, making it optimal for any game sessions, no matter which connection you prefer.

It's not a pair of earbuds, I know, but if you don't like having something pumping sound straight into your ear, there's no better pair of headphones than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2nd Gen, and after spending weeks with this great bit of hardware, they've become a mainstay in my collection.

A rich, full soundstage that allows you to hear the guitar riffs of a metal track or hear the wind rushing in some cozy games, and while it is Bluetooth, the ability to use USB-C audio passthrough drops the latency and allows you to have truly lossless audio - if your device allows for it, of course.

Those premium features do come at a price, but the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2nd Gen are truly worth the price.