Our Verdict
For casual or younger gamers, the Canyon Doublebee GTWS-2 gaming headset has a lot to offer, with a snazzy design, a quick charging case with a long battery life, and decent audio quality for the price. However, audiophiles might struggle with the overbearing bass presence, while hardcore gamers may find fault with just four hours of battery life.
- Cheap
- Fun design
- Fast charging case
- Very bass-heavy
- Middling battery life
If you’re a mobile gamer, you probably know how hard it is to get that sense of console immersion without a capable headset. Whether on the train or in the comfort of your own home, you want to be as engaged as possible, and audio plays a massive part in terms of narrative, gameplay, and just about everything else we love about gaming. As a mobile-orientated site, we understand this more than most, so we jumped at the chance to check out the new Canyon Doublebee GTWS-2 gaming headset.
For those who don’t know, Canyon is a pretty big name in the gaming peripherals space, offering everything from keyboards to chairs to, yes, headsets. However, the term ‘headsets’ might be a bit misleading, here we’re talking about a pair of earbuds rather than headphones that wrap around your skull.
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The earbuds that make up this headset are not in-ear. They’re the old school of earbuds that sort of rest on your earlobes like AirPods. Despite appearances – these things look a little bigger than your standard earbud – they fit well, and I’ve even used them while walking my dog just to make sure they’re not likely to fall out. They’re not the most comfortable, as I said, they’re a little on the big side, but they’re certainly not painful to use or actively irritating and aren’t so large as not to fit in the average ear.
The charging case that contains the earbuds looks at first glance like it could fold out into Transformers’ Bumblebee, and I am a big fan of that. The yellow design is my favorite of the bunch, but black and orange alternatives are available. All the variations feature a digital display that tells you how much charge the case has left and have some colorful lighting that adds to the futuristic feel. There are more compact charger cases out there, but few are quite as fun.
Once you’ve got the earbuds in your ears, you can easily pause music with a quick press on either of the buds or flip between ‘music mode’ and ‘game mode’ with a long-held press. I have to be honest in that I couldn’t tell much of a difference between music mode and game mode, but I suppose it’s nice to have the option.
In sonic terms, these earbuds are on the bass-heavy side, leaving little space for the high-end to shine. They’re primarily for gaming, so let’s take an example from a classic piece of one of my favorite game soundtracks, Megalovania from Undertale. With these earbuds, the shimmering synths in the higher range have less impact due to the driving bass line taking up so much room. It’s almost like sitting near the front of the cinema, where you get a little too much of the impact from the sub-speaker and not enough of the mids and highs from the rest of the array.
While the overbearing bass is most noticeable in in-game soundtracks, it also slightly bleeds into dialogue and sound effects. I tried out the Canyon Doublebees during a run of Baldur’s Gate 3 on Steam Deck, and male voices, in particular, come across much boomier than they might through the console’s speakers. This makes the headset a little genre-dependent. In a game like Baldur’s Gate 3, they’re not exactly suited to how much dialogue is going on, but in something like Doom, the bass boost adds intensity and almost enhances the experience.
That isn’t to say the audio quality is by any means awful. I’ve heard much worse on headsets more expensive than this, but you don’t get as well-rounded a sonic profile as you might like, and with the Switch lacking nuanced EQ settings below low, middle, and high, it’s worth pointing out. For kids and casual games, it’s not as big of a deal. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a go-to gaming headset for prolonged sessions or consider yourself something of an audiophile, it might be worth saving up for something a little more expensive and a little higher quality.
Finally, I have to touch on battery life. It’s a bit of a mixed bag here. The earbuds themselves only last about four hours, which, if you’re anything like me, might not be able to go for a full gaming session. The case, on the other hand, lasts for an impressive 40 hours and, better still, takes only around one hour to fully recharge. Simply put, if you’re using these for gaming during the commute, you’re going to be just fine, but if you’re planning an all-dayer, you’re going to have to factor in a short break to juice the earbuds. Yes, I know you should take short breaks anyway, but
While it’s clear from this review that I have some sticking points with the Canyon Doublebee headset, I have to put these in context with the price. This headset is £29.99 in the UK, which equates to just under $38, though it’s worth pointing out that they’re not readily available in the US as in the UK and Europe. You’re never going to get incredible audio quality for this price range, and having picked up a few headphones and earbuds for under $50, I’d take the bass-heavy response of the Doublebee over tinny high-ends any day of the week.
All-in-all, the Canyon Doublebee GTWS-2 gaming headset is one that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a young gamer’s first earbuds or a second set for commuting players. In Britain, we have an idiom that perfectly describes the words I’m trying to find: cheap and cheerful. They look good, they sound decent enough, and you’re not spending more anyway near as much as some of the available alternatives. If you ask me, that’s a pretty good deal.
If you’re looking for something new to play on rather than a new headset, be sure to check out our list of the best portable gaming consoles while you’re here. Or, if it’s a new phone you’re in need of, see our guides to the best Samsung phones, best Google Pixel phones, and best Xiaomi phones.