When thinking about what earbuds you want to be wearing to play video games, there are a couple of different questions that you should be asking yourself to answer the question, “Are Gaming Earbuds Worth It?” These questions include, “How long will you be wearing them at a time?” “What is your budget?” “How important is sound and microphone quality to you?” “What system are you playing on?”
There has been a stereotype that in-ear “buds” are not as good in quality or reliability as the over the ear options, and to some extent that has been true in the past. This is no longer always the case because buds have come a long way in regard to sound and microphone quality, durability, and the more technology they are able to use now.
If wearing over ear headphones hurts your head after wearing them for a while, or you are looking to switch it up – looking at the Best Wireless Earbuds For Gaming might not be a bad choice.
Gaming Specific vs. Regular Earbuds
When looking at your options for earbuds to use when gaming, you can take the easy route and just use the headphones that came with your phone and just plug them into your controller. Realistically any wired headphones with a microphone will work – but most of the regular headphones do not have the software and mic quality that earbuds specific to gaming have.
That being said, most well known companies who offer headphones for things such as your phone or iPod will be fine if you are not a hardcore gamer and don’t use them everyday. If you ARE an avid gamer, you probably want to look into upgrading to a specific gaming branded set.
Drivers/Software
In regard to the software in most pairs of gaming headphones, most over ear “bigger” options have what’s known as drivers. These can be either the software inside the headphones that allow them to accurately communicate the sounds from the console to the speakers, or the actual hardware in the headphones that is amplifying the sound.
When decking if you want to go with earbuds, you have to understand that the most options will only come with one or two drivers which means the quality won’t be AS clear as the bigger options where there is more room for drivers to increase quality. This means your listening experience and the microphone quality is going to suffer as well as the sound quality in the earbuds.
Compatibility
Most, if not all of the current gaming earbuds and gaming headsets on the market come equipped with the standard 3.5mm headphone jack which means you can plug them into almost anything, including your gaming controller, PC, phone, etc. There are also wireless options but those are much more prone to running into problems than the wired counterparts.
It is also important to look into the earbuds adapter options. Most PC’s will need an adapter to split the mic and headphones into two separate jacks so that it can accurately determine which plug is giving the PC certain information. Some earbuds come with such adapters, but it is a good practice to look into it before buying or else you might have to buy one after the fact.
Microphone
The microphone is a big deal too when thinking about getting a pair because if you are looking into earbuds rather than the over the ear options, I assume you are looking to play more online games where communication is key, rather than more submersive open world single player games.
A lot of the options out there are going to come with built-in mics which makes for a very easy plug-and-talk experience whereas an external mic might be much harder to use on top of the earbuds you have in. It is just much more convenient to have the microphone in the earbuds already.
Sweat Resistant
It might be a good idea to look into the sweat resistance of the options you are looking at. The best part about going with earbuds is that you can take them anywhere and can use them as regular music headphones with your phone as well. Buying a pair with sweat resistance will make it much more durable to sweat and water accidents as well. This also means that going with earbuds can be a lot cooler than big over-the-ear headsets that can get extremely hot after wearing them for hours.
So- Are Gaming Earbuds Worth It? Here’s Our Recommendation.
We suggest looking into the earbuds if you are worried about price and convenience. The larger over-ear headsets are likely to outperform the earbuds in quality in both sounds and mic. But like we said before, if you are looking to buy your first pair of gaming headphones, earbuds are not a bad way to start if you are primarily playing games where the “cinematic experience” is less of a factor. The bigger, more extravagant single-player stories sometimes suggest an over-ear gaming headphones option for a more immersive experience than earbuds can give.
We hope that we answered any questions that you might’ve had about the gaming earbuds and if they are truly worth it! Good luck!