Log in member
These earbuds are made to deliver a lightweight and ergonomic fit that is ideal for listening on-the-go.
"Hello everyone and welcome to another Gamereactor Quick Look.
There are many ways to get audio from the device you're playing games on to your ears.
I mean, you could go with a soundbar, a speaker system, a big pair of noise-canceling headphones, you could pretty much go with anything."
"But this isn't unique, but it is a new form of audio delivery that combines two archetypes that we're seeing in different parts of the market and then giving it to the consumer in a combined fashion.
So what this is, is in some ways something you've seen before."
"So for instance, if you are running or you're exercising, you're probably familiar with the open form in-ear, or not in-ear, but essentially just a way of delivering an open form on your ear.
We have seen some, for instance, with bone vibrations, for instance, from shocks, which uses that kind of technology."
"This is a beam-forming directional audio output, which is loaded onto this unit here.
These are called the ASUS ROG Cetra Open, by the way.
So the idea is that you have this big pillboxed little case where these little units can charge when you're not using them and then quickly connect and turn on when you are."
"So basically the same kind of principle as with a pair of AirPods or the many gaming in-ears that you see on the market already.
When you're done, there are little magnetic strips that keep it in place.
So the point is that you would want these, let's say, that if you're running or exercising, the reason why you don't want in-ears is because, for one, silicone-gelled ear tips will joggle loose."
"Your ear will push them out eventually if they end up sitting, the seal ends up sitting in a bad way.
Whereas if you put this around your ear, as is the case with many training-oriented devices, they stick."
"So the point would be that you have something here which will stay where it is, but conversely does not isolate you too much when you're using them.
So the idea would be that you would slot this up around your ear, the device would sort of hang to the outer portion of the ear, and then this would be right up against the actual sort of entry point where the beam-forming speaker would shoot the air in."
"So if I'm wearing both of these, for instance, I can hear things perfectly well.
It's quite a rich sound signature indeed, but I am not isolated.
I am out here.
If my kid is crying, I can hear it."
"If someone knocks on my door, I know.
A lot of gaming audio is about isolating us from the real world.
But for a lot of people, that simply isn't really comfortable.
So we are looking for open-back or open solutions, which this is."
"Now, once you are done, you put them in its little case, of course.
You can connect with Bluetooth, there's multi-point as well.
Or you can use the 2.4 GHz dongle, which is called Speed Nova, essentially just means that there's less loss in the connectivity between the devices."
"So you can plop this into a Switch, a Switch 2, a PS5, a mobile phone, whatever the case may be.
Apart from Xbox, which I still do believe neither has a USB Type-C port on it, and will need a proper wireless installed protocol signed off by Microsoft itself, which this does not have."
"But it still supports pretty much every device under the sun.
Inside, we find 14.2mm diamond-like carbon fiber drivers, backed up by quad microphones with AI noise reduction, meaning, yes, even though, I know this is a bit crazy, even though this technically is so far from your mouth, and it's not even pointed there, like with in-ears, it's still crazy that these microphones, these quad-based microphones, can actually catch your voice, lock out noise, and essentially just work like a regular headset."
"So the one thing that is a problem with these for me, is there are that singular button on each of them at the top.
These did not work for me.
I requested an additional unit from Asus, and they did not work either, and when I tried to play a game with them, it was really inconsistent between platforms, whether or not the sound would be high enough."
"It's good, it sounds great, but it's just not loud enough, I think.
And particularly on PS5, I just found it to be low.
But still, you cannot fault the execution, the build quality, and the idea here.
So if we end up getting some clarification from Asus, I can really recommend this to you."
