With a world of choice comes a world of indecision. Never is that truer than when it comes to gaming audio; a plethora of peripherals exist to take your money, but which one is right for you? Over-ear, on-ear, in-ear – there’s even off-ear if you fancy some bone conduction action – but each of those has its advantages and disadvantages that you have to try and fit to your criteria.
The Roccat Syn Buds Core are wired 3.5mm earbuds, with an in-line controller for volume and pausing your audio. They’re about as stripped back and traditional as it’s possible to be in the gaming space, and thanks to an RRP of £19.99 they’re also cheap enough not to ruin your gaming budget for the month.
These are some chunky earbuds. The body of each earpiece has a rectangular square atop a square stem, and while the glossy Roccat logo looks fairly smart they are definitely more functional rather than aesthetically pleasing. Some might say they’re ugly, but that’s probably a little unfair. Let’s go with utilitarian and leave it at that. That chunky body means they stick out from your ears more than many other earbuds on the market.
You’d think with that huge rectangular body that it’d be being used to generate some serious bass, but as standard the Syn Buds Core is about as far away from bass-heavy as it’s possible to be. They’re detailed instead; it’s not tinny or cheap-sounding audio, but there’s a definite lack of bottom end.
Like the ROG Cetra, you can improve matters with some serious EQ tweaking, and they are actually capable of some bass thump if you have the right equipment to plug them into. If you’re using them as intended however, as an accompaniment to gaming on the go with a Nintendo Switch, then you’re stuck with their basic output.
If detailed audio is what you’re looking for, to help you pick out the sounds of footsteps when playing competitive shooters, or speech in videos and other content, then they’re fine, but personally I find their audio a little underwhelming.
Then again, at the sub-£20 price point there’s few options that are going to provide a quality audio delivery. The 10mm drivers are, as you’d expect from Roccat, capable of a decent amount of tonal range, they’re just not tuned that way as standard. Still, when the equivalent ROG Cetra is £59.99, the Syn Buds Core look much more attractive.
Their form factor also means that they’re very portable, and there’s even a little fabric carry bag for you to pop them in before dumping them in your bag which is a nice little extra. They’ll probably fit in most Nintendo Switch carry cases, making gaming on the go as streamlined as possible.
The in-line control includes a microphone, and just like the earpieces themselves, it sounds thin and lacking in bass. However, it’s a quick and easy option for chat when you’re gaming on PS5 or a 3.5mm equipped mobile phone. The 1.2m cable length is certainly enough for you to pop it into a controller, Switch or phone, but unless you’ve got a desk-based DAC you won’t be so lucky with a PC.
