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Asus ROG Cetra Open: Two-minute overview
I’ve develop into very keen on open earbuds lately, and was fairly excited when Asus introduced the ROG Cetra Open. In the event you’re not aware of the open ear type, they’re principally earbuds that clip onto your ears and have drivers that sit a number of millimeters away out of your ear canal slightly than plug with a silicon tip.
They’re extremely comfy to put on and allow you to preserve consciousness of your environment, which is nice while you’re out and about and would slightly keep away from getting hit by passing bikes and the like. The trade-off is usually that you simply lose out on noise cancellation, isolation, and the earbuds’ potential to successfully produce bass.
Open earbuds look like a little bit of an odd alternative for gaming, given the truth that they’re often in direction of runners or gymgoers, however I feel Asus could be on to a winner with the idea. The extent of consolation they provide is second to none, and I all the time admire the flexibility to listen to myself whereas chatting in a match.
Sadly, the Asus ROG Cetra Open actually stumble, presumably on account of being the model’s first pair of open gaming earbuds. For starters, they’re ridiculously costly at an eye-watering $229.99 / £174.99 – that’s greater than most of the finest wi-fi gaming headsets and triple wonderful non-gaming alternate options such because the Huawei FreeArc Buds. Whereas the Asus pair does sound significantly better general and has vastly superior microphones, they’re nonetheless not value such a better price in my eyes.
The case that they sit in can also be absurdly huge. It’s sufficiently big to be uncomfortable in your pocket and, on the level you must carry round a rucksack simply to have house in your earbuds, it’s protected to say one thing has gone significantly mistaken within the design division. To make issues worse, it feels very hole and plasticky, which is unacceptable in a product at this value.
All of this leaves the Asus ROG Cetra Open tough to suggest outdoors of a sale or in case you’re actually, actually determined for an open gaming pair. Hopefully, the model’s subsequent try is cheaper and extra feature-dense, as a result of there may be actual potential right here.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Asus ROG Cetra Open: Value and availability
- Price $229.99 / £174.99 / round AU$330
- Accessible through the Asus web site, Amazon, and Newegg
- Very costly for gaming earbuds
The Asus ROG Cetra Open earbuds retail for $229.99 / £174.99 and may be bought through the Asus web site within the US and UK, along with Amazon and Newegg within the US.
At this value, they’re considerably dearer than our present favourite premium gaming buds, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds, which go for $159.99 / £159.99 / AU$359, and also you’re paying a large premium for the open design.
For PlayStation homeowners, the $199.99 / £179.99 / AU$249.95 Sony Inzone Buds are one other main competitor, whereas the PlayStation Pulse Discover earbuds are additionally within the combine, and provide out-of-the-box PlayStation Portal compatibility too.
They’re additionally fairly expensive in comparison with different open earbuds, costing far more than the Huawei FreeArc Buds and Honor Earbuds Open, however lower than the tremendous premium Bose Extremely Open Earbuds.
Asus ROG Cetra Open: Specs
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Value
$229.99 / £174.99 / round AU$330
Weight
0.3oz / 11g (per earbud bud)
Compatibility
PC, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Swap, Nintendo Swap 2, cell
Connection kind
Wi-fi (Bluetooth / 2.4GHz dongle)
Battery life
16+ hours (48+ hours with case)
Options
Immersion mode, RGB lighting, EQ settings
Software program
Gear Hyperlink (net)
Asus ROG Cetra Open: Design and options
- Generic, cheap-looking design
- Browser-based software program
- A couple of gaming options
I’ll be fully trustworthy right here: I completely hate how the Asus ROG Cetra Open appears to be like. They’re cumbersome and weirdly angular for a pair of open earbuds, and look nowhere close to as glossy and trendy because the alternate options by Huawei and Honor. In actual fact, they give the impression of being extra like they’re by a weirdly named off-brand that you’d discover scrolling too far down Amazon slightly than a significant {hardware} producer. This actually isn’t helped by the RGB lighting with its overly garish default rainbow sample, or the truth that the plastic supplies used on every bud don’t really feel too premium.
The case is simply as hideous and, worse nonetheless, comically giant: it’s solely barely extra compact than the typical mid-size cellphone and about 4 instances as thick. This makes it tough to slot in a pocket and annoying to carry round with you. Positive, a lot of open-ear buds have instances on the bulkier facet, however I’ve not used any fairly as impractical as this. I don’t fairly perceive why Asus is promoting these earbuds so closely as appropriate for sports activities, on account of this, as absolutely anybody operating or on the fitness center would favor one thing with a case that is extra compact.
(Picture credit score: Future)
A part of the explanation the case is so large is to make room for the two.4GHz USB-C wi-fi dongle. The dongle has a pass-through function, with its personal USB-C port that you need to use to cost a controller, for instance, nevertheless it’s an odd L-shape that tends to dam a couple of port when it’s plugged in.
Somewhat than a conventional utility, the Asus ROG Cetra Open depends on a browser-based program referred to as Gear Hyperlink. I actually admire this, because it removes the necessity to set up any software program bloat and offers you quick entry to settings on virtually any PC or cellphone while you want them. Main options it permits you to tweak embrace equalizer settings (with pre-sets for gaming, motion pictures, music, and so forth), RGB lighting results, and Immersion Mode. Immersion Mode appears to be some type of lively noise cancellation (ANC), although I discovered that it wasn’t significantly efficient at blocking even low-level background sound.
There’s additionally non-obligatory multipoint connectivity, letting you pair two gadgets without delay for the instances while you wish to recreation whereas listening to music or taking a cellphone name.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Asus ROG Cetra Open: Efficiency
- Sound nice with a shocking quantity of bass
- Safe and comfy match
- Microphones are respectable
For a pair of open earbuds, the Asus ROG Cetra Open sounds nice with some surprisingly punchy bass. The sound is crisp and clear, with respectable tuning out of the field – although I might nonetheless suggest deciding on the flat EQ in its software program. It’s arduous to overstate simply how comfy they’re to put on, too. I’ve used them for a complete day of labor with completely no discomfort or fatigue, making them a number of the most comfy earbuds that I’ve ever used.
They’re very safe on the ears too, and might simply stand up to strolling and even operating. The included neck band can be utilized for some added peace of thoughts, too, guaranteeing that they are going to keep in your particular person even when they do come free.
The power to listen to your environment can also be surprisingly helpful, although it does include some drawbacks. In the event you’re utilizing these headphones in an workplace surroundings, you possibly can simply chat to others with out taking them out of yours and when exercising open air, you don’t want to fret about drowning out oncoming visitors. In a gaming context, although, it’s a little bit of a double-edged sword. You’re going to listen to just about all the pieces in your environment, even in case you’re enjoying at house, which makes it tough to get actually immersed. The headphones do have an Immersion Mode function, which seemingly permits some sort of ANC, nevertheless it’s not efficient at blocking noise in any respect.
The microphones of the Asus ROG Cetra Open are respectable for a pair of earbuds. They’re not broadcast high quality by any means, however they do an honest job selecting up your voice and can guarantee you can be heard clearly in most conditions. The battery life can also be nothing to complain about, with round 16 hours of use for every bud and a further three expenses held within the case.
The included dongle makes it simple to make use of the headphones with consoles, and cuts down potential latency, although I do discover its L form design just a little awkward. In the event you’re not cautious, it could block adjoining USB ports, although it does provide USB-C passthrough that considerably mitigates this annoyance.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Ought to I purchase the Asus ROG Cetra Open?
Purchase it if…
Don’t purchase it if…
Additionally contemplate…
After some alternate options to the Asus ROG Cetra Open? Right here’s one gaming mannequin and yet one more normal pair of open earbuds to think about.
Swipe to scroll horizontallyRow 0 – Cell 0
Asus ROG Cetra Open
SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds
Huawei FreeArc Buds
Value
$229.99 / £174.99 / round AU$330
$159.99 / £159.99 / AU$359
£99.99 (round $130 / AU$200)
Weight
0.3oz / 11g (per earbud bud)
0.19oz / 5.3g (every bud); 1.7oz / 48.7g (case)
0.31oz / 8.9 g (per bud)
Compatibility
PC, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Swap, Nintendo Swap 2, cell
GameBuds for PlayStation: PS5, PS4, Nintendo Swap, PC, Mac, Meta Quest 2/3, cell; GameBuds for Xbox: Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Swap, PC, Mac, Meta Quest 2/3
Cell
Connection kind
Wi-fi (Bluetooth / 2.4GHz dongle)
2.4Ghz (through USB-C), Bluetooth 5.3 (cell)
Wi-fi (Bluetooth)
Battery life
16+ hours (48+ hours with case)
As much as 40 hours (buds 10 hours; case 30 hours)
7 hours (earbuds), 23 hours (whole)
Options
Immersion mode, RGB lighting, EQ settings
360° Spatial Audio, Qi Wi-fi Charging Case, 6mm neodymium drivers, four-mic ANC, transparency mode, in-ear detection/sensor, IP55 ranking, quick cost, companion app with greater than 100 presets
Companion app
Software program
Gear Hyperlink (net)
Arctis Companion App (cell), SteelSeries Sonar (PC)
Huawei AI Life (cell)
How I examined the Asus ROG Cetra Open
- Examined for greater than a month
- Used for gaming and normal music listening
- In contrast towards different open earbuds and gaming earbuds
I examined the Asus ROG Cetra Open earbuds for greater than a month, utilizing them as my go-to headphones for virtually all the pieces in that point. I spent hours utilizing them for gaming on each PC and PS5 along with taking calls with buddies over Discord. I took them with me day by day to the workplace too, carrying them outdoors to take heed to music and for taking conferences at work,
All through my time with the earbuds, I in contrast them steadily to most of the finest gaming earbud fashions, significantly the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds. I additionally evaluated them towards open earbuds that I’ve tried, just like the Honor Earbuds Open and Huawei FreeArc Buds.
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First reviewed March 2026
Asus ROG Cetra Open: Value Comparability
