Best gaming earbuds in 2023

The best gaming earbuds allow you to enjoy quality audio in a smaller form factor than your standard gaming headset. Whether you're after a wireless option or want to save a few bucks with a respectable budget wired model, we're bringing you all our top contenders available right now from trusted brands. 

We believe that the best gaming earbuds don't have to be prohibitively expensive, as solid-sounding audio should be available to everyone. That's why we have considered both wallet-friendly options as well as higher-end offerings to use on Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X. 

Should you want to go bigger with your listening experience then we've got you covered, too. We're also bringing you the best Xbox Series X headsets and the best PS5 headsets. Furthermore, you can keep that portability train going with the best Nintendo Switch headphones, too. 

Best gaming earbuds in 2023

The Epos GTW 270 Hybrid Earbuds easily take the top spot as our number-one pick for the best gaming earbuds due to their incredible sound quality, great design, and long battery life. This option can be used both conventionally plugged in and through Bluetooth. We found in our testing that you can expect around five hours of heavy use, with the case itself able to go for three rounds (holding up to 16 hours all told). 

Priced at $199/£179, the Epos GTW 270 Hybrid Earbuds are certainly a premium offering, but we think that this price point is certainly competitive when you compare them to what's available from other high-end earbuds from Apple and Samsung. In our testing, we found that these were excellent for both listening to music and gaming alike wired and wireless, which means taking pole position was an easy choice here. 

It's in the smaller details that we appreciate these earphones, too. The design truly feels expensive and solid, and that's carried over from the buds themselves to the aluminum charging case. It feels like no expense was spared here. There are even magnets in the case which snap the Epos GTW 270s into place giving you peace of mind that they're actually charging and not just sitting in there at an award angle. 

• Read more: Epos GTW 270 Hybrid Earbuds review

The cable-packing 1More Triple Driver in-ear headphones are the best wired earbuds you can buy in 2023. The rubber cable can tangle and the remote is a bit plasticky, but it's hard to find a genuine fault at the price here.

For a mere $100 / £100 (around AU$168), you'll be hard-pressed to find a more sonically pleasing pair of earbuds than 1MORE's Triple Driver. 

Those that want a little more luxury from materials in their earbuds can look further down this list for the Quad Driver version – though expect to pay roughly twice as much. The triple drivers tick pretty much every box, though.

After extended testing periods spent with both the 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones and the 1MORE Quad Driver in-ear headphones, we were taken aback by the value of each set of earbuds, given their relatively low price points. These ones give you a lush sound simply by plugging them into the headphone jack on your controller or PC. They punch way above their weight. 

• Read more: 1More Triple Driver In-Ear Headphone review

If you've got the cash to splash, the 1MORE Quad Driver in-ear headphones are the best-quality, pound-for-pound, buck-for-buck, wired headphones out there. 1MORE delivered a smashing flagship pair of wired earbuds with the Quad Driver set, thanks to their balanced sound build quality, smartphone compatibility, and price. 

These in-ear headphones will make mobile audiophiles very happy and do justice to modern gaming's 3D audio and virtualized Dolby Atmos settings. Priced at $199 / £200, these aren't exactly cheap as far as wired earphones go, but the quality you're getting out of them certainly makes all the difference.

What's more, they're now frequently discounted more commonly to around the $179.99 / £80 mark if you know where to look at certain retailers such as Amazon (opens in new tab). Overall we found the voicing and sound profile of the 1MORE Quad Driver in-ear headphones to truly deliver where it matters most, so your gaming experience should be top-drawer with these in your ears. 

• Read more: 1More Quad Driver In-Ear Headphones review

The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are what we consider to be the best earbuds for the Nintendo Switch console and that's because of their versatile nature. You've got a detachable mic, and durable build quality, which makes them ideal for carrying around with you on the go. They may not have the absolute highest sound quality as you'll find with more premium offerings in our roundup, but for what they are, they are hard to fault. 

That's because the Turtle Beach Battle Buds retail for just $29.99 / £28 but can frequently be found at cheaper rates, too. We don't see many quality branded earbuds aimed at gamers for around the $30 / £30 mark, which makes this offering from a trusted manufacturer well worth considering for those on a budget. 

We found that these earphones certainly sounded the part whether speaking or listening. That's because of the detachable mic, which while a little flimsy, was clear where it mattered most. Whether you're aiming to play on the Nintendo Switch or another console of choice through the 3.5mm jack, you'll be happy with what you're paying for here. 

• Read more: Turtle Beach Battle Buds review

The SoundMagic E11C in-ear headphones certainly position themselves as what we think as the best gaming earphones for enjoying music. That's because they have an excellent sound profile and retail for an aggressive price point at just $50 / £49 / AU$90. There's little more you could really want at this wallet-friendly rate all told. 

We found in our testing that the SoundMagic E11C earbuds held their own mostly for casual gaming experiences and listening to music, whereas some other models were better for the former. These earphones are made of aluminum, so you're not settling for cheap plastic construction here, which really lends to a premium feel despite the humble sticker price.

What's particularly cool about these over some other options in our list is the silver-plated copper cable with we found to produce far less noise and disruption when in use. The noise isolation on the whole worked exceptionally well, too. The only minor gripe we found in our experience was that the bass could come through a little muddy with certain songs, but we're willing to forgive this fault when factoring in everything else they get right.

• Read more: SoundMagic E11C review

Best gaming earbuds - Frequently asked questions

We've put our knowledge and expertise of the best gaming earbuds to answer some of the internet's burning questions. If you're after more of a deep-dive then we've got you covered below. 

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