The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are fair wired gaming headphones. These unique in-ears have a small detachable boom mic that connects to the left earbuds, but you can easily remove it for day-to-day use. The microphone performance is quite decent overall, and the boom microphone helps separate your voice from background noise. Unfortunately, their sound profile is quite muddy and dark sounding, and while they may be suited for video game sounds, they likely won't be the best choice to listen to vocal-centric genres like pop or rock. They also aren't the most comfortable, though their large earbuds stick out far enough from your ear to reduce fatigue, which is good.
Our Verdict
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are inadequate headphones for mixed usage. While their versatile design is meant to make them suitable for both gaming as well as day-to-day use, their dark and muddy sound profile may not be well-suited for many genres of music. Despite being portable, they aren't the best choice for travel as they do a poor job isolating the low rumbles of bus or plane engines.
- Decent microphone performance for in-ears thanks to unique detachable boom mic.
- Versatile design is suitable for gaming as well as daily use.
- Cheap materials aren't the most comfortable in the ear.
- Muddy and cluttered sound profile may not be suitable for all genres.
- Mediocre noise isolation.
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are poor headphones for neutral sound listening. Their bass and mid ranges are both very inaccurate, and they have a very dark and boomy sound profile. Like most in-ears, they have outstanding frequency response consistency, so you should get the same results every time you use the headphones.
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are disappointing headphones for commuting or travel. Even though you can remove the boom microphone for daily use, they may not be the best option for your daily commute as their noise isolation performance is mediocre, and they do a poor job blocking out the low rumbles of bus engines. Since they're wired headphones, they don't require a battery, which is good for long flights, but they're not the most comfortable and may cause fatigue during long listening sessions.
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are mediocre wired headphones for sports. While their in-ear design means that they won't cause your ears to get too warm while working out, they don't feel the most stable. Their wire is quite stiff and may easily get snagged, while their large, protruding earbuds may wobble and get loose.
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are disappointing headphones for office use. While their wired design means you can use them all day without worrying about battery life, they aren't the most comfortable and will likely get sore after a full day of use. While they only do an alright job at blocking out background speech, luckily you should be able to turn them up fairly loud without bothering those around you.
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are wired-only headphones and therefore can't be used for wireless gaming.
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are adequate wired gaming headphones. While they may not be as comfortable as most over-ear options, they're much more breathable, so your ears won't get as hot during long gaming sessions. Their boom microphone also works fairly well, and your teammates should have no problems hearing you even in noisy environments.
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are okay headphones for phone calls. Thanks to their boom mic, their microphone performance is quite decent, and voice transmitted or recorded with them will sound clear and easy to understand.
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Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are a unique pair of wired gaming in-ears that include a detachable boom microphone but in the small form factor of in-ear headphones. While they may not be as comfortable as some over-ear gaming headsets, their in-ear design means they breathe a lot better and don't cause your ears to get as hot. If you want a versatile pair of gaming headphones but would rather have something wireless, check out the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless.
See our recommendations for the best earbuds for gaming, the best gaming headsets under $50, and the best gaming headsets.
The SteelSeries TUSQ are better wired gaming headphones than the Turtle Beach Battle Buds. The SteelSeries are more comfortable, feel better built, and have a more neutral sound profile, although it's still very excited. The boom microphone also has a significantly better recording quality. However, the Turtle Beach have volume controls, and their mic is significantly better at separating your voice from ambient noise around you.
The HyperX Cloud Stinger are much better wired gaming headphones than the Turtle Beach Battle Buds. The HyperX have a much better-balanced sound profile, are much more comfortable thanks to their over-ear design, and have a better microphone. On the other hand, the Turtle Beach are more portable and breathe better thanks to their in-ear design.
The Corsair HS35 are slightly better-wired gaming headphones than the Turtle Beach Battle Buds. While the Corsair have a more comfortable over-ear design, the Turtle Beach have a much smaller in-ear form factor which is much more breathable during long gaming sessions. The recording quality of the Turtle Beach microphone is better, but the Corsair's microphone does a better job at separating your voice from background noise.
The Turtle Beach Battle Buds are better gaming headphones than the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless 2019. While the Razer are better for daily use thanks to their truly wireless design, they're Bluetooth-only, and you can't use them with a PS4 or Xbox One. The Turtle Beach are wired and can be plugged directly into your console's controller. Their microphone also performs a lot better than the Razer.
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