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ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova review
Published onApril 19, 2025
ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova
The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova bridges the gap between gaming performance and everyday convenience, pairing standard Bluetooth with a low-latency 2.4GHz connection that gamers will appreciate. These compact earbuds come with eye-catching RGB lighting, comprehensive software customization, and PC and console compatibility that most true wireless earbuds can’t match. With effective ANC for blocking out distractions, solid battery life, and enough sound-tweaking options to satisfy the pickiest audio enthusiast, these buds offer a compelling package – but are they the right fit for your gaming and music needs? Let’s break it down.
This article was published on April 19, 2025, and this is the first version of the article. Updates will follow as the market changes.
The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova is designed for gamers who want the convenience of wireless earbuds without Bluetooth latency issues. They’re particularly well-suited for players who switch between PC, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch and who value immersive gaming audio with enhanced positional cues for competitive advantage. These earbuds also appeal to bass enthusiasts who enjoy the punchy low-end for gaming effects and music.
What’s it like to use the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova?
The ASUS ROG Cetra earbuds have a very gamer-centric look with their angular stemmed design and distinctive RGB lighting. Unlike the rounded shape of most wireless earbuds, these gaming-focused earbuds feature flat outer touch panels with illuminated ROG logos and rectangular light strips that extend to the charging case interior.
Comfort is generally good, though with some caveats. While lightweight and supplied with three sizes of silicone oblong ear tips, their somewhat bulky inward-facing design did create pressure points against my ear canal and concha. I would see this being an issue for users with smaller ears, though those with larger ears should find them reasonably comfortable. I was able to game with them for up to an hour before feeling the need to remove them and take a break. To their credit, the earbuds are very stable and didn’t shift in position while moving or shaking my head
Build quality is solid, with hard plastic and IPX4 certification for splash resistance. The charging case features a reinforced lid interior and supports both USB-C and Qi wireless charging. While somewhat bulky, it can easily fit into pants pockets. However, there is no way to store the small USB dongle inside the case, so be sure not to lose it. I also found the rounded bottom of the case tends to spin and slide on flat surfaces, which led to some premature scratching. The case would be more stable and secure if it had a flat bottom.
How do you control the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova?
The ASUS ROG Cetra earbuds feature touch-sensitive panels on the flat sides of each earbud that accurately register taps. The controls are comprehensive but a bit hard to memorize, including music/call management, volume adjustment, microphone muting, noise cancelation presets, and voice assistant activation.
| Input | Left earbud | Right earbud |
|---|---|---|
| Input 1 x tap | Left earbud Play/Pause | Right earbud Play/Pause |
| Input 2 x tap | Left earbud ANC mode | Right earbud Skip forward |
| Input 3 x tap | Left earbud Voice assistant | Right earbud Skip back |
| Input 4 x tap | Left earbud Volume down | Right earbud Volume up |
| Input Hold 3s | Left earbud Pairing mode | Right earbud Pairing mode |
The earbuds provide voice prompts for power, pairing, and ANC modes but lack audio feedback for playback and volume controls. A rather unintuitive drawback is the default volume adjustment, which requires four taps for a single change. Also, while you can cycle through listening modes directly on the earbuds, adjusting noise cancelation strength requires using the companion app.
Should you use the Armory Crate app for the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova?
The Armory Crate is available as both a Windows PC and a companion mobile app for iOS and Android. There is no app support for macOS. PC gamers with existing ASUS peripherals will appreciate that the earbuds integrate with the same Armory Crate ecosystem, eliminating the need for additional software.
The Armory Crate app offers an almost overwhelming array of sound customization options that can be combined in various ways. Beyond the 8-band graphic equalizer, you’ll find Sound Options that bundle effects like EQ with other processors, including compression, Dirac Opteo DSP, reverb, virtual surround sound, and ambient sound into selectable presets. Additionally, Sound Optimization provides yet another layer of audio adjustments tailored to specific use cases like RPG, FPS, and Movie modes. While these options provide exceptional flexibility, the ability to stack these different sound processing features means you could easily spend hours experimenting with combinations to find your perfect sound profile. This depth is impressive but might be excessive for users seeking a simpler plug-and-play experience.
Additional features include adjustable ANC and ambient sound levels, chat mix functionality, and virtual surround sound. You can also manage the earbuds’ distinctive RGB lighting effects. There’s also Bluetooth device switching, customizable auto-off timers (ranging from 2 to 30 minutes), and microphone level adjustment. Despite these comprehensive options, the app surprisingly lacks button remapping functionality, forcing you to work with the somewhat convoluted default control scheme.
How do you connect the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova?
The ASUS ROG Cetra offers two wireless connection methods: standard Bluetooth 5.0 and a dedicated low-latency USB-C dongle. The earbuds support SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs with multi-device pairing capability, allowing connection to two devices simultaneously through the app. However, due to high latency, I don’t recommend gaming over Bluetooth.
For gaming and media consumption, the included USB-C dongle provides significantly lower latency (35ms), making it suitable for gaming and video streaming without sync issues. The dongle connection maintains stability up to about 145 feet before degrading, which is more than adequate for most usage scenarios.
Console compatibility is mixed. The earbuds work flawlessly with PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch via the USB-C dongle, providing full audio and microphone support. However, they are not compatible with Xbox consoles through either connection method. The earbuds have no wired connection options, either, as expected.
For mobile gaming, the dongle can connect directly to phones with USB-C ports, providing the same low-latency performance as with consoles and PCs.
When using the ASUS ROG Cetra earbuds for the first time, simply open the case with the earbuds inside and select them from the list of available devices on your Bluetooth device to pair with them.
To put the ROG Cetra earbuds in pairing mode again:
- Take the earbuds out of the case and place them in your ears.
- Tap and hold either earbud for 3 seconds. You should hear a voice say, “Paring mode.”
How long does the ASUS ROG Cetra’s battery last?
The ASUS ROG Cetra delivers good battery performance that varies depending on your connection method. In our testing, using the 2.4GHz wireless USB dongle with ANC and RGB lighting enabled, the earbuds provide just over 8 hours of continuous playback. That improves to 10 hours and 28 minutes when connected via Bluetooth under the same conditions.
The charging case supplies nearly three additional full charges, bringing the total listening time to around 29 hours before everything needs recharging. For quick top-ups, a 10-minute charge provides approximately 90 minutes of playback—ideal for when you need to pass a level to save your game, as they support audio playback while charging.
Battery life will vary depending on several factors, including volume level, RGB lighting settings, and which listening modes you activate. The earbuds feature an auto-off timer to help conserve power. Charging is handled via USB-C, and a full recharge takes just 45 minutes.
How well does the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova attenuate noise?
The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova delivers impressive noise isolation across the frequency spectrum. The attenuation chart below shows that the earbuds perform well in both passive isolation (purple line) and active noise cancelation (blue line) modes, provided you get a good fit.
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The ANC system excels at canceling low-frequency sounds below 500Hz, with particularly strong performance in the 100-200Hz range, where it reaches nearly 40dB of attenuation. In practice, they effectively suppress deep rumbles from airplane engines, bus motors, and air conditioning systems.
In the mid-range frequencies (500Hz-2kHz), the ANC system maintains solid performance around 20-30dB of attenuation, which helps reduce environmental chatter. For high frequencies (above 2 kHz), having ANC on doesn’t make much of a difference in blocking out external noise.
How do the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova sound?
These gaming earbuds have a consumer-friendly V-shaped signature that prioritizes gaming immersion and competitive cues.
Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS)
The chart below shows how the sound of the ASUS ROG Cetra was assessed by the Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score (MDAQS) algorithm from HEAD acoustics.
Our simulated virtual panel of listeners gives these wireless earbuds a very high overall score of 4.9. We have noticed that MDAQS tends to favor headphones and earbuds with a lot of low-end emphasis, which aligns with these results.
Turning on Direct within the Armory Crate app doesn’t “enhance the sound” of the earbuds as much as it is advertised, but the MDAQS results do show slightly improved immersiveness with less distortion, while losing the perfect score for Timbre.
- Timbre (MOS-T) represents how faithfully the headset reproduces the frequency spectrum and temporal resolution (timing information).
- Distortion (MOS-D) represents non-linearities and added noise: higher scores mean cleaner reproduction.
- Immersiveness (MOS-I) represents perceived source width and positioning: how well virtual sound sources are defined in three-dimensional space.
See here for an explanation of MDAQS, how it works, and how it was developed.
Reviewer’s notes
Editor’s note: this review uses a hover-enabled glossary to describe sound quality based on a consensus vocabulary. You can read about it here.
Objective Measurements
The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova features a distinctive V-shaped sound signature with some significant deviations from our reference curve.
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The strong bass depth (+6-10dB) provides impressive rumble and impact for gaming explosions and environmental effects, though this comes with some sacrifices to bass precision. The slightly recessed mids (200Hz-1kHz) create a small dip that can reduce vocal presence in music.
In the treble region, the notable elevation around 3- 5 kHz helps make positional audio cues like footsteps and weapon reloads more prominent. For music, this same treble strength brings brilliance to high notes but may introduce sibilance in vocal tracks.
Using any one of the EQ presets in the companion app, I found them they all exhibit similarly exaggerated lows and highs as the default tuning
How good is the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova’s microphone?
The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova uses a unique bone conduction microphone system that delivers mixed results in testing. Speech comes through reasonably intelligible, but sounds noticeably thin. The earbuds also employ an AI system to detect and prioritize speech, which did work and adapt to suppress some background noise during my use, though with some delay. However, sudden loud noises like the whirring of a blender did overwhelm my voice during calls.
It’s worth noting that real-world performance is better than what you’ll hear in the pre-recorded samples you can listen to below. The technology is designed to pick up vibrations through cheekbones and your head, which our current testing rig can’t accommodate.
ASUS ROG Cetra microphone demo (Ideal conditions):
ASUS ROG Cetra microphone demo (Office conditions):
ASUS ROG Cetra microphone demo (Reverberant space):
How does the microphone sound to you?
Should you buy the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova?
The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova earbuds are a solid pick for gamers with their low-latency USB-C dongle, good ANC performance, and impressive battery life. The dual connectivity options provide valuable flexibility across PlayStation, Switch, and PC platforms, while the RGB lighting adds gaming-focused appeal. The consumer-friendly V-shaped sound signature delivers punchy bass and crisp highs that enhance gaming immersion, and the extensive sound customization options in the Armory Crate app allow for fine-tuning across different games and media.
The ROG Cetra SpeedNova combines ultra-low latency, versatile connectivity, and powerful bass-driven sound that makes it a solid choice for serious gamers.
However, there are potential comfort issues for those with smaller ears, unintuitive controls with no remapping options, merely adequate microphone quality, and Xbox incompatibility. The V-shaped sound signature enhances gaming immersion but will require some tinkering in the app to properly enjoy different genres of music. Overall, these are some of the best gaming earbuds I’ve tested so far.
What should you get instead of the ASUS ROG Cetra?
Looking for alternatives? Here are some comparable options to consider:
- SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds ($159.99 at Amazon): These comfortable earbuds are compatible with consoles (including Xbox) and feature both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connections. They also feature good ANC performance and come with an impressive library of 175+ game-specific EQ presets. However, they only support the basic SBC codec and lack custom EQ on mobile. You can also conveniently store the USB-C dongle inside the charging case, making it harder to misplace.
- Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed ($199 at Amazon): These offer similar dual connectivity with lower Bluetooth latency than the ROG Cetra, though their dongle latency is slightly higher. They deliver a smoother, less bass-heavy sound signature with half the battery life.
- Sony INZONE Buds ($198 at Amazon): These gaming-focused earbuds feature better battery life, a more balanced sound profile, and advanced virtual surround sound for PC and console gaming. However, their Bluetooth support is limited to devices compatible with the LC3 codec.
- Sony PULSE Explore ($199 at Amazon): Sony’s PlayStation-focused wireless earbuds offer a more balanced sound profile and convenient volume rocker buttons. However, they lack mobile app support (settings are adjustable only through PS5) and have no ANC capabilities.
ASUS ROG Cetra review: FAQs
Yes, the ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova features virtual surround sound capabilities through the Armoury Crate app.
The ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova is acceptable for music with its V-shaped sound signature that emphasizes bass and treble, though you'll likely want to use the equalizer in the Armoury Crate app to adjust the sound profile for different music genres.
No, the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova does not natively support Dolby Atmos. It uses its own virtual surround sound technology through the Armoury Crate app.