After recently splitting from Sennheiser EPOS have started cranking out gaming-focused peripherals – and these wireless earbuds are an impressive signal of intent. Priced just under £200 they’re not something everyone can justify buying, but they’re definitely worth the outlay …
After recently splitting from Sennheiser EPOS have started cranking out gaming-focused peripherals – and these wireless earbuds are an impressive signal of intent.
Priced just under £200 they’re not something everyone can justify buying, but they’re definitely worth the outlay if you’re looking to play your games properly on the go.
The thing that struck us off the bat was how easy these are to use in terms of connecting them to a range of devices.
A proprietary dongle comes in the box allowing you to use these with the Nintendo Switch as well as Android and iOS smartphones straight away. There’s very little fuss in terms of getting them to sync up.
We tested them primarily with games on the Switch, and they do well in terms of latency too. There’s no real lag between the action taking place on screen and the sound that’s piped into your ears.
The sound quality is also nothing to be sniffed at either, with good clarity and punchy bass. We found the dual microphones helped reduced background noise as we played games, which is very welcome.
The battery life perhaps isn’t the best, although we did get a little bit more out of them than the stated five hours. This is offset somewhat by the way they’re simple to charge via the supplied box, which is powered via a USB-C cable. The box itself supplies roughly twenty hours of juice as well.
In terms of comfort there’s a range of rubberized ear tips provided as you’d expect, but we found all of them to be a tad uncomfortable after extended periods of use. They’re quite large for wireless earbuds, but do have a pleasing heft to them.
We have rather large lugs though, so that discomfort may well be an anomaly – and taking the earbuds out and then back in always helped to alleviate the issue.
As mentioned these aren’t a lightweight piece of kit, and stood up well to a range of conditions – including when we got caught in an unexpected spot of rain. They came out no worse for wear from it.
Ultimately the GTW 270 Hybrids are an impressive entry into the world of wireless gaming earbuds from EPOS – they deliver everything you’d hope for and in a classy and understated fashion. The price-tag may seem high for some, but for convenience and quality they’re certainly one of the best in their field.
