EPOS

EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid Wireless Gaming Earbuds Review – Versatile With Great Comfort

The EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid wireless gaming earbuds excited me more than any headset that has come across my desk in a while. I’m a huge fan of wireless earbuds, using a pair of Apple AirPods quite regular for listening to music on my iPhone, but there hasn’t really been anything comparable in the gaming space, until now.

The EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid wireless earbuds can connect in two ways. It comes with a low latency dongle that can plug into your PC, Nintendo Switch or PS4/PS5 in order to transmit audio wirelessly from your console to the earbuds. You’re advised to also use the included USB-A to USB-C extension cable to ensure that there’s no interference between your PC/PS5 and the dongle.  You can also connect to your mobile phone or PC via Bluetooth (a version will also be released without the dongle if you’re just looking to use them in this way).

In terms of the pairing process, plugging the dongle in to the Nintendo Switch or PS5  resulted in them connecting instantly with volume being able to be controlled via either console. It’s worth mentioning that the microphones in these earbuds don’t work when you’re using the dongle, which actually isn’t a huge deal when using the PS5 as you can use the microphone in the controller, but it’s definitely a bit of a head scratcher as there are dual microphones inside the earbuds. It’s something I’d like to have seen and something I hope they can add in an update or future iteration.

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Included in the box are four sized tips (extra small, small, medium and large) which you can use to find your perfect fit which is important with in-ear earbuds. I’m not a huge fan of in-ear earbuds normally, but these are actually really comfortable molding to the ear better than most. They’re super lightweight and don’t stick out of your ears too much, meaning you’ll forget about them being in a few a minute or two.

When it comes to audio quality the GTW 270 earbuds sounded pretty damn good. In comparison to the AirPod Pros, I’d easily put them on-par if not ahead audio quality wise. Playing games such as Call of Duty or Apex Legends, the bass was really pounding thanks to the great seal provided by the in-ear buds. Listening to music was a similar experience, with really well balanced audio coming through.

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These headphones don’t have active noise cancelling, but honestly, I didn’t feel like I missed it at all. As long as you get the tip size correct, even when not playing music, my surroundings were blocked out really well. It might be a different story on a plane or such, but I wasn’t able to test this for obvious reasons.

You can expect to get roughly four hours on a charge with the earbuds, but the charging case will give you roughly 20 hours of battery life, before it needs to be recharged via USB. In terms of build quality, the earbuds and charging case are really nice. EPOS has opted for a gunmetal grey which oozes premium an both the charging case and the earbuds are the perfect size.

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I’ve had a few glitches here and there with the dongles in terms of a slight crackle or them momentarily losing connection with the earbuds, but this is a new product line for EPOS so no doubt it’ll get better with software updates along the way.

When it comes to price. The GTW270 Hybrid will set you back $350 which is definitely not cheap. Really, it comes down to whether you want completely wireless in-ear headphones that are useable both with mobile as well as your gaming consoles. There’s not a lot there on the market that will provide the versatility in an in-ear format.

Another area that I feel can be improved on is the EPOS Gaming Suite software itself. It’s fairly basic compared to most other software, but I’m hopeful we’ll see improvements in that area this year.

If you’re coming from something like Apple’s AirPods, things aren’t as seamless. For instance, only the right earbud has bluetooth capability meaning you have to always have the right earbud in to connect. Obviously, you’re going to be wearing both 90% of the time, but still worth noting.

All-in-all, I’ve been using these as my daily headphones for almost everything gaming and work related over the last few weeks. It’s a really exciting product and it’s a product line that I can’t help but feel will only get better with time.