ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova Headphones Review

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova are stemmed buds. Their silhouette is somewhat angular with flat outer touch panels, compared to other rounded stemmed designs like the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Truly Wireless. RGB logos and rectangular light panels adorn the outer-facing housings and the interior of the charging case. Their size and RGB effects give greater visual impact than most true wireless earbuds. Your choices are between 'Black' and 'Moonlight White' colorways. 'Black' has blue contrasting branding, while 'Moonlight White' has red contrasting branding.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova feel decently comfortable. They're lightweight and come with three pairs of silicone oblong ear tips. However, the slightly bulky shape and volume of the buds' inward-facing side can place disproportionate pressure against your ear canal and concha if you have small ears. Over longer listening sessions, the pressure can lead to discomfort, but if you have larger ears, it's not an issue.

These buds have good controls. You can check out the default control scheme here. On the flat side of the earbuds' housings, you'll find the touch-sensitive surface, and it accurately registers taps. The buds emit voice prompts for power, pairing, and listening modes such as ANC on, but there aren't any sounds for playback and volume controls. Also, by default, volume adjustments require four taps for a single incremental volume change, which is quite a lot of tapping, making it time-consuming to alter volume. You can toggle through listening modes, too, but you have to use the app to change the strength of the noise cancelling mode.

They're very portable earbuds, like most true wireless models. You can easily stash them in your pocket.

The charging case for the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova is good. The shell is sturdy, as evidenced by a second layer of plastic reinforcing the interior of the lid. The plastic itself is matte and pretty dense. A large LED displays the battery and pairing status, while the interior of the case has flashes of RGB lighting on the logo. It can also charge wirelessly with a Qi pad or with a USB-C cable. That said, the bottom of the case is rounded, so it can spin and slide around on a flat surface like a desk. Plus, it's a bit bulky as far as charging cases go.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova build quality is good. The earbuds are made of a nice-quality plastic and are certified IPX4 against water splashes. They come with an unremarkable selection of three ear tip sizes. Similarly, the case feels sturdy. The case shape is a bit bulky, and the case weight is slightly on the heavier side but not at all exceptionally heavy. Due to the rounded underside of the case, it can spin on flat surfaces which likely will cause surface scratches to develop faster.

They are impressively stable. The earbuds will stay in if you want to headbang to your favorite band. Their shape is a bit large for smaller ears, and the snug fit leaves very little room to move about, which aids in their stability despite the absence of stabilizers.

• ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova earbuds
• Charging case
• Three pairs of silicone ear tip sizes
• USB-C wireless dongle
• USB-C to USB-A adapter for wireless dongle
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable (24.4" or 62 cm)
• Quick Start Guide
• Product information paper

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova sound quite bass-heavy with a very bright top end using the default EQ (also called 'Flat') and USB-C dongle. This default sound profile supplies a lot of boominess and rumble to kick drums and sub-bass synths. Meanwhile, mid-range instruments like melodic keys sound alternatingly pushed down in the mix, or they can come across as cluttered in the low mids and honky in the high mids. Trebly instruments sound very excited on transients, leading to harsh and piercing cymbal hits and fatiguing articulation in the vocals. If you disable the ANC, the overall sound comes across as slightly less bassy (but still very punchy) and even brighter.

The sound profile is still excited and broadly V-shaped over Bluetooth, though it's less boomy and shrill compared to the response using the USB-C dongle. If you choose one of the EQ presets in the companion app, they all exhibit similarly exaggerated lows and highs as the default tuning (over the USB-C connection, anyway), so if you want a completely different tuning, you'll need to use the app's graphic EQ instead.

What's more, though, is that these earbuds have a host of other features to alter how they sound in their app and PC software, and it gets quickly confusing because you can combine them. So, you can use the in-app equalizer to change the sound profile to your taste. Next are Sound Options, which combine effects like EQ with other processors, such as compression, Dirac Opteo (a digital signal processor), reverb, virtual surround sound, and ambient sound into selectable presets. Lastly, Sound Optimization covers more sound adjustments (like EQ and compression) based on your usage, like RPG (role-playing game), FPS (first-person shooter), and Movie modes. As a result, you could spend a lot of time fiddling with the various modes and combining them.

These buds have superb frequency response consistency. Due in part to their stable fit that leaves little room for error or variation in how you place the buds, you can expect your audio to sound the same between wears. It's possible that the high frequencies can differ slightly between wears, but overall, your audio sounds consistent.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova have middling bass target compliance. Because the entire range is significantly exaggerated, it appeals to bassheads and folks who want a lot of added thump and boom in the mix. For songs like Dance by ESG, which rely heavily on the bassline, you'll hear a massive dose of low-end relative to the vocals, which can obscure the vocals a bit. In busier mixes, this can sound bloated for classic rock but possibly sound pleasing for drum and bass genres, for example. For gaming, the added bass can add a more immersive feel during explosions and low-tense atmospheric soundtracks. That said, this bass response injects a significant amount of bass, which is difficult to overstate.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova have mediocre mid-range target compliance. The entire range is quite uneven: depending on the pitch, instruments can jump out in the mix or sound buried. Partly responsible are the exaggerations in the bass and treble regions competing for your ears' attention, too. One downside is that parts of speech and vocals can sound less clear.

The low-mids are comparatively elevated, which causes de-tuned rhythm guitars to come across as cluttered or thin because the response dips down, too. The response is mostly de-emphasized in the center of the mid-range, pushing lead instruments to the back of the mix. Meanwhile, the high-mids sound honky on vocals, but again, relative to the rest of the sound profile's exaggerations, it's not egregious, considering the exaggerations in the treble.

Their treble profile's target compliance is terrible. The low-treble through mid-treble are predominantly over-emphasized and uneven, leading to a harsh and piercing voicing that can cause premature fatigue and discomfort. Vocals and cymbals sound harsh, shrill, and painful. This is likely offset somewhat by competing bass emphasis. During fight scenes in Hades II, the excited treble on effects like spell casting can be overwhelmingly bright.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova's peaks and dips performance is sub-par, indicating the buds don't control their sound profile well. While most of the bass region is relatively flat, a bump extending into the low-mids adds extra boom and muddiness to the mix. The rest of the higher frequencies across the range are uneven, causing instruments to sound either distant and unclear or harsh, jumping out in the mix, which is difficult to address even with an equalizer. A series of dips in the center of the mid-range pushes lead parts down in the mix or imparts a somewhat boxy tone. Sharply prominent peaks and dips through the treble range lead to alternately harsh, hollow, and shrill vocals and cymbals.

Their imaging performance is satisfactory. This is the first set of headphones we've tested by this manufacturer, so we can't really compare their quality control and ergonomics to other ASUS headphones. That said, the group delay is pretty good, with only a bit of looseness in the bass, but otherwise, the bass is tight, and the treble is transparent. Our unit's mid-range has a noticeable phase mismatch, though, causing mids to favor your right side more. An amplitude mismatch in the bass region is present but not audible with real-world content. Because imaging varies between units, our results are only valid for our unit.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova have a dismal passive soundstage, which makes sense for in-ear fitting headphones with a closed-back design. Because they don't interact with your environment or outer ears, they can't create an open or spacious-feeling soundstage. Instead, your audio sounds like it's inside of your head rather than in a room.

You have two options for virtual surround sound. The earbuds use Dirac Opteo DSP, which doesn't create the surround sound effect, but is advertised to help with the staging accuracy. In the phone Armoury Crate app, it's a simple on-or-off configuration and isn't as immersive because it lacks head-tracking. If you connect to a Windows PC, you gain access to ASUS Armoury Crate, which supports a 7.1 virtual surround sound as well. Neither requires audio specifically mixed for virtual surround sound.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova have a great weighted harmonic distortion performance. It's quite low in the bass through the mids. However, it's a bit more elevated in the treble range. Even so, you won't notice it in everyday content, so your audio remains clean and pure.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova have great full-range noise isolation performance, in part because of their passive isolating fit. When set to maximum strength, the ANC filters low-pitched and deep rumbling with solid effectiveness. The ANC is less powerful with mid-range sounds like chatter, although their passive isolation blocks these sounds somewhat too. As expected, their passive isolation also does a pretty good job with high-pitched noise.

In the companion app, you can select different noise cancelling strengths, and here's a comparison of the ANC modes to see how they differ.

These buds have impressive noise isolation for common scenarios. They handle real-world situations like airplane cabins, offices, and street noise fairly similarly by filtering out low-rumbling noises and blocking high-pitched sounds evenly. Mid-range noises like the din of traffic or ambient airplane cabin sounds are reduced, but not quite as efficiently, although they certainly make those circumstances less distracting as well.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova don't have a wind reduction mode. They're a bit sensitive to wind interacting with the ANC mics straight on. The subsequent 'anti-noise' produced is a little annoying and impacts the efficacy of the noise cancelling system by adding more noise.

These earbuds have a great leakage performance. Unless you're blasting your music, your office mates won't hear what you're listening to. What does escape is thin-sounding, being primarily bright cymbals, high vocals, and a bit of quiet bass.

Their bone conduction mic isn't completely compatible with our testing rig. As you'll notice partway through the Recorded Speech audio file, the artificial intelligence (AI) system used to detect and prioritize speech adapts, albeit with a possible delay. The recording quality has pretty low total harmonic distortion, and while speech is intelligible, it sounds thin. In subjective testing, the mic sounds better than the graph suggests, with more body and fullness, rather than sounding quite so thin and piercing.

As noted, the testing rig isn't fully compatible with the bone conduction mic system on these earbuds. These mics pick up the vibrations through your head to more easily prioritize your voice, so your results will likely sound better than our audio samples. That said, with consistent background noise, the system doesn't completely reject the noise but still prioritizes your speech. Sudden background noises are suppressed somewhat, and a passing train will obscure your speech.

Their battery performance is good, and it varies depending on whether you're using Bluetooth or the USB dongle. When connected via the 2.4GHz wireless USB dongle, the buds last eight hours with ANC on and RGB lighting enabled. Under the same conditions, only over Bluetooth, the buds last 10.5 hours on a single charge. Your results may vary depending on variables like how loud you set the volume, whether you turn off the RGB light effects, and which listening modes you use. Their case stores just shy of three extra charges. Luckily, they're advertised to also supply 90 minutes of playback after a 10-minute quick charge.

You have two choices for apps that are compatible with the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova: the ASUS Armory Crate software for Windows PC and the Armoury Crate app for iOS and Android. If you already own a compatible ASUS peripheral like a mouse, you won't need to download yet another piece of software to Windows, which is nice. These apps allow you to manage RGB lighting, which is unusual for true wireless buds.

You get several ways to adjust the earbuds' sound, such as Dirac (DSP), the 10-band custom EQ and presets, various Sound Optimization modes, adjustable ANC and ambient sound strengths, chat mix, and virtual surround sound. Plus, there's device switching over Bluetooth, and the ability to set an auto-off timer that ranges from two minutes up to 30 minutes. However, in a surprising omission, you can't remap the controls in the app. You can take a look at the phone app here. It's also the same app that the standard Bluetooth-only model, the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless, uses, although the pared-back model lacks DSP and the USB dongle.

These earbuds only connect wirelessly over Bluetooth or with the USB dongle. Their included USB-A to USB-C cable is meant for charging their case.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova have great Bluetooth connectivity. You can pair to two devices simultaneously through the app. They support basic SBC and AAC codecs, but the latency is too high if you want to stream video or play games over Bluetooth. Although the manufacturer advertises a gaming mode, there's no way to get it working through the mobile app or onboard controls.

However, if latency is your concern, instead of the convenience that Bluetooth provides, you could use the included USB dongle for wireless audio. Of course, latency varies between devices, and some apps compensate for it, so your experience can vary.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova's wireless connection via the USB dongle is excellent. Latency levels are low enough for gaming and streaming video without lipsync issues, though this can vary between devices. You can connect to your computer's USB-C port or to your phone if it has a USB-C port. The connection's range gets slightly unstable after a distance of about 145 feet, but this will be fine for most people's uses.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova are compatible with PCs with both their wireless USB-C dongle or over Bluetooth for full mic and audio support. Using the dongle will provide more consistent connectivity than Bluetooth with your PC.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova are compatible with PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles when using their wireless dongle to connect. You get full audio and microphone support.

The ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova aren't compatible with Xbox consoles using their USB-C wireless dongle or over Bluetooth.

The charging case recharges the buds and stores the wireless USB-C dongle. The case charges either with a USB-C cable or if you place it on a wireless charging pad.