This is the era of portable gaming devices like a gaming phone, Nintendo Switch and Steam Desk. Every year mobile gaming and portable gaming consoles touch the new high record. And that’s the reason the gaming accessories brands started to give slightly more attention to smartphone and portable console gaming.
If you have already adopted this portable gaming trend, then you are definitely in search of good gaming TWS Earbuds. Because no one wants to bring their big bulky over-head gaming headphones while gaming on the go or also doesn’t want to mess with tangy cable. So, the ultimate choice is good gaming TWS earbud.
I am a mobile gamer and I recently had the chance to test the new EKSA GT1 Cobra TWS Gaming Earbud. This is my detailed review of the EKSA GT1 gaming earbud. I am writing this review after properly testing the earbud with mobile gaming and music. Continue reading to find out more about the same.
Specifications:
| Drivers | 10mm |
| Resistance | 32Ω |
| Frequency Response | 20 – 20000Hz |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 |
| Microphone | Yes |
| Battery | 500 mAH charging case, 50 mAH earbud |
| Latency (Gaming Mode) | Gaming Mode, 38 ms |
| Water Resistance | IPX4 |
| Weight | 4.5G Per Earbud |
| Warranty | 1 Year |
What Do We Get In the Box Of EKSA GT1 Cobra
Starting with the box content, you’ll get a user manual that will give you a brief about how these earbuds work.
Next comes the two extra pairs of silicone tips that you can replace with the one to match your perfect fit, a USB Type-C cable to quickly charge your charging case, and finally the charging case with the earbuds placed inside them. It has only one colour variant that is the black colour.
Design & Build: Easy To Carry, Cool Appearance
All TWS earbud interaction begins at the charging case, and this plastic case wasn’t made with butterfingers in mind. The EKSA GT1 has a recognizable charging case designed to look like a robotics cobra head.
There is LED strips on each side. They also light up in blue and indicate charge status or when the buds are inserted and charging them.
Apart from this, the EKSA GT1 Cobra case has a good quality magnetic lid that feels very durable and sturdy. You get a satisfactory sound when you close the lid.
I like to mention that, the charging case is very lightweight (only 55g) and also very compact, so you can easily carry it on your jeans pocket and will enjoy the gaming in the go.
Open the charging compartment you can see the left and right headphones. The first thing that I noticed about them, is their weight. The earbuds are very light and individually weigh about 4 grams each.
The design of the earbuds is also influenced by the same Cobra scheme. The earbuds have two small LEDs that light up and look like laser eyes which gives a nice touch to its design. These small laser-like eyes indicate the pairing or battery status of the earbuds.
The gaming earbuds have a mixed texture of the matty and glossy finish. Despite being marketed as gaming TWS, these earbuds have nothing flashy in them which means you can wear them in public as well.
The EKSA GT1 Cobra TWS is IPX4 rated allowing it to easily withstand a few water splashes. This also means you can wear them during your workout sessions as well.
Overall the build quality of the earbuds is really decent and give a gaming vibe that you really want from a gaming TWS earbuds.
Comfort
Now coming onto the comfort which is considered as one of the most important factors for a gaming TWS.
EKSA has packed two spare rubber ear caps with these earbuds so you can switch to the one that fits you perfectly.
As mentioned already, the earbuds are super lightweight which makes them very comfortable to wear. Believe me, after wearing it for a few minutes, you will barely remember that you have worn anything.
Although you should keep that in mind that the lightweight of these earbuds that makes them comfortable also makes them prone to getting lost. You may go out for a walk with these earbuds on and come back home without realizing that you dropped them somewhere. So comfort is another prime point of these EKSA earbuds.
Features & Connectivity
The EKSA GT1 Cobra also offer a low latency gaming mode. When you enable Gaming Mode using onboard control, you benefit from low-latency streaming at 38ms, which is good since AAC can lag quite a bit on certain Android devices.
Well, I don’t completely agree with this 38ms latency claim. I think EKSA may have found this result in professional-grade audio equipment in their production lab, but in the real world, it is slightly impossible with our devices, especially with only SBC and AAC codec.
My testing revealed that the minimum latency for AAC on the OnePlus 9R is just shy of 300ms. Admittedly, I’m not an avid mobile gamer, but I didn’t perceive a huge difference when Gaming Mode was enabled.
However, latency was reduced when streaming video from a OnePlus 9R with Gaming Mode is enabled. Ultimately, Gaming Mode is nice to have, but it’s unlikely to be the reason you buy the EKSA GT1 Cobra.
The EKSA GT1 Cobra operates via Bluetooth 5.0 and supports two Bluetooth codecs, SBC and AAC. iOS users can enjoy consistent high-quality streaming over the AAC Bluetooth codec. The paring process is very fast and there is no compatibility and range issue.
Another good feature of the earbuds is their touch control. Each earbud has a touch control placed on it which allows you to quickly play/pause, change tracks, answer calls and even access Google Assistant with that. The earbuds even have a game mode and music mode that you can switch by holding on to the touch control.
Battery & Microphone
I am quite happy with the battery life of the EKSA GT1 Cobra Gaming Earbuds. The charging case is equipped with a 500 mAh battery while the earbuds have a 50 mAh. At 70% volume, we consistently got more than 5 hours of playback from the earbuds after a full charge.
Once the earbuds battery is down to 10%, I charged the earbuds using the charging box. It took less than 1.5hours to completely recharge the buds to 100%. Using a fully charged case, I could recharge the earbuds approx 4 times. Yes, you can consider the battery as one of the prime advantages of this earbud.
It’s a gaming TWS earbuds, so you can’t take the microphone quality lightly right? The microphone quality of EKSA GT1 is pretty decent.
The mic picks up sound well and produces natural-sounding voices during calls and in-game chat with minimal distortion. This is possibly due to the long stem design of the earbuds and the lower positioning of the mics. You won’t have any problem making calls or playing games with these buds. For the audio test, please check EKSA GT1 detail review on your Youtube Channel Geekman.
Audio Quality
The good quality 10mm neodymium drivers of these gaming earbuds are more than enough to provide balanced audio with decent bass. But keep in mind, it’s a gaming earbud and it doesn’t need to offer very balanced audio or a wide soundstage. Instead what you get is the right amount of punchy boosted bass with slightly compress mid and high notes.
So, in-game you can really enjoy the hand grenade or vehicle blast effect sounds. The surrounding sound is good and both channels are balanced, so it will be very easy for you to find out the enemy location or bullet fire direction. And yes, you also have the advantage of good quality microphone and low latency gaming mode.
I also tested the EKSA GT1 with music and movie watching. The movie-watching experience with GT1 was quite enjoyable, like gaming. But the music experience is just average, which means nothing special.
The audio is quite clear and even at high volume, you can easily make difference between audio instruments. But the narrow sound stage and average mid-bass and slightly compress treble note will not make happy the audiophiles.
So in one word, if gaming is your main priority then EKSA GT1 Cobra is a good choice for you, you can definitely go with it.
Verdict
And finally, do Eksa GT1 Cobra TWS justify its price?
Overall the Eksa GT1 Cobra TWS is pretty impressive and does an excellent job when it comes to the gaming experience it offers.
The earbuds offer a battery backup that is pretty good and your would probably not need to leave your gaming sessions in between just to charge your earbuds.
Overall, if you Are looking for affordable, comfortable and decent sounding TWS Earbuds for your gaming needs, then the EKSA GT1 Cobra is a good choice for you. But if you do not belong to the gaming world and you just looking for decent buds for your day to day music dose, then you should skip this one.
