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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a proper over-ear PC gaming headset with spatial audio and a boom mic that actually cuts background noise, choose SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P; if you need something tiny, wired and featherweight that lives in your pocket and plugs into almost anything, choose KASOTT Battle Buds Pro.
• SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P — biggest strength: a full over-ear build with 360° Space Sound, high-fidelity dynamic drivers and a ClearCast Gen 2 boom mic that reduces background noise by up to 25dB.
• SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P — biggest trade-off: it's a wired 3.5mm headset at roughly 269.5 g, so it's a desk-and-console piece of gear, not something you carry loose in a pocket.
• KASOTT Battle Buds Pro — biggest strength: an in-ear design that weighs almost nothing, with a dual-mic setup (boom mic plus in-line mic) and a slide-style remote that goes from zero to max volume instead of stepping.
• KASOTT Battle Buds Pro — biggest trade-off: no active or passive noise cancellation, a passive rubber-tip seal only, and a 16 ohm in-ear driver that simply can't match an over-ear acoustic chamber for immersion.
• Who each is for: pick the Arctis Nova 1P if your PC is your main gaming rig and you want one headset for long sessions. Pick the Battle Buds Pro if you game across phone, Switch, laptop and console and want minimal bulk.
The Arctis Nova 1P is the more "serious PC setup" of the two. It's an over-ear headset with leather-style ear cups, a rotatable and height-adjustable ComfortMAX system, AirWeave memory foam pads and an expandable band. That's four points of adjustment, which matters if you wear glasses, have a bigger head, or just hate that clamp feeling after hour three. At 269.5 g it's light for an over-ear, and the design clearly prioritizes long sessions over portability.
On the audio side, the numbers are what you'd expect from a gaming-first headset: 36 ohm impedance, 20Hz–20,000Hz frequency range, 120dB sensitivity and a dynamic driver. The 36 ohm impedance is friendly to PC motherboards and controller jacks — you don't need a dedicated amp to get usable volume. The headline feature for PC players is 360° Space Sound plus support for Microsoft Spatial Sound on PC (and Tempest 3D Audio on PS5). In practice that's the "I heard the footsteps behind me" feature, and it's the single biggest reason to choose this over earbuds for competitive shooters.
The microphone is the other half of the story. ClearCast Gen 2 is a noise-cancelling boom mic rated to reduce background noise by up to 25dB, and it retracts fully into the ear cup when you're not talking. If you share a room, have a mechanical keyboard, a fan, or a partner watching TV behind you, that's a real difference. Controls sit on the headset itself — volume and mute — so you're not hunting for a dongle. Connection is a plain 3.5mm jack, which means PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox, Switch and mobile all work without adapters or drivers.
Skip it if: you need something pocketable, you mostly play mobile or handheld, or you want to move between devices constantly without a headband on your head.
KASOTT Battle Buds Pro: Who It's For
The Battle Buds Pro goes the opposite direction: in-ear, wired, minimal. The ear pieces are rounded-tip, rubber-bodied and designed to sit in the canal. KASOTT's own framing is weight — the buds are pitched as dramatically lighter than a headset, which is the whole point. Nothing presses on your ears or the top of your head, nothing gets hot in summer, and nothing needs charging. For a lot of people who game on a phone or a Switch in bed, that's the entire argument.
The audio is a single 10mm dynamic driver at 16 ohm with the same 20Hz–20,000Hz range. A 16 ohm load is very easy to drive, so a phone, a controller jack or a cheap laptop output will all push it to full volume without strain. KASOTT describes a 3D surround effect from the oversized driver and an optimized internal chamber — the practical benefit is directional cues: footsteps, gunshots, explosions placed around you rather than flat in front. It won't image like an over-ear with spatial processing, but for in-ears it's clearly aimed at the same job.
The mic setup is unusual and genuinely useful. You get two microphones: a detachable boom mic plus an in-line mic on the cable. That means you can clip the boom on for a proper voice chat and pull it off when you're just taking a call or listening to music, using the in-line mic instead. The remote is a slide-type volume control on roughly a 1.2m cable, and KASOTT explicitly notes it adjusts continuously from 0 to max rather than in fixed steps — plus a single button handles play/pause, next track and previous track.
Compatibility is broad and slightly old-school: a 3.5mm jack plus a three-pole adapter cable that splits headphone and mic, which is what unlocks older PCs, PS4, MacBook, Switch, Xbox One and smartphones. The plug is L-shaped, which keeps it out of the way when you're holding a phone in landscape. There's no noise cancellation at all — noise control is listed as none — so isolation comes only from how well the rubber tips seal your ear canal.
Buy it if: you game on mobile, Switch or a laptop, you want zero weight, no charging and a cable that splits to fit older hardware, or you want a headset you can genuinely forget you're wearing.
Skip it if: you want real spatial audio processing on PC, you need background noise actively rejected on your voice, or you can't tolerate anything sitting inside your ear canal for hours.
• Best for PC as the main platform → SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P. Microsoft Spatial Sound support and 360° Space Sound are built for desktop gaming.
• Best for competitive positional audio → SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P. Over-ear cups plus spatial processing beat a single 10mm in-ear driver for locating enemies.
• Best for voice clarity in a noisy room → SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P. The ClearCast Gen 2 boom mic is rated to cut background noise by up to 25dB.
• Best for comfort over very long sessions → SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P. Four adjustment points, AirWeave memory foam and a 269.5 g over-ear frame.
• Best for portability and travel → KASOTT Battle Buds Pro. In-ear, rubber-tipped and pocket-sized, with no headband and no bulk.
• Best for mobile and handheld gaming → KASOTT Battle Buds Pro. The L-shaped 3.5mm plug and 16 ohm impedance suit phones, tablets and Switch.
• Best for older or mixed hardware → KASOTT Battle Buds Pro. The three-pole splitter cable covers devices a single 3.5mm plug won't.
• Best for mic flexibility → KASOTT Battle Buds Pro. Detachable boom mic plus an in-line mic gives you two ways to talk.
I'd buy the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P if PC is where I play. In my opinion, the combination of 360° Space Sound, Microsoft Spatial Sound support, a boom mic rated to reduce background noise by up to 25dB, and an over-ear ComfortMAX frame is simply the more complete PC gaming tool — and the 36 ohm impedance means it works straight off a motherboard or controller. The Battle Buds Pro is the better pick only if portability, weight and multi-device 3.5mm flexibility matter more to you than immersion. For a desk setup, I'd take the Arctis Nova 1P.
FAQ
how to connect gaming headphones to pc
how to use gaming headphones on pc
Connect via the 3.5mm jack, then set the device as your default playback and recording device in Windows. On the Arctis Nova 1P you can also enable Microsoft Spatial Sound for 360° Space Sound. On the Battle Buds Pro, attach the detachable boom mic for voice chat or rely on the in-line mic, and use the slide remote for continuous volume plus play/pause and track controls.
what is the best gaming headphones for pc
There isn't one universal answer — it depends on your setup. If you want over-ear immersion, spatial audio and a noise-rejecting boom mic for PC, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1P is my pick. If you want something in-ear, ultra-light and easy to move between a laptop, phone and console, the KASOTT Battle Buds Pro fits better.
what is the best pc gaming headphones
For a dedicated PC desk setup, I'd lean toward the Arctis Nova 1P: over-ear dynamic drivers at 36 ohm, 360° Space Sound, Microsoft Spatial Sound support and ClearCast Gen 2 noise cancellation on the mic. Choose the Battle Buds Pro instead if weight, portability and a splitter cable for older hardware matter more than spatial immersion. Check the current price on Amazon before deciding.
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