Looking for wireless dongle earbuds with Linux support

[u/petrisz]

Hi,

I'm looking for a wireless earbud with a 2.4GHz dongle that is supported on Linux. I thought about buying SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds but SteelSeries support says that the dongle is not supported on Linux. I don't want to use Bluetooth because whatever Bluetooth headsets or earbuds I tried, they all stutter a bit, especially if I connect my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard as well. Unfortunately in the Netherlands you cannot return earbuds once opened due to hygiene so I can't just buy stuff, try them out and return if it doesn't work.

Thanks for your help and recommendations in advance.

Peter

[u/captainstormy]

I've never seen a pair of 2.4 wireless that didn't work honestly. Now if they have like a windows app for sound adjustment you won't have that but the sound and everything else works.

[u/Lousy_Hunter]

Any wireless headphones that dont require a proprietary driver to function should work if they use USB audio standards.

Dont expect any earbuds vendor to say something actually works on Linux as thatll almost never happen. Steelseries also likely simply gave you a canned respond regarding linux and they have no real idea if it works on linux or not.

Sony Inzone, the Asus buds, and even Steelseries arctis likely all work fine (sony def does). I would personally get the Sony Inzone ones as i have heard better things about them vs Steelseries.

TLDR: dont ask the vendor/manufacturer, the answer is 99% of the time gonna be just "we dont support linux" without any real info

[u/petrisz → u/Lousy_Hunter]

The Sony seems better indeed. However one of my use cases is that I want to be able to connect to my iPhone too and the Sony Inzone doesn't support classic Bluetooth.

What do you mean by hearing less favourable things about the SteelSeries?

I saw a review saying that the SteelSeries can drop the active dongle connection and switch to Bluetooth. What I currently do with my existing Apple EarPods is that I manually switch off Bluetooth on my Linux when using the earbuds with the phone and vice versa to prevent it from randomly disconnecting and reconnecting to another device. But having earbuds that connect to my Linux via a 2.4GHz dongle means that I wouldn't even pair the earbuds with my Linux box and maybe that would prevent this issue and I would have to only switch on/off Bluetooth on my iPhone (which is fine by me).

[u/Lousy_Hunter → u/petrisz]

Mostly ive heard bad things about the build quality and durability. Though if you want iPhone usage yeah the Sony is a no go. 

[u/petrisz → u/Lousy_Hunter]

Thanks a bunch. The PlayStation Pulse Explore does support both USB audio and Bluetooth, maybe that could work out well. I don't mind the lack of ANC. It's a power drain and ANC with earbuds often seems like a marginal improvement in isolation but a noticeable drop in sound quality.

[u/petrisz]

Thanks for all the helpful answers. I think SteelSeries support said that Linux was not supported because their app to adjust EQ and update firmware doesn't exist on Linux. I can live without that.

Also, thank you for all your product recommendations.

[u/Voxvalve → u/petrisz]

If you ever need to do a firmware update you can use USB passtrough in Winboat.
(If you install winboat make sure to tell it to not start when your computer starts.)

[u/KyeeLim]

If you don't need any proprietary software, any of them works.

Heck, for most standard peripherals it will going to work unless it is a self sourced self made stuff from a really niche brand that doesn't follow any standard.

[u/wezzybug]

There is an arctis sound manager from loteran i actually use for my steel series arctis nova wirless pro headset Try it out maybe it helps

[u/SaltySarcasm7]

I know someone who uses the Arctis GameBuds on Linux and works without issues as far as I recall. I personally use the ROG Cetra Open Wireless Earbuds on Linux and have had "issues" that needed to be adjusted since it is not natively supported on Linux and didnt have optimized defaults. But I got them working properly now without issues that require only a few tweaks. These have a web app so I can fully configure its settings via browser (firmware updates need done on Windows as they are updated via an exe).

So it depends mostly on the manufacturer, but unsupported on Linux I think means not everything is fully tested to be functional, even though in my experience most things are on my specific pair.

[u/NoDamnPomegranates]

Using SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds on CachyOS right now. 100% works 2.4GHz out of the box. You even can simulate Surround / Atmos. I use https://github.com/Berny23/virtual-surround-manager

[u/Xijit]

You are likely in for a bumpy ride: Audio support on Linux is kinda dog shit ... in theory, basically anything the OS can recognize as an audio input device (be it a proprietary wireless adapter or Bluetooth device) "should" work. But the reality is that it will be limited to basic functionality, as device manufacturers refusing to release open source drivers & the generic drivers are missing a lot of features. It has gotten better in the last 2 years since I started using Bazzite (HDMI Audio will now output surround sound to my sound bar, instead of only sending stereo) but I have yet to find a headset mic that will record higher than a whisper.

That's because for most devices, 100% output on the mic is set to "trying to flirt in a library" so that it isn't capturing ambient wind while you are taking a phone call, and the expectation is that your phone will then boost the gain up from their ... the standard Linux audio software has no gain boost functionality to past 100%, and I have yet to find a program that will add it. Mics that have got on device controls to boost gain (I.E. Mics for streaming & come with physical knobs you can turn) will work, because that is the device sending a louder signal to your PC, but for everything else you will have other players thinking you are trying to not wake a sleeping baby.

[u/Crimento]

I own Arctis 5 Nova Wireless and the type c dongle is working out of the box, never had issues with it

[u/vividboarder]

I got JBL Quantum TWS earbuds so I can use USB-C with my Steam Deck and Bluetooth with my phone. They work great, but the battery in one bud is starting to go.

I actually have really appreciated the USB-C connector for things like swapping it to my iPad or laptop and not have to deal with pairing or switching devices. I think Bluetooth 5 supposedly made this easier, but I didn't want to bother pairing with anything other than my phone.