In conjunction with the launch of its new range of ROG Phone 5 gaming smartphones, Asus has announced the availability of the new earphones ROG Cetra II Core that we had the opportunity to try together with the new flagship of the Taiwanese company.
The new generation of earphones has some improvements over the previous generation, however it will be successful Asus to make the handyman headphones a real "must have" for gamers and non-gamers?
Package Contents
Le Asus ROG Cetra II Core they are shipped in an elegant retail box with magnetic side closure, which when opened immediately reveals the earphones and the case for transport.
Inside the elegant matte black case from the velvety feel to the touch, Asus has included a useful splitter which transforms the single 3,5mm three-pole jack into two separate headphone and microphone jacks. This accessory allows the use of the earphones even with desktop and gaming PCs that have two separate connectors.
It would have been very useful to include a Jack / USB Type-C adapter for modern smartphones.
Also in the case we find two small bags that contain various sizes of grommets and fins so that you can customize the fitting of the earphones according to your needs.
Design and comfort
The design of the ROG Cetra II Core is extremely simple and presents no particular surprises.
The earphones have a slim rubber covered cable which seems resistant but no more than many other in-ear headphones that can be found on the market. From ROG I would at least have expected the main cable to be covered with a braided weave protection to improve its wear resistance. Maybe it will be for next year ...
On the wire dedicated to the right earphone is present a plastic push button panel with the ROG logo in plain sight on the center button. These buttons allow you to raise or lower the volume and control music playback. There is no button to mute the microphone, which would have been very welcome on a pair of dedicated gaming headsets.
The main body of the earphones is made of satin metal with the ROG logo positioned on the black plastic cover that completes it.
Regarding the comfort of the headphones during use, I must admit that unlike many other models that I have had the opportunity to try in recent years I had to try a couple of sizes of rubber pads and install a different size of rubber fins because the ROG Cetra II Core were really firmly in my ears.
I invite you to experiment with the different sizes for a few minutes to find your favorite, the user experience changes significantly once you find your ideal setup.
The included pair of memory foam pads is my favorite choice, also because I'm used to using that type of solution on my favorite in-ear headphones for better comfort and passive noise cancellation.
Functionality and sound
The second generation model of the Cetra Core maintains the simplicity of the previous model unchanged.
The earphones are passive and are moved by the DAC of the device to which they are connected. They are also purely analog, unlike the USB Type-C version.
This could be an advantage if your PC does not have a USB Type-C port or if your smartphone is among the lucky few to still mount a audio jack from 3,5mm.
High quality audio enthusiasts definitely prefer this solution and the fact that the jack is rotated 90 ° it increases its convenience when used in combination with a smartphone.
Although the Cetra II Cores are certified for use with the Discord e Teamspeak, as I wrote a few lines above, a button is missing to quickly disable the microphone, a real shame.
However, the quality of the audio captured by the main microphone on the back of the panel is excellent our interlocutors confirmed good audio quality coming out of their side of the conversation.
The new Cetra Cores also include a microphone for each headset. These allow for a cancellation of background noise when we speak but unfortunately there is no type of ANC (Active Noise Cancelling).
Asus built the earphones using gods driver in LSR (Liquid Silicone Rubber) which according to the company "improve the performance of the speakers, provide incredibly powerful bass and audio optimized for gaming".
Actually the audio quality was a bit of a let down in my personal experience. Although the voices and audio in conversation are extremely clear and clean, as regards the multimedia experience and listening to music I expected something more.
The audio is quite flat and the bass is not as powerful as promised. The separation of bass, medium and high is in any case good despite not having the same clarity in the distinction of individual sounds that can guarantee more expensive earphones.
The memory foam pads help but do not solve the problem.
Conclusions: are they worth buying?
We are not talking about the best in-ear headphones on the market but they never wanted to be. The Asus ROG Cetra II Core are designed for gamers who need to use a good quality pair of headphones on all their gaming platforms.
The choice of a 3,5mm jack and the inclusion of a splitter allows users to use them anywhere: from smartphones to PCs, through their laptops and consoles.
sporadic listening to music, perhaps in your travels and daily commutes, are excellent unless you have a fine ear and demands that certainly cannot be satisfied by a product with such a low cost.
In conversation, the audio is clear and pleasant, both incoming and outgoing. For the price of 69 € that ROG asks for the purchase (available starting from April 2021) must certainly be taken into consideration.
