All of the best superheroes have a sidekick. Batman and Robin, Ant-Man and the Wasp, the Tick and Arthur. Okay, maybe that last one isn’t the best example, but you understand what I’m getting at. Sometimes it’s better to have a partner. After spending several weeks with the ROG Kithara Gaming Headset and ROG Cetra Wireless Open-ear Headphones, that’s how I see this dynamic duo: two separate products with completely different use cases that are supposed to complement each other. The only problem is that only one of them has any real superpowers.
The ROG Kithara – The Superhero
If you’re wondering which of the ROG headsets is the superhero, it’s without a doubt the Kithara. Republic of Gamers hasn’t just made a cookie-cutter gaming headset; they’ve gone above and beyond to give gamers a pair of open-back headphones refined enough to pique the interest of audiophiles as well. Sticking to an audiophile aesthetic, the Kithara skips RGB and bright plastic and goes with an understated look.
A minimalist black metal frame with gunmetal-gray accents holds the large, open-back cups in place. At 420g (0.93 pounds), the Kithara isn’t the lightest headset around, but you wouldn’t know it. Between the adjustable three-layer headband (leatherette, breathable mesh, and memory foam) and soft-as-a-feather earpads (both a leatherette-with-fabric and an all-velour option are included), you barely notice you’re wearing the headset. There’s just enough pressure to keep the set in place without crushing your head, and the breathable design and fabrics ensure you can play for hours without getting a headache or sweaty ears.
Replacing the 40-60mm drivers you’d find in a typical high-end gaming headset are 100mm HIFIMAN planar magnetic drivers that deliver sharp audio with an ultra-wide 8Hz-55kHz frequency response and 16 ohm impedance. ROG and HIFIMAN have tuned the drivers for a balanced sound signature, once again tapping into a crisp and detailed audiophile experience more than “xtra bass gamer ‘splosions.”
Instead of 2.4GHz or Bluetooth wireless connectivity, ROG goes old-school with the Kithara, which is a wired headset. That doesn’t mean the Kithara can’t be used across a wide range of devices, though. The Kithara comes with two cables. The first is a 1.8m dual-3.5mm to dual-3.5mm with an attached boom mic and inline controller. The second is a 1.8m dual-3.5mm to a single-ended connector with interchangeable 3.5mm, 4.4mm balanced, and 6.3mm plugs. The set also includes a dual 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter for added connectivity. The Kithara features 3.5mm jacks on each earcup, so you can easily swap out the default cables for your favorite (and longer) premium cables if you wish.
The ROG Cetra – The Sidekick
Calling the Cetra a sidekick isn’t really fair. The wireless open-ear headphones are a good piece of kit on their own, but the Cetra—or any set of wireless earbuds, for that matter—can’t deliver the same audio experience that something like the Kithara can. Where the Kithara falls flat on its face, though – portability – is where the Cetra steps in and saves the day.
Gaming on the go is all about convenience. Whether you game on your laptop, smartphone, or tablet, you want a device that is lightweight, compact, and easy to connect, with a battery life that will last through a long gaming session. The ROG Cetra checks all of those boxes.
True wireless earbuds are usually more compact, but ROG has opted for an open-ear design for maximum comfort. Even at 11g (many true wireless earbuds weigh about half that), the Cetra’s design rests lightly on your ears, and it’s easy to game for hours since they aren’t stuffed into your ear canal. The tradeoff here is unwanted environmental noise. Traditional in-ear earbuds limit the amount of ambient sound that leaks through – especially with active noise canceling – allowing for a very immersive gaming experience. With an open-ear design, you hear more of your surroundings. If you want to be aware of what’s going on around you while gaming, that’s a positive; if you’re chasing immersion, it’s a drawback.
The extra size of the earbuds also means a larger carrying case. Add in the need to fit a 2.4GHz dongle, and the dimensions come in at 47mm x 44.5mm x 13.61mm. It’s still a fairly lightweight 116g and fits in your pocket without a problem, but if you’re used to smaller earbud cases, you will definitely notice the extra bulk.
Along with comfort, another benefit of the open-ear design is room for larger batteries. You can expect up to 16 hours of playback time in Bluetooth mode with RGB lighting off. Switching from Bluetooth to the 2.4GHz dongle reduces latency, but it also drops the battery life down to around 5–6 hours on a single charge. The case can fully recharge the earbuds three times, increasing total playback to up to 64 hours (around 24 hours in 2.4GHz mode) without needing to plug into an outlet.
Quality and Performance
So, do the ROG Kithara and Cetra stand up to the superhero and sidekick analogy? Not really. The Kithara pulls its weight for sure, but I’m not sold on the Cetra.
I’ve had a wide range of headphones over the years, from $30 budget buys to $300 top-end gaming sets, and I can honestly say that the Kithara are the most comfortable pair I’ve ever worn. The soft foam cups and headband are light and airy, making the otherwise heavy headset sit softly on your head. There’s just enough clamping pressure to keep the set in place without causing a headache after a few hours of continual use.
Just as important as the comfort, the Kithara puts out some fantastic sound. From deep bass to sharp highs, the Kithara handles it all like a champ. Even without full 7.1 surround sound, the Kithara provides great situational awareness in games. It took a little bit of getting used to, but once I became accustomed to the airy feel of the soundstage (this is an open-back design, after all), I was able to easily pick out different audio cues from the environment. You aren’t getting the same intensity of booming explosions as with a high-quality closed-back headset, but the balanced, crisp audio across the entire frequency range is more than an adequate trade-off.
The only real downside to the Kithara – and many audiophiles will give me a stern look and shake their finger at this – is that they are corded. I like the convenience that wireless gives. I’m not tied to my desktop and can get up to grab a soda or answer the door without missing a word in voice chat. It’s a minor inconvenience, surely, but an inconvenience nonetheless, especially considering that the headset would probably perform just marginally worse in a 2.4GHz wireless format.
As for the Cetra, they lack a clear identity. Open-ear earbuds are an odd fit for gaming, where immersion typically matters more than situational awareness. That design makes more sense for outdoor use, and to their credit, the Cetra performed just fine on a few bike rides over Bluetooth. That said, switching to the 2.4GHz dongle introduced an unexpected drawback: noticeably lower volume when paired with my phone, an issue that didn’t show up on desktop or laptop. While ultra-low latency isn’t exactly a priority on a bike ride, it’s still a quirk worth calling out, especially for a product that’s trying to straddle both gaming and everyday use.
More importantly, the Cetra doesn’t do much to justify that balancing act. Size, comfort, and battery life are all strong, but they mean little if the audio can’t keep up. The soundstage is underwhelming across the board. Phone calls and in-game chat come through clearly, but music, movies, and games all sound flat and muddy. The big explosions, punchy bass, and crisp highs I get with the Kithara just aren’t here; what you get instead is something much closer to the sound of a generic $100 pair of Bluetooth earbuds.
The Gear Link software, both web-based and in the mobile app, doesn’t do much to fix that. It’s well designed and offers plenty of sound tweaks, but Phantom Bass barely adds any low-end impact, and the EQ presets don’t meaningfully change the experience. The default tuning isn’t bad, but it isn’t $200-plus good either.
Final Verdict
In the end, the ROG Kithara and ROG Cetra look like a matched pair, but they don’t deliver equal value. The Kithara is easy to recommend: it’s exceptionally comfortable, sounds fantastic, and justifies its price on its own. The Cetra, meanwhile, is perfectly usable, but its awkward identity and underwhelming sound make it a much harder sell at its asking price. If you want one of these, the choice is simple: buy the Kithara. It’s the only one that feels worth the money.
