Pairing and Customization

Pairing the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova is simple, given they turn on in pairing mode when you open the case and take them out. They also automatically connect to a previously paired device the same way. I had no problem getting my phone/laptop to detect the earphones and, by default, these connect using the SBC or AAC Bluetooth codecs, depending on what your device supports—LC3/LC3plus codecs are not as common as I would like just yet, but that's the way to go for Bluetooth LE. For some reason, ASUS seems to think LC3/LC3plus is a 2.4 GHz codec which makes no sense at all. On my Android phone, I also got a pop-up asking if I'd like to add these to my account. There's also more integration here to where I can see battery levels right from my phone notifications screen. Likewise, it tells me there's an app for these earphones which I can download easily as opposed to having to search for it first. I'll also mention that the battery level seen here is more precise than what the LED indicators can do, and you don't need to use any app for this. There is multipoint connectivity on offer, which is nice to see, and this is the first time I've seen a TWS set do both 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth hybrid simultaneous multipoint.


Speaking of the app, ASUS has a first-party mobile application which is named the same as its desktop software suite—Armoury Crate. While this may get people skeptical given the generally negative mindset the desktop program has, thankfully the mobile app is better. It is available on Android and iOS platforms and of course has some bloat because ASUS doesn't know how to make something minimal. You can bypass anything unnecessary once you add these to the app though, which necessitates you already having paired them to your phone or other such mobile device. The home page could be better laid out since the first impression might make you think there isn't much going on. As it stands, it's a series of menus and tabs you need to pull up to access all the options available here. The settings cog is where we start, especially as I noticed a firmware update was available. It took ~3 min, and then I was ready to take a look at the hybrid multipoint feature allowing you to easily choose the devices to connect to, the onboard gestures which are not customizable, the languages on offer for voice prompts, and even the toggle to turn wear detection on or off. If you wish to, say, pause music playback if you remove the IEMs from your ears, this is a useful feature. It's not flawless though, since the ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova does not have optical sensors as with some other sets—I ended up turning it off to preserve battery life.


The home page is likely where you will spend most of your time with the Audio menu offering sound optimization and EQ functionality. There are several presets to both, and a custom setting too. ASUS uses a simple 10-band EQ without any scale on Y-axis, so you are left to guess how many dB you are actually changing, let alone the associated filter type and Q-factor. The same goes for the Bass Boost slider too, which is even worse. The Dirac and Virtual Surround Sound toggles are left for you to play around with. I found both to be goofy gimmicks at best, especially with the tuning these IEMs have that you will see on the next page. Then there's the ANC section offering you to turn it on/off as well as switch to ambient mode. There is an auto mode advertised by ASUS which seemingly switches between different levels of ANC on the fly, but i have no idea how to turn it back on after choosing any of these three modes other than doing a reset. The Lighting section thankfully warns you about the high battery drain the LEDs will cause, but it's to be expected from an ROG product. You get fairly good LED control for a TWS set in terms of choosing the exact color you want (16.8 M colors) in addition to choosing one of four lighting effects. I did try them on, was impressed for a while, then promptly turned the LEDs off for battery life. The Power menu gives you the same battery numbers that my phone notifications did anyway, but also allows you to change the idle time from the default 5 min if you so desire. I will also mention that Armoury Crate on the PC also recognizes these earphones and provides for all these options in addition to channel volume, microphone, and audio playback settings.