What is game mode?
Game mode. It's on every product box these days. But what is it? Here's the simplest explanation we can give.
Which game mode?
Game mode on your true wireless earbuds and headphones
Do your wireless earbuds have game mode? Sounds good! But what does it mean?
It means your earbuds have a mode with less delay.
In practice, when you play a game on your phone or console, you won't notice a delay between the picture and the sound. So if you fire a gun in a game, you hear the shot at the same moment you see the gun fire.
You can often turn on game mode using your earbuds' touch controls or buttons. Check the manual.
Game mode on your TV
Newer TVs often have a game mode too. It makes the TV process the picture and sound coming from your console as quickly as possible. In other words, game mode gives you much less delay.
This makes the picture respond faster to what you do on the controller. That might sound like a minor detail, but even a small delay in your system can seriously hurt your gaming performance.
Take an exaggerated example: imagine the picture appears 1 second late. The step you take to the left, the shot you fire, or the turn you make to the right only appears a second later. Think how much that delay would affect your game.
Game mode on your phone
Game modes are becoming more common on phones too. Here, though, the term refers to two things rather than just one.
On a smartphone, game mode means:
- Less delay (low latency)
- Do not disturb mode
That means keeping delay to a minimum. It also means turning on do not disturb mode, so you don't keep getting pop-ups while gaming on your phone.
How does game mode work?
Game mode on earbuds usually works through the codec. Essentially, the code sent from your device, such as your phone or game console, is simplified. This makes transmitting and decoding it easier and therefore faster.
Game mode often comes with a trade-off in sound quality. For gamers, how quickly they hear the sound often matters more than how good it sounds.
Others also viewed:
- Browse all our blogs about wireless earbuds
- These are the earbuds with the best microphone
- Also check out the 3 best earbuds for running
- Also check out our hands-on look at the DunRock Bubble
