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Updated January 10, 2024·
Choosing between the Moondrop Chu and the Steelseries TUSQ depends on your priorities. If overall sound quality is paramount and you'll mainly use them for music and calls, Moondrop Chu, being less expensive, offers better sound. Neither have wireless capabilities or active noise cancelling, so if a wire-free experience or silencing background noises are important, you may want to consider other options. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Moondrop Chu
Very good for phone calls
Good for podcasts and audiobooks
Advantages of the Steelseries TUSQ
Good for air travel
Key differences
Gaming
8.0/10
8.5/10
The Steelseries TUSQ and Moondrop Chu are both very good for gaming, though the Steelseries TUSQ is somewhat better.
Phone Calls
8.8/10
5.2/10
The Moondrop Chu is very good for phone calls, while the Steelseries TUSQ is poor.
Podcasts and Audiobooks
7.6/10
4.7/10
The Moondrop Chu is good for podcasts and audiobooks, while the Steelseries TUSQ is poor.
Cost
$134
$99
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
The Moondrop Chu has a price of $134 and the Steelseries TUSQ costs $99.
"These budget buds put the pressure on those premium priced in-ear monitors to really justify the cost disparity. Offering excellent sound quality at any price, the Moondrop Chu is both a perfect entry into the audio enthusiast hobby, and an all around good pick for music fans."
"The SteelSeries Arctis Tusq is a great headset for those on a more modest budget. You can use it for gaming or music, and I daresay it's also great for Zoom meetings when you don't want to be wearing on-ear or over-ear headphones."
Get a great deal on the Moondrop Chu or the Steelseries TUSQ
About Moondrop
Moondrop is a Chinese brand of smart audio equipment, portable audio players, earbuds and headphones started in 2015. During the last few years they have become one of the major players in what is lovingly referred to as the Chi-fi market, the bulk of Chinese companies that have managed to actually compete with the western manufacturers in both prices and superior quality. Products such as the Blessing II, Chu and Kato are among the most popular offerings of the brand, more popular among those users that wish for good quality audio that won't break the bank. Besides audio, the brand also works in what they call the ACGN field (Animation, Comics, Games and Short Novels).
About Steelseries
Steelseries is a Danish gaming products manufacturer founded in 2001 and owned by GN Store Nord. Beside a large variety of gaming peripherals like mice, keyboards, and mousemats, Steelseries markets the Arctis line of gaming headsets which feature integrated boom microphones and RGB lighting. Steelseries has partnered with several game publishers and studios for limited editions of their products like a line of Cyberpunk 2077 themed headsets in 2020.
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the Earbuds or Headphones team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Earbuds and Headphones Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Luis Torres
Earbuds and Headphones Expert
Luis is a Mexico-based headphones expert. He’s been making headphone recommendations for five years and has close to 100 pairs in his personal collection.