EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid Wireless Earbuds Review: Can Wireless Earbuds Keep Up With Headsets?

Who are the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid Wireless Earbuds For?

• The EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid wireless earbuds provide an easy way to play Nintendo Switch without bulky headphones or cables
• The wireless earbuds also feature Bluetooth connectivity for phones and laptops
• The EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid earbuds feature a 20 hour battery life when including the charge case

The world is going wireless and nobody knows that better than Nintendo and the Nintendo Switch. The whole console is designed to be played on the go. However, because the console does not support Bluetooth connectivity for headphones, Switch gamers have been stuck with cables when it comes to using earbuds. That has changed with the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid. These true wireless earbuds offer Switch support via an included dongle, along with general Bluetooth capabilities.

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Pretty Bulky

The immediate reaction to the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid is that the earbuds are fairly bulky when compared to other true wireless earbud options. This bulkiness is likely because the earbuds support both Bluetooth connectivity and local connectivity with the included USB-C dongle.

The EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid fills the ear in with the earbud instead of the Airpod style approach of having parts of the earbud dangle below the ear. That means users will have to jam the GTW 270 Hybrids into their ears to get the buds to stay in place. This isn't my preferred earbud style, as I find this style of earbud doesn't stay in my ears as well as the other. There are some included ear tips in multiple sizes to offer a better fit, but they can only do so much.

The charge case, which both serves as a protective case for the earbuds and charges the earbuds when not in use, is also a little bulky compared to other cases. The GTW 270 Hybrid case uses magnets to keep everything in place, but the overall placement of the buds in the case is a bit odd. It always feels like I put the earbuds in the incorrect charge port, even when I do it correctly.

Instead of including tap controls like many other true wireless earbuds, the GTW 270 Hybrid instead uses a physical button that's built into the left earbud. This button handles everything you would expect, like playing and pausing music, skipping tracks, and answering and hanging up phone calls. The one thing the button can't do is adjust the volume.

While I would rather have a button over poorly implemented tap controls, the button placement on the GTW 270 Hybrid is a little inconvenient. Once the earbud is in place, the button sits right on the edge of my ear. To use the button, I have to almost put my finger in my ear. It's not ideal, but then again, I don't know where a button could go on this style of earbud that would be an improvement.

Spotty Connection

Getting the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid earbuds connected to my phone via Bluetooth was a simple process, and once connected, the headphones performed adequately. These don't have any glaring issues in terms of performance while in Bluetooth mode, outside of one time when the earbuds became disconnected from my phone in the middle of a phone call for no reason. That said, the only major strong point the GTW 270s have is that they offer surprisingly solid stereo audio. Everything else in terms of playback quality for the GTW 270 is adequate, with no major high or low points.

When connected to a device via the dongle, the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrids did have some performance issues. Audio cut out or was otherwise interrupted a number of times while playing games on my Switch. This happened even when playing in handheld mode, so it can't be because I was too far away from the dongle.

Interestingly, the GTW 270 Hybrid earbuds will cut the audio of whatever you are listening to if the right earbud is removed from the ear. Putting the earbud back resumes the audio immediately. However, audio does not cut out when the left earbud has been removed. Additionally, the audio doesn't pause when the right earbud is taken out, it simply cuts the audio from the left earbud. This means you'll have to rewind whatever you are listening to if you missed anything.

Multi-Purpose, But Not Easy

Any device scores major points with me if it is multi-purpose or can be used with a wide variety of other devices. The EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid has a huge list of compatible devices, so it checks off a ton of multi-purpose boxes.

Thanks to the Bluetooth integration, the GTW 270 Hybrid earbuds can be used with any device that has Bluetooth connectivity. This includes just about every cell phone and laptop, and many desktops. The USB-C dongle adds even more devices to the compatibility list, including Nintendo Switch (in both handheld and docked mode), PS4, PS5, and any PC that doesn't have built-in Bluetooth. Unfortunately, the earbuds cannot be used at all for in-game chat when using the dongle, which means no party chat when playing on any console. The GTW 270 Hybrids are also not compatible with any Xbox devices.

While it's great to see all the supported devices for the GTW 270 Hybrid, it isn't that easy to jump from one to another when using the earbuds. When going from Bluetooth to the dongle, whatever Bluetooth source being used needs to be shut off and the earbuds need to be put in their case. Once the dongle is plugged in, the earbuds can be taken out and used again. This same process needs to be reversed when going from dongle to Bluetooth. It can get a little annoying when doing it multiple times. Multiple audio sources can't be connected at the same time either, so you can't listen to your own music or podcasts while also hearing game audio.

Odd Microphone Issues

The EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid wireless earbuds have a built-in microphone for making phone calls. The microphone quality isn't as good as talking into a cell phone like normal, but the person I talked to said I sounded loud and clear enough to make it easy to have a conversation.

What's weird about having a phone call with the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid earbuds is that the person I talked to said she could hear an echo of herself when I was using the earbuds. The earbuds happened to drop their connection to my phone during the call, and the person I was talking to said the echo went away as well. As soon as I reconnected the earbuds to my phone, the person I was talking to said the echo returned.

I also experienced feedback issues during my phone calls when I had to reposition the earbuds. Touching the earbuds during the call would send some pretty aggressive feedback squeals into my ear. I assume this feedback was only on my end as the person I was talking to didn't mention anything.

Final Thoughts

Wireless earbuds for the Nintendo Switch are such a smart idea, especially when playing in handheld mode. Add in Bluetooth support, and you have the blueprints for a fantastic product. Unfortunately, the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid wireless earbuds don't quite live up to their promise. The earbuds don't do anything particularly well, and have a few negatives like a bulky size and microphone issues.

If you are looking for wireless earbuds for gaming, the EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid wireless earbuds work well enough, though do have a pretty steep price tag considering they don't offer multiplayer chat support. If you are just looking for Bluetooth earbuds, I would recommend looking elsewhere.