FREQUENCY RESPONSE 12 Hz – 28 kHz.Headphones fit type:Over-Ear
The Best-Selling Gaming Peripherals Brand: Source – The NPD Group, Inc. U.S. Retail Tracking Service: Gaming Keyboards, Gaming Mice, Gaming Headsets, Gaming Peripherals; Based on dollar sales, Jan-Sept. 2021 combined
THX 7.1 Surround Sound Capable: Provides industry-leading audio realism for in-game immersion by providing accurate spatial audio information beyond standard 7.1 surround sound directional cues
2 Modes of Connection: Enjoy lossless audio for low-latency wireless gaming with Razer HyperSpeed Wireless, or choose to game in wired mode with its removable 3.5mm jack
All-Day Comfort: Soft breathable memory foam ear cushions that prevent overheating and pressure build-up
Triforce Titanium 50mm High-End Sound Drivers: Outfitted with cutting-edge, 50mm drivers divided into 3 parts for individual tuning of highs, mids, and lows
Detachable Razer Hyperclear Supercardioid Mic: 9.9mm mic has better voice isolation and produces a truer recreation of your speech, which can be further tuned via Razer Synapse
Up to 24hr Battery Life: Works on PC wirelessly for up to 24 hours at extremely low latency; 3.5mm headphone jack available for console gaming use
Compatible with Xbox One, Xbox X|S via 3.5M Jack
Sensitivity: 100 dB (1 kHz)
Product Dimensions
6.5 x 3.94 x 7.88 inches
Item Weight
11.3 ounces
Item model number
RZ04-03220100-R3U1
Batteries
1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included)
Date First Available
September 22, 2020
Manufacturer
Razer Inc.
Country of Origin
China
8 reviews for Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless Gaming Headset: THX 7.1 Spatial Surround Sound – 50mm Drivers – Detachable Mic – for PC, PS5, PS4, Switch, Black
Rated 5 out of 5
Tred009 –
What more can you ask for? I use this headset quite a bit and its always comfortable. I not only game but I work from home, as a supervisor I have 4-5 meetings every single day so I use this headset for at least 7-8 hours each day. It has enough battery life to stay wireless the entire day and to ensure I can game at night I simply charge it while I’m at lunch. I’ve never actually gotten a “low battery” notice. Now, that’s all great but how they sound is probably even more important. I LOVE how these sound. They have good bass without being ridiculous and boomy like some gaming headphones. They have fantastic directional sound for games and I enjoy the overall sound quality/profile. Another great feature for me is the mic. This is a GREAT mic. As I stated earlier I run quite a few meetings and my teams immediately noticed how much better I sounded once I started using this headset. It does well blocking out background noise yet ensuring I sound crisp. Overall, for under $150 I just don’t see there being a better wireless headset option. To get something better you’re going to be spending well over $200 and more than likely into the $300 range. My ONE complaint is the mute button. It is quite sensitive and its right next to the power button which you need to hold for a few seconds to turn on. This causes me to accidently mute myself when attempting to turn on the headset. its a minor annoyance but still… I’d have moved the mute button to the other cup or at least away from the power button. Overall, for me, this headset has been great. I wear it nearly all day every day and it still looks brand new. If you’re looking for an affordable gaming headset that sounds great and has battery life to run all day I absolutely recommend the Blackshark V2.
Rated 1 out of 5
Chris –
There is no mic sidetone on this model. There is a glitch or a problem with it and at any volume level then fully maxed out you will not be able to hear yourself. On a 250$ headset this is ridiculous. I will say it is comfortable and sounds good, but when your are buying gaming headset to game, and a basic voice communication function does not work it reduces the overall value. To make sure I didn’t not just receive a faulty unit I have already refunded and replaced, same issues on the second unit. Avoid this headset until this issue is fixed, 250$ for faulty performance is unacceptable.
Rated 3 out of 5
Ingrid F Witisen –
I’ve recently been looking for reviews of numerous computer bits and bobs.. and it seems that Razer has a LOT of influence with the reviewers.
These headphones are “average”, and the 7.1 isn’t in hardware, it’s software emulation (i.e. you can get a stereo headphones and get the exact same experience with the right software)
The 7.1 experience is .. “meh”. I *certainly* wouldnt say that playing games thru these is awful by any stretch of imagination, but not NEARLY as good as the reviews make out.
And THEN (And to be honest, this is my biggest thing), in order to get all the sounds/etc it expects you to run all their (quite memory hogging) software in the background.. And the software is, IMHO, not great.. took me ages to get working, took me ages to make sure headphones were recognized, etc.
This is 2021, it shouldnt be this awful to just plug headphones in.
Rated 5 out of 5
Hayden –
I’m writing this review from the perspective of somebody who loved the Hyper X Cloud II’s, unfortunately my pair had stopped working during a gaming session one night, I had the pair for a good 5 years before this happened so I can say I definitely got my money’s worth, if it weren’t for them dying I never would have made the switch to the Blackshark v2 Pro in all honestly.
What I was looking for in a pair of headphones:
When I was shopping for a new pair I was looking for a wireless pair, the one thing the Hyper X Cloud II’s doesn’t provide. The cord on the Cloud II’s is very long, it would often get tangled in my chair which I believe ultimately ended up causing the pair to die in the long run, so with my new pair I wanted to eliminate the cord without sacrificing anything crucial.
Footsteps:
Most gamers will agree how important hearing footsteps in-game can be, that was the main thing I was worried about when I made the decision to buy this headset. The Hyper X Cloud II’s execute this perfectly, every foot step is heard and it’s crystal clear, there is no confusion of where the enemy is coming from and it’s not disorienting. Fortunately I have had no issue’s, confusion or disorientation well listening for footsteps with these headphones so far and I don’t think I’ve lost any ability to listen to enemies in game. This alone makes the purchase feel worth it for me personally.
Bass:
I’ve seen other reviewers stating that there is more emphasis and focus on bass and I do agree with this, it’s most evident when you play a game you’re very familiar with, for me that would be CS:GO. When I first loaded the game I could hear the difference just from the loading screen, at first I was slightly worried it would be overwhelming and to much bass that drowns out key elements of the game. I played a single game and can say that is not the case. It is more “bass focused” but it doesn’t drown out other elements of the game. For example, if somebody is shooting a gun you can really hear the bass in the gun shots, but when somebody runs up behind you it’s still very evident and clear where they are coming from and that they are approaching you. In terms of music and media, everything sounds good in my opinion, mids and highs don’t sound tinny. Simply just more emphasis on bass.
Sound Isolation:
Another element reviewers have been mentioning is that the sound isolation is poor, I understand where they’re coming from but I have to disagree. I think they do a great job with sound isolation with these headphones. When I first tried them on I could still hear myself typing, but the second you’re in-game, or have music playing it prevents you from hearing all the outside noise. The Hyper X Cloud II’s did a better job at sound isolation, but the difference from those headphones to the Blackshark V2’s is barely noticeable. You have to be really nit picking to notice that. In-game there is no distraction from outside sounds, listening to music I feel completely isolated, the only time I could notice a difference is well watching YouTube/Media where there is breaks in the sound, or low points where there isn’t much going on, but during a heated moment in game I can’t see myself or others getting distracted from outside noise due to “poor isolation”.
Comfort:
As for comfort I haven’t had them long enough to really determine if they keep up with the Cloud II’s in this department, but initial thoughts I think they will. I’ve used them for a few hours and there’s no soreness, or aching yet. These feel a lot more light weight than the Cloud II’s, build quality feels up to par with them as well, these feel like a solid pair of headphones that will last me many years, and many long night gaming sessions.
Overall I think they’re good headphones so far. They ticked all my box’s/needs in a pair of headphones. I will say I don’t think they’re worth $250. If you are looking to purchase these headphones I’d recommend waiting for a sale of some sort. If you’re buying on a budget don’t get these, they are not worth $250 and I would HIGHLY recommend Hyper X Cloud II’s. If you’re looking for wireless headphones that will compete with your wired headphones then I do recommend these for you. I think it really depends what you’re looking for in headphones to determine if these are worth it or not. For me, it’s worth it. For others I can see why they’re disappointed or not pleased with their purchase. Really determine what you’re looking for before purchasing, as you might be left feeling disappointed with your decision.
Rated 4 out of 5
Dressi –
The two major drawbacks of this headset were the range and sound quality. Now, quality is subjective, so I can’t really fault it for not standing up to studio headsets like HD600 and ATH70x. But from a gaming headset perspective, I would have expected some better quality. Mostly the range was the killing blow. I couldn’t walk across my room without it blipping and disconnecting, even within line of sight of the connector. And the same USB port was fine with my EPOS 370 or Corsair Virtuoso plugged in, and anything BT just put the range to shame.
For the range reason alone, I am returning the product. I work from home and need to be able to walk around while on the phone or go to the kitchen or do my laundry all while listening in on a conference call.
If range isn’t that important to you and if you aren’t an audiophile, then these may be very worth it. Here are some of the things that I really wish my ultimate choice headphone had:
+ Volume knob is super easy to feel operate. I’m never catching my hair in it while I try and operate it. + The build really feels high quality. The textured nature of the plastic has a premium touch and it just feels like a quality set. The way it is shaped and adjusts is unique. I could also take it on and off very easily with my long hair not catching at all (partly due to the use of cloth instead of leatherette). Notably, I could adjust them without grabbing my hair. These are the only headphones I’ve worn that made me feel very confident that I wasn’t going to pull my hair while doing so. That was actually super comforting. + The power button functions as a pause/play/answer/hangup button! That was actually amazing and I found myself using it quite a bit. I really REALLY wish this was a feature on any of my other headsets. + The mic was removable and easy to add back. I have the Corsair Virtuoso, and the removable mic is difficult to get on and off. I do go through long periods of gaming where I’m not going to be talking to anyone, so having the option to just remove the mic is a good one. But I don’t find myself removing that one due to having to take the headphone off just to get the mic on. The BlackSharks, however, could more easily get the Mic back in without much issue.
These are not the most comfortable headphones I’ve owned (that actually goes to the Soundcore Q35 and second to my ATH70x, which is wired). But I easily found myself going all day with them while at work without an issue. They didn’t feel like they needed a breaking in period.
Minor gripe that may be big for others: micro USB. Like I had gotten rid of everything else that was micro USB. All my other devices are USB-C, which makes it super easy to charge things from a set of the same cables. So why? I could have overlooked this for the fact that the battery was seemingly good from the beginning.
Minor plus: the microphone right out of the box was actually good at reducing background noise, though it didn’t sound that great to begin with. NVIDIA Broadcast app is like cheat-mode for removing background noise, and I run that all the time. So, this was a small thing to consider, but just out of the box, it could keep down the sound of my mechanical keyboard to a minimum, which was not something any other headset had seemed to be do. Props to that.
Ultimately the sound quality was so pale compared to the EPOS 370’s which were (for me at the time) $40 cheaper. That and the range was enough for me to return these, even with a super convenient shape for me and the pause/play button I found myself using a TON. I use that all the time on my Soundcore Q35’s. But still, it’s a return for me. Again, if range isn’t a problem (you’ll just be sitting at your desk or on the sofa across from the TV) and you’re not spoiled by audiophile-ish cans, then these should be just fine if not on the pricy side for something with micro-USB still.
Rated 3 out of 5
Daniel –
Amazing headphones, love them. But! They did come faulty though, one side of the retractable and adjustable part of them is loose since unboxing them. This unfortunately hinders them from sitting fitted on the head. As you can see in the picture, one side is really loose and slides out easily, making them uneven and affecting the quality of sound, as not tight on the head. This is clearly a manufacturer’s error, as I’ve looked online and many people had the same issue until they exchanged them, and some still got faulty ones even after exchanging them. Not sure what the fix is here, sending them back and waiting for a new pair would take over a month, as they took long to arrive. Not sure what to do about them. A reply would be appreciated!
Rated 3 out of 5
AJ Ferda –
Quick FYI: I bought this. This is not from the Vine program.
Now. Pitter patter!
This is long and I rarely do this but TLDR: Great sound, terrible mic. So, for PvE games: great. PvP with teammates in chat: Newp. Just…nope.
The THX Surround sound: With games that support THX….these sound amazing. With games that don’t….depending on the game? Meh. They have a “Game Mode” that is more of a surround sound simulation. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great. I found the normal game sound to be better in some cases.
To test these I used iRacing, Destiny 2 and Division 2, both of which support the THX surround. You can set two different modes for the THX: Environment or Competitive. What’s the diff you ask? Well…Environmental enhances your surroundings. Like, I’m on the Leviathan. It’s a giant, now haunted ship in Destiny 2. There are so many sounds going on around you. Eerie voices, the sound of the ship, the aliens wandering around all over the place…the Enviro mode makes all that stuff sound crazy real. Downside? It does sound a bit harsh when there’s a lot of loud sounds like…gunplay? lol I found it to be super loud in the high mid range BUT…since there is an EQ built into the app, you can compensate for that.
Competitive dials down the atmospheric sounds and enhances things like footsteps, voices, weapons being loaded/cocked etc. It works very well. Some of the same issues as Enviro mode. It EQ’s out some frequencies and boosts others making it a bit harsh at times as well. I found my weapons sounded really thin. They didn’t have that BOOM! to them.
In iRacing…they didn’t make it sound awful…but it wasn’t great.
In Division 2 it REALLY blew my mind. Wandering through the empty streets of NYC, you hear everything from the rats scurrying past you to dogs in the distance, to the storm coming in off the ocean. Again, loud noises are harsh the same as Destiny but again, fixable.
They are REALLY comfortable and I have a HUUUUUUGE noggin! It’s like an orange on a toothpick! The over the ear cups have memory foam and a nice breathable material instead of the usual god awful pleather you find on most headsets. I wear glasses and they accommodate them nicely. No discomfort at all.
The wireless works very well with no perceptible lag making everything run seamlessly and keeping your gaming experience fast and furious….or not.
Now…what’s the “ONE BIG PROBLEM” you ask?
The microphone “Side Tone” is just….awful. I mean, just…..just awful. What’s side tone? Real quick it’s the ability to hear your voice in the headset so you’re not yelling at your teammates. It lets you monitor your own voice making you speak in a normal manner. This function might as well not even be on them.
I looked into this before I wrote this and found that this is and has been a HUGE complaint of many people who bought these and Razer have not done anything to fix it. You can compensate for it by turning your game volumes down but that can be a pain if you switch back to your speakers as you have to go back in and change the volume again.
Why is this a big deal? Well…if you don’t play with other people, it probably wont bother you. If you play a lot of team based games with PvP like Destiny, COD, Rainbow 6 etc. you are going to be talking to your teammates a lot. If you can’t hear yourself, you end up overcompensating by talking super loud which will annoy the crap out of everybody and you’ll only hear the dull, muted sounds of your voice resonating through your skull which is not fun at all.
I don’t know if it is simply an issue of the mic needing more power than the headset provides, or if it’s just a firmware/software issue but for me…it’s REALLY frustrating. In iRacing for instance, I need to hear teammates or just the drivers and be able to speak to them. Because of the constant loud sounds of your engine, the other cars etc. when you can’t hear yourself, you talk REALLY loud. You will find your teammates etc get really tired of that really fast.
Now, I have a set of Logitech PRO headset in the same price range and the side tone works beautifully. Its loud, its clear and it’s very adjustable. Whether on PC or PS4, it works how it’s supposed to. The Blackshark Pro V2 does not. And it’s a bummer.
I am seriously considering returning them as I really need to be able to hear myself with the kinds of games I play. Again, if you don’t play with people much you won’t care. The sound is exceptional as I said.
So….everything else about this headset is excellent. The sound quality way exceeded my expectations. The build quality is good….the coat hanger wire that holds the earpieces to the headband are a bit fragile, but if you’re not hard on your gear you’ll be fine.
Would I recommend these? If you play PvP a lot with other people using voice chat? No. If you don’t? Sure. They sound awesome.
Rated 4 out of 5
Jared Augerot –
I got a good deal on them for black Friday for $99. I’m going to review these as if they were full price because most of the time others will get that pricing. I may have given them 3 stars if I paid full price. I will make a long-form review and give quick points. It’s just a lot of money and I want to be thorough for anyone reading this considering a purchase.
There are plenty of reviews that give some of the bigger points about this and I’d say a lot of them led me correctly. My biggest fear with this set was the wires that hold the cups to the headband. They look very flimsy and not durable, I was very skeptical when reviews say they are sturdy. I can confidently say that is no longer a concern of mine. They are surprisingly strong.
My new concern with the build is the wire that connects the two parts. I find myself needing to be very careful when taking them off so my finger doesn’t catch on them and pull on the wire. I did get used to that but it’s worth noting. I wager if any part of the build will fail, it’s that wire.
The microphone by default sounds really bad. You can tweak it in the app, and then it sounds okay. This is not the headset for people who will use the mic a lot. There is no indicator that you are muted except the button height. The attachment mic with the pop filter makes a light indicator difficult to do, but I notice myself talking as if I’m unmuted to myself.
The range is very impressive. I can go across my house and if there is nothing between me and the receiver it works really well. When I do go behind a wall and it does lose connection it has no delay when it gets back in range to get the music back. *However, this comes to my biggest gripe about this headset. Despite the range being great, sitting right in front of my computer, I will sometimes have moments of bad audio quality and it will even disconnect about 1-2 times per day. I use my computer for most of the day. It happens once every ~4-6 hours of use. That is something that is really concerning to me.
Other than that, the audio quality is very good, however, it does seem quieter than my previous headset. This doesn’t bother me because of the next point.
The noise cancellation is impressive. My house can get pretty loud and if I’m listening to music, it blocks out much of that noise. If someone talks to you, you have no idea. Without listening to music, I’d say about 65% – 75% of the noise is blocked out passively.
It finds a great balance between being light and tight, but very comfortable. It is very secure on my head. The cups are a little small. They are deep enough and padded enough that the depth doesn’t bother me. The width is wide enough, but it’s somewhat close to being too narrow.
I wish it had some macro/media keys on it. The play/pause, skip, and back media keys are all done by using the power button with different pressing patterns. This makes the time needed to hold the power button to turn on and off longer than I wish, and that’s extra stress on that one button. But it does work well.
I do wish that it was USB-C, but the micro USB holds in place very securely and I suspect that’s the reason they chose that type of cable. It takes about 3.5 hours to charge. The battery lasts me about a day and a half of my use. I wish that was longer, but that is the nature of battery technology right now. Much more would make the headset heavy. *However, the app does not tell you the fill percentage of the headset battery. You only have maybe 10 pixels to visualize how full it is. While it’s charging it has a charge animation that makes it so you only know it’s charging, and the only way to know exactly how full it is is by unplugging it. That is a silly problem to have and I hope they fix it. I can’t believe they haven’t fixed that yet. I have read that the same app has battery fill percentages on their mice.
Overall, I would say it’s a good headset, but I did expect better from a headset of this price. Overall it’s a great headset if you ignore the major problem with it disconnecting within 2 feet from the transmitter. But that is also a big issue for a headset to have.
Tred009 –
What more can you ask for? I use this headset quite a bit and its always comfortable. I not only game but I work from home, as a supervisor I have 4-5 meetings every single day so I use this headset for at least 7-8 hours each day. It has enough battery life to stay wireless the entire day and to ensure I can game at night I simply charge it while I’m at lunch. I’ve never actually gotten a “low battery” notice. Now, that’s all great but how they sound is probably even more important. I LOVE how these sound. They have good bass without being ridiculous and boomy like some gaming headphones. They have fantastic directional sound for games and I enjoy the overall sound quality/profile. Another great feature for me is the mic. This is a GREAT mic. As I stated earlier I run quite a few meetings and my teams immediately noticed how much better I sounded once I started using this headset. It does well blocking out background noise yet ensuring I sound crisp. Overall, for under $150 I just don’t see there being a better wireless headset option. To get something better you’re going to be spending well over $200 and more than likely into the $300 range. My ONE complaint is the mute button. It is quite sensitive and its right next to the power button which you need to hold for a few seconds to turn on. This causes me to accidently mute myself when attempting to turn on the headset. its a minor annoyance but still… I’d have moved the mute button to the other cup or at least away from the power button. Overall, for me, this headset has been great. I wear it nearly all day every day and it still looks brand new. If you’re looking for an affordable gaming headset that sounds great and has battery life to run all day I absolutely recommend the Blackshark V2.
Chris –
There is no mic sidetone on this model. There is a glitch or a problem with it and at any volume level then fully maxed out you will not be able to hear yourself. On a 250$ headset this is ridiculous. I will say it is comfortable and sounds good, but when your are buying gaming headset to game, and a basic voice communication function does not work it reduces the overall value. To make sure I didn’t not just receive a faulty unit I have already refunded and replaced, same issues on the second unit. Avoid this headset until this issue is fixed, 250$ for faulty performance is unacceptable.
Ingrid F Witisen –
I’ve recently been looking for reviews of numerous computer bits and bobs.. and it seems that Razer has a LOT of influence with the reviewers.
These headphones are “average”, and the 7.1 isn’t in hardware, it’s software emulation (i.e. you can get a stereo headphones and get the exact same experience with the right software)
The 7.1 experience is .. “meh”. I *certainly* wouldnt say that playing games thru these is awful by any stretch of imagination, but not NEARLY as good as the reviews make out.
And THEN (And to be honest, this is my biggest thing), in order to get all the sounds/etc it expects you to run all their (quite memory hogging) software in the background.. And the software is, IMHO, not great.. took me ages to get working, took me ages to make sure headphones were recognized, etc.
This is 2021, it shouldnt be this awful to just plug headphones in.
Hayden –
I’m writing this review from the perspective of somebody who loved the Hyper X Cloud II’s, unfortunately my pair had stopped working during a gaming session one night, I had the pair for a good 5 years before this happened so I can say I definitely got my money’s worth, if it weren’t for them dying I never would have made the switch to the Blackshark v2 Pro in all honestly.
What I was looking for in a pair of headphones:
When I was shopping for a new pair I was looking for a wireless pair, the one thing the Hyper X Cloud II’s doesn’t provide. The cord on the Cloud II’s is very long, it would often get tangled in my chair which I believe ultimately ended up causing the pair to die in the long run, so with my new pair I wanted to eliminate the cord without sacrificing anything crucial.
Footsteps:
Most gamers will agree how important hearing footsteps in-game can be, that was the main thing I was worried about when I made the decision to buy this headset. The Hyper X Cloud II’s execute this perfectly, every foot step is heard and it’s crystal clear, there is no confusion of where the enemy is coming from and it’s not disorienting. Fortunately I have had no issue’s, confusion or disorientation well listening for footsteps with these headphones so far and I don’t think I’ve lost any ability to listen to enemies in game. This alone makes the purchase feel worth it for me personally.
Bass:
I’ve seen other reviewers stating that there is more emphasis and focus on bass and I do agree with this, it’s most evident when you play a game you’re very familiar with, for me that would be CS:GO. When I first loaded the game I could hear the difference just from the loading screen, at first I was slightly worried it would be overwhelming and to much bass that drowns out key elements of the game. I played a single game and can say that is not the case. It is more “bass focused” but it doesn’t drown out other elements of the game. For example, if somebody is shooting a gun you can really hear the bass in the gun shots, but when somebody runs up behind you it’s still very evident and clear where they are coming from and that they are approaching you. In terms of music and media, everything sounds good in my opinion, mids and highs don’t sound tinny. Simply just more emphasis on bass.
Sound Isolation:
Another element reviewers have been mentioning is that the sound isolation is poor, I understand where they’re coming from but I have to disagree. I think they do a great job with sound isolation with these headphones. When I first tried them on I could still hear myself typing, but the second you’re in-game, or have music playing it prevents you from hearing all the outside noise. The Hyper X Cloud II’s did a better job at sound isolation, but the difference from those headphones to the Blackshark V2’s is barely noticeable. You have to be really nit picking to notice that. In-game there is no distraction from outside sounds, listening to music I feel completely isolated, the only time I could notice a difference is well watching YouTube/Media where there is breaks in the sound, or low points where there isn’t much going on, but during a heated moment in game I can’t see myself or others getting distracted from outside noise due to “poor isolation”.
Comfort:
As for comfort I haven’t had them long enough to really determine if they keep up with the Cloud II’s in this department, but initial thoughts I think they will. I’ve used them for a few hours and there’s no soreness, or aching yet. These feel a lot more light weight than the Cloud II’s, build quality feels up to par with them as well, these feel like a solid pair of headphones that will last me many years, and many long night gaming sessions.
Overall I think they’re good headphones so far. They ticked all my box’s/needs in a pair of headphones. I will say I don’t think they’re worth $250. If you are looking to purchase these headphones I’d recommend waiting for a sale of some sort. If you’re buying on a budget don’t get these, they are not worth $250 and I would HIGHLY recommend Hyper X Cloud II’s. If you’re looking for wireless headphones that will compete with your wired headphones then I do recommend these for you. I think it really depends what you’re looking for in headphones to determine if these are worth it or not. For me, it’s worth it. For others I can see why they’re disappointed or not pleased with their purchase. Really determine what you’re looking for before purchasing, as you might be left feeling disappointed with your decision.
Dressi –
The two major drawbacks of this headset were the range and sound quality. Now, quality is subjective, so I can’t really fault it for not standing up to studio headsets like HD600 and ATH70x. But from a gaming headset perspective, I would have expected some better quality. Mostly the range was the killing blow. I couldn’t walk across my room without it blipping and disconnecting, even within line of sight of the connector. And the same USB port was fine with my EPOS 370 or Corsair Virtuoso plugged in, and anything BT just put the range to shame.
For the range reason alone, I am returning the product. I work from home and need to be able to walk around while on the phone or go to the kitchen or do my laundry all while listening in on a conference call.
If range isn’t that important to you and if you aren’t an audiophile, then these may be very worth it. Here are some of the things that I really wish my ultimate choice headphone had:
+ Volume knob is super easy to feel operate. I’m never catching my hair in it while I try and operate it.
+ The build really feels high quality. The textured nature of the plastic has a premium touch and it just feels like a quality set. The way it is shaped and adjusts is unique. I could also take it on and off very easily with my long hair not catching at all (partly due to the use of cloth instead of leatherette). Notably, I could adjust them without grabbing my hair. These are the only headphones I’ve worn that made me feel very confident that I wasn’t going to pull my hair while doing so. That was actually super comforting.
+ The power button functions as a pause/play/answer/hangup button! That was actually amazing and I found myself using it quite a bit. I really REALLY wish this was a feature on any of my other headsets.
+ The mic was removable and easy to add back. I have the Corsair Virtuoso, and the removable mic is difficult to get on and off. I do go through long periods of gaming where I’m not going to be talking to anyone, so having the option to just remove the mic is a good one. But I don’t find myself removing that one due to having to take the headphone off just to get the mic on. The BlackSharks, however, could more easily get the Mic back in without much issue.
These are not the most comfortable headphones I’ve owned (that actually goes to the Soundcore Q35 and second to my ATH70x, which is wired). But I easily found myself going all day with them while at work without an issue. They didn’t feel like they needed a breaking in period.
Minor gripe that may be big for others: micro USB. Like I had gotten rid of everything else that was micro USB. All my other devices are USB-C, which makes it super easy to charge things from a set of the same cables. So why? I could have overlooked this for the fact that the battery was seemingly good from the beginning.
Minor plus: the microphone right out of the box was actually good at reducing background noise, though it didn’t sound that great to begin with. NVIDIA Broadcast app is like cheat-mode for removing background noise, and I run that all the time. So, this was a small thing to consider, but just out of the box, it could keep down the sound of my mechanical keyboard to a minimum, which was not something any other headset had seemed to be do. Props to that.
Ultimately the sound quality was so pale compared to the EPOS 370’s which were (for me at the time) $40 cheaper. That and the range was enough for me to return these, even with a super convenient shape for me and the pause/play button I found myself using a TON. I use that all the time on my Soundcore Q35’s. But still, it’s a return for me. Again, if range isn’t a problem (you’ll just be sitting at your desk or on the sofa across from the TV) and you’re not spoiled by audiophile-ish cans, then these should be just fine if not on the pricy side for something with micro-USB still.
Daniel –
Amazing headphones, love them. But!
They did come faulty though, one side of the retractable and adjustable part of them is loose since unboxing them.
This unfortunately hinders them from sitting fitted on the head.
As you can see in the picture, one side is really loose and slides out easily, making them uneven and affecting the quality of sound, as not tight on the head.
This is clearly a manufacturer’s error, as I’ve looked online and many people had the same issue until they exchanged them, and some still got faulty ones even after exchanging them.
Not sure what the fix is here, sending them back and waiting for a new pair would take over a month, as they took long to arrive. Not sure what to do about them. A reply would be appreciated!
AJ Ferda –
Quick FYI: I bought this. This is not from the Vine program.
Now. Pitter patter!
This is long and I rarely do this but TLDR: Great sound, terrible mic. So, for PvE games: great. PvP with teammates in chat: Newp. Just…nope.
The THX Surround sound: With games that support THX….these sound amazing. With games that don’t….depending on the game? Meh. They have a “Game Mode” that is more of a surround sound simulation. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great. I found the normal game sound to be better in some cases.
To test these I used iRacing, Destiny 2 and Division 2, both of which support the THX surround. You can set two different modes for the THX: Environment or Competitive. What’s the diff you ask? Well…Environmental enhances your surroundings. Like, I’m on the Leviathan. It’s a giant, now haunted ship in Destiny 2. There are so many sounds going on around you. Eerie voices, the sound of the ship, the aliens wandering around all over the place…the Enviro mode makes all that stuff sound crazy real. Downside? It does sound a bit harsh when there’s a lot of loud sounds like…gunplay? lol I found it to be super loud in the high mid range BUT…since there is an EQ built into the app, you can compensate for that.
Competitive dials down the atmospheric sounds and enhances things like footsteps, voices, weapons being loaded/cocked etc. It works very well. Some of the same issues as Enviro mode. It EQ’s out some frequencies and boosts others making it a bit harsh at times as well. I found my weapons sounded really thin. They didn’t have that BOOM! to them.
In iRacing…they didn’t make it sound awful…but it wasn’t great.
In Division 2 it REALLY blew my mind. Wandering through the empty streets of NYC, you hear everything from the rats scurrying past you to dogs in the distance, to the storm coming in off the ocean. Again, loud noises are harsh the same as Destiny but again, fixable.
They are REALLY comfortable and I have a HUUUUUUGE noggin! It’s like an orange on a toothpick! The over the ear cups have memory foam and a nice breathable material instead of the usual god awful pleather you find on most headsets. I wear glasses and they accommodate them nicely. No discomfort at all.
The wireless works very well with no perceptible lag making everything run seamlessly and keeping your gaming experience fast and furious….or not.
Now…what’s the “ONE BIG PROBLEM” you ask?
The microphone “Side Tone” is just….awful. I mean, just…..just awful. What’s side tone? Real quick it’s the ability to hear your voice in the headset so you’re not yelling at your teammates. It lets you monitor your own voice making you speak in a normal manner. This function might as well not even be on them.
I looked into this before I wrote this and found that this is and has been a HUGE complaint of many people who bought these and Razer have not done anything to fix it. You can compensate for it by turning your game volumes down but that can be a pain if you switch back to your speakers as you have to go back in and change the volume again.
Why is this a big deal? Well…if you don’t play with other people, it probably wont bother you. If you play a lot of team based games with PvP like Destiny, COD, Rainbow 6 etc. you are going to be talking to your teammates a lot. If you can’t hear yourself, you end up overcompensating by talking super loud which will annoy the crap out of everybody and you’ll only hear the dull, muted sounds of your voice resonating through your skull which is not fun at all.
I don’t know if it is simply an issue of the mic needing more power than the headset provides, or if it’s just a firmware/software issue but for me…it’s REALLY frustrating. In iRacing for instance, I need to hear teammates or just the drivers and be able to speak to them. Because of the constant loud sounds of your engine, the other cars etc. when you can’t hear yourself, you talk REALLY loud. You will find your teammates etc get really tired of that really fast.
Now, I have a set of Logitech PRO headset in the same price range and the side tone works beautifully. Its loud, its clear and it’s very adjustable. Whether on PC or PS4, it works how it’s supposed to. The Blackshark Pro V2 does not. And it’s a bummer.
I am seriously considering returning them as I really need to be able to hear myself with the kinds of games I play. Again, if you don’t play with people much you won’t care. The sound is exceptional as I said.
So….everything else about this headset is excellent. The sound quality way exceeded my expectations. The build quality is good….the coat hanger wire that holds the earpieces to the headband are a bit fragile, but if you’re not hard on your gear you’ll be fine.
Would I recommend these?
If you play PvP a lot with other people using voice chat? No.
If you don’t? Sure. They sound awesome.
Jared Augerot –
I got a good deal on them for black Friday for $99. I’m going to review these as if they were full price because most of the time others will get that pricing. I may have given them 3 stars if I paid full price. I will make a long-form review and give quick points. It’s just a lot of money and I want to be thorough for anyone reading this considering a purchase.
There are plenty of reviews that give some of the bigger points about this and I’d say a lot of them led me correctly. My biggest fear with this set was the wires that hold the cups to the headband. They look very flimsy and not durable, I was very skeptical when reviews say they are sturdy. I can confidently say that is no longer a concern of mine. They are surprisingly strong.
My new concern with the build is the wire that connects the two parts. I find myself needing to be very careful when taking them off so my finger doesn’t catch on them and pull on the wire. I did get used to that but it’s worth noting. I wager if any part of the build will fail, it’s that wire.
The microphone by default sounds really bad. You can tweak it in the app, and then it sounds okay. This is not the headset for people who will use the mic a lot. There is no indicator that you are muted except the button height. The attachment mic with the pop filter makes a light indicator difficult to do, but I notice myself talking as if I’m unmuted to myself.
The range is very impressive. I can go across my house and if there is nothing between me and the receiver it works really well. When I do go behind a wall and it does lose connection it has no delay when it gets back in range to get the music back.
*However, this comes to my biggest gripe about this headset. Despite the range being great, sitting right in front of my computer, I will sometimes have moments of bad audio quality and it will even disconnect about 1-2 times per day. I use my computer for most of the day. It happens once every ~4-6 hours of use. That is something that is really concerning to me.
Other than that, the audio quality is very good, however, it does seem quieter than my previous headset. This doesn’t bother me because of the next point.
The noise cancellation is impressive. My house can get pretty loud and if I’m listening to music, it blocks out much of that noise. If someone talks to you, you have no idea. Without listening to music, I’d say about 65% – 75% of the noise is blocked out passively.
It finds a great balance between being light and tight, but very comfortable. It is very secure on my head. The cups are a little small. They are deep enough and padded enough that the depth doesn’t bother me. The width is wide enough, but it’s somewhat close to being too narrow.
I wish it had some macro/media keys on it. The play/pause, skip, and back media keys are all done by using the power button with different pressing patterns. This makes the time needed to hold the power button to turn on and off longer than I wish, and that’s extra stress on that one button. But it does work well.
I do wish that it was USB-C, but the micro USB holds in place very securely and I suspect that’s the reason they chose that type of cable. It takes about 3.5 hours to charge. The battery lasts me about a day and a half of my use. I wish that was longer, but that is the nature of battery technology right now. Much more would make the headset heavy.
*However, the app does not tell you the fill percentage of the headset battery. You only have maybe 10 pixels to visualize how full it is. While it’s charging it has a charge animation that makes it so you only know it’s charging, and the only way to know exactly how full it is is by unplugging it. That is a silly problem to have and I hope they fix it. I can’t believe they haven’t fixed that yet. I have read that the same app has battery fill percentages on their mice.
Overall, I would say it’s a good headset, but I did expect better from a headset of this price. Overall it’s a great headset if you ignore the major problem with it disconnecting within 2 feet from the transmitter. But that is also a big issue for a headset to have.