Razer BlackShark V3 Pro review – wireless gaming headset excellence

The Razer BlackShark has established itself as one of the vital in style gaming headsets round, and for good purpose. For the reason that BlackShark V2 Professional, its sensible design and stable efficiency have proved best for severe players. Now the sequence is again for its newest replace, with the Razer BlackShark V3 Professional bringing a surprisingly lengthy listing of enhancements to the V2 Professional (2023), most notably the addition of lively noise canceling (ANC). With these enhancements comes a big improve in worth, although, making a advice removed from a nailed-on certainty.

I’ve examined the BlackShark V3 Professional to see how a lot distinction all these modifications make and to see whether or not Razer’s newest is nice sufficient to retain the BlackShark’s prime spot on our greatest gaming headset information. For those who undoubtedly cannot or will not stretch to the brand new excessive worth of this headset, you possibly can all the time take a look at the brand new BlackShark V3 and BlackShark V3 X Hyperspeed that hold a lot of the identical core design however drop just a few options for dramatically decrease costs.

Specs

Options

The Razer BlackShark V3 is without doubt one of the largest product launches Razer has ever had, as not solely is it launching the V3 Professional PC model we’re reviewing right here, but it surely’s additionally launching the lower-tier V3 and V3 X Hyperspeed fashions for PC, together with console-specific variations of all three for Xbox and PlayStation.

You may see the complete breakdown of all of the variations and what they do and haven’t got within the picture beneath (right-click or maintain your finger down on it to view at full dimension). You may see that the massive options separating the Professional from the non-Professional are that the Professional helps ANC, has a brand new, larger high quality microphone, and it consists of 3.5mm audio enter (through a 3.5mm to USB-C cable).

Not famous is that the Professional has detachable earcup panels that ought to later enable for swapping the plates to improve the look of your headset (Razer hasn’t launched any upgradeable elements but). The correct one additionally features entry to the battery, although Razer would not contemplate this a user-upgradeable half, however slightly a servicing entry panel.

In the meantime, differentiating the non-Professional from the X is a drop from THX Spatial Audio 7.1.4 assist to “common” 7.1 digital encompass, assist for just one on-headset EQ profile, and a drop to HyperSpeed Gen-1 wi-fi, which has a better latency than the Gen-2 model of the opposite two headsets.

Together with these modifications, the lower-tier fashions have fewer and less-fancy foremost drivers. The BlackShark V3 Professional has TriForce Bio-Cellulose, the non-Professional has TriForce Titanium, whereas the X has simply plain previous TriForce drivers. Razer would not go into element about what the bodily variations are between these drivers, however in our listening exams, the X Hyperspeed’s drivers are very clearly not as succesful as these of the Professional, with weaker bass, far much less top-end readability, and a typically extra muddy presentation. Our full Razer BlackShark V3 X Hyperspeed overview will probably be up quickly.

New mannequin comparisons apart, a key query many BlackShark V2 Professional homeowners could have is what precisely is new with the V3 Professional and whether or not the improve is worth it. We’ll cowl the latter over the course of this overview, however when it comes to options, there are numerous upgrades.

The drivers of the brand new mannequin have been upgraded. The TriForce Bio-Cellulose Gen-2 drivers have a brand new central “plug” that Razer claims reduces harmonic distortion by 50%. The principle diaphragm form has additionally been redesigned, and the everlasting magnet is bigger too. Razer would not declare any modifications to the frequency response or sensitivity of the brand new drivers, however, as our sound exams present, there’s a clear change.

Elsewhere, the brand new headset now permits for correct simultaneous Bluetooth and Hyperspeed wi-fi listening. Beforehand, you would preserve a connection to your PC and a Bluetooth machine, however could not hear each feeds on the identical time. Now you possibly can. You can even select in software program whether or not to listen to each sources on the identical time when a telephone name is available in, have the PC at decreased quantity, or utterly reduce PC audio.

The microphone has additionally seen an improve with Razer now contemplating this microphone a “full band” mannequin slightly than a “huge band” mannequin. Regardless of this, the mic solely claims a 100-10kHz frequency vary, which is not precisely what we might name full band, however once more, we did spot a transparent improve in our testing.

Three additional massive upgrades listed here are that the earcup arms can now swivel barely, permitting the headset to adapt higher to extra head shapes, you have bought these detachable earcup plates, after which the most important improve of all is lively noise cancellation. The headset has mics constructed into every earcup to allow this, with the choice to have a pass-through listening mode in addition to the ANC mode and simply turning ANC off.

One other change is the choice of controls. Just like the previous design, the V3 Professional has a distinguished quantity knob on the facet, which now has a knurled end and detents when it turns, making it really feel like a way more high quality unit.

The USB-C port can be now recessed to cut back pressure on the socket itself, whereas the facility button is bigger with a clearly distinguishable cross-hatch floor, making it straightforward to inform other than the opposite buttons – a key downside with the previous headset. Completely new to this headset is the addition of a multi-function wheel on the left earcup that, by default, controls the combo between sport audio and chat audio.

Subsequent to this are buttons for ANC (on, off, and ambient mode) and profile switching, with the latter biking by means of the as much as 9 EQ settings you possibly can configure in Synapse and retailer on the headset.

Sound high quality

The Razer BlackShark V3 Professional’s sound high quality has noticeably improved upon the V2 Professional in just a few methods and makes for a typically excellent-sounding headset total.

Out of the field, sub bass is just a little decrease than the V2 Professional however nonetheless decently highly effective, whereas total readability and top-end element are higher than the older mannequin. What’s extra, the impressively granular 10-band EQ in Razer’s Synapse software program enables you to actually crank the bass up with out simply making a muddy-sounding mess.

Listening to tracks like Lose Management by Missy Elliot and Bass Head by Bassnectar with default settings, you get an honest bass thump. Nevertheless, with a +3 on the 31Hz and 63Hz EQ bands, you possibly can actually really feel the bass reverberating round your cranium.

For extra assorted listening, the V3 Professional additionally holds up nicely. For rock, indie, and acoustic piano and guitar, you get an honest quantity of mid-range heat whereas nonetheless having a driving low finish and glowing prime finish. What’s extra, once more, the EQ is nice for having the ability to dial in your most well-liked sound. For heavy metallic, just a little enhance round 63Hz and once more at 2kHz enhances the rumble of bass and kick drums whereas giving distorted guitars just a little push with out getting too shrill and ear-piercing.

All this prowess and tweakability for music additionally interprets to wonderful audio for video games. Explosions and gunfire hit onerous whereas delicate particulars corresponding to footsteps are nonetheless articulated with aplomb. In the meantime, for true esports gaming, the EQ once more proves very helpful, with you in a position to dial again the loud distracting sounds and actually hone in on enhancing the frequencies that relate to key in-game cues.

To that finish, Razer has labored with a bunch {of professional} players to create pre-loaded EQ profiles for particular video games. These embrace Valorant, CS2, Fortnite, CoD, and Apex Legends. I attempted the Apex and CS2 profiles extensively, and so they labored a deal with, actually enhancing footsteps and skill activations, making it simpler to trace enemies with out having to deafen your self within the course of.

Additionally working nicely is the ANC. It isn’t the completely simplest, but it surely properly cuts most exterior din. Crucially, it does so with out coloring the sound of the headset a lot in any respect. There is a very slight discount in bass total, and louder noises can disturb your listening just a little, however largely it’s totally efficient.

That stated, I did typically really feel just a little little bit of head strain from utilizing the ANC. I did not discover this at first, however over time, I discovered it typically felt just a bit peculiar, significantly after an extended session of carrying the headset.

Battery life

The Razer BlackShark V3 Professional’s battery life is respectable if unexceptional for a contemporary gaming headset. At 70 hours, it is a massive enchancment over the standard battery lifetime of wi-fi headsets from only a few years in the past, but it surely would not stretch out a big lead over present opponents.

Crucially, this claimed determine by Razer held up in our testing. It is a headset that can simply final a few days of all-day use with no need a cost.

Value

One of many largest downsides of this headset is that the Razer BlackShark V3 Professional worth has elevated by a full $50 over the earlier mannequin. Now priced at $249, it’s miles from the costliest headset round, however you are undoubtedly paying a brand new premium for the addition of ANC and simultaneous listening.

Nonetheless, we’re in a market scenario the place tech has simply bumped up in worth in the previous few years. As such, the BlackShark V3 Professional is not a complete outlier. Nevertheless, there is not any doubting that it’ll be an choice for many who are actually severe about their gaming.

Verdict

Razer BlackShark V3 Professional has completely achieved sufficient to proceed to see the BlackShark title sit on the prime of our greatest gaming headset information. Its mixture of consolation, ease of use, nice sound, and a laser concentrate on sensible, usable gaming options means it is our favourite headset for lengthy and/or aggressive gaming periods.

The addition of ANC truthfully would not truly really feel like a vital one for a headset that is not in any other case best for journey, but it surely’s nonetheless good to have and makes this a extra rounded choice. Likewise, the flexibility to hearken to each your PC and a Bluetooth connection on the identical time.

In the meantime, it is simply the consolation, sound high quality, and tweakability of the sound to go well with completely different video games and musical genres that actually make this headset shine.

Is it the last word all-rounder headset for journey, commuting, cellular gaming, and extra? No. However is it the very best headset for each day driving your gaming PC? Completely. It is only a disgrace about its new excessive worth.

For extra important gaming PC peripheral suggestions, why not take a look at our guides to the very best gaming keyboard or finest gaming mouse, each of which embrace a variety of choices for all budgets and wishes.