Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Razor Blackshark V2 skips the fancy RGB illumination, heavier weight and added bulk of large gaudy headsets in favor of a more compact, lightweight form factor with great comfort and performance. The design is fairly basic and features a combo power/mute button, adjustable volume knob and detachable boom mic all on the left ear cup. The ear cushions are made of a breathable memory foam and the ends of the headband have an open arm design around the cups. The open design allows for lighter weight, improved airflow and more comfortable wear throughout lengthy gaming or music listening sessions. It did take me a bit to warm up to the memory foam cups. I’m more accustomed to leatherette cups and found the memory foam a little scratchy and odd feeling at first. The more I wore the headset, the more comfortable the cups felt. After a while, they were barely noticeable at all. As anyone familiar with Razer products can likely guess even with their eyes closed, the color scheme is black and green. The headset can connect via either a 3.5mm braided nylon cable or an attachable USB sound card. Like the headset, the sound card is compact and lightweight. Sound through the 3.5mm connection is okay but the THX spatial audio enabled sound card is absolutely a must use. The difference in sound quality with and without the card is night and day. Without the card, particularly without THX enabled, sound is still pretty good for gaming but nothing particularly special. It isn’t as rich or warm sounding and instead leans more toward the flat to bright end. The difference is even more noticeable with music. Without the sound card, music sounds flat and uninspired with middling bass that’s heard but never really felt. With the card attached and the Razer Synapse software installed, sound quality improves dramatically and there is even a bass boost option. Although there is no active noise cancelling, the passive noise cancellation provides excellent isolation and clarity that pretty much negates the need for ANC. Sound effects and spatial awareness are very good for both intense action-packed scenes or more quiet stealthy moments during gaming. Ambient sounds are also clear and easily identifiable. The detachable boom mic performs excellent. Chatting via Zoom, Teams, Discord and XBox Live all sound clear and distortion-free to parties on the other end. The Synapse software is also a must-have because the sound card is practically useless without it. The app is logical and intuitive to use. There are several adjustable sound profiles and presets for both gaming and music in the app. In addition to playback sound adjustment settings, there is an entire tab dedicated to mic settings. Synapse also has not one but two fully adjustable EQ’s; one for sound and another for the mic. If using the headset on Windows 10, the user will be prompted to install synapse the very first time the headphones are plugged in. The app can also be downloaded from Razer if the auto-prompt option is skipped or doesn’t appear automatically. If there are other Razer peripherals in use on the same PC, Synapse can manage those devices as well. I like the performance of the Blackshark V2. The simplistic design, excellent performance, comfort and price make it a strong contender to my current favorite headset brand which usually designs similarly styled headsets. The 3.5mm cable allows the headset to be used on a variety of different platforms that support a 3.5mm connection. But as I’ve shared earlier, the real magic happens while listening through the THX enabled sound card.

I’ve had this for a while now. It’s a good pair of headphones by itself, but using it with the sound card and the Razer software is a game changer. I use this both for my xbox and pc. Unfortunately you need the sound card to take advantage of the full Razer software, so its not as good with the xbox, compared to the PC. As a PC headphones, it provides good noise isolation and the surround sound is a lot better than other headphones ive tried. Great for gaming, streaming and watching videos. Definitely not an audiophile headphones, but its good at what it is meant to do. 5/5

Headphones are generally not particularly exciting I admit, especially when they are rated for E-Sports but these are awesome! I used these primarily for my PC. They are comfortable to wear especially for long gaming sessions. You can use these on any device with a 3.5mm hack but the USB Soundcard makes it sound the best. I was using a Kraken V2 headset and the Blackshark blows the Kraken away. The THX Spatial Sound is amazing, it really is at another level. It really blew me away. These headphones are great especially for the price!

This headset replaced a pair of Kraken Kitty Ears that suffered a short in the line (3rd so far for that model in our house). The Black Shark may not have the lights or extras but the sound quality has been great for MMO play and listening to movies & shows. Only complaint has been keeping the detachable mic away from my cat.

They're pretty decent headphones. NOTE: You Do not need to install Razer Synapse to use these headphones. Just and FYI ;). I use them daily for 3+ years and they are pretty decent.

I’ll preface my review with the fact that I used these on ps4. Your testing them on other consoles will likely have a different result. The headphones themselves look and feel great. I like that the volume knob and mute is on the actual headphone. I feel like the removable mic sounds excellent when using the usb connection and decent when plugged into the controller. I wish the mic was able to be tucked away or retracted kind of similar to my kraken headset. Since the 3.5” mic plug that goes into the headset has to be plugged in a certain way it gets tricky trying to get it right. The sound is clear and sounds excellent through usb and good enough through the controller. The major issue with these, to me, was that I couldn’t get enough volume on them. Even with everything maxed on ps4, headset and game the volume is just ok. The bass seemed kind of weak as well hearing some slight distortion when a deep bass note dropped. At the current price range of these, if you’re a ps4 player, you may be able to find something better if you’re looking for loud sounds and deep bass.

For the price this has been one of the best headphones I've used. Great sound! Although the microphone was not the best but was good enough for people to understand me

I’m always eager to try new gaming hardware so getting the Razer Blackshark V2 Multi-Platform Wired Esports Headset with USB Sound Card was no exception. I own two other Razer gaming headset models, some mice, and keyboards so I knew pretty much what to expect in terms of the quality of Razer products. The Blackshark had me particularly curious due to its specs and features which include Razer TriForce Titanium 50mm Drivers, the Razer HyperClear Cardioid Mic with USB Sound Card, and THX Spatial Audio. Unboxing the Blackshark reveals the headset, the detachable mic, the usb soundcard, and the manual. I sidestepped the manual and simply attached the mic and the soundcard and plugged it into a USB port. The headset is plug and play as windows detected it and moments later I was prompted to install the Razer software. I’m guessing this is because I already had Razer Synapse software installed for another Razer headset. What installs is an updated Razer Synapse version 3. During installation you’re presented with an option to install optional software such as Amazon Alexa. Most of the other options are intended for Razer keyboards and mice. Upon completion my older headset now appears as a legacy device. There are tons of configuration options here. More on that later. While the software installed I slipped the headset on. I was very quickly impressed with the look and feel of the Blackshark. The design strikes me as retro in style and is reminiscent of 70’s headphones. I like it. I particularly like the volume knob on the headset. Very convenient to just reach for the knob to adjust volume while in a game. The mic also strikes me as retro looking with a bulbous foam tip cover. Here I’m less of a fan but I’m sure it’s there to improve mic sound. The headset is quite light and extremely comfortable with memory foam ear cushions. After hours of gameplay I noticed no headphone discomfort. While the Blackshark‘s look and feel good I would say the build quality has what I’d describe as an “unsubstantial” feel. Upon trying the Blackshark V2 for the first time for gameplay I found myself immediately disappointed with the sound quality. I found it harsh and tinny. I quickly returned to the Synapse software to adjust settings. I literally tweaked every mixer and enhancement setting in every imaginable combination for hours in an attempt to improve the sound. I’d say in the end it was better but I still found it incredibly lacking. My other Razer headset had a more full and natural sound right out of the box. I was particularly looking forward to trying the THX Spatial Audio feature of the Blackshark which Razer describes as “next gen surround sound”. I play defense often and hearing the approach of an enemy and pinpointing their location quickly is key to getting the jump on them. Good surround sound is crucial but again here the Blackshark V2 was a disappointment. I found the THX Spatial Audio to be horrible. I found that it was not a continuous and immersive effect as one moves through an environment. What I experienced was a sound originating from behind me would drop out periodically as I turned and moved through the game in relation to that sound source which made it difficult to determine location and distance. Instead of allowing me to pinpoint an enemies location I found the THX Spatial Audio to be incredibly irritating and distracting to the point that I quickly recognized that my gameplay was negatively impacted. Here again I tried every imaginable combination of Synapse settings to correct this with no improvement. Ultimately I was shocked to discover that I really didn’t like the Razer Blackshark V2 headset.

These are the first headphones I've owned that have the most intuitive and easy to use volume and mute controls. Volume is a relatively large knob and the mute is a simple push button, both of which you can quickly and easily reach just by feel. The memory foam ear cups are very comfortable and seal out the ambient noise. The headband part is nicely cushioned and comfortable as well, and I've worn these for hours at a time with no discomfort. The sound quality is fine as far as I can tell, both in games and listening to music. I've not tried the game audio enhancements yet to see if that feature gives you an advantage, but that sounds interesting. When plugging in via USB on my Win10 laptop, the Razer software installed automatically with no problems. There's even an Alexa module so you can control the lights and any other home automation you might have right through the headset. Just using the audio cable, the headphones worked great on my Samsung phone and PS4. The only slight downside that I can see with these headphones is just the way they look. They're perfectly fine for gaming, and kind of have a military look to them, but I wouldn't necessarily use these in a Zoom call for work. The large foam covered mic would be a bit distracting. Overall, though, I'm very pleased with these so far.

With such a low price you wouldn't expect such great quality but this headset is outstanding and I prefer it over some of the $200+ headsets ive previously owned

Great sound and mic! Easy set up! I had no issues with this headset at all and it has been a nice upgrade from my old headset

I am giving this two stars because of the features it has and the comfort level of the headset. Other then that, I am very disappointed with this headset. Razer has a good reputation for making good quality gaming accessories, but they dropped the ball with this one. The headset comes with a USB sound card attachment and you can control all the settings through the Synapse app. I of course used the headphones with no EQ or settings to get a good baseline. I was very shocked to hear how lackluster the sound quality was from these. It is incredibly tinny and has an awful low end. The low end is very muddy and ruins all the mid frequencies. So I thought, maybe I should play with EQ and settings. That made it WORSE. I swear, I played with every setting possible to try to get a decent sound and nothing worked. I consider myself an audiophile and love reviewing headsets and sound systems, so I know what to look for when listening. I then played some Warzone with these. I could not hear anything useful. I could not hear enemy footsteps, the explosions were very muddy, gunfire tinny, voice comms quiet, just an awful gaming experience. I switched back to my cheap amazon headphones for gaming and they blew these out of the water. Sorry Razer, but I don't know what you did with these headphones, but you missed the mark. The saving grace is the comfort and design and app integrations for other Razer products and even Alexa, but nothing can salvage such poor audio quality.

My last headset was the ps gold headset and it was really disapointing. Audio was meh and the mic was absolutely terrible and after 1 year the ear cups started to tear away so when i bought this headset is was so much better its hard to describe. The comfort is better than any headset ive tried, the sound quality is just chefs kiss, and the mic is amazing. Even my friends said that i sounded 10 times better. Definetly buy these if your looking for an amazing 100$ headset

I’m always a bit skeptical when it comes to headphones but these here are more than enough. Great sound and cam be used in any console.

Great headphones for the price. They work perfect for streaming and talking in discord.

These are comfortable and nice to look at. Thank you

Two years in and it hardware malfunctioned on me... just a few days short of the limited warranty deadline. Customer service said effectively you're SOL. As far as the two years of what I'll consider "rental" of these pair of headphones, they were good about sound and the EQ options to optimize for gaming, movies, music, etc are useful for the audiophiles out there. THX spatial sound worked well enough. Comfort: long hours wearing this will become stiff feeling in the ears and head due to the heavier weight. Next pair of headphones I'll get will be open-back. Conclusion, none of this matters if what you have is a $100+ plastic souvenir. The left ear lost audio (crackled at first then gone completely). I troubleshootes to no end.

This was a gift for my son-in-law. He seems to like it.

I purchased these for my partner's birthday. He has enjoyed them so far.

High quality headset that has multiple connection options including laptop headphone jack.