Razer Barracuda Pro Wireless Headphones Review

The Razer Barracuda Pro look similar to the Razer Barracuda X Wireless and the Razer Opus Wireless 2021. They look fairly casual with a shiny plastic exterior and oval ear cups. They also have Razer's logo on each ear cup, but they don't light up. These headphones only come in a black colorway.

They're comfortable headphones. The padding on the headband feels good and doesn't put too much pressure on your head. However, the ear cups trap some heat, making your ears feel warm over time. Your ears may also touch the edges of the inner earpad, and if you have a small head, the headphones can feel large, even in their smallest setting.

The Razer Barracuda Pro have great physical controls. They're quite easy to use, and there's good feedback. Although they have an infinite volume wheel, there are beeps to let you know when you've reached min and max volume. The mic mute button also sticks out when unmuted and feels springy. However, keep in mind that Razer specifies that you may not be able to use all of the power button's additional commands, depending on the device you're connected to.

On the left ear cup:

• Mic mute: Mutes and unmutes the mic.
• Volume wheel: Allows you to adjust the volume.

Power button

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends calls.
• Double press: Skips to the next track.
• Triple press: Skips to the previous track.
• Press and hold: Turns the headphones on and off.

On the right ear cup:

SmartSwitch button

• Single press: Cycles between ANC on, off, and 'Quick Attention' mode, which allows you to better hear your surroundings without taking your headphones off.
• Double press: Switches between Bluetooth and the dongle's 2.4GHz connection.
• Triple press and hold last press for two seconds: Switches between normal and 'Gaming Mode', which offers lower latency when connected via Bluetooth.

The Razer Barracuda Pro aren't very portable. Like the Razer Barracuda X Wireless, they can't fold into a more compact design to save space. Luckily, the ear cups can swivel to lay flat, making them easier to store.

The carrying case is excellent. It feels solid and has a zipper that's fully protected from the elements. Inside the case is a molded space to store your headphones. There's also a closable compartment to store the cables and dongle when you're not using them.

Their build quality is good. They're mostly made of plastic with faux leather padding and a metal headband. They also have braided audio cables and an integrated mic, which helps make them look casual. However, the hinges make a creaky noise when you're putting them on or taking them off your head. The padding on the ear cups also feels a bit mushy, and you can touch the frame by putting pressure on it.

These over-ears have fair stability, depending on your head shape. If you have a small head, you won't find them that stable as they can fall off with moderate head movement. However, if you have a larger head, they may still feel a little loose but will stay on your head better.

• Razer Barracuda Pro headphones
• USB-C wireless transmitter
• USB-A to USB-C adapter cable
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Carrying case
• Razer sticker and voucher
• Manuals

When using the default preset with THX Spatial Audio off, these over-ears have a neutral sound profile on PCs that's versatile enough for a variety of audio content. There's a bit of extra bass to add thump, rumble, and boom to audio, although overemphasis in the high-mids makes vocals and lead instruments a bit harsh. You can fine-tune their sound using their companion app or software, depending on the connection you use. You can also find a comparison of all the presets here.

We also compared the frequency response over the dongle and Bluetooth to compare results when connected via PC and with ANC set to max as well as other lower ANC settings. You can see within both graphs that there are minor differences, but it's overall consistent. Subjectively, you can also hear a slight difference, but it doesn't drastically change their sound profile.

Connecting to a PlayStation 5 console with the wireless dongle, you'll notice that the sound changes when you turn ANC on compared to ANC off. When ANC is on with the PS5, effectively you'll observe the bass response sounds weaker and thinner, and the mids, such as voices, sound hollow.

The Razer Barracuda Pro's frequency response consistency is decent. While they tend to deliver audio fairly consistently in the bass range, you may still notice a small drop in bass if you have thick hair or glasses. Treble delivery is a lot more variable, though, and it depends on the headphones' fit, positioning, and seal on your head.

Their bass accuracy is excellent. The range is slightly overemphasized, adding a touch of extra thump, punch, and warmth to audio. If you're playing video games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you'll hear a bit more boom when thick, heavy weapons like a club hit enemies in combat. This extra bass doesn't overwhelm or muddy vocals and lead instruments, though.

The mid accuracy is very good. The low to mid-mid are very flat, so dialogue and vocals sound clear and present. However, a peak in the high-mid range can make these sounds harsh.

The Razer Barracuda Pro's treble accuracy is very good. There's some overemphasis from the high-mid into the low-treble, which makes the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments a bit harsh. Another bump in the mid-treble turns sibilants like cymbals piercing.

The Razer Barracuda Pro's peaks and dips performance is good. A peak in the low-bass adds extra thump and rumble to mixes as another a peak in the high-bass adds boom. A dip in the low to mid-mid thins out vocals and lead instruments while pushing them to the back of the mix. Another peak in the high-mid harshens vocals and lead instruments. The following peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants like cymbals piercing.

The Razer Barracuda Pro's imaging performance is excellent. This test allows us to see the alignment of the left and right drivers and indicates how well headphones accurately reproduce and place spatial objects like footsteps in the stereo image.

The weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, which results in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. As a result, each layer of your audio sounds clear. The L/R drivers of our unit are also well-matched when it comes to amplitude and frequency response, so objects like voices or sound effects are accurately placed in your audio. That said, there's a bump in the phase response's mid-mid and in the low to mid-treble, and it can be audible with real-life content. Sound seems to switch between the left and right drivers and is a bit louder in the right driver, depending on what kind of audio you're listening to. Keep in mind that imaging can vary between units, and it can indicate a manufacturer's quality control and ergonomics.

Their passive soundstage performance is poor. They're closed-back headphones, so sound can't leave the ear cups and interact with your environment. As a result, the soundstage seems large and somewhat natural, but sound seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you.

You can access THX Spatial Audio in their companion software. This feature allows you to adjust the width of the soundstage via speaker modeling and select different audio spatialization modes. This feature also has an 'Auto' mode, which allows this feature to automatically switch modes depending on what app you're using, like an audio streaming service or a game. You can calibrate each mode to suit your tastes or create a new mode.

Their weighted harmonic distortion performance is great. The ranges fall within good limits, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction, even at high volumes.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. We tested sound with the default EQ and with THX Spatial Audio off. Our results are only valid in these settings.

The Razer Barracuda Pro's noise isolation performance is excellent. These headphones have an adjustable ANC you can set to your liking in the companion app. After updating to firmware update 1.52-1.02.00, we measured a slight improvement in noise isolation across the range, but it's somewhat minor overall. As a result, the ANC does a decent job at cutting down the low rumble of bus and plane engines, but other headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless can block out even more bass-range noise for a quieter commute. However, for hybrid gaming/casual headphones, they still offer a solid performance in this range. These headphones do a significantly better job of reducing sounds like office chatter and the high-pitched hum of an AC unit. The ANC doesn't do much to improve the headphones' passive noise isolation capabilities in the mid-mid to treble range.

Their leakage performance is decent. The bulk of the leakage is in the treble range, which sounds thin. That said, if you're listening to your favorite audio at high volumes and in a moderately noisy environment, it won't be too noticeable to people around you.

Using the USB Dongle with the Microphone Voice Gate and the Microphone Noise Cancellation features off, the integrated mic has a good recording quality. You can hear a difference in performance depending on what configuration you're using though. You can hear recordings of the following settings: PC via Bluetooth, PC via USB dongle with mic ANC set to 'Low', PC via USB dongle with mic ANC set to 'High', and iPhone 11 via Bluetooth with mic ANC set to 'High'.

This mic has a customizable noise handling performance, thanks to the robust settings in their companion app. Using the USB Dongle with the Microphone Voice Gate and the Microphone Noise Cancellation features off, the integrated mic has fair noise handling. It has some trouble separating your voice from moderate ambient noise, so if you're taking a call from a busy street, your voice may be difficult to hear clearly. It won't be much of a problem if you're gaming in your home. You can see a graph of the difference in the mic's ANC when set to off, low, and high here.

Their companion software offers a feature called 'Voice Gate' that can help separate your voice from moderate ambient noise. The app also offers a 'Mic ANC' feature, which is supposed to help cut down background noise when you're using the mic. There's a difference in mic performance, depending on what you're connected to and the mic ANC setting selected. You can see a graph of the difference in the mic's ANC when set to off, low, and high here. For pink noise, you can hear the following: PC via Bluetooth, PC via USB dongle with mic ANC set to 'Low', PC via USB dongle with mic ANC set to 'High', and iPhone 11 via Bluetooth with mic ANC set to 'High'. With the mic ANC set to 'High', the pink noise is pretty much absent from the PC and iPhone recordings. However, the noise is present in the PC via Bluetooth recording, as you can't select a mic ANC mode using this connection, as well as when mic ANC is set to 'Low'.

You can also hear the Razer Barracuda Pro's subway noise recordings with the following settings: PC via Bluetooth, PC via USB dongle with mic ANC set to 'Low', PC via USB dongle with mic ANC set to 'High', and iPhone 11 via Bluetooth with mic ANC set to 'High'. With the Razer Barracuda Pro's mic ANC set to 'High', both the PC and iPhone recordings have very little background noise present. However, at the peak of the subway noise, the voice becomes distant and hard to hear. In the PC via Bluetooth recording, the subway noise is present throughout the entire track. However, when the mic ANC is set to 'Low', subway noise only becomes very noticeable at the peak of the noise.

These headphones have an excellent battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to last 40 hours continuously, and we measured just over 34 hours, which will easily last you through long gaming marathons or days on the go. Battery life can vary depending on your usage, though. Luckily, they're equipped with an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life when you're not using them. They don't support passive playback, though, because they don't have an audio port.

These headphones can access two different apps, depending on your connection. If you're using their wireless dongle on PCs, you can use Razer Synapse 3. This software offers tons of customization features, including THX Spatial Audio, a 10-band graphic EQ and presets, and an ANC slider with 10 different settings plus off and talk-through. You can also finetune the mic's performance using features like the voice gate, 10-band EQ and presets, and side tone. You can even adjust the auto-off timer.

If you're connected to your smartphone, you can access Razer Audio on iOS and Android devices. While it isn't as robust as Razer Synapse 3, you can still access the ANC slider as well as the 10-band graphic EQ and presets. You can also access a 'Do Not Disturb Mode', which blocks calls while gaming using the 2.4GHz connection, 'Quick Connect', which allows you to switch between audio sources and turn on mic noise cancellation between low and high. You can also adjust the auto-off feature, change the voice prompt language, and update the firmware.

These headphones come with a USB-A to USB-C cable for only recharging the headphones, so you can't use it to receive audio. They also come with an extension cable adapter for the wireless dongle. However, they don't have an audio jack, so you can't use them wired with a 1/8" TRRS cable.

These headphones have excellent Bluetooth connectivity. You can simultaneously pair them with your Bluetooth device and your console via the wireless USB dongle. These headphones also have a 'Game Mode' in their companion app, and our SBC results reflect its performance. Using this mode helps lower audio lag within acceptable levels and reduces lip sync issues. However, if you use standard SBC, you can expect very high latency, almost up to 300 ms, causing your audio and visuals to be out of sync. Some apps and devices compensate for latency, though.

The Razer Barracuda Pro have excellent non-Bluetooth wireless connectivity. Thanks to their USB dongle, they have low latency, ensuring that your audio and visuals stay in sync while gaming.

These headphones can connect to PCs via Bluetooth with full compatibility. They can also connect to PCs using their USB dongle, and you can receive audio as well as use the mic.

The Razer Barracuda Pro can connect to PS4 and PS5 consoles via the USB dongle. Using this connection ensures full audio and mic compatibility.

Using the wireless dongle with the PS5 and enabling ANC alters the sound profile from what you'll hear in standard listening mode. The bass response is weaker and thinner with less thump, while mids, such as voices, sound hollower than when the ANC is disabled or you're using Ambient mode. However, this only happens in ANC mode, and it's unknown why. If you've experienced this, please let us know in the forums.

They come with a USB dongle for wireless compatibility. It doesn't have any inputs and connects to your devices via USB-C.