Razer Barracuda Wireless Headphones Review

The Razer Barracuda look nearly identical to the Razer Barracuda Pro Wireless with a casual look. However, the difference is that they have cloth padding instead of leather. Although they're intended for hybrid use, including gaming, they lack a boom mic and rely on an integrated mic. They also have Razer's logo on each ear cup but don't have RGB lighting. Keep in mind that they only come in one color variant: black.

The Razer Barracuda have a comfortable fit. The headphones are a bit large, even when put into their smallest setting, so it can be tricky for smaller heads to get a good fit. Compared to the Razer Barracuda Pro Wireless, they have cloth padding instead of leather, but it still feels good and plush. If you have large ears, they may touch the inner edges of the earpads, though, and padding can trap some heat over time. The padding on the headband feels good, and they don't put too much pressure on your head.

These headphones have decent controls that are easy to use and are decently adapted to gaming and casual use. There's some audio feedback present, like beeps to let you know when you've reached the min or max volume using the infinite wheel. The mic mute button also sticks out when unmuted and feels clicky as well as springy. That said, the manufacturer states that you may not be able to use all of the additional commands available via the power button, 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

• 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 Headset isn't very portable, but it won't be an issue if you're using it at home. These headphones are bulky and can take up some room on your desk or table. On the upside, the ear cups can swivel to lay flat, making them a bit easier to store.

The Razer Barracuda have good build quality. They're mostly made of plastic and metal with cloth ear cups. They don't make a creaking noise when you move the headband or hinges. They also have a better build quality than the Razer Barracuda X Wireless, as the glue holding the headband padding feels sturdy and isn't likely to easily peel off. That said, the plastic feels a little cheap.

These headphones have okay stability, but they're gaming headphones. Their stability depends on your head size, and if you have a small noggin, the headphones can fall off if you tend to move your head while gaming. If you have a larger head, they're a bit more stable, but the headphones can still move around on your head.

• Razer Barracuda headset
• USB-C wireless transmitter
• USB-A to USB-C adapter cable
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Analog cable
• Razer sticker and voucher
• Manuals

With the default EQ preset and with THX Spatial Audio off, these headphones have a warm sound profile. This sound helps bring out sound effects like explosions in your gameplay. However, dialogue and lead instruments are a bit muddy and harsh. We've also created a comparison of all the EQ presets, which you can see here.

The Razer Barracuda's frequency response consistency is fair. Since they're a bit large, it can be hard to get a good fit. They're prone to inconsistencies in audio delivery due to the headphones' fit, positioning, and seal. You may especially notice a drop in bass if you wear thick hair or glasses, as these features can disrupt the seal on your head.

The Razer Barracuda have good bass accuracy. There's a bit of extra thump, rumble, and punch, which is great if you prefer more bass while gaming. They also have a lot of extra boom and warmth to their sound. It can help bring out sound effects like footsteps but also muddies and bloats dialogue and instruments.

The mid accuracy is great. There's some overemphasis coming from the bass range and into the low-mids, which slightly muddies vocals and lead instruments. However, a bump in the high-mid makes them sound harsh. When you're playing games with synth beats like Hotline Miami, the melody of the track Miami Disco by the Perturbator is a bit honky compared to the kick drum and bassline.

The Razer Barracuda have very good treble accuracy. The low and mid-treble are a bit overemphasized, so dialogue and instruments sound slightly harsh. Sibilants like cymbals are bright but not piercing.

The Razer Barracuda's peaks and dips performance is decent. A dip in the low-bass lessens their thump and rumble, while a peak in the high-bass adds extra boom. A dip in between the low to mid-mid thins out and nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. The mid-treble makes sibilants like hi-hats piercing.

The Razer Barracuda's imaging performance is excellent. Many of Razer's lower-end headphones tend to have issues with imaging, which can indicate an issue with quality control or ergonomics. However, it's less likely that you'll encounter mismatch between the left and right drivers with a mid-level product. Imaging can vary between units, though. Our unit's L/R drivers are well-matched, which ensures that sound objects like dialogue or sound effects are placed and localized correctly within the stereo image.

The Razer Barracuda's passive soundstage performance is sub-par, but that's normal from closed-back headphones. The soundstage seems wide and natural but closed-off. Sound is also perceived as coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you.

Like the Razer Barracuda Pro Wireless, the Razer Barracuda are compatible with THX Spatial Audio in their companion software. You can use the speaker modeling feature to adjust the soundstage's width as well as select different audio spatialization modes. You can calibrate each mode to match your preferences, create a new mode, or even use 'Auto' mode, which automatically switches modes depending on the app you're using.

The Razer Barracuda's weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. There are a couple of peaks at normal listening volumes, namely in between the low to mid-bass and again in the low to mid-treble. It can be hard to hear with real-life content, though. Most of the range falls within good limits, so your audio sounds fairly clean.

These are the settings used to test the Razer Barracuda. Our results are only valid when using these settings. We also tested these headphones with the THX Spatial Audio feature off.

The Razer Barracuda's noise isolation performance is poor. Unlike the Razer Barracuda Pro Wireless, they lack an ANC system and struggle to block out background noise. It won't be much of an issue if you're using them at home, as they can still cut down some ambient chatter as well as a high amount of treble noise like the hum of a computer fan. However, if you want to use them out of the house, they don't block out bass-range noise like the rumble of bus engines.

The Razer Barracuda's leakage performance is good. Leakage is mostly concentrated between the mid to treble range and sounds fairly thin. If you want to crank up the audio while gaming, it won't be too noticeable to others around you.

The mic's recording quality is fair. Your voice sounds natural but lacking in body and depth. You'll have no problem being heard clearly, though. The companion software also offers a 'Mic Noise Cancelling' feature, which is supposed to help separate speech from background noise. While we tested the mic with this feature off, you can hear how the recording quality sounds when this feature is set to 'Low' and 'High'. The 'Low' setting performs very similarly to our results when off. However, when set to 'High', the voice is mostly cut out along with the background noise. It means that your voice isn't audible to whoever you're talking to. If you're looking for a Razer headset with a better recording quality, try the Razer BlackShark V2 HyperSpeed Wireless.

There's white noise present in our recording. It's the noise made from our testing rig's mouth speaker, which is picked up by this headphones' mic. The recording quality score isn't affected by this noise, though.

Like the Razer Barracuda Pro Wireless, this mic has a customizable noise handling performance. You can access a wide array of settings in their companion app. That said, using the USB Dongle with the Microphone Noise Cancellation feature off, the integrated mic has sub-par noise handling. With loud noise like a subway, the mic cuts out most speech. This leaves behind mostly background sound, meaning you won't be heard well. However, this won't be much of a problem if you're gaming in your home as it's unlikely that there will be constant loud noise around you.

You can access a feature called 'Mic Noise Cancelling' in the companion software, 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 noise cancelling setting selected. You can see a graph of the difference in performance when the feature is set to off, low, and high here. When the mic's noise cancelling is set to 'Low', it offers a very similar performance compared to off and you can hear it in the pink noise and subway noise recordings. However, when the noise cancelling is set to 'High', the pink noise recording still has a bit of noise present, but the voice is still clear. In comparison, when listening to the subway noise track, the mic cuts down so much sound that it doesn't stop at the background noise and even cuts down regular speech. It means that your voice won't be heard well by whoever you're talking to.

The Razer Barracuda have an outstanding battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to last up to 40 hours continuously, and we tested over 46 hours, which will easily last through long gaming sessions. That said, battery life can vary depending on use. Luckily, they're equipped with an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life if you forget to turn them off, and, unlike the Razer Barracuda Pro Wireless, you can use them passively, thanks to their 1/8" TRRS cable.

Like the Razer Barracuda Pro Wireless, they support two different apps, depending on how you connect. If you're using the wireless dongle on a PC, there's Razer Synapse 3. This software offers a 10-band graphic EQ in addition to presets, a way to adjust the volume, and access THX Spatial Audio. You can also customize the mic's performance using the mic's noise cancellation feature, graphic EQ and presets, and sidetone.

If you connect via smartphone, you can use the Razer Audio app. This app is a bit less feature-heavy than the Razer Synapse 3, but you can still access a 10-band graphic EQ and presets. You can also adjust the mic's noise cancellation performance, turn the headphones' auto-off timer on or off, switch voice prompt languages, and update the firmware. You can even set the headphones to 'Do Not Disturb Mode' so that you block out calls while gaming, and access 'Quick Connect', which allows you to easily switch between known audio sources.

The Razer Barracuda come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge the headphones, but you can't use it to listen to audio. If you still prefer a wired connection, they come with a 1/8" TRRS cable, which offers a low latency. They also come with a USB-A to USB-C (female) extension adapter if you want to connect the dongle via USB-A.

The Razer Barracuda have excellent Bluetooth connectivity. You can connect them to your smartphone and console simultaneously, and they have a 'Gaming Mode', which helps to lower their latency. Using this mode on PCs results in fairly synched audio and visuals, which is good if you want to use Bluetooth for gaming or streaming video. However, if you turn this mode off, latency jumps up significantly, and lip sync issues will be noticeable. Latency varies depending on the app and device you're using, though.

The Razer Barracuda's wireless dongle offers a great performance. It ensures low latency, meaning you won't experience lip-syncing issues.

These headphones are fully compatible with PCs using Bluetooth. You can also use the USB dongle for a low-latency wireless connection or via the 1/8" TRRS cable if you prefer a wired connection.

The Razer Barracuda Headset can connect to PS4 and PS5 consoles when you plug the 1/8" TRRS cable into your controller's AUX port. You can also use the USB dongle for wireless gameplay. Both connections offer full audio and mic compatibility.

The Razer Barracuda can only connect to Xbox consoles while using the 1/8" TRRS cable. On the upside, you'll get full audio and mic compatibility.

These headphones come with a USB dongle that you can use for a low latency wireless connection. It doesn't have any inputs, though, and it connects to your device via USB-C.