Razer BlackShark V2 Headphones Review

The Razer BlackShark V2 have a similar oval-shaped ear cup design to the Razer BlackShark V2 X. They're made of black plastic with neon green accents and a neon green Razer logo on each cup. Unlike the V2 X, their headband and ear cups have a soft cloth material covering the faux leather. The boom microphone is detachable.

The Razer BlackShark V2 are comfortable headphones. Their headband feels more comfortable than the Razer BlackShark V2 X, and their memory foam ear cushions are covered in cloth instead of faux leather.

The Razer BlackShark V2 have disappointing controls. While the controls are easy to use and have good feedback, there are only two buttons. There's a volume wheel with a notch in the middle that stops scrolling at min/max volume, and there's a mic mute button.

The Razer BlackShark V2 have mediocre breathability. The ear cups trap heat in and don't allow for much airflow. It shouldn't be too much of an issue when you're just sitting and gaming, but they aren't intended for physical activity and may make you sweat more if you use them during workouts.

The Razer BlackShark V2 aren't very portable. Like most gaming headsets such as the Razer Kraken V3, they're quite bulky. They also don't fold into a more compact shape. Still, the headphones and their carrying pouch should easily fit into a backpack.

The Razer BlackShark V2 come with a flimsy, cheap-feeling soft pouch. The pouch material is so thin you can see through it. It can likely protect your headphones from light scratches, but not from falls or water exposure.

The Razer BlackShark V2 have an okay build quality. They're mostly made of plastic, except for the braided, non-detachable cable. The metal hinges, the cable between the cups, and the headband feel like the weakest points of these headphones. These parts seem like they could break or bend if you aren't careful. For better-built gaming headphones, check out the Corsair HS60 HAPTIC or the Razer Barracuda X Wireless.

The Razer BlackShark V2 are stable headphones. They're lightweight and should easily stay in place while you're gaming or during light physical activity, although they're not intended for sports use. However, their cable isn't detachable, so if it gets stuck or hooked on something, it could pull the headphones off your head.

• Razer BlackShark V2 headset
• USB sound card
• Detachable boom mic
• Soft pouch
• Razer stickers
• Manuals

The Razer BlackShark V2 have a decently neutral sound profile. Their well-balanced mid-range response ensures instruments and lead vocals are present and accurate, while the overemphasized high-bass adds some extra boom to bass-heavy music and game sound effects like explosions. However, they're prone to inconsistencies in audio delivery. Depending on their fit, position, and whether you have thick glasses or hair, your listening experience can vary each time you use them.

We've also tested their sound without using the soundcard. You can see a comparison between frequency responses when using and not using the soundcard here. Without the soundcard, the bass feels slightly less warm than when using the soundcard, and mids are less muddy.

The Razer BlackShark V2 have a mediocre frequency response consistency performance. Like the Razer Opus X Wireless, the headphones' bass and treble delivery varies depending on their fit, seal, and positioning, and people who wear glasses or have thick hair may experience a drop in bass. You may need to adjust the headphones each time you wear them to hear a more consistent sound.

The Razer BlackShark V2 have great bass accuracy. The low and mid-bass are fairly even and neutral, so the thump and punch of bass-heavy genres should be reproduced accurately. The overemphasis in the high-bass adds boominess, and can also muddy mixes. However, the bass delivery depends on the fit, seal, and positioning of the headphones. These results represent the average response, and your experience may vary.

The Razer BlackShark V2 have excellent mid accuracy. The overemphasis in the high-bass range continues into the low-mid, which can make mixes sound slightly muddy or cluttered. The rest of the response throughout the range is well-balanced and even though, so vocals and lead instruments should be accurately reproduced.

These headphones have good treble accuracy. There's a slight overemphasis in the low treble range, which adds a bit of harshness to instruments and lead vocals, while a peak in the mid-treble makes some sibilant sounds, like cymbals, seem piercing. However, these headphones have somewhat inconsistent treble delivery depending on fit and positioning. These results represent the average response, and your experience may vary.

The Razer BlackShark V2's peaks and dips performance is good. A peak in the high-bass adds a boomy quality to the mix. The dips in the mid-range nudges vocals and lead instruments towards the back of the mix. There's also a peak in the low-treble range that adds harshness to instruments while a peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants, like S and T sounds, more piercing.

These headphones have good imaging. Their weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold for the entire range, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. Their L/R drivers are also well-matched in amplitude and frequency response, but there's a slight phase mismatch, which can cause inaccuracies in the stereo image at certain frequencies. However, it shouldn't be noticeable with regular content. Please note that these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

Their passive soundstage performance isn't bad. The soundstage is perceived as quite large and accurate. However it doesn't seem very open, which is common for closed-back gaming headphones.

These headphones have a virtual surround sound feature called THX Spatial Audio that you can access via the Synapse 3 software. However, you need to be connected to a PC, PS4, or PS5 using their wired USB sound card for it to work. Unfortunately, the sound card isn't compatible with Xbox consoles, so you don't have access to any virtual surround sound features when you're gaming with your Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S. You can still use the headphones via analog connection, though. Also, it should be noted that we don't currently test virtual surround sound features.

These headphones have a great weighted harmonic distortion performance, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction at normal and high listening volumes.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when they're used in this configuration.

These headphones have a poor noise isolation performance. They don't have an active noise cancelling (ANC) feature and don't passively isolate you from very much noise. They block out virtually no bass-range noise like rumbling bus and plane engines, and are only slightly better at reducing mid-range sounds like ambient conversation. On the upside, they cut down on high-pitched sounds like a humming A/C unit quite effectively.

These headphones have a decent leakage performance. In a moderately noisy environment like an office, you can listen to music at high volumes without worrying about bothering people nearby.

Update 03/25/2021: Due to user feedback, we have tested the microphone without the USB soundcard. We tested the microphone using three different connections to our PC. Directly connecting to our PC using the mic port doesn't work. However, we were able to use a Y-splitter to connect the headphones to both the mic and headset ports simultaneously, resulting in full audio and mic compatibility. We also connected the headphones to a laptop using their analog connection, resulting in full audio and mic compatibility. Also, we connected them to our PC using the provided USB soundcard, and then again with a Sound Blaster USB soundcard. Both setups confirm that the headphones' microphone and audio work.

These headphones have a detachable boom microphone.

The boom microphone has a decent recording quality. Your voice sounds natural and clear, but not very deep or full. Note that we tested the microphone with the USB sound card attached, so it may perform differently when used without it. If you're looking for wired Razer headphones with a better recording quality, consider the Razer Kaira X.

The boom microphone has a decent noise handling performance. Even in a loud environment like a subway station, it can separate your voice from background noise, so your teammates should be able to hear you clearly even if you're in a noisy setting.

The Razer Synapse software is excellent. You can adjust many settings, including the volume level. If you like to customize your sound, there's even a 10-band EQ for your music or your microphone. You can also further adjust the microphone using features like Mic Boost, Voice Gate, Volume Normalization, Mic Equalizer, and Ambient Noise Reduction, which may help you communicate better with your teammates, though we don't currently test the performance of these features. You need the USB sound card to save the changes made to the headphones using the companion software. As the USB sound card is only compatible with PS4, PS5, and PC, you can't access these changes on your Xbox One.

These headphones come with a non-detachable 1/8" TRRS cable. You can also connect with the USB sound card on PCs as well as PS4 and PS5 consoles but it doesn't work with Xbox One or Xbox Series X consoles. There's a bit more latency when you use the sound card versus simply the analog connection, but it's still very low, so your audio and visuals will stay in sync.

The Razer BlackShark V2 are wired-only headphones. The Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless 2020 are similar headphones with a wireless design.

These headphones are fully compatible with PCs if you use their 1/8" TRRS cable or USB sound card. The connection has some latency if you use the sound card, but it shouldn't be very noticeable.

The Razer BlackShark V2 offer full compatibility with PS4 and PS5 consoles if you plug their 1/8" TRRS cable into a controller, or using the wired USB sound card.

Update 03/25/2021: We have tested these headphones for compatibility with the Xbox Series X.

These headphones are fully compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X if you plug their analog cable into the controller's AUX port. However, the USB adapter isn't compatible with Xbox One or Xbox Series X consoles.

These headphones don't have a dock. Instead, they have a wired USB dongle (USB sound card) that works on PC, PS4, and PS5. It allows you to save any changes to the headphones' microphone settings that you make in the companion software.