Razer Kraken Ultimate Headphones Review

The Razer Kraken Ultimate have a similarly bulky, matte black look as the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition. However, this time around, they've added customizable RGB lighting around the ear cups, which is nice if you like a splash of color. They definitely look like gaming headphones though and while the microphone is retractable, the tip is still visible when fully retracted.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate are fairly comfortable headphones. They have large, oval ear cups that fully encompass the ear, and their ear cushions are made with cooling gel, so you shouldn't get too warm while wearing them. Although they're big, bulky headphones, they don't put a lot of pressure on the head. However, some may not enjoy having so much of their head covered by these headphones.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate have disappointing and quite limited controls. They have a button for activating surround sound and when on, the light next to the button lights up white. There's also an infinite volume wheel but it doesn't give you any feedback when you've reached the minimum or maximum volume. The boom microphone has a mic-mute button directly on it. When you press it, a red light on the microphone lights up to let you know you're muted.

Like most gaming headphones, the Razer Kraken Ultimate aren't very portable. They're very bulky, and they can't fold or swivel to lay flat. They also have thick ear cups which can further take up space in your bag.

These headphones don't come with a case or pouch.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate have a good build that's sturdy, thanks to their metal frame and solid plastic design. They feel dense enough to survive a couple of minor drops. The cooling gel in the ear padding and the thick braided cables give them a more premium feel as well.

These headphones are barely stable on the head. They won't move around if you're gaming on the couch but they can sway or fall off your head if you're using them while doing even light physical exercise like running. As they're wired headphones, their audio cable can also get snagged on something and pull them off your head.

• Razer Kraken Ultimate headphones
• Silicone USB cap
• Manuals

The Razer Kraken Ultimate have a sound profile that depends on how they fit on your head. Their position, seal, and whether you have glasses or thick hair can all affect sound delivery. Once properly fitted to your head, however, they have a bass-heavy sound that lacks detail. While some gamers may prefer this boomy sound, their balanced mid-range ensures that they're still suited for a variety of audio genres. You can also customize their sound profile with their graphic EQ plus presets via their companion software.

The frequency response consistency of the Razer Kraken Ultimate is disappointing. As the overall frequency response depends on fit, seal, and positioning of these headphones, once you achieve a good overall fit, you should get a more consistent frequency response each time you use them.

The bass accuracy is alright, but its delivery can vary across users. Due to their underemphasized low-bass, they struggle to produce satisfying thump and rumble. At the same time, the rest of the range is over-emphasized, which adds punch and body. Some users may find the high-bass overwhelming as it can make your mixes overly boomy and muddy. This bass accuracy performance represents the average response and your experience may vary.

The mid accuracy of the Razer Kraken Ultimate is very good. There's still a little bit of overemphasis carried over from the high-bass which can make your mixes a little muddy or cluttered. However, the rest of the response is fairly flat and even, ensuring the accurate reproduction of lead instruments and vocals.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate's treble accuracy is good but its delivery can vary across users. It's slightly underemphasized, which makes your mixes slightly darker, dull, and lifeless. However, it's still fairly even enough that it shouldn't be too noticeable. However, this treble accuracy performance represents the average response and your experience may vary.

The peaks and dips performance of these headphones is very good. There's a long peak in the bass range that adds warmth and boominess to your audio while a slight dip in the mid-mids can further push back lead instruments and vocals into your mix. There's also a couple of large peaks and dips in the mid to high-treble range, which can make some sounds in this range both overly bright while at the same time, other sounds are dull and lifeless.

These headphones have an acceptable imaging performance. There's a couple of very small peaks in the bass range but this shouldn't be noticeable to most listeners. In terms of driver matching, the L/R drivers of our test unit are decently matched in amplitude and frequency response. They show a noticeably large mismatch in phase both in the high-treble, and it may hurt the coherency of the stereo image. It shouldn't have too much of a negative impact on the placement and localization of objects like voice and footsteps though. However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.

The passive soundstage is passable. It's somewhat large but it sounds unnatural and is still somewhat perceived as coming from inside your head. As they have a closed-back design, their soundstage won’t be as open-sounding as open-back headphones either.

These headphones have a THX virtual surround feature that you can adjust through their companion software.

The weighted harmonic distortion of these headphones is good. There are a couple of minor peaks in the right ear at max volume but they likely won't be noticeable to most listeners. Otherwise, the range is within good limits, even at higher volumes.

These are the settings used when testing. Our results are only valid when these headphones are used with these settings.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate's noise isolation is poor. They don't block out any bass range noise like bus or train engines and they struggle to reduce background chatter. On the upside, they do a slightly better job of cutting down high-frequency noise like A/C units or fans, which is nice if you're gaming indoors during a hot summer.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate's leakage performance is unremarkable. Their leakage is mostly concentrated in the mid to treble range and sounds fuller than that of in-ears and earbuds. However, it isn't as loud as that of open-back headphones. Still, if you're listening to audio at a high volume, those around you may be able to hear it, even in a moderately noisy environment.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate has a retractable boom microphone.

The boom microphone has a great recording quality. It does a better job of recording your voice than the Razer Kraken V3, and speech sounds full, natural, and clear. You shouldn't have any problem being understood.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate's boom microphone has good noise handling. In a moderately noisy environment, it should be able to separate your voice from background noise. Although it still struggles a bit in more chaotic environments, your voice should still be heard fairly clearly.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate are wired-only headphones and don't have a battery.

These headphones are compatible with Razer Synapse software. It has a graphic EQ as well as presets for you to tweak and you can even adjust their surround sound feature and mic level. You can also set up different color patterns for the headphone's RGB lighting, which is nice.

These gaming headphones are wired-only and don't have Bluetooth support.

These are wired-only headphones.

The Razer Kraken Ultimate use a braided USB-A cable instead of a TRRS cable so they can only be used with devices that have a USB-A port.

These gaming headphones aren't compatible with the Xbox One at all.

These headphones don't have a base or dock.