Razer Opus Wireless 2021 Headphones Review

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 have a nearly identical design to the Razer Opus Wireless 2020. They have oval-shaped ear cups with a fairly non-descript look. Like other casual use Razer headphones, they also lack Razer's usual gaming logo. However, the only thing that has changed in terms of design is that their controls are now only located on the right ear cup instead of on both ear cups. They come in two colors: 'Black' and 'Razer x *A Bathing Ape', which is a black and green colorway.

The Razer Opus 2021 have a comfortable fit. Like the Razer Opus Wireless 2020, they have good padding on the ear cups and headband. They also don't put too much pressure on your head and feel lightweight. However, they have somewhat shallow ear cups, so if you have large ears, they may get squished.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 have a good control scheme. Unlike the original Razer Opus Wireless 2020, all the controls are located on the right ear cup. They have dedicated volume up and down buttons that you can press and hold to continuously increase the volume. Each of the buttons are clicky and the multi-function button has an indentation so that it's easy to distinguish it from the volume buttons. There are also audio prompts when cycling between different ANC settings and there's a chime to let you know when you've reached max volume.

Multi-function button:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends calls. You can even put a call on hold.
• Press and hold for two seconds: Accesses voice assistant. Also rejects incoming calls and if you're currently on a call, swaps to another on-hold call.
• Press and hold for five seconds: Enables and disables 'Game Mode', which is a mode that helps lower latency.
• Double press: Skips the track forward.
• Triple press: Skips the track backward.

Power button:

• Single press: Cycles between ANC on, ANC off, and ambient mode, which allows you to better hear your surroundings without taking off your headphones.
• Press and hold: Turns the headphones on and off.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 are bulky over-ear headphones. They can fold into a more compact size and they come with a carrying case to help protect them when you're on the go.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 come with a great carrying case that'll protect the headphones from scratches, bumps, and water damage. There's a space inside the case to store the cables when not in use. While it's a bit bulky, it'll fit into a backpack without an issue.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 have a great build quality. The only difference between this model and the Razer Opus Wireless 2020 in terms of build is that the controls are only located on the right ear cup. They're mostly made out of plastic with faux leather padding. However, they feel like they could survive a couple of accidental drops without taking too much damage.

These headphones have a stable fit. While they're not designed for use during intense physical activity, they won't move around on your head with moderate head movements.

• Razer Opus Wireless 2021 headphones
• 1/8" TRRS audio cable
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• Airline adapter
• Manuals
• Hard carrying case
• Small soft pouch for cables

Using the default 'THX' EQ, the Razer Opus 2021 have a warm sound profile with a touch of extra boom and rolled-off treble to ensure a smooth sound. They differ from the original Razer Opus Wireless 2020, which sound more neutral and less bass-heavy. Luckily, if you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers a few EQ presets to help you find the right sound for your needs.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 have very good frequency response consistency. While they're prone to deviations in bass and treble delivery due to fit, seal, and positioning, it's very minor. Once you achieve a good fit, you will experience more consistent audio delivery.

These headphones have excellent bass accuracy. The low-bass is fairly flat, which results in adequate thump and rumble. The rest of the range is slightly overemphasized, resulting in a bit more kick and warmth that will please fans of EDM and hip-hop.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021's mid-accuracy is excellent. The entire range is overemphasized, although the low to mid-mid is still fairly neutral. The high-mid has a larger bump, making vocals and instruments sound a little honky. In songs like As It Was by Harry Styles, vocals sound clear and accurate but also a little harsh.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 have satisfactory treble accuracy. The range is uneven and underemphasized. Vocals and lead instruments are very veiled, so in songs like Wait a Minute! by WILLOW, her voice lacks detail and presence throughout the mix. Sibilants like cymbals are also slightly dull.

The Razer Opus 2021's peaks and dips performance is fair. A dip in the low-bass weakens thump and rumble in your mix, while a small peak in the high-bass adds extra warmth. The following dip in the low-mid slightly weakens vocals and instruments, then a peak in the high-mid makes vocals and lead instruments harsh. The uneven low-treble hurts their comprehensibility overall. Another uneven peak and dip in the mid-treble makes sibilants like S and T sounds alternatingly dull and piercing.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021's imaging performance is great. The group delay response falls below the audibility threshold, which results in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in terms of phase, amplitude, and frequency response, which is important for the accurate placement of objects like instruments in the stereo image. While there's a peak in the phase response's low-mid, which skews audio a bit to the left, it's not audible with real-life content. Imaging can vary between units and can indicate a manufacturer's quality control and ergonomics.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021's passive soundstage performance is poor, which is common among closed-back headphones. It feels somewhat unnatural, and it lacks openness as well as spaciousness. Despite this, the soundstage also seems wide, and sound is perceived as coming from speakers placed in the room around you rather than from inside your head, which can make for a somewhat more immersive audio experience.

Like the Razer Opus Wireless 2020, these headphones are THX-certified via the companion app. However, this isn't a virtual soundstage feature, but an EQ preset, which you can use to help create a more immersive sound. You can also turn this feature on and off in the app. That said, this feature isn't THX Spatial Audio, which is a separate downloadable application.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021's weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. There are a couple of peaks starting in the high-mid, which can result in slightly less clear and pure audio reproduction. However, this can be hard to hear with real-life content.

These are the settings used to test the Razer Opus Wireless 2021. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration. Some users have also reported that after updating to FW 1.3.1.0, they can reach lower volume levels than with previous firmware. We also noticed this during testing, but since we didn't initially test for it, we don't know how much of an impact this change had.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021's noise isolation performance is excellent. They can block out the low rumble of bus engines well. They do an excellent job of blocking out ambient chatter and the high-pitched hum of an AC unit, although their performance still falls a bit short compared to the Razer Opus Wireless 2020.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021's leakage performance is great. Leakage is concentrated across the range and sounds fuller than in-ear headphones. That said, if you're listening to audio at high volumes, it's unlikely for others to hear it if you're in a moderately noisy environment like a busy office.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021's integrated mic has a fair recording quality. Your voice sounds fairly natural but lacks depth.

These headphones are Bluetooth and rely on Bluetooth profiles, which define the specifications for how data is communicated between devices. When you connect these headphones to your PC, they use Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP), a Bluetooth profile for audio playback. A2DP is a one-way profile, which means that if you're using this profile, the mic won't work on any device or OS. If you want mic and audio compatibility, the headphones can enable Headset Profile (HSP) or Hands-Free Profile (HFP). However, both profiles can lower sound and mic quality. During a conference call, we noticed that audio quality dropped a lot. Your voice becomes pitchy, and all the bass is lost, so speech lacks body.

The microphone's noise handling performance is mediocre. The mic has a difficult time separating your voice from moderate ambient noise around you, so if you're taking a call from a busy street, your voice can be drowned out.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021's battery performance is outstanding. They're advertised to last 30 hours continuously and with their ANC on. We measured over 52 hours, which far exceeds our expectations, but matches the high discrepancy also seen in the Razer Opus X Wireless. We also verified that the volume was maxed out on both our headphones and the test phone.

These headphones are equipped with an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life when you're not using them. You can adjust the length of the timer via the companion app. There's also an 'Auto-Pause/Resume' feature that you can use to pause the headphones if you take them off of your head. Keep in mind that you can use these headphones while they're charging, but the USB cable itself doesn't support audio; instead, the headphones still use Bluetooth for audio playback while charging. You won't be able to use these headphones via analog while also charging.

The Razer Audio app is decent. You can check out the battery life, turn on and off the 'Auto Pause/Resume' feature, as well as adjust the auto-off timer. There are also four EQ presets that you can use to adjust their sound: 'Amplified', 'Enhanced Bass', 'Enhanced Clarity', and 'Vocal'. You can even turn on and off the THX preset for a more immersive audio experience.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 have okay Bluetooth connectivity. Unfortunately, they don't support multi-device or NFC pairing. Unlike the Razer Opus Wireless 2020, they don't support aptX codec for better sound quality either. They also have somewhat high latency on PCs as well as on iOS and Android devices. That said, they're equipped with a 'Gaming Mode' that helps lower latency and ensures that your audio and visuals stay in sync. With this mode on, there's 98 ms of latency on PC, 112 ms on iOS, and 90 ms on Android. Note that some devices and apps compensate for latency though.

These headphones come with a 1/8" TRRS cable. They also come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge the headphones.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 can connect to PCs via Bluetooth with full compatibility. You can also receive full audio and mic support when using their 1/8" TRRS cable.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 can only be used on PlayStation consoles when you plug in their analog cable into your controller. That said, you'll receive full audio and mic support via this connection.

The Razer Opus Wireless 2021 can only be used via analog with your Xbox console. Once you've plugged their 1/8" TRRS cable into your controller, you'll receive full audio and mic compatibility.

Some users have reported experiencing issues with the headphones' max volume when connected to their Xbox console. We connected our headphones to an Xbox Series S and played a game to measure the volume. When powered off, they reached 84 dB. Turning the ANC on lowered their volume to 75 dB. With the headphones on, but the ANC off, the headphones reached 71 dB. We tried the same settings with an audio file on a USB drive. When powered off, we could reach 107 dB, but ANC on lowered the volume to 103 dB. With ANC off, the headphones reached 99 dB. To confirm our results, we also tried the same audio file on a PC with the headphones connected wired and wirelessly. We experienced similar results to our pass with the USB drive but could reach higher volumes wirelessly.

Overall, we consistently experienced a drop in volume when the headphones were turned on, but the ANC was off. However, the difference is most noticeable on Xbox consoles, as the volume of the game is much lower than when using the headphones wirelessly or using them wired with the power off. The headphones can also reach a volume similar to their wireless performance when playing non-game audio files on the Xbox. We don't currently know what's causing this, but if you experience this issue, please let us know in the discussion section below.