Razer BlackShark V3 Pro  Headphones Review

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro have a V-shaped sound profile, meaning they put out more bass and treble than our target curve. That said, gaming headsets tend to offer slightly V-shaped sound profiles, as the extra bass makes soundtracks and effects like explosions feel more immersive, while the added treble brings clarity to dialogue even in busy cutscenes.

We took measurements of the frequency response when connected via each of the four connection methods (Bluetooth, dongle wireless, USB wired, and analog wired). We measured the frequency response of the headphones via their wireless dongle with ANC on and off, as well as the effect of different EQ presets on the sound (with ANC set to 4). Finally, we also measured the response of the headphones when connected via analog, both passively and actively.

These headphones have middling frequency response consistency. Their sound changes quite a bit depending on their fit. In particular, people who wear glasses or have larger heads or longer hair could experience significantly more or less bass than our Sound Profile measurement shows.

The uneven frequency response consistency could stem from several design factors. It might be related to the cloth covering or the softness of the pads, or else the yokes, which seem to apply uneven pressure around the ear cups. Any of these could create small air gaps that break the seal the earpads form with your head, impacting frequency response consistency.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro have excellent compliance with our bass target. There's a little more low-bass thump and mid-bass punch than our target, which makes explosions in games like Battlefield 6 sound exciting and immersive. The high bass is virtually flat relative to our target, so the extra low-end doesn't muddy up dialogue. That said, some gamers may wish for a little extra high bass, as that can improve the audibility of sound effects like footsteps.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro have fantastic compliance with our target curve in the mid-range. The low-mids and mid-mids are virtually flat, so dialogue and instruments sound accurate and present without ever sounding muddy. The high-mids are a little more uneven, with a small boost and dip making dialogue in cutscenes from Baldur's Gate 3 sound a touch honky or recessed, depending on the pitch of the speaker.

The treble compliance is good. The low-treble and mid-treble are boosted relative to our target, which adds clarity to voices and sheen to sounds like cymbals. But the range is also a touch uneven, so some pitches will jump out of the mix more than others, which can be a little distracting.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro have a decent peaks and dips performance, meaning they do a satisfactory job of adhering to their own V-shaped sound profile. The bass and mid-range are well-controlled, but while the overall treble range is fairly bright, it's fairly uneven. The result is sounds like cymbals or sibilants can be rendered as a bit piercing depending on their pitch.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro have decently well-matched left and right drivers. Across the whole frequency range, the drivers are especially well-matched in phase, with any differences falling below the audibility threshold. That said, some differences in amplitude between the drivers in the treble range might be noticeable to you, but they're small enough that they'll be inaudible with real-world content. Stereo matching is also related to quality control, so your experience may differ.

The group delay results are good, but subjectively, the region could sound tighter and more accurate. The bass in songs like My Old Ways by Tame Impala sounds a little weak and loose. That said, there are no issues through the mid-range and treble regions.

These headphones offer very good pinna interaction. Though they're closed-backs, they do a convincing job of making your audio feel immersive. The sound might not be quite as speaker-like as a pair of open-backs like the Sennheiser HD 800 S, but your audio feels spacious and somewhat out of head.

These headphones have exceptionally low harmonic distortion. Even if you listen at unsafe levels, your audio will be reproduced cleanly and without artifacts.

When used passively, these headphones don't require an amp to drive them, so you'll be able to listen to music at a reasonable level, even when connected to a mobile device or laptop.

When connected via the USB wireless dongle or USB-C cable, you can use THX Spatial Audio with these headphones. That said, like most spatial audio software, we don't find the effect very convincing.

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

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro have a well-designed control scheme that's easy to use and an improvement over the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless 2023. Each button and dial is easy to reach and identify by touch, with distinct textures that make them simple to tell apart while you're wearing the headset.

All main controls are split between the two ear cups. On the left, you'll find the mute/unmute button, a textured volume wheel that's easier to grip and smoother to adjust than before, and a power button that now has a grainy texture to help distinguish it from the mute control. The power button handles call functions, as you can view here, and playback functions: single press for play/pause, double press for next track, and triple press for previous track.

The right ear cup includes a game/chat balance wheel, which lets you mix audio levels with audible chimes when you reach the Game, Middle, or Chat positions, and a wireless mode button for switching between 2.4GHz, Bluetooth, and simultaneous audio connections.

Overall, the controls are intuitive and responsive. Buttons feel clicky and tactile, and you get audio feedback for volume limits and mode changes.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro have a solid build quality that's a clear improvement over the previous Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless 2023. The materials feel sturdier overall, from the reinforced cloth and plastic surfaces to the braided cable connecting the ear cups to the headband.

The hinges have been redesigned to allow more ear cup rotation, improving flexibility and reducing strain during adjustment. The headband uses soft cloth padding that feels comfortable and doesn't bottom out, helped by the headset's relatively light weight. The yokes are still thin but now feel stronger and more stable thanks to their aluminum construction. The ear cups have thick, deep padding with an ample interior. You'll also find the headset's label under one of the ear cups.

• User manual
• Stickers
• Earcup faceplates
• USB-A to USB-C cable (1.51 m/4.95 ft)
• USB-C to TRRS analog cable (1.51 m/4.95 ft)
• Boom mic
• 2.4GHz dongle

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro have satisfactory noise isolation performance. While they can't rival headphones that prioritize ANC performance like the Sony WH-1000XM6, they do a decent enough job blocking out noise, especially in the mid-range and treble, where sounds that clash with the human voice sit. That means you should be able to better hear in-game soundtracks and teammates' voices, even if gaming in a shared apartment. The headphones offer four levels of ANC; you can view their performance on this graph.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro do an okay job of blocking out real-world noise. While they're just short of what we'd call good, since these headphones are most likely to be used indoors with your gaming rig, that performance is enough to remove most distractions. If you take them out and about with you, they'll greatly reduce sounds like chatty coworkers or street noise, but you'll still hear the odd voice or car horn poking through. 

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro don't have an ANC wind reduction feature. As a result, if you use them outside on a windy day, you're likely to hear plenty of wind noise artifacts along with your audio.

The leakage performance is satisfactory. At regular listening levels, they don't leak much sound, and what does leak out sounds fairly thin and nasal. That said, if you listen at louder volumes in very quiet spaces, people around you will hear some of your in-game noise.

These headphones come with a detachable boom mic. Their companion app also offers a host of methods for customizing the mic's performance and sound. If you need a fallback microphone when you're out and about, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite have a backup beamforming mic that automatically activates when you retract their boom mic.

The microphone has a great recording quality. It has a virtually flat response across the parts of the spectrum where the human voice lives, so your voice sounds true-to-life and detailed. The treble roll off means your voice lacks a little airiness, but that doesn't affect your intelligibility much.

We measured the frequency response of the mic via each of its three connection types. And you can also listen to recordings taken via the analog connection (1, 2, and 3), wired USB connection (1, 2, and 3), and Bluetooth connection (1, 2, and 3).

The headphones' companion app also offers many settings for customizing the mic's performance.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro's mic does a good job separating speech from background noise, though the performance is a bit worse than the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless 2023. Still, its performance is good enough for gaming at home, and even if you have to take a call on the subway while using these cans, they'll do a good job blocking out most of the background noise, though some rumble will likely make it through. If you like to customize settings, the companion app offers a range of methods for adjusting the mic's performance.

These headphones have superb battery performance. They're advertised to last 70 hours, and we measured just about that. That said, battery life varies with use. For example, we measured 42 hours of continuous playback time when the headphones were connected via their dongle's Ultra-Low Latency Mode. The headphones also offer battery-saving features like an auto-off timer. They fully charge in just under four hours, and you can use them while charging.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro come with an excellent companion app. Take a look at it in action. It lets you toggle between Stereo and THX Spatial Audio, fine-tune sound with a 10-band EQ and presets, and create or load profiles for individual games. There are also options for volume control that can be synced with Windows and a game/chat balance slider for quick mixing.

Under the Enhancements tab, you can enable Ultra-Low Latency (2.4GHz) mode, adjust ANC strength from levels 1 to 4, or activate an Ambient Mode, tweak the in-call audio mix, and toggle sound processing features like Sound Normalization, Bass Boost, and Voice Clarity. Mic settings are organized on a dedicated page, where you can adjust mic volume, apply mic EQ presets and enhancements, and control mic monitoring (sidetone) with a slider. You can also manage power settings from within the app.

The mobile app offers similar controls and includes Bluetooth Gaming Mode, letting you manage connections and enable low-latency Bluetooth features directly from your phone.

These headphones offer outstandingly low latency when connected via their wired connections. When used via their analog cable, latency is a negligible 0.2 ms with the headphones powered off, and 25 ms when the headphones are turned on. Latency via their USB-C connection is 11.5 ms.

These headphones have excellent Bluetooth performance. They use Bluetooth 5.3, and you can maintain simultaneous connections to the wireless dongle and your Bluetooth source. That said, their latency is a little too high via this connection for serious gaming. With their Low Latency Audio mode enabled, we measured 132 ms of latency, and with the mode disabled, it's 172 ms.

You can connect these headphones to your PC via any of the connection methods for full mic and audio delivery.

You get full audio and mic capability when connected to your PlayStation via both wired methods and the wireless dongle.

You can't use the variant we tested on Xbox wirelessly, though it will work via analog. You can buy an Xbox variant that will work wirelessly with the platform.