Razer Opus Wireless 2020 Headphones Review

The Razer Opus have a sleek and straightforward design that looks very similar to the Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless, but with oval-shaped ear cups. Unlike most Razer gaming products such as the Razer Opus X Wireless, they aren't too flashy and don't feature Razer's usual logo or any RGB lighting. We tested the Midnight Blue version which is a very dark and subtle blue color, but they're also available in black.

The Razer Opus are comfortable headphones. They feel almost identical to the Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless, and while they clamp the head a bit tighter, it's not too noticeable. That said, like the Razer Opus X Wireless, they have similarly shallow ear cups, so if you have large ears, they may feel squished.

The Razer Opus have a good control scheme with physical buttons that are easy to use. Unfortunately, there's no audio feedback for most controls, and you only hear beeps when pairing the headphones, turning them on/off, or turning ANC on/off. On the bright side, the physical buttons are clicky and it's easy to tell when you've pressed them.

The Razer Opus are similar in size to most popular over-ear headphones and are fairly bulky overall. On the bright side, the ear cups fold into a more compact shape, and they come with a hard carrying case so you can easily toss them into most larger bags.

The Razer Opus come with a good hard carrying case that should easily protect the headphones from scratches, water damage, and most minor drops or bumps. It's somewhat bulky but should fit into most larger bags or luggage.

The Razer Opus look and feel very durable and well-built. They feel slightly cheaper than the Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless, but it's a minimal difference that likely won't be noticeable to most people. Overall they feel like they should be able to withstand most drops and bumps without sustaining too much damage.

The Razer Opus feel quite stable on the head, and only move or fall off with larger head movements. Due to their tighter fit, they feel more secure and stable than the Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless. They're a good choice if you want a pair of over-ear headphones for jogs or runs.

• Razer Opus Wireless 2020 headphones
• 1/8" TRRS audio cable
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• USB-C to USB-A adapter
• Airline adapter
• Manuals
• Hard carrying case
• Small soft pouch for cables

Using the 'Default' (THX) EQ preset, the Razer Opus have a very well-balanced and accurate default sound profile that's versatile enough for all genres and content. However, fans of bass-heavy genres like EDM or hip-hop may find they lack a bit of bass compared to most popular headphones.

The frequency response consistency of these headphones is decent. Different people may experience their bass response slightly differently, but it likely won't be too noticeable. However, you'll likely have to adjust them on your head to hear their treble reproduction the same every time you wear them.

The bass accuracy of the Razer Opus is excellent. They lack a tiny bit of thump and kick which may bother fans of bass-heavy genres like EDM, but the entire range is quite even and consistent.

These headphones have a remarkably accurate and well-balanced mid-range. The entire range follows our target curve almost perfectly, resulting in clear and present vocals and instruments that don't sound muddy, harsh, or dull.

The treble accuracy of these headphones is good. While some vocals or lead instruments may be slightly dull, it isn't too noticeable, and most of the range is quite even and consistent. Some higher frequency sounds may be slightly piercing and painful, though it's in a high enough range that most people likely won't notice.

The peaks and dips performance of the Razer Opus is great. The only large peak is in the mid/high treble range and may cause some sounds to be painful and piercing in comparison to the well-balanced low-treble range. That being said, this is at a high-enough frequency that it likely won't be noticeable to most people.

The imaging performance of the Razer Opus is excellent. The entire group delay response is well within the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. Our test unit's L/R drivers are also extremely well-matched, creating a stereo image with accurate placement and localization of objects (such as voices, instruments, and video game effects). However, these results are only valid for our unit, and they may not be the same for every pair.

Like with most closed-back, over-ear headphones, the soundstage of the Razer Opus is poor. Our tests show a good amount of pinna activation, suggesting a relatively large-sized soundstage. However, the low accuracy of the response also suggests that this soundstage is perceived as being located inside the head, resulting in a slightly unnatural feel.

These headphones are THX-certified. They have a THX feature in their companion app, which can help create a more immersive sound. However, we don't consider it a virtual soundstage as it acts more like an EQ preset. This feature isn't THX Spatial Audio, a separate downloadable application you can purchase from the manufacturer directly.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance of the Razer Opus is decent. Overall, most frequencies fall within good limits, resulting in fairly clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones, therefore our results are only valid when using these settings.

The noise isolation performance of the Razer Opus is outstanding. Their ANC (active noise cancelling) works extremely well and it even performs better than that of the Razer Opus Wireless 2021, which are the next generation. These headphones do a remarkable job at blocking out the low rumble of bus or plane engines. They're also superb at blocking out background chatter, as well as the high-pitched sounds of an AC unit or fan. Overall, the ANC performs extremely well and is similar to the Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless and the Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018.

The leakage of these headphones is good. Even at higher volumes, the amount of audio leakage is below the noise floor of an average office. This means you can listen to music fairly loudly without bothering your coworkers or people sitting nearby.

The Razer Opus have an integrated microphone.

The recording quality of the microphone is alright. Your voice sounds natural and decently full-bodied, without being too muffled or distorted.

Update 09/20/2021: These headphones have been updated to test bench 1.5. In this update, we made changes to the way we test noise handling. We now score noise handling by subjectively assessing two audio samples. This method has resulted in a different score than the '2.9' score we had originally reported in our previous test bench. However, the '6.1' score now better reflects real-life usage. We have updated our review to reflect these changes.

The Razer Opus' adaptive mic has mediocre noise handling. It struggles to separate your voice from background noise in moderately loud environments. When listening to the audio clips, speech can still somewhat be heard, though it gets fairly drowned out in very noisy situations.

The battery performance of the Razer Opus is excellent. Despite advertising 25 hours of battery life, our unit lasts nearly 33 hours from a single charge with ANC turned on, which is longer than that of the Wyze Noise-Cancelling Headphones Wireless. They also feature an auto-off timer to help conserve even more battery life. Unfortunately, while they charge faster than advertised, they still take around 3.5 hours, which is a long time, and you can't use them while charging, which is a shame.

The dedicated companion app for the Razer Opus is decent. The original Razer Opus app has been discontinued and replaced with the Razer Audio app. Unfortunately, this new app offers less functionality than its predecessor, and there's no longer a graphic EQ to help you fine-tune their sound. That said, you can access the following EQ presets to help customize their sound to your liking: 'Amplified', 'Enhanced Bass', 'Enhanced Clarity', and 'Vocal'. You can also turn on and off the 'auto pause' and 'resume' features as well as the THX preset and adjust the auto-off timer.

Update 09/16/2021: Razer now retails a different version of these headphones. This version has the serial number starting with 'INXX', and they no longer support the aptX codec. Instead, they have 'Gaming Mode', advertised to offer lower latency. However, our model is the older version, with a serial number starting with 'TIXX', and still supports aptX codec. If you want to confirm which version you have, you can find instructions on how to find the serial number under the 'FAQs' section of this Razer support page. As a result, we haven't retested our headphones, and the results remain unchanged.

The Bluetooth connectivity of these headphones is okay. Their PC latency is fairly low, and you shouldn't notice too much lag while watching videos, though they likely won't be a good choice for competitive gaming. While watching YouTube videos on Android, they have very low latency, and you shouldn't notice any sync issues. Unfortunately, their latency is much higher when watching YouTube videos on an iPhone. It's worth mentioning that apps and devices seem to compensate for latency differently, so your mileage may vary with real-life usage.

The Razer Opus don't support any wireless connection other than Bluetooth.

These headphones come with a 1/8" TRRS audio cable, but unfortunately, they can't transfer audio via USB.

Because these headphones can be used with the included 1/8" TRRS cable, these headphones are fully compatible with Xbox One while wired.

These headphones don't have a base/dock.