The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro is a premium wireless gaming headset aimed squarely at competitive and esports-focused players. Combining strong audio performance with reliable wireless options and a solid overall build, it tries to find its feet in a market of somewhere in the region of 825 other similarly priced gaming headsets. So let’s look into the details, and see why this might just be the right choice for you.
The first thing to notice out the box is the weight and feel of the headset; at around 360 g, the BlackShark V3 Pro has a reassuring, weighty feel. It is not ultra-light, but the balance is good thanks to thick padding on the earcups and a sturdy headband which provide a nice level of comfort. The ear cushions are large and soft too, which helps with long sessions and keeps things comfy even when gaming for hours at a time, and help alleviate that delightful sweaty-ear-syndrome that other headsets like to present you with. It feels good too, there’s no unexpected wobble between components, and it feels like something that will last you a good while before it starts showing signs of wear; the headband extending out of the cups themselves and not the headband was a nice touch that helped things feel solid. So far, so nice, but what good is a nice headset if the sound isn’t up to scratch?
Helpfully, that’s not a question we need to concern ourselves with here. Razer has fitted the headset with their wonderfully named 50 mm TriForce Bio-Cellulose drivers, offering a wide frequency response from roughly 12 Hz up to 28 kHz, and producing a lovely mix of audio. This allows the Blackshark to chip in with bass notes which land with satisfying punch, mids that stay clean, and high end crisp that avoids becoming harsh or overbearing. Positional audio is easy to track, which helps a lot in shooters and fast-paced games, and nothing feels more satisfying than being ready for someone as they nip round the corner in COD purely because you could hear exactly where they were before seeing them. I’ve been really impressed with the quality of sound, whether sneaking through the undergrowth in Assassin’s Creed, engaging sentinels in a No Man’s Sky space-fight or enjoying the incredible soundtrack underneath Forbidden West, it seems to handle everything you throw at it with a great mix of clarity and bassy grunt.
In other news, the BlackShark V3 model includes active noise cancellation, which is a really nice extra. The hybrid ANC system reduces low-frequency background noise such as PC fans and general room noise, and while it’s not a full isolation experience (there’s no escaping the noisy kids for example), it does enough to help you stay focused and cuts down on the majority of distractions during matches.
If you can’t decide how to hook these up to your PS5 or PC (as the PS5 version works with both), the headset supports Razer’s 2.4 GHz HyperSpeed wireless, Bluetooth 5.3 and USB-C wired audio, so there’s no chance that you’ll struggle to get these working with very little issue. It can even run 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth at the same time, which is ideal if you want to keep your phone connected while gaming or listen to some music separate to the game audio itself. Razer’s dongle-supported ultra-low latency mode can reach around 10ms when using the included wireless dongle, making it well suited to competitive situations where timing and accuracy matters, and totally eliminating that annoying wireless audio lag that you sometimes see – if you can tell you’re not cabled up then you’ve got better ears than me. On the other side of the quality coin, The included 12 mm HyperClear mic is removable and delivers clear vocals for a headset mic. It handles voice with good clarity and cuts down background noise effectively, making it suitable for party chat, streamed sessions and competitive voice comms, although as with most headsets it’s a little treble-leaning and you’ll still want a separate standalone microphone if you’re after the very best quality. Very very decent for a headset though, and features a satisfyingly chunky pop guard cover over the mic itself.
The battery life claims to hit around 70 hours on 2.4 GHz wireless. Unusually for a manufacturer claim this seems pretty accurate, although enabling low-latency will, as you might expect, reduce the total runtime by a good chunk. Even so, battery life remains one of its strengths and it’s quite easy to forget after a while that you’ll actually need to charge it at some point in the future. The earcups feature physical controls for volume, mic mute, ANC switching and managing wireless modes, which take some learning but once you figure out what’s where it’s a really handy set of controls to have at your fingertips. If you’re on PC, Razer Synapse adds further control with the ability to fire up THX Spatial Audio for virtual surround sound, while on PS5 the headset works smoothly with Tempest 3D Audio to give you the best that your games have to offer, and running through the 3D Audio setup process emphasises just how wide the 3D audio here can be.
Overall then, the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro is a high-end headset built for serious gaming. Its strong audio performance, long battery life, flexible connectivity and low latency make it an excellent choice for anyone who wants reliable, premium-feeling hardware, and even if the ANC isn’t quite on par with some headsets designed for that specific purpose and the mic won’t give you professional results, you’ll still be able to block out most distractions around you. If competitive gaming is your priority and you want a headset that feels purpose-built for fast, focused play, this is a very very good option.
