Razer Black Shark V2 Pro Review

Like most of the wireless headsets out there, the Black Shark V2 Pro is a bit more expensive than wired models, retailing for a bit more than some of the top-tier wired models we have tested.

Performance Comparison

Comfort

We started off our review by rating and scoring how comfortable each of these gaming headsets are to wear, looking at the hours our judges were content to wear each product, the headband, and the earcups to determine scores. The Black Shark V2 Pro did very well, meriting one of the better scores we have seen out of any of the headsets that we have tested.

Just about all of our judges were more than happy to wear the Black Shark V2 Pro for a full workday — or even longer. It's a great choice for marathon gaming sessions and definitely one of our favorites overall in this metric.

The headband on this headset is made from "Flowknit" — a material akin to a microfiber mesh in our minds. It's super soft and feels great, making the headband comfortable enough to easily forget about it over longer gaming sessions. The ear cups are nice and roomy — approximately 1.75" x 2.5" — and have soft foam padding. They are covered with the same "Flowknit" material but the opening size for the ear cups is a bit small, usually contacting your ears more than other models when putting them on or taking them off. However, they have ample space for most people once you have them on.

Audio

Our next set of assessments focused on the quality of the sound coming through the speakers on each headset, focusing on how other players' voices, in-game sound effects, and music sounded. The Black Shark V2 Pro didn't quite compare to the top-tier models but held its own, earning one of the better scores of the group.

Other players' voices are very clear and easy to understand, with considerably more depth to them and an in-person feel than many of the other models we have tested. This headset has a closed-back design, which does an alright job of muffling background noises, doing a bit better with constant noises like a fan than music or TV.

This headset also did fairly well in our trio of audio benchmarking tests: bass quality, parasitic buzz, and driver matching. We only found a minuscule amount of driver deviation towards the end of the test and we found it very easy to discern the location of sounds in the binaural test. This also held true during real-world play, with our testers able to zero in on the location of in-game sounds with almost perfect accuracy. We did notice a tiny bit more buzz in the mid frequencies than some other models but it was minimal at most.

However, we did find that soundtracks or music didn't sound the best on this headset — at least when using the THX Spatial Audio setting. The bass felt a little weak and the mid ranges can get washed out. Fortunately, we found the music sounded quite a bit better when we played with the equalizer settings and switched it to Stereo mode.

Microphone

Our next round of tests looked at how well the Black Shark V2 Pro did at picking up our voices. We looked at the quality of our conversations as rated by other players, as well as how well the microphone did at filtering out external background noises. The Black Shark V2 Pro again did very well, similar to its performance in sound quality.

Overall, we found that this headset tends to highlight the bass tones in your voice which makes it actually sound more full, albeit a bit deeper than in real-life. It wasn't overly sibilant and doesn't make hard consonants, like in "ten" or "test" sound overly harsh.

We also like that this headset does a good job of cutting down side conversations, essentially filtering them out entirely if the speaker is more than 10' away from you. However, it does tend to pick up background noises that are close to you, like if you are eating or typing on a loud mechanical keyboard. It also can make a somewhat starting sound when unmuting if you have been muted for a while.

Ease of Use

Our last set of tests looked at how easy and convenient to operate this headset is. Overall, we felt it did alright, earning it a score just above average.

We like that there is no set necessary for this headset — it is essentially plug-and-play. It has onboard controls to mute the mic and adjust the volume, as well as a power switch. The volume knob does stick out a little bit but not enough to be inconvenient in our opinion.

You press a button on the left ear cup to mute the mic, which is also detachable. You also can enable a mic sidetone and adjust the amount. However, we did find the included charging cable to be a little on the short side at 5'.

Value

Unfortunately, we don't think the Black Shark V2 Pro is a good bargain option. Wireless headsets usually cost considerably more than their wired counterparts, so if you are shopping with the best bang for your buck in mind, then we would suggest sticking with a corded model.

Conclusion

The Black Shark V2 Pro is our all-around favorite wireless headset that we have tested to date and we highly recommend it to anyone looking to cut the cord. It has solid sound and microphone quality and is one of the most comfortable models we have tested, all with the added convenience of being cordless.