In 2020 the Razer Blackshark V2 Pro launched and offered one of Razer’s best wireless gaming headsets. The original BlackShark V2 Pro featured two impressive 50mm TriForce Titanium drivers, a decent HyperClear Supercardioid Mic, and THX Spatial Audio surround sound with a focus on esports gaming. It was a feature-rich wireless headset that Razer has refreshed this year with a few critical quality-of-life changes.
Many of the features that made the 2020 Blackshark V2 Pro so popular are still here, like its excellent sound quality and surround sound features, but now the headset has been updated with better battery life and more esports-centric offerings. Additionally, the 2023 BlackShark V2 Pro has a significantly improved microphone and has reinforced the fine details of its build quality to make it hold up a little better. However, even if this refresh improves upon the original V2 Pro, it isn’t enough to recommend existing owners to go out and buy one right away.
Razer Blackshark V2 Pro: Comfort and Build Quality
Starting with comfort, the 2023 BlackShark V2 Pro is decently lightweight and feels comfortable to wear for multiple hours at a time. The headset’s clamping force never felt tight in any regard and could even be considered a little too loose for some people. Those with smaller heads may find that the BlackShark V2 Pro will move around a bit as they move their heads. However, this light clamping force also makes it so that glasses wearers will have no discomfort with their frames over extended play sessions. Moreover, the headset’s breathable plush cushions ensured our ears were never sweltering when we were gaming.
The overall build of the 2023 BlackShark V2 Pro is quite good. The headset’s “Flowknit” headband has newly reinforced stitching at the seams, and Razer has also taken care to reinforce the adjustable wireframe part of the headband, so the product lasts a little longer. The V2 Pro’s ear cups are nice and deep and never rub up against our ears in an uncomfortable or even noticeable way. Compared to headsets like the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless or the Hyte Eclipse, the BlackShark V2 Pro is remarkably more comfortable for extended usage than either of those.
Razer Blackshark V2 Pro: Connectivity and Battery Life
The 2023 BlackShark V2 Pro comes with a dedicated 2.4 GHz dongle which Razer has named its "Hyperspeed Wireless" solution. In use, the headset's connection never failed us, and its latency was imperceptibly small - these can go toe to toe with a wired connection any day. Its range was also good enough to let us walk about 20 feet away with no loss in quality. The headset also comes with Bluetooth 5.2 support, but unfortunately, it is a barebones implementation. Our unit was able to connect to devices like the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck just fine but could never muster sound. Meanwhile, the V2 Pro did connect to our smartphone but only worked to send and receive calls. The dongle seems like the only way to receive any type of media audio on this headset, for now. Multi-device audio streaming is not a dealbreaker for these headphones, but it would have been nice to have, seeing as Bluetooth is already there.
Unfortunately, the 2023 V2 Pro does do away with the 3.5 mm headphone jack that the 2020 version included. While not a huge loss for those buying this headset strictly for its wireless capabilities, it does slightly cut back on the headset’s connectivity options. Xbox users are now out of the equation, while getting these headphones up and running on a Switch or a Steam Deck is now a little more complicated than plugging and playing. As it stands, the V2 Pros seem targeted at PC, PS4, and PS5 users.
Battery life on the BlackShark V2 Pro is fantastic, significantly improving on the 2020 model’s roughly 20-hour battery life. This year’s model sports a massive 70-hour battery life that can go the distance and survive over a week to a week and a half on a single charge. In our day-to-day use, we only needed to charge it once when we received the product, and we still have yet to charge it again after almost two weeks of constant use. If users need a quick battery boost, the V2 Pros can charge up to six hours of battery life when plugged in for only 15 minutes. The headset’s overall quality of life is much-improved thanks to its new battery and excellent comfort, but it would have been nice with more connectivity options.
Razer Blackshark V2 Pro: Sound and Microphone
The 2020 V2 Pros garnered some praise for their great 50mm TriForce Titanium drivers, and they still sound great in the 2023 refresh. The inclusion of 50mm drivers over standard 40mm ones is an excellent choice by Razer and one that pricier headsets–often with more features–still fail to include. Bigger drivers do mean more noise, though, and users should prepare for a louder pair of headphones. Even at 50% volume strength, these headphones can get loud and can really be pushed to ear-splitting audio levels if users so desire.
The actual sound quality of the 2023 Razer BlackShark V2 Pro is superb, frequently outpacing headphones $100 above the V2 Pro’s $199.99 retail price. Out of the box, the V2 Pros have a decently balanced neutral EQ profile that does lean a little heavily on the mids and highs but keeps the bass tastefully rich. These headphones won’t be causing any ear drum-splitting reverberations once an explosion goes off in Call of Duty unless users want them to. In most instances, the lows, the mids, and the highs remained distinct from one another and never drowned out one another.
However, the BlackShark V2 Pros come into their own on the software side of things using Razer Synapse. Although we aren’t too fond of Razer Synapse, the software has taken steps to reduce its bloat and is relatively lightweight these days. In Synapse, users can swap between Custom, Music, Movie, and Game EQ profiles and switch them on the fly with a button on the V2 Pro’s right ear cup. We mainly used the Movie profile as a good all-a-rounder EQ setting, and it was our preferred profile outside of neutral EQ. The rich customization features present in the Blacksharks are great and help take an already good-sounding pair of headphones and elevate them to whatever the user personally likes. Synapse also includes THX Spatial Audio, which is fine, but can be divisive.
Overall, THX Spatial is one of the better digital surround sound audio solutions, offering a better experience than SteelSeries’ surround sound solution and the Dolby Digital surround solution found on the Microsoft store. THX Spatial does a good job of digitally opening up the headset’s soundstage and adds a bit more depth to each EQ profile. In gaming, it was certainly helpful in pinpointing where shots were coming from in Call of Duty, but it isn’t a very reliable method of identifying enemy locations due to its digital surround nature. Moreover, THX Spatial is turned off by default when using the esports-specific audio profiles, so it seems like Razer agrees with us.
Razer wants the BlackShark V2 Pro to be the go-to headphones for esports gamers, and the company has done a lot to tailor the headset’s EQ profiles toward that purpose. In collaboration with multiple eSports pros from games like Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Apex Legends, Razer has developed specific EQ profiles for each game that are tailored to how each of those titles balances their sound. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, we did manage to hear a difference in footsteps and distant shots, as they sounded a little more clear and defined within the headset’s soundstage. Meanwhile, in Counter-Strike, footsteps also sounded a little more defined within the game's audio stage, and we felt a little more confident in where enemies were located as a result. Overall, the esports profiles are a win for the V2 Pros, but it is worth tinkering with the headset’s EQ profiles to tailor them to a user’s specific needs and not take them at face value.
This year’s most significant improvement in sound is in the V2 Pro’s microphone. Razer’s custom HyperClear mic’s sampling rate has been expanded from a 16 kHz sampling rate to an impressive 32 kHz sample rate. In short, the V2 Pro’s microphone can now pick up a wider range of vocal frequencies and deliver a clearer, more natural voice. In action, the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro’s mic does sound far better than the competition and does a great job of eliminating background noise while it's at it.
In our testing, voice reproduction on the V2 Pro is far more natural sounding and more clear than even the pricier SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless or cheaper Hyte Eclipse. Mids, highs, and lows are more defined; however, the lower bass tones sometimes sound a little too emphasized. Moreover, there is still a slight layer of the usual headset microphone muffle that can be heard at times, but that can be alleviated in Synapse when toggling on the "Vocal Clarity" setting. Much like on the sound side of Synapse, the V2 Pro’s microphone EQ can be adjusted however the user sees fit in case they don't like the out-of-the-box experience. Overall, the 2023 Razer Blackshark V2 Pro’s mic is a serious step up from the previous 2020 model and even exceeds the capabilities of some of its competitors.
Razer’s 2023 Blackshark V2 Pro model is an improvement on the previous model in almost every regard. The 2023 V2 Pro is more comfortable, a little more durable, has a great battery, and the microphone quality has been significantly improved. The only downside is its scaled-back connectivity which leaves these great headphones a choice mostly for PC and PlayStation gamers. However, while the 2023 V2 Pros do improve on the previous model in almost every way, these improvements are more nice-to-haves for newcomers and not something existing owners should be rushing out and picking this headset up for. At $199.99, The Blackshark V2 Pro can punch above its weight in audio quality while delivering enough features over lower-priced options to justify spending more for its feature set.
The Razer Blackshark V2 Pro is available now. Game Rant was provided a review unit for the purposes of this review.