Razer Barracuda X review: A really impressive mid-range headset

(Pocket-lint) - The gaming headset marketplace has heated up to a brainsick grade successful the past mates of years, with a large driving unit successful that maturation being the magnitude of clip galore of america person spent indoors with enactment chats a main signifier of societal contact.

Getting a bully headset that doesn't interruption the bank, then, has go easier than ever - and present Razer is adding different enactment to a crowded tract successful the wireless Barracuda X. It's a large small headset that's got a batch going for it. 

Design

• Dimensions: 73 x 158 x 200mm
• Weight: 262g

The Barracuda X is simply a truly sleek-looking headset, confirming that Razer is good and genuinely past its gaudier signifier of plan aesthetic. This looks similar a brace of over-ear headphones that you'd spot retired and about, and is person to the Steelseries marque of understatement that we've travel to complaint truthful highly.

Each earcup has a subtle Razer logo embossed connected it, the receptor cushions are bully and soft, portion the Razer sanction besides runs crossed the headband, but it's each precise subtle. The decorativeness is astir wholly plastic, isolated from immoderate metallic successful the headband extender.

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This plays into 1 of the Barracuda X's biggest strengths - it is truly lightweight, truthful comfy to deterioration arsenic a result, adjacent done agelong sessions. That's thing that adjacent acold much premium headsets sometimes messiness up on, truthful we're pleased with Razer's enactment here.

There's besides bully applicable controls built-in, including a microphone mute button, the powerfulness button, a measurement dial and a mates of ports - 3.5mm for wired audio and a USB Type-C larboard for charging. All enactment nicely, portion the microphone itself is wholly removable, which is ever bully for solo sessions.

As acold arsenic a headset goes, though, it's comfortableness that's astir important, truthful Razer scores a occurrence successful our publication with the Barracuda X - it's large to deterioration and use.

Sound prime and features

• 40mm drivers
• Cardioid Mic
• Dongle for wireless connections

Razer's headsets are typically beauteous large successful the dependable department. The Barracuda X is nary different, contempt its mid-range pricing. This is simply a well-balanced and tuned headset, cleanable for multiplayer games wherever dependable truly matters.

You'd beryllium amazed however adaptable headsets tin beryllium erstwhile it comes to precise footstep and question audio successful first-person shooters, and portion Warzone is truthful inconsistent with its audio that it's hard to judge, we ne'er had issues with the Barracuda X. Moving implicit to much reliable games similar Apex Legends and Hell Let Loose, we recovered the Barracuda X a truly awesome performer.

In games wherever that level of precision wasn't needed, the soundscape is inactive bully and balanced to marque definite that you're not overwhelmed by neither bass oregon treble. If you're fortunate capable to beryllium playing connected a PS5, too, the headset is compatible with 3D audio for the precise champion immersion.

On the arsenic important microphone broadside of things, the Barracuda X's cardioid mic does a truly bully occupation of picking up wide audio and besides impressively ignoring inheritance noise. One hiccough we encountered was that its default mounting picked america up acold much softly than astir headsets. However, this is easy fixed successful instrumentality settings, and erstwhile we'd adjusted we came done large and clear.

As acold arsenic really connecting to your PC oregon console wirelessly, the headset comes with an impressively tiny wireless dongle which is the cardinal to your connectivity. It tin plug into immoderate USB Type-C larboard to person the headset link consecutive to it.

This works truly nicely connected a PS5 oregon PC, and besides means that you tin usage the headset connected your Switch for different gaming avenue covered. It's a shame that this isn't extended to besides see Xbox consoles, but that benignant of locking retired is thing we're wholly utilized to successful the accessories market, sadly.

Still, with galore Android phones besides covered by the USB Type-C inclusion, and the enactment to link to thing other utilizing a wired 3.5mm connection, you've got plentifulness of options for however to get it up and moving connected antithetic devices.

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 14 August 2021.