HTG Wrapped 2025: 24 days of tech
24 days of our favorite hardware, gadgets, and tech
I’m not a fan of gaming headsets, so for the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro to impress me enough for me to recommend it to you is no small feat.
I’ve tested well over a dozen gaming headsets in the last few years, and have only found two of them to be solid. The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro is the better one of the two, and although expensive, it was a definite tech highlight for me in 2025. With that said, I didn’t love it right away.
At a glance, I was impressed
The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro feels every bit as premium as you’d expect at that price point
Credit: Monica J. White / How-To Geek
The first thing I noticed was the build quality. As I generally have little faith in gaming headsets, I was happy to find that the headphones felt sturdy. You can tell that you’re dealing with a premium product from the get-go.
Next, the comfort. I wear glasses, which often makes some headphones and headsets uncomfortable for me, but the soft memory foam cushions on these headphones really work well for me, even after hours of use. They do run a bit hot, but I think that’s not unexpected for a headset with a fairly tight (although not too tight) clamp.
The headset has an enormous (12mm) supercardioid detachable microphone that comes with a foam cover. I was more than ready to get rid of that bit right away, as in my old headset, the mic windscreen really muffled my voice. I did end up getting rid of it eventually, solely because the mic is bulky all on its own and doesn’t need a massive foam cover to add to it.
Razer has already fixed my biggest problem with the BlackShark V3 Pro
I wish I had bought it a few weeks later.
Credit: Monica J. White / How-To Geek
This is a wireless headset with 50mm titanium-coated drivers, and you can run 2.4GHz HyperSpeed wireless and Bluetooth simultaneously, connecting it to your PC and phone at the same time. I started with just a 2.4GHz connection to my PC, and after a quick setup, I tried it out.
My heart sank. It really didn’t sound as good as I’d hoped, given the $250 price tag. The sound was muddy and somewhat flat, and the lack of bass quickly started to bother me. But, before you start wondering why I’m telling you that I like it despite that, let me tell you that this was in the early days of the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro. The headset didn’t sound great out of the box, but Razer rolled out some firmware updates that improved the EQ in a major way. Right now, it’s good from the get-go, and you can play around with different sound profiles in Synapse to get the kind of sound you truly like.
As I didn’t have access to the latest firmware right away, I spent a lot of time playing around with different sound settings. This helped me bring both the microphone and the audio quality to a level I was more than happy with.
The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro has active noise cancelling (ANC). I never thought this was needed in a gaming headset, and I treat it as more of a perk, but I have to admit it’s pretty good. There are different levels to it, which you can tweak in Synapse, and while I rarely play shooters, I admit that this really helped me zone in and focus.
Using it also amplified my experience in more immersive RPG titles, as I could hear smaller details that I’d often missed before. THX Spatial Audio (virtual 7.1 surround) really took that to the next level, immediately elevating this headset over my previous favorite, the much cheaper SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7.
My journey with the microphone was much like with the audio side of things—it needed some fine-tuning. Buying the headset now and downloading the latest firmware should help you cut back on all the annoyance and just flip between different modes. The Default mode is alright, but the Broadcast mode sounds really good for a gaming headset.
The battery life on this headset is outstanding
A must-have in a headset without hot-swappable batteries.
Credit: Monica J. White / How-To Geek
The battery life floored me. I got used to having to charge my previous headset every day for it to survive through hours of calls, but this one did the job for three to four days before needing a charge. This was without ANC, though, which I’d imagine would cut into that battery life in a significant way.
Lastly, an important aspect in a headset like this is latency (or a lack thereof). I haven’t had any problems on that front, and the wireless connection felt stable through all my hours of testing.
The audio quality, comfort, and even the microphone have all impressed me, especially after some tweaks that helped me adjust the sound profile to match what I want. Outside of gaming, I still prefer a standalone pair of headphones, but for gaming and Discord, the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro is certainly the best headset I’ve ever tried.
Credit: Razer / Amazon
Battery Life
Up to 70 hours
Noise Cancellation
ANC
Microphones
12mm supercardioid
Driver size
50mm
The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro turned out to be my favorite headset in 2025. It has fantastic ANC for a gaming headset, solid audio, and is comfortable to use even for hours on end.
HTG Wrapped 2025: 24 days of tech
24 days of our favorite hardware, gadgets, and tech
