Pokémon’s 30th Anniversary is in full force — and on our heads with Razer
I think I’m always in need of new headsets. I tend to use a different one for each different utility, such as for podcasting, listening to music, gaming, or travel. I have an exorbitant amount, according to my family at least, and I make sure never to cross streams. Part of that is the ease of connection and another part is just that each product has different pros and cons aligned to the scenario.
Pokémon’s 30th Anniversary has led to a lot of unique accessories over the last year, but these latest headsets from the collaboration with Razer may just be enough to start blurring the lines together for my headset usage.
My current livestream headset is a Razer Kraken V4 Pokemon edition. It functions really well, it hits all of the audio fringes that matter to me, and it’s comfortable. But, it’s also wired. I have to unplug it from my PC in case I want to use it elsewhere, and anyone who has ever interfaced with Windows products knows that simply unplugging or plugging an item back in can be an incredible hassle. While I’ve been happy with the Kraken, I would prefer wireless.
And that’s just what Razer has provided with the BlackShark V3 X Hyperspeed sets themed to Charizard and Lucario. Because not only do they look great, the wireless capabilities are so good that they rival a few of the headphones I own that are at least double the price.
Now, there are three aspects that I personally look for when I’m checking out headphones: audio, comfort and style.
Firstly, they’re based on Razer’s already existing BlackShark V3, with Gen-2 of the company’s TriForce 50mm drivers. Those are a lot of words and numbers but it boils down to high-quality sounds designed for esports gaming in mind, but with the added benefit of being worthy of using everywhere. I tested it on my laptop (with Marvel Rivals and with Mortal Shell II) and the audio reflected the speed of weapons and movement and the eeriness of chanting happening in forests appropriately. We can pick up the spatial locations of things easily, and the audio-to-video lag isn’t there.
Obviously there’s a USB attachment available if I want to go that route, but wireless is important to me. The Hyperspeed is FAST with the dongle, but even with the normally so-so Bluetooth tech in my laptop I’m able to keep things zippy with no noticeable lag. With BT I can connect seamlessly to my iPhone to listen to some music and podcasts. My song of choice is Cake’s The Distance because of how it builds up the guitar, vocals and bass, and it still sounds as tough as ever. Podcast-wise I was happy to hear voices clearly and spatially located. I don’t feel like these are orchestra hall level, but where most of my listening is on my phone or PC (or even my AppleTV) this is right in the zone. I even connected this to my Switch 2, which it technically isn’t mentioned in any of the documents, and it worked completely fine, even popping up on screen with the device’s full name. Again, any time I can use one device across different products it’s always a win for me.
And I played Hellraiser: Revival, in case you’re wondering.
There’s no noise cancelling, unfortunately, and I’m not always a fan of an external microphone that needs to be attached because I’m afraid I’d lose it or break it (my Kraken’s mic just extends out for ease of storage) but these aren’t deal-breaking notes, just annoyances.
They’re incredibly comfortable, too. They weigh in at about 270g, so they’re fairly light. The cups are soft and plush, and I actually like wearing them because they feel nice. They feel light, too, because of how the cups are attached to the strap with wires. I’m worried that if I bang the wires wrong they might bend and I won’t be able to slide the cups up or down, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it eventually. The plush head strap across the top is extra nice because not only is the side that touches my scalp soft and foamy but so is the top itself. That means that if I bang this set anywhere, whether I’mm wearing them or not, I won’t feel it as much and it won’t damage the strap. And because I’ve been swapping what they’re connected to, I’ve been wearing them for hours at a time. It helps that even after two weeks of heavy use I haven’t had to charge them yet, what with the battery rated at 70 hours (per Razer).
So yeah, these are REALLY GREAT HEADSETS from just the utility side.
They also look pretty nice, too. The pill shape of the cups is nice and clean, and that round, friendly and modern theme is found throughout their design. From a colorway standpoint, the combinations that Razer chose to represent the two characters are on point. The Charizard is an in-you-face red-orange, yellow and black, really pushing that it’s visually LOUD. All of the foam areas (the cups and the strap underside) are yellow, letting us know where the comfort spots are, while the plastic is black. Charizard’s red flames are all over it, with the monster represented in a yellow outline along the strap. It’s really quite striking from the outside, and meant to show our allegiance to the beast, but it’s the little easter egg in the cup that I love. The internal speaker can mesh is that same red-orange color but within it is a unique line drawing of Charizard in black. He’s in my ears now!
Lucario, on the other hand, is much more subdued. Featuring a gray strap and gray comfort foam areas, the cups are light blue with a pastel lemon yellow adornment of Lucario’s abilities on the outside. That yellow is also used on the logos for Razer and Pokémon, and the strap on top has a nice two-tone gray effect with Lucario in blue mid action pose. That pose is also found inside the cups, as the yellow makes up the mesh with a gray Luke outline.
And it’s my favorite of the two because, well, it’s my Detroit Lions colors so I kind of have to favor it. I don’t make the rules here in Detroit, I just abide by them.
The Razer x Pokémon BlackShark V3 X Hyperspeed (whew!) headsets hit the center of the target. Leaning into esports is good to make sure that we can use them in gaming and movies (and music) as we take on different aspects of our day. They may not have premium features like RGB lights and noise cancelling, but the audio quality and the looks more than make up for it, and by being focused Razer have managed to overdeliver.
Value is a strong word to throw around, but here I will: These headsets bring a ton of great value.
The headsets are now on sale on Razer’s website.
4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great
This review is based on products sent to the Editor by the Publisher or PR. Read about how we do our reviews here.
