The BlackShark V3 Pro features Razer's 50mm Triforce Bio-Cellulose dynamic drivers, which have a frequency response range of 12 – 28,000 Hz. That's a little wider than the typical gaming headset frequency response range of 20 – 20,000 Hz, though it's not uncommon to see gaming headsets with wider frequency response ranges (especially premium flagship headsets). It's the same frequency range as the 50mm titanium drivers in the BlackShark V2 Pro (2023), however.
Listening to music on the BlackShark V3 Pro sounds okay — lows are decently powerful and mids are nicely present, especially in my favorite mid-heavy song, K-391's Lonely World . I wasn't particularly impressed with the detail in the low end — I did not get anywhere near the full run of the drums in the beginning of Lorde's Royals , but at least nothing sounded too muddied in Kaskade's POW POW POW. The high end, unfortunately, was less good: The strings in Britney Spears' Toxic were so distorted they were painful to listen to. Needless to say, this would not be my go-to headset for music.
Luckily, just because a headset isn't great for music doesn't mean it can't still be pretty decent for gaming — and the BlackShark V3 Pro performed well as a gaming headset. The headset does an excellent job with directional audio — I had no problem telling which direction footsteps or gunshots were coming from in Counter-Strike 2 , even without THX Spatial Audio turned on. The headset does come with built-in THX Spatial Audio (Razer owns THX), which gives you access to THX's preset game profiles — both competitive and immersive.
The BlackShark V3 Pro also features active noise cancellation, which is a somewhat rare feature to see in gaming headsets — especially gaming headsets that aren't designed to double as lifestyle headsets. However, since the V3 Pro doesn't really double as a lifestyle headset, I'm not sure how valuable this feature will be for most gamers; it might be useful if you've got roommates or loud PC fans, but the headset's seal is fairly tight (especially now that the earcups swivel), and I found the passive noise cancellation to be more than enough.
I had high hopes for the BlackShark V3 Pro's detachable boom mic, as the boom mic on the BlackShark V2 Pro (2023) is the best boom mic I've ever seen (or heard) on a gaming headset. The mic on the BlackShark V3 Pro should be better, as it's a full-band 12mm "HyperClear" microphone (versus the V2 Pro's 9mm). It comes with a removable foam pop filter and sits on the end of a 4-inch flexible gooseneck arm, and plugs into the headset via a 3.5mm jack.
Unfortunately, the BlackShark V3 Pro's mic did not live up to my expectations. It definitely didn't impress anyone the way the BlackShark V2 Pro (2023)'s mic did, and it actually sounded a little worse than your average gaming headset boom mic. I thought this might be due to the software, but it sounded the same even with all software "enhancements" turned off — my voice was full enough, but I sounded a little muffled and fuzzy over various video conferencing platforms, including Discord and Google Meet. Razer did push out a firmware update designed to improve the mic's out-of-the-box performance, but it didn't do much to improve the fuzziness issue.
The BlackShark V3 Pro can be configured using Razer's universal peripheral software, Synapse 4. The software features a 10-band equalizer for tweaking the audio presets, as well as the ability to set up game profiles for each of your games, which is a nice touch (you can set this up so each game points to one of your custom EQs or THX's existing game profiles ). The headset comes with five stored EQ presets out of the box: default, game, movie, music, and eSports (Valorant). You can store up to nine EQ presets on the headset, including up to five eSports presets, and you can switch through these presets using the multifunction/EQ button.
Synapse also lets you tweak some audio enhancements (some of which can also be tweaked on the headset itself), including ANC and in-call audio mixing, which lets you set how you want simultaneous dual wireless connectivity to work (if you want it to work at all). You can also adjust some power settings, such as how long the headset stays on while idle, and pick what you want the light on the dongle to indicate (connection status, battery status, or low battery warning).
You can also tweak the microphone in Synapse, though it's not great out of the box, and I couldn't find any settings that improved it particularly well. You can adjust the microphone's input (gain) and play with the 10-band equalizer (there are a handful of presets to get you started), and you can turn on "mic enhancement," which has several features that do various things (though none of them worked particularly well for me), including normalizing volume, upping vocal clarity, and turning on noise cancellation. There's also mic monitoring, which allows you to hear your voice back as you speak, but I didn't love the way Razer implemented this — my voice sounded fuzzy and distorted, which was distracting.
Razer rates the BlackShark V3 Pro's battery life at 70 hours of a 2.4GHz wireless connection, which is solid — not the highest we've seen, but in line with other premium, flagship gaming headsets from mainstream gaming companies. Of course, the BlackShark V2 Pro (2023) is also rated at 70 hours, so this isn't an improvement over the previous generation.
Razer's BlackShark V3 Pro is sort of a toss-up. While Razer has added all of the connectivity I wanted in the BlackShark V2 Pro (2023) — simultaneous dual 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as wired via analog and USB — I don't necessarily need multiple forms of connectivity in a gaming headset. Or, well, I certainly don't want it as much as I want other features, such as well-tuned audio and an excellent boom mic. I was impressed with how well the BlackShark V3 Pro's simultaneous dual audio mixing worked. Not only did it manage to stay connected to both of my devices (even when I was switching things around, as I often do), the volume mixing wheel on the right ear cup worked perfectly for balancing audio between two devices.
But I'd give up simultaneous dual wireless audio mixing for great all-around audio and an impressive mic — and a cheaper price tag. At this point, the BlackShark V2 Pro (2023) may not be quite as convenient or as feature-rich as the BlackShark V3 Pro, but it's $50 cheaper (and likely on further discount) and it sounds better — and makes you sound better.
Sarah Jacobsson Purewal Social Links Navigation Senior Editor, Peripherals Sarah Jacobsson Purewal is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware covering peripherals, software, and custom builds. You can find more of her work in PCWorld, Macworld, TechHive, CNET, Gizmodo, Tom's Guide, PC Gamer, Men's Health, Men's Fitness, SHAPE, Cosmopolitan, and just about everywhere else.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/peripherals/gaming-headsets/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/peripherals/gaming-headsets/razer-blackshark-v3-pro-review#main
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