Razer Barracuda X Review: Combining Versatility and Affordability

High-end and High-specced Gear Is Not The Only Thing Razer Can do Best.

Like a year ago, Razer announced the Barracuda X gaming headset. What caught my interest the most was that it didn’t look like any of its gaming siblings (the Razer Nari, Kraken, or Blackshark). All of them scream gaming to some extent, but this wasn’t the case with the Barracudas.

The Razer Barracuda X gaming headset was designed primarily for mobile gamers, who want to game on the go and, at the same time, won’t look like nerds or dorks, avoiding some unnecessary head turns in public.

---

---

Good looks, as always, Design: Razer Barracuda X Review

The beautiful designs from Razer are taken for granted. They don’t come in the iconic color of Razer, the loud green, but instead, they sport a clean, stealthy black look with the famous snake logo blending in a matte black color on each earcup.

The Barracudas are an ideal candidate for people who love portability thanks to their compact build. This is a nice touch from Razer since the Barracudas are quite versatile, meaning you can take them for a walk or even use them in the office.

They measure 3.32 x 6.4 x 7.34 inches and weigh only 8.8 ounces. Also, the earcups can rotate up to 90 degrees, rewarding us with a comfortable fit and even allowing them to lie flat for easy storage.

It comes in a black plastic finish, yet it doesn’t feel cheap. It’s not as sturdy as some other Razer wireless gaming headset, like the BlackShark or Nari. The pads sport the same mesh fabric we have seen on the BlackShark V2. They managed the heat around my ears very well and were quite soft, rewarding me with great comfort around the ears.

The headband is not on the thick side, but it offers just the right amount of tension, so I can feel comfortable without tightening my head hard.

I like this product’s versatility more than its minimalist style because it offers clean and simple wireless sound on PS5, Nintendo Switch, PCs, and Android phones.

Connectivity

You will find all the buttons and ports on the edge of the left ear cup. They include a power button with a small led dot to indicate when the headsets turn on, and also to indicate the battery life at the same time. A volume rocker, a quick mic mute button, a USB-C port for charging, and even a 3.5mm port for wired connection, plus another 3.5mm for the boom mic since it is detachable.

Using the Razer Barracuda X wireless headset is quite simple. Since they are billed as multi-platform gaming headsets, Razer decided to not make them viable for the Razer Synapse app for extra features.

So yeah, Razer kept things old-school and left all the controls on hand. The Power Button does all the things you need; it is multi-functional.

• Long press to turn them on.
• Small taps to answer or end calls
• Double-tap to skip forward a track, or triple-tap to rewind a track.

While there are headsets that have cool control features such as adjusting the volume levels with a touch on the earpads, I was quite happy with the physical buttons on the Barracudas; they were responsive and easy to find.

---

Good Sound Quality, as always, Performance: Razer Barracuda X Review

Déja vu?

Good sounds from Razer are taken for granted. It sports 40mm Triforce drivers that are great, really great. What impressed me the most was the clarity and the separation between the highs, mids, and lows. The bass was great. it was punchy and nice, nothing overwhelming to the point of annoyance. Also, it didn’t muddy with the other frequencies, and there was no distortion at all.

Playing games with the Barracudas X was really a joy. I can’t lie. The explosions in the Warzone and the realistic voices in Genshin Impact really immersed me in the gaming world.

The sound quality is commendable when you think of the price they come in at.

Moreover, with the superb THX Spatial Audio for PC, which offers a decent EQ, presets, and bass boost, you may improve the sound.

Wireless Gaming 4-in-1

The 4-in-1 designation denotes wireless connectivity compatibility with the PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile devices. All that is thanks to the Barracudas wireless USB-C dongle. It provides a splendid high-speed connection without interruption. If you don’t have a Type-C port or have issues, Razer was generous and included a USB-A extender in the box.

With all that being said, there’s also a drawback here, meaning the Razer Barracuda X’s supports only the Hyperspeed 2.4 GHz, there’s no Xbox wireless support, and not even Bluetooth connectivity, which sadly is a shame on Razer’s side. Flipping the coin, the Barracudas offer a lot for the budget price they come with.

Microphone:

The microphone is a cardioid capsule with a foam windscreen to guard against your implosive curses when the jungler refuses to gank in League of Legends. And it is mounted on a flexible, rubber-covered arm. And as I said earlier, it is detachable to make it more travel-friendly.

Sadly, I can’t hype the microphone that much. Nothing awful though, but nothing great either. It was decent. It picked up the voices well, but it was on the quiet side. People online kept asking me to turn the volume up. Nevertheless, it will do the job it was set out to do without a fuss.

Battery-Life:

Razer promises us 20 hours of battery life with the Razer Barracuda X gaming headsets, which is dope for a budget pair of headsets. Surprisingly enough, it proved to last more than claimed. When I had the chance to test them, I got myself a nice 22 hours, and all I did was daily computing, listening to tracks, and some light gaming here and there. It took 4 days to bite the dust.

It doesn’t have fast charging capabilities and it takes around three hours to fully charge, making it perfect for an all-night charge and having it ready to roll in the morning.

---

Bottom Line, Conclusions

The Razer Barracudas X are quite versatile thanks to their USB dongle, but the dongle might be a double-edged knife since it is so small and can be lost easily, but besides that, it offers great connectivity on 4 platforms.

Even though this might upset the Xbox users since there’s no support for them and the lack of Bluetooth holds them back from completely destroying the competition.

Still, I think those are understandable compromises for the price they come, and for the sound quality they provide. I am hard-pressed to find better-sounding wireless headphones at this price point.

So yeah, if you need a pair of cost effective wireless headset, the Razer Barracuda X are the way to go.

Further Reading

You may read this article to learn why soundbars cut out immediately, and then you can determine whether there are any unique causes for Beats to disconnect and whether you can resolve these problems.

Check out which DAC Amps are best for your Sennheiser HD58X.

Don’t be afraid to look at some fantastic soundstage headphones that you will like.