Razer Kraken V3 X Headset Review

Highlights

• The Razer Kraken V3 X is an ultra-comfortable and lightweight gaming headset, perfect for long gaming sessions.
• Its TriForce 40mm drivers provide balanced audio quality, making it suitable for gaming, music, and Discord calls.
• The HyperClear Cardioid Mic captures voices accurately, and its Razer Chroma RGB effects give it a stylish look at an affordable price.

The Razer Kraken V3 X combines a comfortable design, decent audio quality, and excellent microphone clarity at an affordable price. This headset won’t blow away any hi-fidelity audio fan’s mind, but thanks to Razer’s TriForce 40mm drivers, the Kraken V3 X can hold its own against even the best gaming headsets. Over the last couple of weeks, the Kraken V3 X has been my daily driver for gaming, listening to music, and hanging out on a Discord call with friends.

Contents Of Package

• Razer Kraken V3 X Headset
• User Manual

Razer has one of the best unboxing experiences when it comes to gaming accessories, and the Razer Kraken V3 X wired gaming headset is no different. The Kraken V3 X is the ultimate plug-and-play experience. They were ready to game within minutes after getting the headset out of the box. Gamers can download the Razer Synapse software to change the RGB lighting. To get gaming, users only need to plug in the USB cable.

Presentation and Design

Despite the Razer Kraken V3 X being constructed almost entirely out of plastic, it feels pretty sturdy and looks good. The hybrid material and memory foam ear cups feel soft and do not attract stains or dust easily. On the side of the earcups is the iconic three-headed snake Razer logo, which has an RGB backlight. This is the only piece with RGB lighting on the Kraken V3 X. Around the Razer logo, a honeycomb texture adds an excellent visual detail to the earcups. It feels quite lovely when taking on and off the headset.

The Razer Hyper Clear cardioid microphone, the volume dial, and the microphone mute button live on the left earcup. The microphone boom arm is nice and thin, and the capsule isn’t too big, making it easy to move it into the perfect position without a big mic capsule in the gamer’s peripheral vision.

Comfort

When it comes to comfort, the Razer Kraken V3 X is quite exceptional. Because it is made of plastic, the V3 X is relatively lightweight at 285 grams (0.63 lbs), so even those marathon gaming sessions are comfortable. At first sight, the faux leather material on the earcups and headband was worrisome because this material typically creates a lot of sweat and gets hot. But after wearing them for a while, the heat generated was kept to a minimum, even during intense games.

The Kraken V3 X is a wired-only headset, so the actual cable plays a good amount into the comfort of the overall headset. The cable only connects to one earcup, so there is no annoying cable split, and it comes with a cable tie to keep the length down if gamers don’t need the full 5.91-foot length of cable. It is a reasonably thin cable, and it’s not too stiff where it’s a pain to move around. It’s also not too flexible where it feels like it slides all over the place.

Sound Quality

The Kraken V3 X uses Razer’s Triforce 40mm drivers that are designed to handle heavy bass with no distortion but still have a reasonably wide sound stage. Whether listening to music or playing games, the Razer Kraken V3 X wired gaming headset has a surprisingly full and clear sound. When playing games like Doom, the gunshots were very punchy, and with the virtual surround sound, hearing enemies come up from behind made it easy to locate. In more casual games like Civilization V, this headset sounded good. Since the bass is not boosted, nothing was overwhelmingly bassy that didn’t need to be. Because it is wired, there is no concern for latency problems. The Kraken V3 X delivers a

18 ms latency, which is excellent for faster-paced games.

When listening to music or watching media, this headset does not produce the most accurate sound. Highs and trebles tend to be cut off, but overall, they are still a great listening experience. There is definitely more of a focus on the bass, but as long as gamers don’t plan to use the V3 X as reference headphones, they definitely hold their own even compared to higher-priced headsets like the Corsair Virtuoso RGB.

Microphone Clarity

Even though the sound quality wasn’t super accurate, the microphone, on the other hand, is incredibly accurate and clear. The Kraken V3 X uses Razer’s HyperClear cardioid microphone with a frequency response ranging from 100-10,000 Hz. Regardless of the pitch of their voice, gamers will be quite pleased with how they sound with this microphone, whether it is for recording or hopping on Discord calls.

The very flexible boom arm makes getting the microphone in the proper position easy. There is no sound reduction software or AI with the Kraken V3 X, but because of the reasonably narrow cardioid polar pattern, not a lot of background noise will be picked up, such as typing or clicking.

Software

Software-wise, the Kraken V3 X wired gaming headset uses Razer’s Synapse, which is a pretty tried and true peripheral software at this point. Any gamers that have Razer accessories will probably already have it installed. On Synapse, there is not a lot to control; there is no support for EQ customization or different sound profiles. The only thing that gamers can control in Synapse is the RGB lighting, which can make some pretty cool effects.

However, make sure to download the 7.1 surround sound software. This takes the already decent sound quality to another level. The 7.1 surround sound software setup process is a bit unnecessarily complicated. Users need to register the headset with Razer and create an account before gaining access to the software. After that rigamarole is done, the 7.1 surround sound can be turned on and will not have to be dealt with after that.

Overall Thoughts

After spending the last couple of weeks with the Razer Kraken V3 X, Game Rant can easily recommend this to any gamer who wants an excellent wired gaming headset that won’t break the bank. Gaming with this headset is an absolute joy. The sound quality holds its own with other gaming headsets on the market while the microphone is clear and accurate. Even for gaming sessions that go on for hours, they are incredibly comfortable.

The Kraken V3 X wired gaming headset is not the most premium gaming headset out there; it is made out of plastic. So gamers who want a higher quality build or want more special features like wireless connection, noise cancelation, or hi-res audio codec support might be a bit disappointed by the Kraken V3 X. A headset like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro might be a better fit, but for gamers who want to spend under $50 and have an overall fantastic gaming experience should definitely check out the Razer Kraken V3 X.

If the Razer Kraken V3 X doesn’t seem like the perfect gaming headset, don’t worry. It’s not the only excellent budget gaming headset.

FAQ

Q: Why is my 7.1 Surround Sound not working on Razer headset?

By default, most Razer headsets do not install the 7.1 surround sound software when installing initial drivers. Users instead have to go to Razer’s site to install the software, and then it can be enabled. After the software is installed, make sure to switch over to the 7.1 surround sound output source.

Q: Is the Razer Kraken X good or bad?

The Razer Kraken V3 X is a budget-friendly gaming headset with excellent overall microphone performance and an audio latency-free wired connection, and the sound quality holds its own. The Kraken V3 X is a great option for budget-friendly gamers, but gamers who want a higher-end experience might be disappointed.

Q: Is Razer Kraken V3 noise cancelling?

The Razer Kraken V3 doesn’t offer active noise-canceling, but because they are over-ear headphones, they will block out some outside sound passively.