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Nov 10, 2024

Razer Barracuda X Chroma review: Powerful gaming headset with RGB

“Only inconspicuous on the outside” was the title of our review of the Razer Barracuda X Wireless from 2021. Well, that’s now a thing of the past. With the Razer Barracuda X Chroma, the manufacturer

“Only inconspicuous on the outside” was the title of our review of the Razer Barracuda X Wireless from 2021. Well, that’s now a thing of the past. With the Razer Barracuda X Chroma, the manufacturer is bringing its customizable RGB lighting to the wireless gaming headset, which also offers impressive sound and extensive connectivity. Our test.

The new Razer Barracuda X Chroma picks up on the basic design of the model series and comes in either a rather plain black or white color scheme. Despite its plastic construction, the headset feels pleasantly high-quality.

The lightly anodized housing is also quite resistant to fingerprints, but is not too scratch-resistant – so you should be careful here. The controls are all on the left-hand side, where the microphone is also plugged in on the outside, which is connected via a 3.5 mm jack.

Very practical: Razer includes a modern USB-C dongle and a matching USB-A adapter in the scope of delivery. So you are free to choose the connection of the wireless receiver.

The ear cups can also be completely folded inwards, which seems a little strange. This means that the outer sides look inwards when you hang the headset around your neck. Normally, with most other headphones and headsets, it’s the other way around. Only Razer itself probably knows why this is the case.

The weight has increased slightly compared to the original version and is now 285 grams instead of 250 grams. However, this does not change the excellent wearing comfort: thanks to the generous and soft ear pads, which offer 60 mm x 40 mm of space on the inside, and the equally soft padding on the headband, the headset is still very comfortable to wear even after hours without any pressure.

The most exciting new feature is of course the gaming headset’s RGB lighting. This extends around an illuminated ring and the Razer logo on both ear cups and can of course not only be individually adjusted, but also synchronized with the rest of the gaming peripherals.

A total of six zones of RGB lighting can be freely adjusted, either on the PC and notebook with the Synapse software or via smartphone with the Razer Audio app. Both work excellently, although Synapse gives you significantly more options and you can also use Razer Chroma to set advanced effects and let off steam.

The features of the Razer Barracuda X Chroma are well above the price range of the headset. The gaming headset not only connects via 2.4 GHz radio with Razer Hyperspeed Wireless for virtually latency-free transmission, but also via Bluetooth 5.3 with various end devices. Even if only the SBC codec is supported via Bluetooth.

This is of course extremely practical in conjunction with the detachable microphone, as you can also use it as very comfortable over-ear headphones. And that makes perfect sense, to say the least, due to the excellent sound.

Switching between wireless and Bluetooth is done with a double tap of the SmartSwitch button and is pleasantly quick. Unfortunately, it is not possible to use wireless and Bluetooth at the same time, but if you have connected the Razer Barracuda X Chroma to your PC and smartphone, calls will come through even when the wireless connection is active. You can then accept these calls and make them via the headset and then switch back to the game sound at the touch of a button afterwards

However, the device does not have a jack connection, so wired use is not possible. However, you can of course continue to use the Barracuda if you charge it via USB-C.

What is available, however, is virtual 7.1 surround sound, which you can optionally switch on to further improve the spatiality of the headset.

The Razer Barracuda X Chroma is operated in the classic way using buttons and a volume dial, all of which are located on the left ear cup and are easily accessible.

Using the SmartSwitch button already mentioned, you can switch between four different equalizer presets (Game, Movie, Music and Custom) by pressing it once. Strangely, however, the custom preset on our test model could only be adjusted via the smartphone app; there was no option for this in Razer Synapse.

Otherwise, there is a power button, which is also responsible for media control: pressing it once starts or pauses playback, pressing it twice skips to the next track, pressing it three times skips to the previous track.

Finally, there is a volume control dial, which could do with being a little tighter, and a mute button to quickly mute the microphone. I really like the simple and precise operating concept.

The battery life of the Razer Barracuda X Chroma is even better than the original. Up to 70 hours of battery life are now possible – that’s another 20 hours more than the Barracuda X Wireless and marks an excellent value.

However, this only applies if you can (or want to) do without the RGB lighting. This is because the runtime is noticeably reduced to just 30 hours when the lighting is activated. And that is already below average by today’s standards.

As already mentioned, you can set the Razer Barracuda X Chroma either on your PC and notebook via Synapse or on your smartphone via the Razer Audio app. When the connection is active, the headset is found quickly and reliably in both apps.

The customization options via Synapse are rather limited. In the Sound section, you can only adjust the volume. A separate app is required for the 7.1 surround sound, which also requires the headset to be registered – so we were unable to test this.

In the microphone settings, you can adjust the volume (gain) and add a sidetone. You can also customize the RGB lighting and set the number of minutes of inactivity after which the headset should automatically switch off to save energy.

Razer Audio offers more options, as you can create your own equalizer preset here, which you can freely adjust in 10 bands. A gaming mode can also be added to reduce the latency of the Bluetooth connection.

In terms of sound, the Razer Barracuda X Chroma surprised me in an absolutely positive way, not only when gaming, but also when listening to music or watching movies. Compared to the manufacturer’s other current headsets, such as the Blackshark or Kranken models, the Barracuda has noticeably more bass, which makes for a fuller and more powerful sound.

In the movie preset, this is also very present and plays too much in the foreground, so that the treble in particular loses detail. The mix is much better in the other settings. This is also due to the built-in TriForce 40 mm drivers, which provide individual tuning of the highs, mids and lows from three separate components.

What initially sounds like a marketing gimmick really works in practice. The Barracuda X Chroma doesn’t have to hide behind significantly more expensive gaming headsets in terms of sound. Personally, I find the music preset (which is set by default) a little too bass-heavy, but switching to the game setting or the custom equalizer quickly remedies this.

Here is a comparison of the frequency settings between the three options:

In terms of sound, the headset is a real all-rounder. I was also pleasantly surprised when listening to music. The headset mastered my headphone test playlist, which is made up of a wide variety of music genres, flawlessly and conjured up fine details even in complex arrangements.

The airy and warm mix is pleasing, even if a beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro (our test) or the Steelseries Arcits Nova Pro Wireless (our test) sound noticeably better here – but they also cost considerably more.

The Razer Barracuda X Chroma also improves noticeably in terms of microphone quality. After all, the headset inherits the HyperClear cardioid microphone from the other series, which ensures a full and detailed sound.

The microphone covers a frequency range from 100 Hz to 10,000 Hz and has a sensitivity of -42 +/- 3 dBV/Pa @ 1 kHZ.

Razer Barracuda X Chroma microphone test recording:

Corsair Virtuoso MAX Wireless microphone test recording:

Audeze Maxwell microphone test recording:

The result is a really clean, natural and detailed sounding microphone with excellent speech intelligibility and a high pleasant volume. Only a slight, low background noise is a little annoying. But that’s complaining on a high level: the Razer Barracuda X Chroma is undoubtedly one of the best-sounding wireless gaming headsets in terms of microphone quality.

With the Razer Barracuda X Chroma, the manufacturer has created an excellent mid-range gaming headset. Particularly noteworthy are the low weight and the excellent wearing comfort, which means you can wear the headphones for hours on end without getting uncomfortable.

The versatile connectivity should also be emphasized, as the headset can be used via wireless and Bluetooth not only on PCs and consoles, but also on smartphones, tablets and much more.

The new RGB lighting is a highlight that is not one for me. I personally don’t need RGB in a headset – I can’t see it anyway when I have it on my head. In addition, the battery life with active lighting drops noticeably from an excellent 70 hours to a meagre 30 hours. So I switched it off quite quickly during the test – but it’s still a nice-to-have if that’s of interest to you.

The sound quality of the Razer Barracuda X Chroma is also very good, although the comparably priced SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless (our test) sounds a little better in my opinion. Nevertheless, the Barracuda X Chroma is an absolutely recommendable gaming headset that offers excellent value for money.

Very comfortable gaming headset with stylish RGB lighting, very good sound and microphone, which also lasts a long time. At least if you deactivate RGB.