Razer BlackShark Battlefield 3 Edition PC Gaming Headset Review

Razer are a well known peripherals company that produce high quality and mass appealing products for both PC and console gaming. At eTeknix, we’ve seen many products from Razer for review, with many of them walking out the door with an award – will this be the case with the headset we have in to review today? Well we won’t be surprised if it does, as Razer have consistently produced high quality products, albeit at a slightly steeper price than other brands.

Today we have the luxury of reviewing only one of three of these headsets to make it into the UK – the Razer BlackShark Battlefield 3 Edition gaming headset. In the past we’ve had some very good results from Razer – particularly with the Tiamats, so we are expecting to see the same from these. As they are licensed with EA to brand them as a battlefield 3 headset, we will also be expecting the sound quality to be just as good, if not better than the headsets we’ve tested in Battlefield 3.

Based on the gear helicopter pilots wear, Razer have adopted a similar style for the BlackShark headset with a basic metal frame and lots of exposed metal. The design in itself is fairly simple considering some of the other headsets we’ve used. Before we take a closer looks at the headset, lets just review the specifications:

Specifications

• Exclusive Battlefield 3 design
• Stereo sound with enhanced bass
• Sound-isolating circumaural ear cup design
• Detachable boom microphone for voice chat or added mobility
• Audio/mic splitter adapter cable
• Memory foam leatherette ear cushions for maximum comfort
• 40mm neodymium magnet stereo drivers
• Approximate Weight: 290 g / 0.64 lbs

Headphones

• Drivers: 40mm neodymium magnets with copper-clad aluminum voice coil
• Frequency response: 20Hz – 20KHz
• Impedance: 29 Ω
• Sensitivity @ 1KHz: 105dB ± 3 dB
• Input power: 50mW
• Cable: 1.3m rubber sheathed
• Connector: 3.5 mm audio + mic combined jack

Microphone

• Frequency response: 50Hz – 16KHz
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 50dB
• Sensitivity @ 1KHz: -37 dB +/- 4dB
• Pick-up pattern: Unidirectional

Unusually, the BlackSharks only have 40mm drivers, which is unlike most gaming headsets which have 50mm or larger, although this doesn’t always mean that bigger is better (so lets have none of that “mine is bigger than yours” nonsense). The headset also makes use of a combined mic and headphone jack, allowing you to use them in mobile devices – although we have a sneaky feeling no one would wear these out of the house.