Razer Barracuda X Review

Razer: It’s hardware, but black and green. By now everyone is familiar with the brand that has been dominating the gaming peripheral space for years now, always delivering gear in its trademark ostentatious style. But lately, something has changed at Razer. It has dialed back on its more garish art design while focusing more on further refining the technology it has to offer. The Razer Barracuda X is a prime example of this idea, as Razer’s latest headset was built with one goal in mind: Offer as much audio bang for your buck as possible, with the Swiss army knife of headsets.

On the surface, Razer calls the Barracuda a wireless 4-in-1 device that can handle all your gaming needs across mobile, PlayStation, PC, and Nintendo Switch, all for a much more affordable retail price of around R2000 or $100 if you live on that side of the globe. And for once, this isn’t hyperbole from the marketing department. I’ve had the headset for around two weeks, and I’ve used it on a number of devices: my new PC, my Android Huawei P30 Pro phone, my iPad Pro, my Nintendo Switch, my PlayStation 4, and my PlayStation 5.

That’s a heck of a lot of gear right there for one device to link up to, but here’s the best part: it’s incredibly easy to hook up, just like your mom. The key to the Barracuda X’s plug-and-play nature is that it relies on a small USB-C dongle to form its wireless connection. It’s dead easy to use: Simply plug it into a USB-C slot, and there you go. Once the headset is powered on, it’ll automatically sync itself and you can start listening to audio cues directly from the headset. It’s legitimately that easy, and thanks to the number of cables that it comes with, pretty much anything built in this modern era will work with the Barracuda X.

It’s a pity that it has no Xbox compatibility, but that comes down to Microsoft’s box having its own proprietary headaches when it comes to wireless headsets. So deliciously close this time. It’s also worth noting that there is zero Bluetooth support, so whatever you do, do not lose that little dongle.

So what’s the actual performance like then? Aesthetically speaking, the Barracuda is a more stylishly clean and restrained approach to Razer’s design philosophy, packing a durable plastic construction with oblong ear cups housed in memory foam. That makes for a soft yet surprisingly firm seal, and with the headset weighing around 250 grams, it can easily sit on your head for a day of work. Steel sliders mean that you can easily adjust the fit, with the ear cups also able to rotate when you want to take a break.

Controls for the Barracuda X can be found on the left: a power button double-dips with a few extra clicks to provide other functions, a mic mute button stops people from hearing your unleashed farts, and there’s a small radial wheel that’s slightly too loose for my liking, but it gets the job done. Aside from that, there’s USB Type-C charging, 3.5mm audio, and microphone jack inputs to finish off the offerings.

As for audio, the Barracuda X has an above-average offering thanks to the Triforce drivers that provide excellent separate audio channels and superb positioning sounds. Do I regret replaying Dead Space using these, all alone in a dark room as I listened to horrible sounds from beyond mortal reckoning convincingly creeping up on me from specific directions? Yes, yes I do. In other games that did not leave a curious yellow stain on my couch, the headset was also more than up to the task.

Hearing footsteps in first-person shooters, listening to the breeze rush past me in Ghost of Tsushima, or even enjoying a few Pokémon battles on the Switch, the Barracuda X was brilliant at making each layer of sound stand out and paint a vivid picture. Technically, the headset can support THX spatial audio as well if you’re prepared to shell out a few bucks extra for that. Otherwise, the regular surround sound 7.1 works a treat in games and media, dropping massive explosions and subtle atmospheric sounds while keeping the line between highs, mids, and lows distinct. Impressive stuff.

There’s a microphone as well in case you want to hurl obscenities at your teammates, which does an alright job. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible, just dead average through a detachable cardioid.

One thing that is worth mentioning about the Barracuda X is its battery life, as a single charge lasted me literal days of activity. Razer says that there’s a 20-hour battery life per full charge here, and I genuinely believe them, considering how long I went between sessions. The fact that you can use USB-C charging to fill up the headset with some more go-go juice is just a quality-of-life feature that has quickly become the modern-day standard.

The Razer Barracuda X is a surprisingly chunky collection of features that matter when it comes to gaming headsets: It has a battery that can last all day, its audio offerings punch above its weight, and it can connect to almost anything with a USB-C port. Comfortable and confident, this is one headset that looks and sounds good.