Wired earbuds are back in a big way, and while new entrants into the space have fallen mostly in the general use category, Razer is here to make sure the gaming segment is represented, too.
The Hammerhead V3 Chroma are Razer’s new pair of wired gaming earbuds with USB-C, and they’re designed to bring the benefits of wired audio with a more gamer-centric spin. One of the main benefits is that—like any pair of wired earbuds—there’s zero latency, meaning you don’t have to worry about your audio falling behind gameplay and playing a step behind everyone else.
This is a perk, to be sure, though wireless earbuds with 2.4GHz USB-C dongles, which is what Razer’s wireless options already use, already kill most of the latency while gaming. I, for one, can’t discern any noticeable lag when I use wireless earbuds or headsets with dongles.
Outside of zero latency, the Hammerhead V3 Chroma have active noise cancellation (ANC) and RGB lighting, which at this point is basically a must-have for any Razer product. Sound-wise, these earbuds use an 11mm dynamic driver for “punchy low-end impact” and a 6mm tweeter for “crisp, articulate highs,” according to Razer. There’s an in-line remote for controlling playback and toggling ANC off/on as well.
One nice, if kind of small, touch is that Razer has designed the USB-C connector to sit flush against whatever you’re plugging your earbuds into, which is good since, as Razer notes, a USB-C that protrudes from your phone, for example, could interfere with where your palm rests naturally during mobile gaming. A possible downside, though, if you were mobile gaming, is that not all mobile gaming controllers will fit around a wire sticking into your phone, though this set definitely has a higher chance than most non-gaming wired earbuds.
Ultimately, whether you like the Hammerhead V3 Chroma will come down to personal preference, and if there’s one thing you can usually count on with wired audio, it’s that the price tag is lower, which applies here as well. You can buy the Hammerhead V3 Chroma starting today for $80, which is a lot more expensive than a pair of EarPods but still cheaper than other wireless Razer gaming earbuds like the Hammerhead V3 HyperSpeed, which has an MSRP of $130.
