Razer Opus Review: Great Value at an affordable price

Razer Opus Overview

In the segment of high-end headphones, there are lots of options to choose from and only a few offer the value for that high price tag of $300+. Only a few truly excellent headphones offer the best value at their price point.

Razer is a gaming brand that is known for making high-performance gaming PCs, laptops, and accessories for gamers. And now razer has released a pair of active noise-canceling headphones.

                                        image credit: gsmarena.com

The Razer Opus is the latest offering from the brand in order to attract a wider range of audiences. Coming into the market for the 300$ price range which already has more competition.

Coming on to the headphones the design of this laptop is lowkey but it packs a punch of audio quality and provides it in the price that most of the other manufacturers can’t.

                                                 image credit: cnet.com

     Razer Opus Pros:

  • Very comfortable
  • Great active noise-canceling
  • THX-certified quality audio
  • USB-C port
  • Lots of other accessories

    Razer Opus Cons

  • The microphone could be better
  • The battery life is just okay
  • Audio leakage
The headphone is a very minimal looking headphone. It doesn’t look like the typical
razer headphone that has a fierce look. All the neon green and dark blacks combinations are now gone (only in this headphone though). It’s more like a minimal headphone with great audio quality that fits perfectly in your ears with its around-ear fit.
                                      image credit: cnet.com
Inside the padded travel case, the headphones rest in when removed from the packaging, you’ll find a healthy collection of accessories. A microfiber pouch conceals a 3.5mm cable, as well as a USB-C cable for charging (THANK YOU, RAZER) with a 3.5mm adapter and USB-A to USB-C adapter, is tucked away in the middle of the case. This time around Razer has decided to not only target gamers but also other people who like to have great audio quality at a more reasonable price.
Talking about the audio quality, Razer worked with THX, which ensures these headphones deliver an awesome experience in audio delivery (up to the standards of theater-goers). With this headphone, you can expect moreover a well-balanced listening experience.
Razer knowing that it’s entering the market range where there are already competitors like bose, beats & sony with their high-end products costing like $350. Razer priced its headphones at $199. What actually do you get with a $199 headphones if that sounds appealing to you lets find out.
                                      image credit: cnet.com

Razer Opus Design

Talking about the design of the headphones as said above its simple and is practical for an average user. The slanted earcups fit perfectly around ears while I listened to the music while testing these headphones. Controls are mounted on the rear that is simple and easy to use and reach.

                                        image credit: cnet.com

On the left side it the power button next to an LED power indicator, and the “NC” button( NC stands for noise cancellation). The right part has up/down volume controls and a multi-function play/pause key.

Each earcup has a noise-canceling microphone on the outside, and the left side has two voice microphones. The left side ha a USB-C port for charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack if you prefer to use a headphone jack with the headphones.

The earcups use memory foam wrapped in a plush and comfortable faux-leather(Artificial leather). The photos here are of the midnight blue color option, but there’s also a black option- and there are no standout crazy gamer color options like neon and lime green with black and white bases.

There’s a small THX logo on each earcup, with the ” R Λ Z Ξ R ” logo placed on either side of the adjustable headband. This headband is also cushioned like the earcups- with grippy faux leather that will keep the headphones on the place while you wobble here and there.

                                          image credit: cnet.com

It comes with a case that helps in taking this headphone where you want without much worry about them. It’s well made with the same faux leather in black color. And there a hand strap with a snap-button and the zipper makes a seemingly weather-resistant seal. Although there isn’t any pocket, there’s a flap in which you can have your adapters and cords.

                                          image credit: gsmarena.com

Both ends of the audio cable have the same size so you can use a standard aux cable. The Razer opus headphones include a 4ft audio cable, a 6-inch USB-C to C cable. and a USB-C to USB-A adapter too, just in case for your convenience. There’s a split adapter for plugging into airplane’s audio jack too.

The cups in this headphones turn and fold flat to save space in the case or to wear comfortably around your neck while you aren’t using them.

And if you were wondering yes the Opus does attract fingerprint. Almost all parts of the headphones will get your fingerprint to accept the faux-leather in the earcups and the bottom portion of the headphones. They clean up quite easily so it is not that big of a deal.

Is Razer Opus Comfortable?

Yes, of course, the headphone is comfortable and the faux leather at the bottom of the headband won’t let your headphone slide. The memory foam in the earcups will make sure to give you as comfortable experience as possible. The fit is perfect and you could wear these headphones quite comfortably.

                                        image credit: cnet.com

Razer Opus Controls

The pressure from the headband is okay- not too firm of course. The fit of the Razer Opus is really good. The touch controls in these headphones are good but with that simultaneously comes the accidental touches. Your fingers will pause the music or change it time and often accidentally before you get a hang of that.

You would prefer physical touch keys over the touch response due to the difficulty if you don’t get hang of it. The physical keys here however are tactile and are easy to find. The headphones get turned on/off by pressing the power key and pressing the NC button next to it that toggles the active noise cancellation.

Holding down the NC key will let the outside audio in through the speakers so you can hear surrounding noise. Razer calls this “Quick Attention Mode” and it only lets the outside noise in as long as you hold it. As there are two exterior NC mics you can hear the passthrough audio in stereo.

                                                image credit: gsmarena.com

Holding down the respective volume key will adjust the level of volume simultaneously. The play/pause multifunction key can also be used to skip track (by pressing two times) and going to the previous track( with three presses) or bring up Siri or Google Assistant by holding the play/pause button.

There are effects of sound when you pair your Opus when you enable/disable active noise cancellation and beep for low battery. There is a pinging sound for pairing your opus, and you get warning beep that goes off every 5minutes when the battery is critically low.

Software & ease of use

There is a dedicated app for the Razer Opus in the Google Play Store as well as the App Store. Inside the app, you get lots of features making the Opus easy to use the headphone for every kind of user. You can check the battery level, toggle auto play/pause, and set a timer up to an hour for the headphones to stay on before it automatically shuts down if it isn’t being worn. The app also has shortcuts to the user manual and FAQs.

                                                   

                                                 image credit: gsmarena.com/opus app

But there’s a drawback in here and that is due to the THX certification there is a specific Equaliser set to the headphone and hence there is no manual way to tune the EQ to how you like. You only have some Equaliser setting to choose from.

The opus app doesn’t have any controller for the controlling of the headphones while connected in the notification setting as well as this app requires permission or else it won’t work. Why does a headphone app even need to know your location? I think they should remove this request.

                                        image credit: gsmarena.com/opus app

Battery life in Razer Opus

The Razer Opus claims for 25hours of continuous use and goes from 0 to 100 % in about 3 and a half hours- 4 hours. Battery life on Opus is great. The battery on this thing lasts really well. And it shouldn’t be a problem for you while you take this headphone while you’re traveling.

Audio Quality, ANC, & EQ

The Opus headphones support the most essential codecs including AAC and Qualcomm’s AptX. There is no support for the higher bitrate codec LDAC, but still, the headphones sound great with good details and clarity.

The sound quality of these headphones is pretty good. They aren’t bass-heavy, rather they aim for accuracy and deliver a moreover natural sound. However, there are preset EQ profiles that you can select to satisfy the need of your like. For a more bass-heavy sound, you may use the Enhanced Bass EQ profile as it will satisfy you the most but you can’t expect bass as hard as Sony or Bose headphones.

These headphones don’t distort at higher volumes, rather they tend to overshoot in the mids more so in the treble ranges when above 75% volume. This is where the vocals often overpower the track.

I wish the bass were a bit fuller in these headphones. Percussion instruments are clear, but they do hit hard in higher volumes. Instruments like snares and cymbals tend to overshoot in the higher treble parts, which sound almost abrasive.

Quality through the provided 3.5mm cord was great and there was no audible hiss that’s apparent with the headphones powered on, whether that’s wired or not.

Toggling the noise-canceling feature causes a slight change in the EQ. Bass sounds a bit heavier and it begins to overpower the other tones, which lose a bit of detail in the mids and highs. In other words, the sound isn’t consistent between NC mode being on or off.

The change isn’t too drastic, but I wonder why the inconsistency is there. Switching to the Enhanced Clarity EQ setting with NC turned on seems to offset this and I can hear all the instruments again.

The seal around the earcups does a great deal of noise dampening, but the NC feature does a good job of canceling the background noise from things such as fans, running water, rain, and AC noise. It doesn’t cancel all noise but after you start playing music you won’t be able to hear the baby crying next to you while you travel around in the metro.

The EQ settings available in the app are THX(default, balanced), Amplified, Vocal, Enhanced Bass, and Enhanced Clarity.

                            

                                        image credit: gsmarena.com/opus app

Our Verdict

The Razor Opus is a great pair of headphones for the price they come in and the amount of value they offer. They have a comfy fit around and don’t make you ears pain while you listen to your favorite music. If you’re first time in trying the active noise-canceling headphones then the Opus would be a perfect fit for you I would say.

But however, if you are coming from older pair of Bose, Sony or Beats headphones we think you shouldn’t upgrade to these because it would actually be a downgrade as however, the Opus is a great pair of headphones it doesn’t quite come up to the mark of these headphones as they are price and specification heavy.

And if you’re looking for a pair of comfortable headphones for everyday use and/or traveling they will do a great job for serving your purpose.

If you are after a more complex pair of headphones with fuller sound and bass that booms may want to look at something more expensive as after few days of use you may find that this headphone doesn’t satisfy your need.

The active noise cancellation of the Razer Opus isn’t the best, and these headphones don’t support multi-device connections, so if you want to use them with your smartphone and a laptop, you’ll need to re-pair them every time you switch between devices.

But the package that Razer has to offer for $199 is absolute best I would say. Anyone wanting a great pair of headphones for daily use for music and watching movies would absolutely love these.

Comment your thoughts/queries about these headphones below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

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