Razer Hammerhead True Wireless Pro Review: Great For Mobile Gaming!

Latency is a pain to deal with if you’re playing games on the go with wireless earbuds. Well, the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless Pro earbuds pretty much solve that problem.

The earbuds still retain the stem design and the Razer logo on the top, but aside from that, Razer has actually gone for an in-ear design this time, so you get silicone tips out of the box. If you prefer foam tips, well, you’re in luck. Razer has partnered with Comply and there’s actually a pair in the box. The downside though, is that there’s only a pair in Medium, so if you have larger ear canals, you’ll have to get your own or use the silicon tips.

Let’s get into it. Razer claims 60 milliseconds latency with their Gaming Mode turned on, which is pretty good if you’re planning to use these with your phone or even with your Nintendo Switch, as I do. Now, I have no way to test whether it’s actually 60 milliseconds, but I’ve tried using other Bluetooth earbuds on my Switch, and I’ve had the issue of audio cues being delayed, but the Gaming Mode on the Razer Hammerhead Pro earbuds actually works. 

I tested this out with Hades on the switch, and the audio cues for the dash and attacks were pretty on time. If you’re using these with rhythm games like Crypt of The Necrodancer, they might do pretty well. If you’re just playing more casual games though, and don’t care for whether the audio is in sync, you can easily get any random Bluetooth earbuds in that case, you don’t have to splash out US$199 on these.

Yeah, that’s right. They cost US$199 or S$299. These aren’t cheap, but they might actually be worth it if you consistently play games that can take advantage of the low latency on a Switch or phone and want the convenience of going wireless.

Moving on, Razer has an app for their true wireless earbuds that pushes out updates, and the best part, you can customise what every tap, double-tap, triple tap, tap and hold do. These have touch controls, and it’s found in the Razer logo, which isn’t fantastic, in my opinion.

The surface area is small, and I’ve found that sometimes, it doesn’t quite register the correct command. For example, it’s tap and hold for 2 seconds to toggle ANC on or off, but it’s tap and hold for 4 seconds to enter pairing mode. I would expect a voice alert to let me know that ANC is being toggled on or off, but it would occasionally just go straight to pairing, which was pretty frustrating.

There’s also no way to adjust the volume via the earbuds, so you’ll have to do it through the phone or console. That being said, the app is pretty decent. You get a fit test too, to make sure the ear tips you’re using are good, and on the main page, you can see the battery levels for the earbuds.

The earbuds come in a black plastic case, and overall, it’s not too bad, although the case can get a bit slippery. You charge the case with a USB-C cable, which is nice, although there’s no wireless charging here. Battery life is pretty poor, to be honest. I got around 4 hours from the earbuds on a single charge, which is definitely on the low end compared to others, but on the flip side, most people wouldn’t spend four hours playing a game on their phones. There are an additional 16 hours in the case, so it’s definitely enough for at least two or three days of use. 

But how do these sound? Well, pretty darn good, actually. Razer has partnered with THX for these and the result is a well-balanced sound across most genres, with a nice emphasis on bass. The sound can also be tweaked in the app with a limited equalizer letting you choose between the THX sound setting, Amplified, Enhanced Bass, Vocals and Enhanced Clarity. There’s also a custom EQ slider that allows you to boost or lower frequencies between 21 and 16000 hertz, which should be perfectly adequate for most.

There’s also ANC on these, which… to be completely frank, is just passable. It’s capable of muffling some noise when you’re out and about, but if someone sits down next to you and starts talking, you’ll be able to hear them quite clearly. Overall, it’s more as if the earbuds lowers the general ambient sound around you rather than really cancelling out noise. 

There is IPX4 water resistance and Bluetooth 5.1, which are all great. But the earbuds only come with SBC and AAC codecs. That’s right, Razer has actually managed to get latency time down to 60 milliseconds without using aptX Low Latency or whatever. It’s rather impressive, honestly, and I was a bit sceptical before trying them, but well, Razer’s certainly proven me wrong. 

All in all, if you like Razer products and you’re looking for some wireless earbuds to use when you’re gaming on your phone or Nintendo Switch, these work really well. They don’t look too bad, they’re lightweight enough to wear for a couple of hours on end and most importantly, there’s next to no audio lag.

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Content by Cheryl Tan