Razer's New Hyperspeed Headphones Made Me Believe In Gaming Earbuds

Earbuds aren't usually considered gaming headphones, but Razer's new Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed makes some careful considerations for gamers.

Call me old-fashioned, but the idea of playing any video game with earbuds sounds ridiculous. I don't have a problem with wireless earbuds. I use a pair of Galaxy Buds2 when I exercise or go grocery shopping, and sometimes when I have trouble sleeping. They’re great for listening to podcasts and audiobooks while you multitask, and they tend to have pretty good noise-canceling. But I’m not looking for convenience when I game, I’m looking for power. I want big, 40mm drivers that give me great audio range, fine-tuned surround sound so I hear where my enemies are coming from, and most importantly, absolutely zero latency.

I’ve always treated my earbuds as earbuds, and my gaming headphones as gaming headphones, so when Razer reached out about its new Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed gaming earbuds, I was intrigued. When I saw the $200 price tag, I had some serious doubts. But, a week with the Hammerhead Pro has convinced me that gaming earbuds can actually solve a few problems that have long bothered me about traditional gaming headphone options.

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At $200, the Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed is in the same tier as most flagship earbuds from the big brands, including Apple AirPods Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds, Bose QC Earbuds, and the Beats Fit Pro. For that price, you should expect superior active noise canceling, wireless fast charging, huge battery life, and exceptional sound, and the Hammerhead Pro has all of that. These earbuds sound as good as any I’ve used before, they charge incredibly fast (just 15 minutes of charge for 80 minutes of listening on a wireless charger), and while I tried to test the battery, the damn things never died in the week I’ve been using them. Razer says you'll have 30 hours (6.5 hours on the earbuds + 24 from the case) without ANC as long as you turn off the RGB lightning, which apparently drains almost five hours from the battery. Normally I’m a sucker for RGB, but I’d rather have the battery life, and I don't really need my ears to glow.

They’re on par with every other earbud in their price range, but there's a few features that set the Hammerhead Pro above the competition. The headphones come packed with a 2.4 GHz dongle, which can plug into any device with a USB-C connection. Not only will this almost entirely eliminate latency compared to Bluetooth, but it also enables the earbuds to be used with devices that don't even have Bluetooth, or have lousy Bluetooth like the Switch. The adapter even lets you connect to two devices at once and toggle between them, which has turned out to be the thing that makes me want to get rid of all my other headphones and stick with the Hammerhead Pro permanently.

I’m in an era of tech consolidation in my life. I have all the best devices and accessories, but it's become too much to manage. I can't store, charge, or even keep track of all other different niche gaming peripherals I have at this point, and I’m looking for more all-in-one solutions. With the hyperspeed dongle, the Hammerhead Pro can be the only headphones I use with all my devices. The case fits in my pocket and the earbuds connect to my PC, handhelds, mobile phone, and my consoles. My only complaint is that there's nowhere to store the dongle in the charging case. Otherwise I’d always have them together, and these would be the only headphones I’d ever need. You can plug the adapter into the charging port on the case, but I’d be too worried about it snapping off in my pocket.

There's a couple of other nifty features worth mentioning, like Do No Disturb, which mutes all your notifications while gaming, and Game Mode, which improves Bluetooth latency at the expense of battery life, but these only really factor in when you’re playing on a mobile device. The Razer Audio app is used to make adjustments to the settings, like increasing the power of ANC and turning off the RGB. It's easy to use, but keep in mind you’ll need to connect the earbuds to your phone whenever you want to make changes. They also have a built-in ambient mode if you want to be able to hear exterior noise while you’re listening.

The Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed is the first Bluetooth and wireless hybrid earbuds, and it makes me wonder if I even need to keep investing in big bulky gaming headphones. With all the convenience of earbuds and the cross-platform capability of traditional wireless headphones, you can easily make these your daily drivers and gaming headphones at the same time. If the Switch and Steam deck had two USB ports I would have the wireless adapter permanently installed in them, but Razer is, unfortunately, slightly ahead of the industry on this one. Still, this is the best option for gaming earbuds, bar none.

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Eric Switzer is Features Editor that specializes in Pokemon, VR, and tech coverage. He is also the host of TheGamer Podcast, now entering its second year. Eric loves board games, fan conventions, new technology, and his sweet sweet kitties Bruce and Babs. Favorite games include Destiny 2, Kingdom Hearts, Super Metroid, and Prey...but mostly Prey. His favorite Pokémon is Umbreon.