Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed

The Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed package

In Razer’s signature green box, you’ll find the charging case complete with two stem-shaped in-ears, three pairs of ear tips (S, M, L), a USB-C wireless dongle, two fabric-covered USB-A to -C charging cables and USB-A to -C extension cables

These glossy black in-ears are securely locked in their matt black charging case by magnets. However, due to the smooth surface of the in-ears, it is not easy to pull them out of the case. The ear tips have a familiar stem design, but the built-in technology, including Chroma RGB lighting, takes up space, so the Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed are not among the slimmest or smallest in-ears. The design might also seem old-fashioned, but of course, tastes can differ.

Weighing seven grams each, the in-ears hardly protrude from the ear cup at all, so they fit under hats.

The case (approx. 46 grams) is able to charge the in-ears up to 3.7 times (via USB-C or Qi), and depending on whether the Chroma RGB lighting and/or ANC is active, the runtimes vary between 14 and 30 hours, according to the manufacturer. Razer defines these specs as 40% each (PC) as well as 50% when the Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed are connected to an iOS device.

Razer Audio App

Thanks to connection with the app, the Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed can be adapted to suit one’s own needs to a certain extent. However, the configuration options are not as extensive and detailed as those offered by a Technics EAH-AZ80. The Razer Audio App can show you the in-ears’ battery status (only), it lets you adjust the Chroma RGB lighting in various patterns and colours, offers you a fit test and an EQ with several pre-sets (THX, Vocals, Clearer, Bass, Amplified, Custom). In addition, you can fine-tune the ANC in ten steps, activate or deactivate the auto-pause feature, change the announcement language and run firmware updates. As well as help topics and general info, you also adjust the controls of the in-ears.

It is a pity that the announcements cannot be deactivated or turned down. It was too loud for our taste. We would also like to have the option of locking the touch surfaces so that incorrect inputs could be avoided when straightening the in-ears. Unfortunately, reconnecting the headphones and the app did not always work reliably. If the Hammerheads are taken out of the ears and put back in, they do connect with your smartphone, but the Razer Audio app continues to search in vain for the little black earphones.

Using the Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed

The Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed can be controlled via touch commands. Pausing playback, accepting and rejecting calls, selecting between ANC, transparency mode and all, and even changing the volume is possible. The 1-push command is more of a 1-press-and-hold command, and it requires some practice to perfect. However, the 3-press command cannot be changed and is reserved for switching from Bluetooth to HyperSpeed Wireless.

Connect via Bluetooth

Equipped with Bluetooth version 5.3, the Razer Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed transmit with the codecs SBC and AAC. While using the HyperSpeed dongle, the Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed cuts the audio connection, and calls are passed through – unless you have deactivated this in the app. Once the call has ended, the True Wireless in-ears switch back to HyperSpeed mode. Therefore, a simultaneous connection, including mixed media playback, is not possible.

How do the Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed sound?

Straight out of the box, the Razer Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed sound inconsistent, and this is due to the default EQ pre-set (called “THX”). The bass was pulled back, while the upper mids were prominent, so S-sounds were a bit sharp and nasal (Neneh Cherry “Buffalo Stance”). If you switch the EQ to “Individual”, the equaliser curve is zeroed: The sound is correspondingly “rounder”, and it becomes apparent that the Razer Hammerhead can also produce decent bass. However, the overall sound performance seemed uneven here as well. The upper mids and lower highs were too underrepresented for our taste, but this can be changed by raising the 2K and 4K bands by 2dB each (Fünf Sterne Deluxe “Dein Herz schlägt schneller”).

Frankly speaking, the Razer Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed were primarily designed for gaming, but with the Bluetooth wireless link, these True Wireless in-ears also have to show what they’re made of when it comes to “music playback.”

At a price of just under 230 euros, comparisons with the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II or the Apple AirPods Pro 2, which at 20 to 30 euros more, are in a similar price range, come to mind. In terms of sound, however, both of these top performers are much more “musical” than the Razer Hammerhead Pro Hyperspeed, although the high latencies of the Bose and Apple models mean that they are only suitable to a limited extent for gaming on a PC, tablet or smartphone.

Thanks to the special Gaming Mode, Razer pushes the latency down to around 60 milliseconds during Bluetooth gaming sessions, while the Apple AirPods Pro 2 have over 80 milliseconds of delay via iOS.

This gets even better if you are using the HyperSpeed wireless dongle instead of Bluetooth. The angled plug connects to PCs, Macs, Playstations, Switches, Steam Decks and Android devices via USB-C, and thanks to its design, it leaves room for additional USB accessories. Razer says it achieves a latency of only around 40 milliseconds, which in practice means that you don’t notice any delays in the sound. This is how it should be!

In terms of sound, these Razer headphones accurately reproduced an opponent’s footsteps, but the sharpness of the S sounds in speech (Horizon Forbidden West) was noticeable. It was a pity that the EQ could not be changed in HyperSpeed mode, as this requires an active Bluetooth connection in order to be able to use the controls in the Razer Audio App.

Noise cancelling and transparency mode

The hybrid noise-cancelling on this model was only in the mid-range, because as widely as the Technics EAH-AZ80, Apple AirPods Pro 2 or even the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II suppress the environment, the Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed can’t come up with the same stuff. While low noises were moved neatly into the background, it was mainly mid and high frequencies that got through to the ears. The noise of a vacuum cleaner in the next room could still be heard quite clearly. So is the background noise, but it is not noticeable in a negative way and is masked during media playback.

The transparency mode raises the background noise by design and does a good job: It sounded natural without artificially distorting the outside noise in any way. But in this respect, Apple, Bose and Technics are also a cut above.

Telephoning

The speech intelligibility was convincing: Both the voice of the person on the other end of the line and our own voices always sounded natural and clearly understandable.

Conclusion

The Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed have great performance, especially in terms of latency! Thanks to the USB wireless adapter, there is ultra-fast transmission for those who play on consoles and PCs. Thanks to the Gaming Mode, gaming via Bluetooth is also a pleasure. However, we were less pleased with the price-performance ratio, considering the sound, noise cancelling, transparency mode and fine-tuning options via the app. For Bluetooth headphones above the 200-euro mark, which are designed to be worn on the go, the sound was too inconsistent. If the noise cancelling were wider, it would also provide a much larger quiet space when using the headphones for travelling. Speaking of travelling: The speech intelligibility during phone calls – even on the move – was completely convincing.