Razer has been known for its audio products for more than a decade but those were mostly gaming headsets. However, this year they’ve launched their first wireless Bluetooth headphones with the Razer Opus.
Design & Hardware
Unlike the company’s gaming headsets, the design of the Opus takes a more subtle approach with a minimal design. While there’ isn’t RGB lighting, there are Razer logos etched into the headband and THX logos on either earcup.
The headphones are made from plastic but they feel very sturdy and the headband adjustment feels solid as well. I have a fairly large head and the Opus fit my head perfectly. On each earcup is plush leatherette foam ear cushions which make them feel comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
The headphones weigh about 265g and can be folded when not in use. The left earcup has a 3.5mm audio jack, power button, status light and ANC/ambient button. The right side has the volume up/down buttons and a centre multi-function buttons.
The buttons on the headphones were fairly responsive but I found them a tad small, I wish there were a bit large in size. The Opus offers Active Noice Cancellation and features two external and two internal microphones.
The noise cancellation on the Opus headphones is great but isn’t up to the same level as the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, which are best-in-class. Even if you don’t enable ANC, the headphones still offer great noise isolation.
Pressing the ANC/ambient button will toggle ANC on/off and keeping the button held will turn on an ambient mode where there are some ANC and some external noise. I wish the button could go from ANC to Ambient to off instead of just holding the button for ambient.
Battery life on the Opus is around 25 hours ANC enabled and longer with ANC off. The headphones have Bluetooth 4.2 and support AAC, APTX, A2DP, AVRCP and HFP audio codes.
The sound quality on the Opus headphones are great, that’s thanks to the two 40mm dynamic drivers. When listening to music, everything sounds balanced with a good amount of bass.
Since acquiring THX back in 2016, the Opus headphones are THX Certified, which means they’ve gone through rigorous testing to meet THX’s audio quality standards.
In the box, you get the headphones, a carrying case, 3.5mm audio cable, USB-C cable, USB-A to USB-C adapter and an airline headphone adapter.
The Razer Opus headphones are available now from the company’s website for $269 CAD ($199 USD). They come in two colours, Midnight Blue and Black.
Software
To get set up with your Opus headphones, you’ll need the Opus app on Android or iOS. From there you’ll be able to connect to your headphones and update the firmware. The firmware update process takes around 10 mins to complete and for some reason the downloads are slow.
After that, you can then make adjustments to the EQ by choosing from a number of presets.
- THX (Default)
- Accurate, balanced soundstage with impactful bass
- Amplified
- Turns up the low-mid frequencies; feels louder
- Vocal
- Focuses on clear, balanced vocals and dialogue
- Enhanced Bass
- Emphasizes low frequencies for more bass
- Enhanced Clarity
- Emphasizes mid-high frequencies for sharper vocals and notes
For the most part, I stuck with the THX preset which offered a more balanced sound. My only gripe is that’s no option to make your own EQ preset, hopefully, that is something that can be fixed in a future app update.
There is a battery life indicator in the Opus app but it doesn’t tell you a percentage, it’s just a battery icon. Other settings include turning off/on the autoplay/pause feature when you take off the headphones and auto power off.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Razer Opus is a great pair of ANC headphones that is a cheaper alternative to the higher-end ANC headphones by Sony and Bose.
Pros
- Foldable design
- Very comfortable ear cushions
- Comes with a nice carrying case
- Sounds good and Active Noise Cancellation works well
- Great battery life (up to 25 hrs)
Cons
- Opus app doesn’t give much customization options other than EQ presets (no custom EQ option)
- The hybrid mode requires holding down the button to use
- The buttons on the headphones are small
TheCanadianTechie 