It’s very clear that Razer intended the Hammerhead USB-C ANC to be for everyday use rather than gaming and it does show. Usually, when you listen to music on dedicated gaming earphones, the experience leaves somewhat to be desired, but when the earphones are intended for casual use, the experience is better as a whole. It starts with the design and build as that is the first thing you’ll note when trying earphones for the first time and it’s safe to say that Razer has done a great job on this front. The design is modern, clean and minimal with just enough of Razer’s identity to keep things interesting. The build is mostly great too thanks to the aluminium housing, metal in-line controller and parts of the cable. The one thing that could have been improved on the build front is the inclusion of strain relief to help prolong the life of the cables. Comfort is another front where the Hammerhead ANC score well as the angled nozzles and eartips create a comfortable fit in your ears.
The Hammerhead ANC aren’t without fault though and there a few caveats. The first issue is the in-use experience which can be a bit hit or miss depending on how you use them. The problem at hand is with the in-line controller as the controls are small and a little bit tricky to identify when on the move. Another fault is an inherent issue with type-C earphones as a whole, and that is the fact you can’t listen to music and charge your phone at the same time. Now, we can’t really fault Razer for this as such because it’s a flaw with USB-C earphones as a whole, but it still counts as a big negative and somewhat of a frustration if you want to listen to some tunes while charging your phone. One final issue we had was with the battery drain. During testing, we noted that the Hammerhead ANC drained significantly more battery than a traditional set of 3.5mm earphones. This only adds insult to injury as we’ve already mentioned you can’t charge your phone and listen to music at the same time.
However, the Hammerhead ANC do claw back some serious points on the audio front as the sound quality produced by them is highly impressive. We noted that it was clear, detailed, well bodied and highly polished. The ANC feature is also a big plus too as it did a great job of keeping ambient noise in-check, even when used on public transport.
So, are the Razer worth their £79.99 GBP ($99.99 US / $169.95 AUS) price tag? We would say so. As a whole, the positives do outweigh the negatives and the experience overall is impressive. Of course, they have some issues - some more glaring than others, but they are a likeable set of earphones which would be a great choice if you just so happen to not have a phone with a 3.5mm jack and aren’t a fan of Bluetooth.
The Razer Hammerhead USB-C ANC are a great step in the right direction for this type of audio product as they are an attractive, well rounded and compelling offering.
Pros
+ Comfortable
+ Clean and modern design
+ Technically impressive sound
+ Great build quality
+ Nice array of accessories included
+ Good ANC
Neutral
+- No cable strain relief
+- Drains more of your phone battery than standard 3.5mm audio devices
Cons
- In-line controller has small fiddly controls
- Can’t listen to music and charge phone at the same time
+ Comfortable
+ Clean and modern design
+ Technically impressive sound
+ Great build quality
+ Nice array of accessories included
+ Good ANC
Neutral
+- No cable strain relief
+- Drains more of your phone battery than standard 3.5mm audio devices
Cons
- In-line controller has small fiddly controls
- Can’t listen to music and charge phone at the same time
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