While the gaming industry is humming along just fine, Razer’s set it sights on younger customers who want to take their flashy green peripherals into the outside world. And why shouldn’t they? Razer is established well enough in the audio sphere—reaching out to gym rats and beyond only makes sense. That’s where their latest in-ears, the Razer Hammerhead BT come in.
Name: Nommo Chroma
Manufacturer: Razer
Release Date: Out Now
MSRP: $169.95 AUD / $99.99 USD
As usual with the beginning of these reviews, here’s a lovely bunch of numbers and technical talk in order to make the Razer Hammerhead BT headphones sound all fancy and technical.
Headphones
- Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
- Impedance: 32 ± 15% Ω
- Sensitivity: 116 ± 3 dB @ 1 kHz
- Max input Power: 10 mW
- Drivers: 10 mm with Neodymium magnets
- Cable length: 63 cm / 2.07 ft.
- Approximate Weight: 0.06 lbs (28.0 g)
Microphone
- Frequency response: 300 Hz – 3.4 kHz
- Signal-to-noise ratio: ≥ 55 dB
- Sensitivity (@1 kHz): 42 ± 3 dB
- Pick-up pattern: Omnidirectional
In-line remote
- Music Controls: Play/pause, next, back
- Call Controls: Answer, end, reject call
- General: Volume, pair, power
Battery
- Battery type : 160 mAH rechargeable Li-Po battery
- Battery life : Up to 8 hours (* May vary dependent on usage & device)
- Charge time : Up to 2 hours
Range
- Bluetooth wireless range : 10 m / 30 ft
First off: What’s in the box? Well inside the packaging for the Razer Hammerhead BT are a carrying case, short USB charging cable, extra silicone tips, and of course: your shiny new Razer Hammerhead BT headphones.
Straight away you can tell that the Razer Hammerhead BT are some pretty decent headphones. They sit very well and tight in the ear, going right up against the ear drum to make sure that the sound you are heading is as crisp and clean as it can make it. However the first drawback with the Razer Hammerhead BT becomes apparent here, they are just too soft. Personally, I’m the type of guy who listens to a LOT of old school Rock and Metal when he travels, so I need that bass to be driving into my head like a jackhammer when I’m chilling to something like Metallica’s Master of Puppets or Slayer’s Raining Blood; however, the Razer Hammerhead BT just doesn’t cut it in that front, making things sound somewhat dull when listening to stuff like that. When listening to the latest spoken word podcast, movie trailer or listening to a phone call, the Razer Hammerhead BT delivers the sound in such a way that it doesn’t matter too much about the lack of real bass.
Speaking of talking, the microphone is pretty much the stock standard omnidirectional speaker that has been with mobile phone headphones since the very beginning. This means that when you are out and about in the middle of a busy city or a crowded train, the person talking to you on the other end of the line is going to hear everything around you also, making this another time where you are practically going to have to eat the microphone to just make yourself heard. But in more quiet places the microphone is clear as a bell, almost to the point where you think you’re talking to the person in the same room.
Traveling is the main reason to have the Razer Hammerhead BT in the first place. So at the moment when we are heading into Australian winter, the magnet part of the holder for the Bluetooth unit is extremely cold and is irritating to use till the thing warms up against your skin, or you go numb in that spot… Whatever comes first. I’ve tried wearing the Razer Hammerhead BT with just a t-shirt on and it’s not too bad; there is some noticeable tugging on the clothes as the magnet does weight a tiny bit, just enough to be noticeable. However, when you wear this with a hoodie or something it isn’t as noticeable since the added clothing takes the weight, or with a hoodie you can just drop the unit into the hood and forget about it.
Surprisingly, adding clothing like a hoodie, or a bulky jacket over the top of the main unit doesn’t mess with the connection at all. Plus with the 30 foot range of the connection being available, I can leave my phone in the lounge room (Which is the middle of my house) and keep talking to my girlfriend or whoever while walking around any room of the house, even to the extent that I can get about halfway outside into my backyard or to the street and still have no connection issues. So the signal is strong enough to go through most homes… Though I’m not too sure about brick since my home is mostly hardwood.
Speaking of connections, I can’t remember if mine were specifically tuned to Android or not, but the website does state that the Razer Hammerhead BT headphones are both Android and iOS compatible, but for some reason I could not get the headphones to connect up to my iPad Air 2 at all; which is a pain in the butt since I tend to watch videos on that tablet more than my Galaxy phone and would like to not keep my girlfriend up with the noise. So be sure to check the manual or something before syncing these headphones to a device as they might only have enough memory to store one device at a time.
Battery wise you do get close to the 8 hours advertised on the box, but honestly it’s more along the lines of 5-6 hours maximum use before dropping out. The good thing with the Razer Hammerhead BT is that it connects to any USB-Micro charger and takes about 2 hours to full charge again, so the trade off isn’t that bad.
The long and short of it is: the Razer Hammerhead BT are in-ears that are best suited for a commute, trip to the gym, or anywhere that you need to drown the world out. Really, these are purpose-built for that sort of thing, so it’s no surprise that they’re not going to beat the pants off of audiophile options. They’re the product you buy when you want some no-nonsense Bluetooth earbuds… and you’re tired of having your earbuds fall out during a run. Though the price tag might scare a lot of people off, but that’s Razer for you: A high price tag for a good product.
High price point, decent enough product
Summary
The Razer Hammerhead BT headphones are simple enough for what you need them for. As a device just designed for talking, they are prefect; but for listening to music you might want to look into other options since the bass is just not all that great. The lack of even the idea of an AUX back up port is also something lacking, so you’ll need to keep an ear out for noise or connection issues after 5-6 hours of use. Good for the casual trip, but not the heavy end user.
