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To capitalize on the gaining popularity of TWS earphones, the Razer Hammerhead TWS Pro is the company’s second attempt. Much refined from its first offering, the Hammerhead TWS Pro promises better sound quality and performance. But in the sea of high-end wireless earphones, where does Razer’s offering stand?
Design and build quality
While the overall case of the Hammerhead TWS Pro is portable, it seems a bit on the slippery side. We like that the case has a matte finish however it would have been nicer with a texture. It sports the hinge, the LED indicator which glows green, orange and red depending on status, a Type-C USB port and an indent to open and close. There is also some subtle Razer branding on the lid of the case which exudes minimalism.
Speaking of the lid, it is build on a strong hinge. The opening and closing mechanism of the hinge is robust and quite satisfying. Although when opened, the hinge does wiggle and creak a bit under pressure. Opposite to the case’s exterior, the interior is glossy, housing the earbuds fairly well, almost reminding us of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro.
As snug as the earbuds look, thankfully there are quite easy to remove from the case. Given the aspect ratio of the case, we do not think one-handed use to put them on is viable. However, putting them on otherwise should not be any trouble. Razer also has a handy companion application with the Hammerhead TWS Pro to check their fit, something we will elaborate on in a later section.
Unfortunately though, the actual build quality of the earbuds is nothing special. They feel a bit cheap however that does make them a bit more lightweight than usual. The buds come with adjustable rubber tips that include slightly grippier ones too, which are handy for exercising pairing well with the headphone’s IPX4 rating, and special ones from Comply. Their stem is also a bit on the longer side which makes them easy to put on and remove but annoying as this makes them cling onto things much easier. Contrary to the case, the Razer logo is clearly etched on the exterior of the earbuds making for a not so minimalistic look.
Hammerhead TWS companion application
An integral part about the Razer Hammerhead TWS Pro is its companion application. Here, you can control a lot about the earbuds, right from its Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) settings, gestures, sound profile and fit. The application also gives you a real time representation of the earbuds’ battery life, which is something you cannot track accurately via the buds or case alone. With the earbud fit test, the application enables you to find the perfect fit. It plays a track to detect how sound travels through your ear canal giving you an optimum result. We found this to be fairly accurate, with it suggesting changes when we intentionally tried an unsuitable fit.
Next up, we have gestures. There are a number of different ones you can customize based on your usage. We feel by default, having the same gesture mapped to both earbuds is a bit counter productive. Changing this is fairly easy and you can choose from a number of different functions. Moreover, the gestures can also be configured differently when receiving calls, which is a nice attention to detail from Razer. While most of these gestures work as intended, we found the exterior of the earbuds to be too responsive to them. So, even when slightly adjusting the earbuds, we found ourselves accidentally triggering a gesture which can get annoying over time.
Lastly, we come to the equalizer. Here, there are plenty of modes you can choose from but our go-to remained the THX preset. With this, sound quality seems to improve massively complimenting the great frequency response of the Hammerhead TWS Pro. Other presets include Amplified, Enhanced Bass, Vocal and Enhanced Clarity aside from a Custom one. However, we wish there was a way to make small adjustments to one preset instead of having to build your own from scratch using the Custom option.
Performance
There are a lot of aspects about the Razer Hammerhead TWS Pro that we like. For instance, the earbuds’ 60ms low latency gaming mode. While this is marketed to be a gaming centric feature, it could be used just as easily for multimedia watching. With this enabled, you can experience almost zero lag between pausing and playing media. Of course, the lower latency is also extremely handy when playing PUBG or other FPS titles where response time matters a lot.
This experience carries over nicely for sound too. With its 10mm drivers, the Hammerhead TWS Pro lends itself to a great listening experience. It does not matter if you use the earbuds for music or vocals, you get a nice balanced sound profile. This means the lows, middles and trebles are covered well by the earbuds with something for everyone so long as you use the right preset.
Even the wear detection on the Razer Hammerhead TWS Pro is great. When you remove an earbud, tracks automatically pause and when placed back in the ear, they play. And this works even with just one earbud. Arguably though, the earbuds do not come with strong ANC akin to like Sennheiser. Personally, the level on the Hammerhead TWS Pro is enough although certain sounds still make their way through. Thankfully though, it is not overbearing and does not strain my ears after extended use, something I found with the Jabra Elite 75t earbuds. There is also an ambient mode to the earbuds which works fairly well if you want to listen to your surroundings while wearing the earbuds.
One feature we missed on the Hammerhead TWS Pro was the ability to connect to multiple devices simultaneously. This means for each device you use, you have to manually connect the earbuds. However, a nice feature built into the Hammerhead application is Quick Connect. This allows the earbuds to automatically reconnect to the last paired device which is ideal when you are jumping between two devices.
Battery life
When it comes to the battery life of the Razer Hammerhead TWS Pro, it varies. For our use, the headphones lasted 4 hours and 15 minutes before we had to recharge with ANC turned on. With the case, you will be able to get up to 4 charge cycles. This kind of battery backup is acceptable considering we rarely travel during these unprecedented times. However, for international flights, the battery life on the Hammerhead TWS Pro could be lacking. There is also no fast charging support on the earbuds and the case does not support wireless charging.
Conclusion
If you judge the Razer Hammerhead TWS Pro on sound alone, it is great. With a balanced sound profile, anyone who uses the pair will be happy. Not just that, the earbuds give you added value which a low latency mode, which can be used for both gaming and multimedia consumption. However, with ANC not as good as the competition, a cheap feeling design and the lack of wireless charging, you may want to look at other options thoroughly before you pick the Razer Hammerhead TWS Pro.
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