Razer Hammerhead Pro review: a lean, green, mean sound machine

The Razer Hammerhead Pro in-ear headphones are great. I’m just going to jump right into it. They are extremely loud, colourful and well-built. They go for a mid-range US$70 (R700) and, apart from being an actual full-on headset, will fulfill your gaming needs and could almost double-up as a multipurpose casual music peripheral.

In the box you’ll find three extra sizes of ear-tips for all shapes and sizes, as well as a little zip bag that would become your trusty and sturdy carrier pouch. Neat, right? Only Razer I tell you. Inside this pouch there’s an optional mic jack extension cable you could use for your PC input or as a not-so-casual on-the-go way of chatting with your friends when you connect it to your phone.

Design and build

The 1.3m lumo-green rubber cord is pretty tangle-free and goes through these little black aluminum tubes where the cord splits into the dedicated left and right channels. On the right hand side, there’s another aluminum pause play button that doubles as your mic. The overall build quality of the Hammerhead is what impresses me the most. The 9mm headphones themselves are encased in these cylinder shapes that share subtle roughened texture designs. You can definitely feel the quality — it’s in the weight I believe.

After trying out all four silicon earpieces, I still found that my ears would start to get a bit uncomfortable after a while. It wasn’t a sound problem at all. Granted, everyone’s ears come in different shapes and sizes, I’d like to believe that mine fall into the general category of average-sized ears. And it wasn’t the size of the silicon earpieces that bothered me, it’s the actual size of the earphones themselves that began to give me a bit discomfort. But then again, I’m not the biggest fan of any in-ear pieces.

The earpieces are meant for a “higher-level of isolation and an increased bass-boost.” Having tried all the pieces that are meant to snuggle in your ears, I finally settled on one pair.

Whatever the case may be, with these babies squeezed into your ears, there’s no outside noise whatsoever. My friends clapped, screamed, danced and howled to get my attention. You’re completely cut-off from the outside world. It’s almost refreshing when you take them out.

General use: gaming or multipurpose-friendly

I used the Hammerhead Pro for my smartphone as well as tablet. The sound quality on these, I have to admit, wasn’t that great. Bass-oriented tracks are casual and not much to complain about. It’s when you start throwing in some guitar distortion that the higher pitches get overpowered by the thumping bass tones, and the experience becomes a bit messy.

I tried using it as a dedicated antenna for my radio application on my phone and, for some reason, it suddenly stopped randomly on a few occasions. But who am I kidding, you shouldn’t care two shades about the quality of the radio experience when looking to buy a Razer product. These two buddies should be the extra pizzazz that tips the odds in your favour during an intense gaming sesh and not something you’d consider buying when shopping for your mother’s birthday present.

Usability: will they ‘hammer your head’?

See what I did there? They certainly will. The 9mm neodymium magnet will drive sound through your ear canals straight through to your cochlea and further to the electro-chemicals that translates vibrations to sound inside of your murky brain. In a much simpler, toned down manner, they both have great sound capabilities. No but really, they can go extremely loud! Having my total volume at around 60% is enough to cut you off from any indoor flash floods, freak fires or both. You’ll die happily with bleeding ears and all pushing further than 80%. Gunshots will crack your skull as much as they do in the game your jamming.

Verdict: Although they can double-up for day-to-day use for studying in the dorm, riding the train or jogging outdoors, they’re not meant to. The sound quality your PC delivers gives the Hammerhead Pro the attention it deserves — this is where they certainly stand out. They go extremely loud and have good sound plus build quality. They could become uncomfortable when attempting to forcefully snuggle up inside your ear, but it ends up being worthwhile most of the time.

(Not to mention they can double-up as earbuds)

Score: 8/10