With Xbox Cloud Gaming you now have console-quality gaming on the go, why shouldn’t you have matching quality audio and style too?
- Manufacturer: Razer
- Platforms: Xbox (2.4GHz), PC, Mobile (Bluetooth)
- Price: £149.99 MSRP
- Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/mobile
- Supplied by: Razer
Xbox wireless audio made easy
Wireless headsets have always been a mixed bag when it comes to Xbox, due to its lack of Bluetooth. Very few headsets outside of the official offerings are able to directly connect to the console, mostly opting for large base stations or annoying dongles. The Razer Kaira Pro is one of the few that connects to the console directly with 2.4GHz wireless. Beyond that, the Kaira has something else that very few Xbox headsets have, RGB.
The Kaira is not just for your Xbox console either, with the Xbox ecosystem expanding beyond the console market and taking its foothold in the PC space, and now with cloud gaming, the mobile space. With that in mind, Razer has packed Bluetooth 5.0 into the Kaira pro for seamless high-quality audio while you enjoy Xbox Cloud Gaming on your mobile devices.
Design and Build
The Kaira pro is, as expected, mainly black with the signature Razer green details. The headband is a metal-reinforced textured plastic, with Razer embossed across the top, and an embedded green flowknit head cushion. This gives the headset a sleek seamless look, rather than the cushion sticking out of the main framework.
The headband ends in a brushed metallic-look strip that leads to the cups and houses the metal headband sliders that have a very nice clicky step to them. They also have number markers printed on the sliders themselves, making sure you can easily adjust the headband to your preference.
The metal ends also have a swivel motion, allowing the cups to rotate between slightly forward-facing to all the way back, allowing the cups to sit flat on a desk or on your chest while hung around your neck. This would usually just be a good feature for ease of use, but when you consider the mobile market it is an absolute winner and a must-have. You can sit on the train playing your games and just slip them off and leave them comfortably around your neck, rather than putting them away or having the cups stick up and obstruct your head movement.
Moving to the cups, they are oval-shaped and made of the same textured plastic as the headband, topped with black flowknit cushions that are held on by a green leatherette trim. The cups both have a razer logo in the centre that while off is a very subtle gloss black that only just stands out from the matte/satin finish of the rest of the headset, but illuminates when switched on, powered by Razer Chroma RGB.
RGB on!
To me, this is a huge boon for the Kaira pro. RGB on a console focused headset is rare, to say the least. The only example I can think of is the AG9 by PDP and the Turtle Beach Elite Pro v2, and that’s not even on the headset, it’s on the DAC/volume knob that sits on your desk.
The RGB is fairly basic in its function only having the basic options available like Breathing and cycle, but again, for a console headset that is fully customizable in-app on the Xbox, it’s awesome.
The cushions on the cups are super comfortable. The flowknit memory foam ticks all of my boxes, breathable, comfortable, soft and deep, my ears don’t touch the drivers and they don’t cause ear sweat. I have always favoured fabric cups and even more so when they are made of this sportswear like fabric (though having tried Alcantara once it’s probably the only fabric I wouldn’t recommend). They also have decent noise isolation but do not completely cancel out my voice. It’s a strange preference but I do like being able to hear my voice through the cups to some extent.
As the Kaira Pro is a wireless headset all controls are on the cups themselves: the left cup has a mute switch, volume wheel, power button, USB Type-C charging port, a removable gooseneck mic and a built-in mic.
The right cup has the pair button, game/voice mix wheel and the Bluetooth button.
The on-cup controls take a while to get used to as I found myself going for the wrong wheel and pressing the wrong button a fair amount, but after a while you do get used to it and naturally remember what is what.
The removable microphone is a great addition. It would have been so easy for Razer to have either the normal mic or the built-in one but instead, they have given you both.
The main removable mic is a long gooseneck mic; the neck is covered in semi-translucent black plastic so that it has both the rigidity of metal and fits in with the rest of the style of the Kaira pro.
Audio performance
Performance-wise it has done fairly well, as expected from Razer’s Hyperclear Supercardioid microphone. Voice communication comes out very clear and sharp, slightly elevated on the high end but a fair amount clearer than most common headset mics on the market.
The built-in mic is another story. It’s not far off the same quality as the plugin mic, and it’s clear and infinitely better than I expected it to be. The one flaw is its pick up; it literally picks up everything. While testing it talking to my partner through Xbox Live on my phone she could hear herself clearly. So, if I’m in your party while on the train, you’re going to be eavesdropping on everyone around me. Hopefully, in future iterations or a future update we will have the ability to adjust the mic sensitivity but considering that it’s built-in it performs admirably.
On to the stars of the show, the drivers. The Kaira Pro features the Razer Triforce Titanium 50mm drivers, the same drivers in the very popular Blackshark V2. These drivers pack a real punch, and the audio is dynamic and lively.
I did notice that the bass can be a little overpowering in some instances but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a bit of adjustment in the Razer headset app.
The soundstage is excellent. Cue sounds always came through clearly and distinctly over distant sounds. This is always a big must for my personal use. With some headsets, it becomes hard to distinguish if noises are close or not, and many seem to have a very limited range in terms of simulating distance. With the wide soundstage I found it easier to really dial in on where the sounds are coming from. Granted, most games don’t take full advantage of that, but in competitive multiplayer games like the ever-popular warzone it can be a huge advantage. It can be the difference between setting up a perfect ambush or succumbing to an early strike leading to death in-game.
The highs and mids feel crisp and sharp – the zing of the clip from the new rifle in Fortnite echoes through the cups, giving you that extra little bit of detail and allowing the small nuances that the sound engineers in games have painstakingly baked in.
Negatives and suggested improvements
Despite my apparent love for the Kaira Pro, I have found a few cons that set me back a little. Skipping the previously mentioned built-in parabolic pickup mic, the charging port presents my main concern. Of course, you are provided with a cable, but as undoubtedly every game knows cables rarely last as long as the hardware they come with.
The charging port on the Kaira pro is recessed into the cup leaving a snug cut-out for the provided charger. None of the cables I own fit into that cutout, meaning that once that cable reaches its inevitable end I will be hunting around for one that will fit or I’ll be taking something sharp to one of my cables and slicing off the excess rubber to make them fit. I appreciate that the cut out makes everything nice and neat, but it couldn’t hurt to leave a little more room.
A very objective con I personally have is the colour. The black is fine but the green is not for me, especially when I take them out and about. I would much rather them be all black, but they do have that iconic Razer look and they are definitely, unmistakably a Razer headset, so that one is entirely subjective.
Lastly, I experienced random bouts of static noise, almost like the drivers had blown or the bass was cranked to an astronomical level. This lasted a couple of weeks before I decided to scrap my personalised audio tunes a few times and reset every setting. I went through every toggle and turned everything off then back on and it seems to have sorted itself out, but I couldn’t say if that is the end of it or not.
After some searches on good old Google a few users of the Kaira Pro have found that toggling the mic monitoring off and on again sorts the issue out, so take that one as a possible issue that you can actively fix.
Summary
The Kaira pro ticks so many boxes that it’s hard to not fall in love with it. Even at the higher end of the headset price spectrum, it’s a great offering. It is absolutely feature-packed and offers features beyond those of most Xbox headsets, and is so well suited to the Xbox players arsenal.
Having dual wireless connection options allowing you to connect it to your phone or Xbox is very advantageous. I have literally been sat at my desk playing Xbox and when it came time to head out, I just popped them from my head onto my neck, removed the mic and off I went. They are connected to my phone ready to go just like that, plus they are some of the best full-function mobile gaming headphones you will find.
There are a few issues but nothing that I would say subtracts too much from the Kaira’s greatness, the only thing I can say I genuinely would have preferred is the option of a full black colourway.
