The Razer Kraken TE has a solid build and striking green and black appearance. Best of all, it features a wide sound gamut through large ear cuffs that actually are comfortable for a $99 headset.
What’s Good
The Kraken sets itself apart from other sub-$100 headsets with it’s overall build quality and excellent sound clarity. While there are some plastic components, the overall feel is sturdy. It also looks super cool with a large external speaker grill that isn’t actually a speaker. But it makes sense when you look at it, perhaps because the Kraken is a tool for audio. I love Razer’s braided cables, and they included it here. It extends from the headset to either your device [laptop, phone, etc.] or the included THX Spatial Audio adapter. The adapter also has a braided USB-A cable for your PC. Effectively, this booster makes everything, simply, sound better. I noticed increased clarity with THX turned on, and I left it on after testing the headset. I played several games, such as The Witcher 3 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. My favorite experience was in testing Battlefield V and Star Wars: Battlefront 2. I’m an average player when it comes to competitive first person shooters. I need every edge I can get! I was more immersed with these headphones than I would otherwise be by using stereo speakers. I could certainly hear the highs and lows of the game better with the headphones on, versus stereo speakers. But I also heard less of the physical world around me. In this review I’ve included close-up pictures of the head and earpads. Notice how thick they are. These are comfortable headphones all the way around! My longest gaming session was probably just over 90 minutes. I typically use PS4 Gold headphones, which anger my ears after an hour or so of use. But the Kraken kept my ears calm.
Both the headset and the THX adapter have 3 key controls: mute on/off, volume, and a lever to favor either chat or speaker volume. The THX adapter also has a bass adjustment.
As always, the Razer Synapse 3 software is easy to use. In the case of these headphones, it’s quite simple. You can adjust the presets [Default, Gaming, Music, Movies], and create custom settings. The Kraken does not support Razer’s trademark Chroma lighting. In fact, there isn’t any lighting at all with these headphones. The Synapse software also allows you to toggle between stereo and surround sound [THX] on a per-app basis. This is a gripe against the software, but it will affect owners of this headset: you can’t make any adjustments to the headset unless they’re plugged in. That may sound odd, but even as I write about this I figured I’d make a few changes to Chrome, but I can’t because my headset isn’t plugged in – I’m working remotely and didn’t travel with them. Bummer.
These are comfortable headphones all the way around!
What Needs Improvement
The THX Spatial Audio adapter is extra stuff to carry around and it occupies a USB port. Wehreas the headphones themselves occupy simply a standard headphone jack. If you don’t have a spare USB-A port or you don’t want to carry the adapter with you to a LAN party, for instance, then you’re missing out on what makes these headphones special. Since the THX adapter requires a USB port, it would have been great if these headphones supported Chroma lighting. Some people find it obnoxious, but I absolutley love it. I honestly don’t go ape with customizations. But I do like some of the preset lighting options, such as wave and breathing.
Who is this For?
Any gamer looking for a comfortable headset with good sound should consider the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition.
The amp is, essentially, the main difference between the Kraken Tournament Edition and the Kraken Pro V2. You’ll pay an extra $20 for this feature, with the Tournament Edition costing $100.
Razer Kraken Tournament Edition – Software
Like all of Razer’s peripherals, many of the Kraken’s features are enabled via Razer’s Synapse software. After installing and logging in with your Razer account [which is required], you’ll be able to tweak the headset’s sound with an equalizer, sound “enhancement” features like normalization and “voice clarity,” and adjust the microphone’s sensitivity and noise reduction. This only seems to work when plugged in with the USB amp, however, though that shouldn’t be an annoyance for most people.
Razer’s new Synapse 3.0 doesn’t provide the greatest user experience, with very little information about what these features actually do. For example, both the “Ambient Noise Reduction” and “Vocal Clarity” checkboxes say that they filter out ambient or unwanted noise, but don’t elaborate on the difference between the two settings.
Furthermore, I experienced a few instances of the application hanging during usage—in some cases, necessitating a full reboot before the program window would even appear. None of the features particularly appealed to me, so it didn’t make much of a difference in this case, but if you want to make use of them, you may have to fight with Razer’s software a little bit.
Razer Kraken Tournament Edition – Gaming
Gaming with the Kraken Tournament Edition was, to put it mildly, a mixed bag. Let’s start with the good: this headset is extremely comfortable. It’s very lightweight, so I never felt like it was digging into my skull or clamping too hard on my ears, which—let me tell you—is not a given with $100+ over-ear headphones. Apart from my ears getting a tad warm, I had no problem wearing this headset for long periods of time—even with glasses on, which is quite a feat.
Unfortunately, my love for the Kraken ended there. The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired, especially when I compared it with similarly-priced competitors like the HyperX Cloud II in side-by-side testing. In my experience The Kraken just sounded muddy, with a bloated low end and stilted treble. In quieter games like Overwatch, this wasn’t a huge annoyance, but when I listened to music—or played a game with lots of big sounds, like Doom—the lack of clarity made everything sound like a big mess. The HyperX Cloud II, on the other hand, was able to keep sound effects clear and distinct from the in-your-face soundtrack.
The amplifier’s THX Spatial Audio didn’t help, even when “calibrated” through the software. While Razer’s new spatial audio is more subtle than some virtual surround features—many of which can be overpoweringly terrible—it still sounded unnatural to me. Certain audio cues [like my character’s footsteps] becoming noticeably louder, while other things around me sounded quieter. I found it far easier to be aware of my surroundings with the THX feature turned off. The USB amp is still useful without it, but as the big banner feature of the Tournament Edition, Spatial Audio was a disappointment.
More Comprehensive Headset Reviews
The microphone was similarly inferior—it worked well enough for chatting, but compared to one on the superior Cloud II, my voice sounded thin and hollow.
If comfort is paramount and you play games with the music turned down [or off], then I suppose the Kraken Tournament Edition would do the job. But if you care at all about sound quality, you can get a much better headset at this price.
Razer Kraken Tournament Edition Purchasing Guide
The Razer Kraken Tournament Edition can be found for $99 at most major retailers.
Razer Kraken Tournament Edition
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Verdict
The Kraken Tournament Edition are incredibly comfortable, but the sound quality is lacking, both with the headphones and the mic. Some games aren't terribly affected by the muddy sound the Kraken produces, but for music, they're not recommended at all. At this price, there are much better options.