At first we would like to thank Razer for offering us a sample of their ManO'War Wireless PC Gaming Headset for testing and reviewing.

 

About Razer:

"Razer is more than just the world's leading brand in gaming.

We were founded in 1998 in San Diego, California by our CEO Min-Liang Tan and our President Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff in a tiny shared office with a couple other gamers. We have grown today to hundreds of employees worldwide with offices in seven cities, including San Francisco, Hamburg, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore.

Our vision from the very beginning was to be the world's greatest gaming brand and we've set out to achieve that by designing the best gaming products that any gamer has ever seen.

We believe that truly great products are based on technology, designed with extensive human factors and user ergonomic studies and then tested by the top professional gamers. In simpler terms, our own world class scientists and engineers develop cutting edge technology in-house or with partners, design phenomenal products around core technologies – and test the hell out of them in the field with our pro-gamers before we launch them.

We are the only gaming hardware company in the world with dedicated gaming user interface research and development labs, and our technology and designs are incubated in three dedicated design centers located in facilities in California, Singapore and Shenzhen. No other company boasts of technology like we do – because we're the only guys who have what it takes under the hood.

We tell it like it is: some can pretend to co-develop products with professional gamers, but gamers don't develop technology: scientists and engineers do (and ours just happen to be gamers as well).

We develop and design our products in our own labs and then put them to the test with top professional gamers who use them in pro-level tournaments and then provide us with feedback. Then we iterate on the product, refining it with the feedback – over and over and over again. That's how it's done, that's how a Razer product is built from ground up. No marketing BS and no hype.

We pioneered the eSports movement with the world's first $100K tournament back in 2000 and we have continued to give back to the community by sponsoring top eSports athletes who give back to Razer by beta-testing our products. We remain one of the largest sponsors of eSports community sponsoring top global eSports teams worldwide.

The people that work here at Razer are gamers just like you – some amateur, some ex-professional gamers, some just play for fun, just ask our CEO who will lay the smack down on you in Quake Live or our President, who has over ten level 80's on his local server. Hell, he will even take you on a raid in the middle of the work day.

We are the same gamers who are told by the suits that we need adult supervision and we need a professional CEO or management team – and we're the same gamers who tell the suits exactly where to shove it because we like doing what we do – and we do it on our own terms.

We hope our passion for gaming speaks to you like it does to us, through our products and we hope you enjoy the competitive edge we bring to your game."

Product Features:

 

Lag-free wireless performance audio

 

The Razer ManO’War offers high fidelity gaming grade audio through lag-free 2.4 GHz wireless technology with a 12+2 meter range capability. Simply plug-and-play with the ultra-compact wireless USB adapter or use the included extension dock for the extended range of 14 meters.

 

Wireless 7.1 virtual surround sound for pinpoint precision

 

Enhanced with the powerful Razer Surround engine, the immersive 7.1 channel virtual surround sound paired with the Razer ManO’War’s high-performance 50 mm Neodymium magnet drivers makes the battlefield around you come alive. Fully utilize the positional audio calibration feature to accurately pinpoint your enemies so you can get the jump on them before they do.

 

7 days of wireless gaming on a single charge*

 

Whether you’re streaming, watching a movie or on a gaming marathon, the Razer ManO’War is able to give you an impressive 7 days of wireless gameplay or 14 hours uninterrupted play on a single charge. Never worry about having mediocre battery life ever again so you can focus fully on your missions.

*Based on average play time of 2 hours per day.

 

Retractable digital mic for uncompromised vocal clarity

 

Concealed in the left ear cup is a versatile unidirectional digital microphone boom which easily pulls out as needed, and adjusts to the exact position you want. Equipped with an optimized algorithm for more natural sounding and crystal clear voice reproduction, the Razer ManO’War’s digital microphone surpasses the capabilities of traditional analog microphones. The headset also comes with a mute LED indicator on the microphone boom so you always know when you’re broadcasting.

 

Quick Action Controls on the ear cups for on-the-fly audio adjustments

 

Armed with intuitive Quick Action Controls on the Razer ManO’War’s ear cups, you will call the shots with ease. Adjust mic and volume levels and mute without ever fumbling with onscreen controls so you can stay focused on your target.

 

Product Specifications:

 

Headphones

 

Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz

Impedance: 32? at 1 kHz

Sensitivity (@1 kHz): 112 ± 3 dB

Input power: 30 mW (Max)

Drivers: 50 mm, with Neodymium magnets

Inner ear cup diameter: 60 mm / 2.36 in

Connection type: Wireless USB Transceiver

Wireless range: 12 m / 40 ft

Wireless frequency: 2.4 Ghz

Battery life: Up to 14 hours with Razer Chroma lighting / 20 hours without Razer Chroma lighting

Approximate weight: 375 g / 0.83 lbs

 

Microphone

 

Frequency response: 100 – 10 kHz

Signal-to-noise ratio: > 60 dB

Sensitivity (@1 kHz): -38 ± 3 dB

Pick-up pattern: Unidirectional

 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

 

PC / Mac with USB port; PlayStation ® 4*

Windows® 10 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 7 / Mac OS X (10.9 and higher)

Internet connection for driver installation

At least 100 MB of free hard disk space

* Only Spectrum cycling lighting effect and 2.0 stereo audio output is available

 

It is time to check out another high-end gaming headset which has recently been released by Razer on the market with the ManO’War name. As we have seen before, with the previously tested samples from the same company, this one too is a member of the Chroma devices, meaning that it can sync its LED effects with the rest of the compatible peripherals we do own. Razer does supply the ManO’War headset inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, which does feature their iconic color theme:

 

 

 

On one of the box sides, we will be able to check out the product technical specifications, along with the package contents and system requirements:

 

 

 

The main product highlights can be checked out on the bottom area, in multiple languages:

 

 

 

The top cover of the box opens up like a book, in order to reveal how the product does look like, which sits under a thin layer of transparent plastic:

 

 

 

Let’s remove both headset and its bundle from the enclosure and see what we’ve got:

 

 

 

If we first open up the all-black cardboard enclosure, we will get to see the documentation, along with a nice set of stickers, but also the charging USB cable:

 

 

 

 

Besides the Quick Start Guide, we will receive a regular User Manual, which gives us more in-detail explanations, in multiple languages:

 

 

 

On the back of the Quick Start Guide though we will receive some more information and links for becoming a member of the “Cult of Razer”:

 

 

 

The main points of attraction represent the actual ManO’War headset, which is accompanied by an USB dock:

 

 

 

The product is featuring quite large ear cups which do house 50mm drivers, with neodymium magnets; controls and interfaces are available on each cup for ease of access, while the retractable microphone is easy to work with:

 

 

 

The ear cups can be also rotated for additional flexibility, so the will fit in the right position on most head sizes and shapes:

 

 

 

On the exterior of the cups, we will get to see a metallic grill, while in the center there is a plastic round component. Here we can spot the Razer logo which is LED lighted and also sports Chroma features:

 

 

 

The right cup is equipped with the volume controller, while on the upper area we do have an additional compartment:

 

 

 

 

When this compartment is pressed, the 2.4GHz wireless adapter will be ejected, which can be installed inside the dock or any other spare USB port in our vicinity:

 

 

 

 

After the removal of the adapter, the special compartment will remain empty:

 

 

 

For optimal comfort, Razer has opted to include circular leatherette ear pads, which fully cover the ear, making them comfortable even when using computer glasses; these pads have the 50mm drivers underneath, which are able to deliver balanced lows, mids and very nice bass. These have a frequency response between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, an impedance of 32 Ohms at 1kHz, while the sensitivity at 1kHz is 112 plus or minus 3 dB:

 

 

 

If we turn our attention on the left cup, we will get to see more interfaces available to us; here we do have the top green LED which lights up when the product is operating, the Power On/Off button which has a small red LED of itself (which lights up when we do charge the headset), an USB port, but also a microphone volume controller. We are happy to see a volume controller for the microphone right on the ear cup, which is quite a rarity amongst other manufacturers; this controller, when pressed inwards does also act as Mic Mute:

 

 

 

The microphone does feature a frequency response between 100 and 10kHz, with a signal-to-noise ratio > 60dB. Its pick-up pattern is unidirectional and thanks to its shape and construction, we can say that it is a breeze to operate; the tip of the microphone has a red LED ring, which signals when it is muted:

 

 

 

 

The headband is featuring a central layer of memory foam which is covered with leatherette:

 

 

 

The headband can be also adjusted at will and markings are available on each side for guidance:

 

 

 

On the top area of the headband we do have a debossed Razer logo:

 

 

 

Coming back to the USB dock we have talked about previously, this one comes with a signature green USB port, mostly seen with the Razer laptops; this accessory is meant for connecting the USB 2.4GHz Wi-Fi dongle, but we can also use it for charging the headset in case we plug the adapter somewhere else:

 

 

 

Under the dock we do have a thin layer of rubber, so it will stay steady on the table:

 

 

 

As we have seen with the dongle, the USB port of the dock also features gold plating:

 

 

 

Before using the headset, we will charge it fully and when it’s done, the red LED on the Power button will turn off:

 

 

 

Since this is a Razer Chroma product, we’ll need to use the Synapse unified software for accessing all product functionality options; at the first stage, it is better to calibrate the headset:

 

 

 

The calibration wizard has three different steps and will prepare the product so we will hear properly surround sound:

 

 

 

 

 

From the Audio tab, we will be able to adjust the headset Volume, enable Bass Boost along with an intensity slider, enable Sound Normalization, Voice Clarity function with Presence level and also a Volume level:

 

 

 

The microphone has a tab of its own, from where we can adjust the Volume, enable Mic Monitor, Volume Normalization, but also adjust the Mic Sensitivity or enable Ambient Noise Reduction:

 

 

 

A Mixer is available for us in order to customize the volume levels of the applications which are currently open:

 

 

 

EQ with 8 bands can be also customized on our liking:

 

 

 

Several presets can be loaded at once:

 

 

 

The Lighting tab allows the adjustment of the LEDs integrated inside the cups, and here we can also enable the Chroma effects to be linked to the other compatible devices:

 

 

 

 

The OSD can be configured as well, which will show the microphone and headset current volumes when they are modified:

 

 

 

Here is the Razer ManO'War Wireless PC Gaming Headset along with the Mamba Wireless Chroma for showing the synchronized LED light effects:

 

 

The ManO’War headset is also marketed as a 7.1 virtual surround sound solution and thanks to the Synapse software, it can deliver good precision on the battlefield if we calibrate it to match our preferences; also, thanks to the 50mm drivers we will get powerful bass which immerses us further inside the game. With the ManO’War we no longer need to think about battery life much when having long LAN parties because the headset can provide us with up to 14 hours of continuous usage, while keeping the Razer Chroma lighting active. If we decide we do not need the LED lights in order to impress our rivals, then the usage time can climb up to 20 hours; if the headset is not used for a while, it will turn itself off in order to conserve battery life.

 

The wireless function of this new gaming headset gives the user plenty of flexibility and the dongle is integrated inside the body of the product as we have seen with some other gaming mice. Even if we were running a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network nearby, we haven’t seen any skips or interferences during audio testing, which proves that the 12-meter range solution is solid (with the included dock we could consider a total of 14 meters).

 

We have tested the headset along Tom Clancy’s The Division, Battleborn and GTA V. We were happy about the surround sound capabilities of the hardware and the fact that the bass levels can be customized from Synapse so they won’t be over-the-top which could produce headaches. This headset also works well for watching movies or, why not….checking out the latest TV shows or YouTube clips. The microphone is comfortable to work with and we did appreciate the clarity of it while having a two-hour Skype conference; if extra tuning is needed for the mic, we can always go to the respective tab on Synapse in order to adjust Volume Normalization, Mic Sensitivity and more.

 

Besides the volume control we have seen with other wireless headsets, Razer has also installed a microphone volume wheel which can be pressed inwards in order to access the Mic Mute function; this feature comes in handy at times, without the need to access the software.

 

An OSD is also available with the Synapse, but in some games we have seen that we were thrown back to desktop while the OSD appeared but with a future Synapse update, this issue should be easily solved.

 

Razer ManO’War was mostly thought for the high-end gaming segment and this also can be seen from the sale price which is about 199.9 Euros.

Razer ManO'War Wireless PC Gaming Headset is Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Razer for making this review possible!