Manufacturer: Razer

Release Date: 4/15/2016

MSRP: $169.99 (wireless)

I’m not normally a headset person. I prefer to use good speakers, but with the recent move of my son into his own room which is right next to my computer area, I had no choice. I normally shy away from Razer due to my poor experiences with their mice, software, and the Firefly. However, I know and have heard that Razer makes great headsets so I gave the Man O’ War a try. What I was looking for is wireless, surround sound, good battery life, and a lot of software features and thankfully, I get all of those with this headset.

The box comes with everything you would need or don’t need. On top of the USB charging cable, you get a 6-foot extension dock which is neat if your computer is on the other side of the room. It is also useful if you want to use the headset plugged in, but with the 14-hour battery life, this item was needed for me. The USB dongle is located on the headset cup which is a really cool feature and keeps you from losing it. The headset itself looks amazing with large cups, comfortable foam, and Razer logos that use Chroma through Synapse. One feature I really like is the retractable mic rather than being removable. It tucks away and is out of your face if you don’t need it which I will rarely use.

The software is simple enough to install and once that is done you are greeted with a calibration setup for the 7.1 surround sound. Being able to adjust each channel for your own ears is an awesome feature as some people hear differently or one channel may sound slightly off. The default settings were good enough for me. There are many enhancements available such as bass boost, normalization, voice clarity, mixer, equalizer, and other features. The features are pretty robust and I was able to tune my headset to the perfect listening environment. After wearing the headset for an hour I didn’t get a headache, didn’t have sore ears, and this is all due to the headband being just strong enough to keep it on your head and the cup foam being very soft. The worst I get is that my ears get a little hot after a couple of hours, but this is normal for any set of ear cans.

Playing music sounds fantastic with these, but playing games are even better. I booted up Battlefield 1, turned on surround sound, and was blown away. I could hear each direction of every bullet, shout, explosion, and scream. It helped drag me into the experience more and I forgot this is what I was missing out on with headsets. I had one back in 2009 for consoles and now I remember why I missed it so much. It’s an experience you can’t get without spending thousands on high-end speakers and subs. Playing various other games allowed me to hear ambient sound effects, background noises, and other effects that I had never noticed before. It’s a great experience and clearly, one you can only get with good headphones.

After using this set for 3 days I have to say that I am completely satisfied. They don’t hurt my ears or head, they sound amazing, the software works, and the Chroma lighting is just a small touch to add to that great pile. It’s a shame these aren’t for consoles as console owners are really missing out. I should be happy with these until they break or die on me and from the looks of it, that could be quite some time.