Similarly, the BlackShark V2 Pro feels like you could pick it up 10 to 20 years from now and still think “Oh yeah, this is cool.” The angled wire rods extend down to thicker tubes housing a rotating hinge, with the ear cups set between them. It gives the headset a professional, yet fashionable aesthetic that I vibe with.

For reasons I can’t quite explain, the fact that the volume knob sticks out when it really doesn’t have to is what makes me love it. Other headset manufacturers spend so much effort on minimal designs with low-profile buttons and dials—having this one sticking out so prominently makes it feel attractive just by virtue of its boldness.

Convenience and Comfort

It doesn’t hurt that the volume knob is convenient and thoughtfully designed. It’s an infinite dial, so you can rotate it as far as you want in either direction, with very subtle clicks to provide feedback on how far you’re turning it. In lieu of a physical stopping point, an audio cue plays when you reach either the maximum or minimum volume.

The audio quality is solid, but it’s the bass tones that really stand out. Out of the box, the lower tones are emphasized, which can be handy in some competitive games to help you hear enemy footsteps and other important sound cues. In my opinion, it’s a little too bass-heavy for general media listening, but it’s great for gaming.

While the aesthetic design might remind me of ’90s elementary school headphones, wearing the headphones does not. The foam on the ear cups is soft and comfortable, and they don’t put much pressure on the sides of my head. The inner cavity is spacious, so I never feel like my ears are getting squished.

They’re so comfortable that I was able to wear them for hours while listening to music as I worked. Or, more often, when I put music on for five minutes, paused it, then forgot I was wearing the headphones for two hours.

And the BlackShark V2 Pro can run for a lot of hours. It might not have the longest battery life we’ve ever seen, but it still beats most gaming headsets we’ve tested. Razer rates its battery life at 70 hours on a full charge, though in my testing it usually lasted a couple hours longer than that.

The headset charges via a USB-C port on the left ear cup. In the box, Razer has included a USB-C to USB-A cable for charging, as well as an additional USB-A extension cable. I appreciate this little touch, because it means I don’t have to choose between having a charging cable that’s long enough or having a ton of excess cable cluttering up my desk.