Gaming Headsets · owner-verdict comparison

Cloud III vs Razer BlackShark V2 Pro: what real owners say

Real owners rate these about evenly: 53% of 138 Cloud III owners recommend it, vs 50% of 458 for the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro.

Verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube owner comments — affiliate reviews excluded. Sample sizes differ; judge accordingly. How we score

Cloud III

53%of 138 owners recommend

53% recommend · 31% neutral · 16% don't

Owners praise

Custom EQ profiles (via NGENUITY, Equalizer APO, or DTS Sound Unbound) turn a mediocre stock sound into something owners call amazing, with many saying it saved them from returning the headset
Comfortable for long sessions, with several owners saying comfort is noticeably better than the Cloud II despite the added weight
Strong value at the roughly $39-40 price point, called the best bang-for-buck wireless gaming headset in its class

Owners complain about

Out-of-the-box sound is flat, muffled, dull, or watery until owners apply an EQ
Directional/positional audio in competitive FPS games (footsteps, gunfire location) is weak or inconsistent for some owners
NGENUITY companion software is buggy: EQ settings randomly reset, volume drops unexpectedly, and DTS:X built-in support is widely called broken

Full owner report →

Razer BlackShark V2 Pro

50%of 458 owners recommend

50% recommend · 15% neutral · 35% don't

Owners praise

Best-in-class microphone quality
Very comfortable and lightweight
Great sound and gaming immersion

Owners complain about

Hinges crack, build feels cheap
Buggy Razer Synapse software
White noise or static hiss

Full owner report →

Which should you buy?

Get the Cloud III if

✓Budget-conscious gamers wanting solid comfort and sound around $40-130
✓Competitive FPS/CS2 players willing to apply EQ or NGENUITY presets for footstep positioning
✓Wireless users who value long battery life and low latency over long sessions
✓Owners comfortable tweaking EQ APO or NGENUITY software to fix the flat out-of-box tuning

Skip it if

Anyone expecting great sound straight out of the box with no EQ tweaking
Audiophiles or music listeners who found the default tuning flat, muffled, or thin

Get the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro if

✓Gamers who prioritize top-tier mic quality
✓People wanting comfort for long sessions
✓Users needing simultaneous 2.4GHz and Bluetooth
✓Work-from-home users on frequent calls

Skip it if

Buyers wanting long-term build durability
Audiophiles expecting great sound without EQ tweaking

What Cloud III owners say

“these sound great!”
— Boring-Ad-8227 on Reddit

“That works for me.”
— Poolplyr28 on Reddit

“Sound quality trash, straight cheap plastic headphones, and now to top it off they are poisoning you. The only good thing about them is their noise cancelling features work well.”
— Booliano on Reddit

What Razer BlackShark V2 Pro owners say

“The mic upgrade is so impressive.”
— @iSpenC on YouTube

“the difference in the mic quality of the 2020 version vs the 2023 version us huuuuuuge”
— @kurtramos59 on YouTube

“The hinge on my headset just exploded yesterday good shit... The right hinge in particular”
— @marcellszabo4000 on YouTube

Cloud III vs Razer BlackShark V2 Pro: frequently asked questions

Is the Cloud III or the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro better?

Real owners rate these about evenly: 53% of 138 Cloud III owners recommend it, vs 50% of 458 for the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro.

Who should get the Cloud III?

Owners point the Cloud III at budget-conscious gamers wanting solid comfort and sound around $40-130, and competitive FPS/CS2 players willing to apply EQ or NGENUITY presets for footstep positioning.

Who should get the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro?

Owners point the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro at gamers who prioritize top-tier mic quality, and people wanting comfort for long sessions.

What do owners complain about?

The most-cited downside of the Cloud III is out-of-the-box sound is flat, muffled, dull, or watery until owners apply an EQ. For the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, it's hinges crack, build feels cheap.