Thanks to a surprisingly rich audio performance, a generous mix of EQ settings and Master Chief-ready design, the Razer Kaira Pro Halo Infinite Edition is a decent choice as an Xbox-only headset. However, for £169.99, the middling mic and the lack of dedicated chat and game mixer may leave buyers feeling disappointed.
Pros
- Lovingly made Halo aesthetic
- Solid audio performance
- Works brilliantly with Xbox, PC and mobile
Cons
- Doesn’t do enough to justify the cost
- Middling microphone quality
- Battery could be better
Availability
- UKRRP: £169.99
- USARRP: $169.99
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Halo-inspired designFans of the Master Chief will love the special-edition design here, with a green colouring that’s similar to Master Chief’s armour and glow-up USNC RGB logos -
Wireless Can connect to Xbox consoles wirelessly via Xbox Wireless, and to mobile via Bluetooth 5.0 -
Built-in microphoneFeatures a bendable Razer HyperClear cardioid microphone, allowing you to speak to your friends without having to plug in anything extra
Introduction
The Razer Kaira Pro Halo Infinite Edition is the latest mid-level wired headset from the prolific peripheral maker, and the version on review here delivers an eye-catching green Halo-inspired aesthetic.
Being an Xbox headset, it connects directly to Xbox and PC via both the Xbox Wireless adapter and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. For obvious reasons, this is not a headset worth buying for the PlayStation.
Can Razer’s new mid-level Xbox headset really justify the hefty price? And how does it compare to the vastly cheaper base offering? Read on to find out.
Design
- Halo-inspired design is a dream for fans
- Wireless connectivity to Xbox
- Underwhelming lighting
The biggest difference between the Razer Kaira Pro Halo Infinite Edition and its Sony-friendly counterpart is the cool Halo Infinite-inspired design. Coated in a Master Chief-ready green, this cool-looking headset features everything from action figure-style battle damage to USNC RGB logos.
It’s bold and a bit brash, but it undeniably makes a strong impression, offering infinitely more personality than the other editions of the standard Kaira and its Pro model.
This is primarily designed for pairing between PC and Xbox, with a quick press of the pair button and the headset enabling the Xbox Kaira Pro to connect like a controller. Doing this on PC will require the Xbox wireless adapter; alternatively, you can connect to a mobile device via Bluetooth.
With this new-found portability comes another addition: an in-built mic. This means that if you’re pairing the Razer Kaira Pro Halo Infinite Edition to your phone, you can take calls without having to work around with a bendy microphone protruding from your face.
Outside of the detachable mic, the Pro offers a few extra pieces of functionality. The most notable of these comes in the gimmicky HyperSense haptics. Essentially a controller rumble mapped into your headphones, these bizarre vibrations attempt to match the low-end of your game’s audio, sending pulses of haptic feedback rattling around your cranium at four different levels of intensity. It’s a fun, if fairly forgettable feature, but for those jumping into online FPS games, it can add a welcome layer of extra immersion to your online frag fests.
The most disappointing ‘Pro’ feature, however, comes in the form of the Pros RGB lighting. Sporting the same matte-black cans as its cheaper alternative, the USNC symbols etched into them now light up. Yet while Razer’s more premium Kraken V3 offers RGB lighting that looks genuinely eye catching, this is more of a weak glow, failing to pack any wow factor. Still, for many this will be a bonus to what amounts to a slick Halo-inspired design – and if viewed through that lens, it’s hard to grumble about the RGB too much.
Master Chief-ready look aside, this is largely the same beast as the PS Kaira Pro. It’s a significant step up in build quality from the base Kaira model, with plastic hinges of the base version replaced by a slightly slicker looking metal alternative.
Audio and Mic
- Audio quality impresses
- The microphone is solid, if unremarkable
Interestingly, the Kaira Pro is cheaper on Xbox than its PS competitor too, costing £169.99. Yet in reality, that extra cash barely affects the sound quality.
Featuring the same Titanium 50 mm drivers as its cheaper younger brother, there isn’t really much of an audio incentive to upgrade here. The first thing you’ll notice when you boot up a game is just how natural the audio sounds on these bad boys.
Where many entry-level headsets can offer a sound that feels muffled and crowded, the Razer Kaira Pro Halo Infinite Edition offers up an impressively wide range of spatial audio. Loading up Resident Evil 2, the echo of Leon Kennedy’s footsteps reverberates pleasingly around my head, before the ear piecing shatter of glass and groans of the undead fill the auditory space around me convincingly.
Testing the headset with Nier Replicant, Keiichi Okabes hypnotic score immediately engulfs me in the eerily fantastical world of Façade, perfectly nailing the balance between soundtrack character movement and combat noise.
While the Razer Kaira Pro Halo Infinite Edition features the welcome addition of a detachable mic, it isn’t worlds away from the microphone you’re getting with the Kaira’s significantly cheaper sibling. Boasting a Super hypercardoid as opposed to the base Kaira’s regular hypercardoid mic, the vocal capture is definitely improved, offering up slightly crisper and clearer voice input.
The microphone also performed better across Discord, console and mobile, offering a crisper and clear voice performance than the standard model Kaira. My only complaint with the mic comes in the fiddly positioning. Unlike most of the competition, the detachable mic cuts out almost completely unless directed very close to the mouth, which is a bit of a shame.
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Should you buy it?
If you love Halo:
There’s no better-looking audio ode to Master Chief. The audio quality is great too, if you’re happy to mainly use your headset on mobile, PC and Xbox.
If you’re looking for a versatile headset across all consoles:
The Razer Kaira Pro Halo Infinite Edition is best used on PC or Xbox. This isn’t a versatile option that will work well across multiple platforms, particularly on PS5.
Final Thoughts
While the Razer Kaira Pro Halo Infinite Edition offers some welcome improvements over the base Kaira, at £169.99, it doesn’t really do enough to justify the cost. A detachable mic is all well and good and the audio quality is admirable, but unless you are desperate to have a Halo-themed headset, you are far better off saving £100 and sticking with the base model. Or better yet – picking up the vastly superior Kraken V3 Pro.
How we test
We use every headset we test for at least a week. During that time, we’ll check it for ease of use and put it through its paces by using it in a variety of games, as well as playing music in order to get the full experience.
We also check each headset’s software (if applicable) to see how easy it is to customise and set up.
Use as our primary gaming headset for at least a week.
Tested with a variety of games.
Also tested with music playback.
FAQs
Yes, although you’ll need to purchase an Xbox Wireless adapter.
No, there is no support for active noise cancellation.
Jargon buster
ANC
ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) uses an array of microphones in a headphone to detect the frequency of the sound coming at the listener, with the ANC chip creating an inverse wave (i.e. opposing sound) to suppress any unwanted external noises.
