We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-05 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want one headset that handles gaming, commuting and video calls across PC, console and phone, choose Razer Barracuda X; if you need featherweight clip-on earbuds that keep your ears open all day, choose Boytond Open Ear Earbuds. Both are wireless, both live in the same "universal headphones" conversation, and both can carry a video call — but they solve the problem from opposite directions. One seals you in, the other lets the world in.
• Razer Barracuda X — biggest strength: dual 2.4GHz + Bluetooth wireless with a detachable cardioid boom mic and up to 50 hours of playback. It is the more complete headset for talking.
• Razer Barracuda X — biggest trade-off: it is an over-ear, closed design with no noise control and no 3.5mm-to-wireless flexibility beyond what the dongle gives you. It is bulky next to a clip-on bud.
• Boytond Open Ear Earbuds — biggest strength: roughly 5g per earpiece, an open-ear clip fit, a charging case with a digital LED display and up to 50 hours total with the case. Nothing presses into your ear canal.
• Boytond Open Ear Earbuds — biggest trade-off: no boom mic, no wired option, and 10 hours per charge rather than 50. Calls work, but they are not the priority.
• Pick Razer Barracuda X if you want one headset for gaming, music and meetings, and you value a proper voice mic.
• Pick Boytond Open Ear Earbuds if you want something you forget you are wearing, and you need to hear traffic, coworkers or your kids while you listen.
The Barracuda X is the "do everything" headset of this pair. Its headline trick is SmartSwitch dual wireless: it runs on a 2.4GHz dongle for low-latency work on PC or console, and on Bluetooth 5.2 for your phone — and it can hop between the two without you digging through menus. For a video call that matters, that low-latency 2.4GHz path is the one you want, because it keeps audio and lips in sync instead of drifting.
The microphone is the part that separates it from a pair of earbuds. The HyperClear Cardioid mic is detachable, tuned to suppress background noise, and mounted on a boom that sits near your mouth — which is simply the better geometry for being understood on a call. When you are done talking, pull it off and the headset becomes travel-friendly.
At 250g with breathable memory foam cushions and swiveling earcups, it is built for long sessions. The 40mm TriForce drivers split highs, mids and lows across a three-part design, and with a 20Hz–20KHz range, 32 ohm impedance and 96dB sensitivity, it is easy to drive from a phone or a controller. Battery is rated at 50 hours with USB-C charging — enough to stop thinking about charging for days.
Who should buy it: gamers who also take meetings, remote workers who want one headset for everything, and anyone who wants a real boom mic rather than their laptop's built-in one. Who should skip it: people who hate over-ear clamping, want to hear their surroundings, or need something that disappears into a pocket. There is no noise cancelling here, and there is a 3.5mm jack but no fully wired fallback mode worth relying on.
The Boytond pair goes the other way entirely. Each earpiece weighs about 5g and clips around the outer ear, leaving the ear canal completely uncovered. That is the whole point: no in-ear pressure, no sealed-off feeling, and full awareness of conversations, traffic and whatever is happening around you. If you have ever taken a bud out mid-call because you could not hear your own voice, this design fixes that by default.
Sound comes from 16.3mm dynamic drivers — noticeably larger than typical earbud drivers — which is the engineering answer to an open structure that naturally leaks bass. You get defined treble and fuller bass than the open shape would suggest, which makes music, videos and everyday calls listenable without a seal. Bluetooth 5.3 handles pairing and holds a stable link at up to 10 meters, and the open bone-conduction-style design keeps you aware while you wear them.
Power is split between the buds and the case: up to 10 hours per charge and up to 50 hours total with the case, tracked on a digital LED display that shows remaining power for each side. A quick top-up of about five minutes gets you roughly an hour of playback, which is the kind of detail that matters when you are heading out the door. The construction is lifestyle water resistant — fine for sweat and light splashes, though Boytond does not claim a specific IP rating, so do not swim in them.
The trade-offs are honest ones. There is no boom mic, so call quality depends on the open-ear pickup rather than a mic near your mouth. There is no wired jack at all. And 10 hours per charge is a fraction of the Barracuda X's single-charge figure, though the case closes most of that gap. Boytond backs it with a 365-day no-reason return and warranty service.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for video calls → Razer Barracuda X. A detachable cardioid boom mic near your mouth beats an open-ear pickup every time.
• Best low latency wireless headset for video calls → Razer Barracuda X. The 2.4GHz SmartSwitch mode is the point; Bluetooth 5.2 is the backup.
• Best ear clip headphones for video calls → Boytond Open Ear Earbuds, but only if you are on camera-heavy, casual calls and want to hear yourself and the room.
• Best for all-day comfort → Boytond Open Ear Earbuds. About 5g per earpiece and zero ear-canal pressure is hard to beat over a long day.
• Best for battery on a single charge → Razer Barracuda X. 50 hours rated, versus 10 per charge on the Boytond (50 with the case).
• Best for gaming and console → Razer Barracuda X. 40mm TriForce drivers, 20Hz–20KHz, swiveling earcups and a 2.4GHz dongle.
• Best for running and the gym → Boytond Open Ear Earbuds. The clip fit reduces slipping, and staying aware of traffic is a safety feature, not a compromise.
• Best for travel → it depends on the trip. Boytond packs into a small charging case; the Barracuda X folds flat-ish but is a full over-ear headset.
• Best for awareness → Boytond Open Ear Earbuds. Not close. The open design is built for it.
• Best for one device that does everything → Razer Barracuda X. Four-in-one USB-C wireless, dual connection, detachable mic.
I would buy the Razer Barracuda X. For video calls — the use case I keep coming back to — the detachable HyperClear cardioid boom mic and the low-latency 2.4GHz mode are the two things that decide whether people actually hear you clearly and see your lips in sync. Add 50 hours of battery, dual wireless switching and 40mm drivers, and it covers gaming, music and meetings from one headset.
That said, I would genuinely recommend the Boytond Open Ear Earbuds to a different buyer: the runner, the cyclist, the person who wears audio ten hours a day and cannot stand anything inside their ear. They are not worse — they are aimed elsewhere.
If you are torn, pick based on the mic. If you talk for a living, go Razer. If you move for a living, go Boytond.
Universal headphones are simply a headset designed to work across more than one device or platform rather than being locked to a single one. The Razer Barracuda X fits that idea well, since it connects over both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.2 — PC, console and phone from one headset.
Not automatically. Many headsets only do Bluetooth, or only work with one console's wireless protocol. Universality comes from having multiple connection options, which is why dual-wireless designs like the Barracuda X and multi-device earbuds like the Boytond pair are described that way.
They can be. A gaming headset becomes universal when it also handles Bluetooth for your phone and a decent mic for calls — the Barracuda X does both, with a detachable cardioid mic and 50 hours of battery. A console-only headset without Bluetooth is not universal.
In my opinion, the Razer Barracuda X is the stronger pick of these two, because its 2.4GHz mode is built for low-latency audio and its detachable boom mic captures voice better than an open-ear design can. For casual calls where you want to hear the room, the Boytond Open Ear Earbuds are the more comfortable choice.
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