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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a wired, low-latency console headset that just plugs into a controller and works, choose Razer BlackShark V2; if you need wireless freedom, active noise cancelling and a much longer battery life, choose SOMIC Air One ANC.
• Razer BlackShark V2 — biggest strength: a wired 3.5 mm connection with 50 mm Triforce Titanium drivers and a bendable cardioid mic, so there's no pairing, no charging and no wireless latency to think about.
• Razer BlackShark V2 — biggest trade-off: it's wired and relies on passive noise isolation only, so it can't actively silence a noisy room and it tethers you to your device.
• SOMIC Air One ANC — biggest strength: Bluetooth wireless with Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling, Adaptive ANC, Transparency mode and a claimed 50-hour battery life.
• SOMIC Air One ANC — biggest trade-off: no 3.5 mm jack at all, so you're fully dependent on Bluetooth and on keeping the battery charged.
• Who each pick is for: the Razer suits PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Switch players who want a simple plug-in headset; the SOMIC suits people who want one wireless pair for music, movies, calls and gaming.
The BlackShark V2 X is built around one idea: get good console audio without any setup friction. It uses a 3.5 mm jack, which means you plug it straight into a PS5 controller, an Xbox pad, a PC or a Switch and you're done. No pairing menu, no firmware, no charging cable. For anyone who has ever sat down to game and found their wireless headset dead, that reliability is the whole point.
The audio side is where the 50 mm Triforce Titanium drivers come in. Razer divides each driver into three parts to tune highs, mids and lows separately, which is meant to give you brighter, clearer sound with richer highs and more powerful lows. The frequency range runs from 20 Hz up to 28 kHz, impedance is 32 ohm and sensitivity is 100 dB, so it's an easy load for a controller or a phone to drive. The cardioid mic has a pickup pattern that tapers off toward the back and sides, which means more of your voice and less room noise, and because the mic bends you can park it right at your mouth. Isolation is passive only — closed earcups plus memory foam and leatherette cushions that seal around your ears. That helps, but it won't cancel a droning fan or traffic the way active ANC does.
Buy it if you game primarily on a console or PC, want zero-latency wired audio, and value a lightweight build and a clear boom mic over wireless convenience. Skip it if you want active noise cancelling, need Bluetooth for phone calls and music on the move, or hate being tethered by a cable. Note that it's listed as a PlayStation-themed model with a 2-year manufacturer warranty, and it's aimed at adult users.
SOMIC Air One ANC: Who It's For
The Air One ANC takes the opposite approach — it's a wireless, do-everything over-ear headphone. Connection is Bluetooth 5, and there's no 3.5 mm jack at all, so this is a Bluetooth-or-nothing proposition. That's fine if your devices are Bluetooth-friendly (phone, tablet, laptop, many TVs), but it's a real limitation if you own a console that expects a wired headset or a device with a flaky Bluetooth stack.
Where it earns its keep is noise control and battery. It offers Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling with three modes you can switch between — Adaptive ANC, Transparency and Standard — so you can block out a commute, let the world back in to hear an announcement, or turn processing off entirely. That's a level of flexibility the Razer simply doesn't have, because the Razer's isolation is passive and fixed.
The headline number is battery: up to 50 hours with ANC off, and a 6–8 hour USB-C charge to get there. Even if you use ANC heavily and never hit that ceiling, this is a headphone you charge roughly once a week rather than once a day. It also supports spatial audio with 360° dynamic head tracking, which is aimed at making music, movies and games feel like a wider soundstage. For calls, there's a quad-mic array with AI noise suppression, which is designed to isolate your voice even in windy conditions — useful if you take meetings outdoors.
On the hardware side, it uses 50 mm dynamic drivers with a 20 Hz–20 kHz frequency range, plastic enclosures, circular over-ear cups and memory foam cushions. There's a FlexiFold design for folding it down, and control is by buttons rather than a volume wheel. The warranty is 12 months, which is shorter than the Razer's two years.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for console gaming → Razer BlackShark V2. The 3.5 mm jack plugs straight into a PS5, Xbox or Switch controller with no pairing or latency worries.
• Best for wireless freedom → SOMIC Air One ANC. Bluetooth 5 with no cable at all, so you can move around the room.
• Best for noise cancelling → SOMIC Air One ANC. Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling with Adaptive, Transparency and Standard modes beats the Razer's passive-only isolation.
• Best for battery life → SOMIC Air One ANC. Up to 50 hours with ANC off from a 6–8 hour USB-C charge; the Razer never needs charging because it's wired.
• Best for voice clarity on a boom mic → Razer BlackShark V2. A bendable cardioid mic that tapers off at the back and sides is purpose-built for in-game chat.
• Best for calls on the move → SOMIC Air One ANC. A quad-mic array with AI noise suppression is made for phone and video calls, including windy conditions.
• Best for long-session comfort → Razer BlackShark V2. At 240 g with memory foam and leatherette cushions, it's a genuinely light headset.
• Best for spatial, cinematic audio → SOMIC Air One ANC. 360° dynamic head tracking is designed to put you inside a wider soundstage.
• Best for a music-and-movies-first buyer → SOMIC Air One ANC. It's positioned as a general-purpose premium headphone, not a gaming-only device.
If I had to pick one, I'd buy the Razer BlackShark V2 — but only because it fits the way most people actually game. It's wired, so it always works, it's light enough to forget you're wearing it, and the cardioid boom mic is the right tool for voice chat. The SOMIC Air One ANC is the better headphone in the abstract, with active noise cancelling, 50-hour battery and spatial audio, and it's the one I'd recommend if your priority is wireless music, movies and calls rather than competitive console play. Check the current price on Amazon for both before you decide, since that's the one variable that can flip this either way.
FAQ
Yes. It uses Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling with three selectable modes — Adaptive ANC, Transparency and Standard. The Razer BlackShark V2 relies on passive noise isolation instead, using closed earcups and sealed memory foam cushions.
The SOMIC Air One ANC, by default — up to 50 hours with ANC off, charged over USB-C in 6–8 hours. The Razer BlackShark V2 is wired, so it has no battery to run down and never needs to be charged at all.
The SOMIC Air One ANC. Its quad-mic array with AI noise suppression is designed for clear voice pickup, and Bluetooth plus spatial audio makes it a more natural fit for music, movies and travel. The Razer is built for gaming first.
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