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Hands-on review: Razer Infrit Streaming Headset
Mon, 26th Nov 2018
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Razer's Infrit is a lightweight, low-profile headset designed to provide maximum performance without obscuring your face. Primarily aimed at streamers and content creators, the headset provides an alternative to strapping a couple of huge cans to your head.

The Infrit is light, but don't think that this reflects poorly on the quality. The very discreet rubberised body is sturdy enough.

The headphones dangle from thin cables coming out of the body. They seem OK, but a sharp tug will probable pull the cables out. The actual headphones are just earbuds, but they are made of metal and are magnetic, allowing them to clip together making them less likely to get tangled.

The posable mic, like the headphone cables, emerges directly from the body- it's not detachable. The audio cable comes out the back on the left side, terminating with a standard 3.5mm audio jack. This means that you can plug it into your PlayStation 4 controller, your Xbox One gamepad, your Nintendo Switch and your phone (if it has a 3.5mm socket).

The package also includes a USB junction box, the Razer USB Audio Enhancer, with volume controls, audio mute and a mic mute button. The junction box has two 3.5mm sockets for sharing the audio and mic. The box has adhesive tape on side for securing within your workstation area.

Putting the headset on for the first time is interesting. The body of the device is shaped like a pair of glasses with arms for going over your ear. You do, however, put them on the other way around to glasses with the end of the arm protruding forwards.

The headset comes with a small, medium and large earpieces for all sizes of lughole. Whilst I'm no stranger to stuffing earphones in my ears listening to music from my phone, it was weird wearing them for playing games at first. Outside noise is totally blocked out.

The headset doesn't come with a hardware solution for sidetone- the sound of your own voice coming out of the headset. I find it essential to hear my own voice to a) feel comfortable that the mic is working and b) so I know I'm not shouting or mumbling.

The solution is to go into the recording tab on Windows 10, find the device, right-click properties, select listen and and tick “Listen to this device”. Make sure that you select the Razer USB Speakers and don't leave it set to default. If you don't do this there will be an intolerable delay between you speaking and hearing the words through the headset.

Whilst the packaging boasts “Pro mic and audio”, don't get too carried away with your expectations. I found the mic to be a bit muffled. But I don't feel that my voice sounds good, anyway. In saying that, though, no one had any problems hearing me as I spoke to my squad in Battlefield V.

The audio is pretty good, surprisingly good, even. Most definitely on par with the mid-range cans that I usually use. It was easy to discern the direction of fire whilst playing online shooters, the headset working very well with Windows Sonic For Headphones.

Any shortcomings can easily be overlooked by the practical advantage of the headset's very small footprint. Not only is it very light to wear, it is easy to store, as there's really nothing to it. You can also see why the Ifrit is a favourite for streamers as it pretty inconspicuous, looking very broadcast-friendly.

Overall, I'm impressed with the Razer Infrit headset. It may not look like much, but that's the point. It's extremely powerful, versatile and discreet. It's perfect for streamers and anyone else looking for some light, slight headphones that won't mess up your hair.