Razer Clio assessment
It isn’t usually I am totally baffled by a little bit of assessment package. The Razer Clio is a near-field speaker designed to perch on the headrest of your gaming chair, with the promote being that it’ll ship an immersive audio expertise with out disturbing anybody inside earshot of your rig. To be truthful to Razer, the Clio does tick most of these promised packing containers. But it surely all comes with some deeply complicated caveats, with the $230 price ticket being solely the primary hurdle.
Enable me to first reply a most urgent query, particularly ‘how do you connect it then?’ Nicely, I am afraid to say ‘with nice issue’.
The Razer Clio comes with two adjustable webbing straps on the again that may be clicked collectively in both parallel or criss-cross formations. Because the speaker itself is definitely fairly hefty, adjusting the straps to realize a comfortable match that is unlikely to shift round behind your head is fiddly. A lot in order that this turned a two-person job for me, with one affected person colleague holding the speaker aloft whereas I attempted to corral the straps.
Even earlier than that time, there’s the entire matter of ‘chair compatibility.’ Razer itself says the Clio’s adjustable straps ought to “match most high-back gaming and workplace chairs,” although my expertise was much less easy than this could recommend.
Razer Clio specs
So there I used to be, excited to unbox the Razer Clio for the primary time and become familiar with it. Sadly, it seems I cleared my chair-drobe for nothing as my dwelling workplace chair, the Ikea Markus, has a reasonably vast headrest that instantly dominated it out for testing.
Subsequent, I commandeered my accomplice’s Secretlab Titan Evo, solely to find I might get only one of the speaker’s totally prolonged straps to correctly click on across the headrest. Although a precarious perch, haunted by the thought that at any second the only strap may go PING and drop the whole weight of the speaker on the bottom of my neck, this proved a surprisingly snug setup for a day of enjoying Two Level Museum.
Moreover, my accomplice was by no means bothered by the on-air silliness of this administration recreation as he performed the equally however distinctly ridiculous Demise Stranding 2 due to the Clio’s built-in near-field twin audio system. That stated, Two Level Museum hardly has probably the most abrasive sound design, so we’ll put a pin in gaming with it for now.
Again to headrest mounting woes: I had no pleasure in making an attempt to connect the Clio to both my AndaSeat X-Air Professional, and even the Razer Fujin Professional we’ve at PCG towers. Thus far, the one headrest I have been capable of correctly connect the Clio to by way of each straps is the Backforce One Plus. As per the Clio’s FAQ, anybody with a Razer Enki Professional, Razer Iskur V2, or a Razer Iskur V2 X could have a a lot simpler time, although I didn’t have one in all these out there to check.
Anyway, as soon as you’ve got acquired the headrest in place, it is a surprisingly snug little bit of package. Even when a bit low slung attributable to improperly adjusted straps, I felt snug leaning again into the Clio. An sudden advantage of the built-in near-field audio system too was the useful reminder that I must be sitting leaning into the again relaxation, and never curled up like a prawn over my keyboard.
The speaker itself additionally feels effectively made—even the webbing of the straps, the characteristic I just like the least about this speaker, feels strong. Total, the development feels sturdy sufficient that I do not really feel too pessimistic concerning the Clio’s possibilities in opposition to a drop onto the carpeted ground of PCG towers.
The Clio provides three EQ modes for motion pictures, video games, and music, plus a bonus customized profile, all of which could be fiddled with by way of Razer’s Synapse software program. Most machine adjustment will happen both by way of this software program or your OS’s sound panel, however there’s additionally an array of improbably positioned buttons lining the speaker’s prime edge. These flip the quantity up or down, along with dealing with Bluetooth pairing, sifting by way of EQ profiles and audio sources. I presume the belief is that you’re going to always remember to fiddle with these earlier than you sit down, and the occasions you will have to contort your self to get at them can be vanishingly few—nonetheless, my backbone is aware of the rating.
The Clio can be THX spatial audio-enabled, which comes with yet one more caveat in that you’re going to have to spend a further $20 on the THX spatial audio app to get probably the most out of this (although a 15-day trial model can be out there). In idea, this app ought to provide a software-level enhance to your whole audio gadgets, whether or not they’re particularly labelled as suitable or not, so this can be a extra engaging expense than dropping greater than $200 on the Clio.
To check this, I submerged myself in Doom Everlasting, one in all a variety of video games supported by its personal THX audio profile. I first took to this comply with up’s scorched Earth with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X. Taking part in between the spatial audio and environmental mode sound profiles yielded a surprisingly crunchy, compressed sound by way of headphones—and earlier than you ask, sure, I did bear in mind to toggle on Home windows Sonic for Headphones within the sound output submenu.
I do not suspect it is a fault of the {hardware}, as I might not encountered such a crunchy sound profile from the Arctis Nova 3X in or out of recreation elsewhere. Although you possibly can fiddle with the EQ settings and the location of the ‘digital audio system’ that act as reference factors for the spatial audio by way of the app, I wasn’t utterly positive what was making such an audio downgrade on this particular machine.
I then donned the Razer Clio like they have been the Doom Slayer’s pointiest pauldrons. I used to be instantly far more impressed by the sound high quality coming from the Clio’s 43 mm drivers, with the near-field audio system providing an immersive expertise sans the horse blinder high quality of conventional headphones.
Upon launching Doom Everlasting, the THX app provides three completely different sound profiles from a dropdown menu: stereo, THX spatial audio, and THX environmental mode, the lattermost being Doom everlasting’s game-specific profile. The spatial audio profile provides the clearest sound high quality, whereas Mick Gordon’s unimaginable soundtrack enjoys a bassier enhance by way of the environmental mode. Although Doom Everlasting is way from a dialogue heavy expertise, I did discover voice strains got here by way of crisply by way of the spatial audio profile. They’re nonetheless clear in environmental mode, however the bass enhance does soak up some finer audio element.
Doom Everlasting is an pleasing present piece for the Clio. However despite the fact that spatial sound is a selling-point of this speaker, I am unable to say I used to be essentially any higher at stopping any of hell’s ne’er-do-wells from getting the bounce on me. The easy matter of my very own missing talent apart, there’s simply not the best quantity of depth to the sound. The near-field audio system are immersive and novel, however I would not say the Clio provides a finest at school expertise for spatial audio.
So, taking the Clio into the workplace, does the Clio’s near-field twin audio system imply I am able to ditch my beloved lilac over-ear headphones? Uhm, not likely, no.
The Clio dramatically softens what’s already a reasonably sedate soundscape within the likes of Two Level Museum or Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, making it simple for these in earshot to tune out. Nonetheless, the Clio is unquestionably nonetheless a speaker, no matter the way it claims to supply “headset-like immersion.” At full quantity, everybody is aware of I am enjoying Doom Everlasting, as an illustration, however within the 50-70% quantity vary, the sound leak is far more similar to what you’d get from somebody listening to their headphones only a wee bit too loud.
Listening to music by way of the near-field impact audio system is fascinating. For example, after I tried to introduce the staff to Eartha Kitt’s disco period, they may scarcely hear my tunes till I whacked the quantity as excessive as it will go—at which level it turned an uncomfortable listening expertise even for me (although I preserve The place is my Man is a banger). To be clear, that does not imply I used to be wrapped up in my very own completely happy little Eurodance bubble at 70% and decrease quantity settings; these close by might doubtlessly nonetheless discern the road “If you’re feeling fairly randy / I do know some issues which might be dandy / Sugar Daddy, Sugar Daddy / Let’s preserve your stockbroker useful,” ought to they occur to pressure their ears.
Purchase if…
✅ You are available in the market for a distinctly completely different audio machine: The near-field audio system provide a singular, immersive audio expertise whereas the Clio’s positioning as a chair accent frees up your desk area.
✅ You will have a suitable Razer chair: For those who’ve acquired an Enki, or an Iskur V2 or an Iskur V2 X gaming chair, you will have a a lot simpler time attaching the Clio to your headrest.
Do not buy if…
❌ You are in search of a bluetooth audio machine to make use of in a quiet, shared area: If you wish to take heed to your most embarrassing playlists in peace, a conventional pair of headphones continues to be finest.
❌ You are on a funds: You’ll be able to positively decide up a wi-fi audio machine—speaker, or a headset—for a lot lower than $230.
Our Kara then prompt I blare some Miku Hatsune by way of the Clio, promptly dooming us all to a teal-twin-tail-themed listening session. Mercifully the ambient noise of PCG towers is sufficient to distract from most of my eclectic musical tastes, although the upper vocal frequencies tended to hold extra. In any other case, I believe it is in all probability a win for everybody if I preserve my tunes below my headphones.
However say for the sake or argument, you do not need to connect the Clio to a headrest—how is it as a extra conventional bluetooth speaker? Nicely, I would not suggest it in that edge case both. The near-field twin audio system can get pretty loud however the audio high quality from afar is muddy at full quantity—the Clio provides a sound profile you are very a lot meant to lean into.
In the end, the Razer Clio appears like an odd duck with costly style. Past those that merely can’t abide having something on or of their ear cartilage, I am left to marvel who that is actually for. The Clio tries to do one thing completely different in a tool class that was hardly determined for reinvention. On the Clio’s value level you are higher off doling your hard-earned crusts to both one of many finest PC audio system or finest gaming headsets as an alternative.
Only for a begin, the HyperX Cloud Alpha wi-fi headset hovers round an analogous value level, boasting crisp audio and a beefy battery that breezes previous the Clio’s in any other case respectable 14-hour battery life. For those who’re available in the market for a stable bluetooth audio machine particularly, we charge the equally priced BlueAnt Soundblade soundbar although it is acquired fairly a big footprint (credit score the place credit score is due, I positively admire how a lot the Clio being a chair accent frees up my desk area). So, for yet another possibility, the Logitech Z407 audio system take up a lot much less area than the BlueAnt Soundblade whereas additionally costing half as a lot and nonetheless providing loads of oomph.
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