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Razer has just announced its latest gaming chair accessory, with the $229.99 / £199.99 Razer Clio looking to add surround sound audio straight to your headrest.
I'm going to level with you, surround sound systems, as cool as they are, are a bit of a hassle for most setups. Placing speakers in front of you is easy enough since you're generally going to be pointing yourself and your furniture at a screen which sits on a surface of some kind, or is tucked up against a wall. But speakers behind you? That's a bit more of a faff to organise, depending on your room layout.
I'm sure you've also wished there was an easier way to get spatial audio without opting for a headset that's going to wreak havoc on your eardrums if used in every single session. Well, it turns out the folks at Razer have thought about this exact problem, and their solution is to mount those surround speakers to the headrest of your best gaming chair.
Acting as a standalone speaker, Razer Clio can put surround sound-like audio into your lugs on its own thanks to its unique shape and placement behind your head, but it can also be paired with existing front speakers through Synapse 4 software.
As you might guess, it's essentially a wireless Bluetooth speaker, but it can connect to a PC or console using Razer's HyperSpeed Wireless technology (presumably with a USB dongle). Razer quotes it to have a 14-hour battery life, which isn't bad for a speaker.
I can't lie, as quirky and new as this product is, it does seem a wee bit more viable than some of Razer's other inventions. Not that a haptic feedback backrest isn't a cool idea, just hard to imagine being widely used by your everyday Fortnite player.
Clio does seem to have the 3D audio chops for this era of gaming, though. Like a lot of Razer's audio products, it has certification through THX Spatial Audio, and its design as a set of dual near-field speakers means that it'll deliver powerful audio, but might not be as disruptive if you usually play with speakers in a home with other people having to listen to it. Two 43mm full-range drivers will give some of the best PC speakers a run for their money.
However, as someone who reviews and sits in a lot of different gaming and office chairs, I do have some questions about compatibility. Chairs and headrests come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, so just how will Clio play with chairs not made by Razer?
Well, Team Sneki claims that with adjustable nylon straps, Razer Clio is going to be compatible with most high-end gaming chairs. In fairness, this is how most neck cushions attached to gaming thrones before magnetic ones game along. Either way, try telling that to Herman Miller Embody owners who famously get a little triggered by not having a neckrest included in their chair's asking price.
If pairing is done through Synapse 4, I also have a few questions about how this would pair up with an existing set of speakers that were made by another brand.
I don't know many speakers that can talk with Synpase if they aren't made by Razer, so it sure seems like this is going to be able to sync up with an existing Razer sound system like the Nommo speakers, or one of the manufacturer's soundbars. Only time will tell, however, and maybe outward compatibility will be a feature Razer tries to integrate.
As many questions as I might have about Clio, there is one caveat that Razer itself has brought to light. As part of its sustainability mission, Clio has been designed to work with any USB to USB-C cable, and as such, there won't be one in the box when you buy this product. I'm all for sustainable packaging when it comes to gaming hardware, but for a $229 asking price, that might rub some people up the wrong way.
We're also rounding up all the best gaming desks and the best computer speakers, or check out the best gaming headsets for a more traditional experience.
