Tech review: Razer Nari Ultimate adds rumble to your audio

Razer's Nari Ultimate is a pair of wireless gaming headset with force feedback. PHOTO: RAZER

Razer's Nari Ultimate is the gaming company's latest flagship wireless gaming headset with its haptic technology HyperSense.

Razer developed this technology in partnership with Lofelt, a German engineering firm that specialises in creating haptic technologies. HyperSense works by converting audio signals into tactile feedback in real time, and works out-of-the-box on various platforms from PC to PlayStation.

You can think of Nari Ultimate as a pair of wireless gaming headset with force feedback. It also comes with THX Spatial Audio that simulates 360-degree sound for greater awareness during gameplay.

Looks wise, the all-black headset combines the aesthetics of three other Razer gaming headsets. It has the dual metal strip auto-adjusting headband design of Razer Thresher, the ear cups of Razer Kraken and the on-ear controls of Razer Man O' War. Razer's Chroma lighting illuminates the Razer logo of both ear cups.

The headband fits my head well, while the swivelling ear cups are big enough to totally cover my ears. However, my ears got a tad warm after only 30 minutes of gaming and I have to remove the headset to give my ears a breather.

At the bottom of the left ear cup are the power button, 3.5mm audio jack, micro-USB charging port, chat volume dial, microphone mute button and built-in retractable microphone.

One nice touch is the red ring light on the tip of retractable microphone that lights up when you press the microphone mute button. A glance down at the microphone and you will know whether the microphone has been muted.

The headset stimulates 360-degree sound for greater awareness during gameplay. PHOTO: RAZER

At the bottom of the right ear cup is the volume dial. The 2.4GHz USB wireless transceiver is also stowed there. Just press on it to eject it from the ear cup. Pretty cool.

Plug the USB wireless transceiver to your PC, turn on the headset and it is ready to rumble. Literally.

The force feedback feels great in relation to the gameplay. Playing the Diablo III action role-playing game, every swing of the sword is met with vibrant haptic responses on the ear cups. If you play first-person shooters, you will be able to tell where the bullets are coming from as you can sense the vibrations moving from one ear cup to the other. And if the fighting becomes intense, so will the vibration levels. Another plus point is the tremendous bass response, which does not obscure voices and music.

  • TECH SPECS

    Price: $309.90

    Drivers: 50mm neodymium

    Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz

    Connectivity: 2.4GHz, 3.5mm jack

    Weight: 431g

    RATING

    Features: 4/5

    Design: 4/5

    Performance: 4/5

    Value for money: 4/5

    Overall: 4/5

    ST Tech Editor's Choice

The Nari Utimate will work as a normal headset when you connect it to your smartphone or Nintendo Switch using the 3.5mm audio jack. And while the headset works wirelessly with the PlayStation 4 (Xbox One not supported), the best experience is still with the PC as there are more configuration settings available via the Razer Synapse software. Apart from changing the colour of the Razer logo, you can set the haptic intensity, surround sound settings and bass boost level using Synapse.

Not to mention, you can only see the headset's battery level using Synapse. In my tests with the Chroma lighting and Hypersense turned on and connected to my gaming PC wirelessly, battery level dropped to 50 per cent after around three hours of use.

The biggest downer of the Nari Ultimate is its price tag. At over $300, it is a hefty investment for any gamers. That said, there are very few force feedback gaming headsets in the market.

Verdict: It might not be the first-ever force-feedback gaming headset, but Razer Nari Ultimate's combination of superb audio and great haptic response will add that extra delight during gaming.

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