Razer Nommo V2 Pro Review

Razer isn't exactly a company known for its subtlety. One peek at the ad for its Razer Nommo V2 Pro range shows off explosive visual effects, RGB, and animated dragons—doesn't this feel a little excessive to sell a speaker? Undoubtedly, but Razer has owned this description so hard that it's almost a cliché to bring it up. Yet it feels necessary when talking about what is, rather annoyingly, one of my favourite speakers I've used in some time. 

The Razer Nommo V2 Pro is not like other speakers—it's a little quirky but also quite innovative. You have your traditional speakers that go either side of your monitor and plug in with a USB cable, but then you have a few more components in the box. The subwoofer is entirely wireless and, somehow, also seamless. I was worried initially that it might struggle wirelessly as even a few milliseconds of difference between the speakers and sub would feel like an eternity in the wrong environment. Thankfully, it never faltered. 

I'm not entirely sure the wireless component of the subwoofer feels all that necessary as you still have to plug it into the mains, making it not entirely wireless. You could opt to distance it from your PC setup but this would be a waste of the hardware as subwoofers work at their best on the floor between two speakers. It does help to avoid wires specifically behind my PC but I can't say this ever felt like much of a problem. 

The subwoofer is downward facing, which allows for a real rumble on the floor as it plays. Unfortunately, while the bass is super heavy and great for impact, this can result in bass tones feeling a tad muddy. Even when you turn down that bass, you get less of the sound of low notes and more of the feeling of them. If you like your bass to really hit you, these speakers are great for that but they're a little less good for picking up a subtle bass line in a chorus. 

The speakers themselves are pretty great across the board, however. The clean vocals at the start of Foxing's 'Bloodhound' ring through true, organically hitting at the raw element of singer Conor Murphy's voice. Inversely, the Razer Nommo V2 Pro brings a certain rumbly depth to The Postal Service's ethereal synth-pop hit 'Such Great Heights' that feels not quite intended. I didn't always get the song I imagined with headphones wrapped around my ears but the product I received never quite felt worse—just different. 

The Razer Nommo V2 Pro is, by Razer's own admission, a gaming speaker and that rumbly bass makes a bit more sense in the action-packed maps of a Call of Duty or Battlefield. It feels downright immersive when the floor shudders under your feet as you fire RPGs at the oncoming hordes of enemies. 

Fallout: New Vegas, a game with not only a focus on shooting bad dudes but plenty of dialogue, and some great tunes, manages to fare very well on the Nommo V2 Pro. The high ping of guns never clash with the rumble of enemy feet and the mids of the tunes manage to provide a good backdrop for it all. As is the case with pretty much everything I played, turning the bass down a tad helps the mids and highs find their feet.  

What makes the Razer Nommo V2 Pro even better is how easy it is to connect via Bluetooth. Though being limited to just a USB cable or Bluetooth is a bit unfortunate, both connectivity options are implemented so well that it becomes less of a worry. As well as coming with speakers and a subwoofer in the box, there's a small puck that can be connected to the speakers to adjust volume quickly or switch quickly from PC to phone. Initially, it feels a little gimmicky, especially as it requires two AAA batteries to get going. However, it functions just like a media slider and can swap from Bluetooth to wired in just a single click.  You will have to replace those batteries after a while but the extra effort is worth it. 

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The speakers themselves look like spotlights as they're low down yet have a distinctive circular shape to either end. This not only allows it to project audio but gives room at the back for all that RGB. If you're looking to actually control said RGB, you need the best and worst part of owning the Razer Nommo V2 Pro–Razer Synapse. 

Razer Synapse is Razer's proprietary software. With the Nommo V2 Pro, it allows you to customize the EQ, change the lighting setup, initiate some special audio modes, and change the level of the bass. Given I had to change how heavy that bass was immediately, Synapse became necessary very quickly. However, perhaps most annoyingly, Synapse is needed to get firmware updates. Without that first firmware update, it is impossible to change the level of the bass. 

This then downloads an .exe file which is used to update the subwoofer, speakers, and puck. Unfortunately, getting the firmware update needs a Bluetooth connection for some reason. My own Frankenstein's Monster of a PC is missing a Bluetooth connector in its motherboard so this meant downloading Synapse onto a secondary device, getting it updated, and plugging it back in again. If you want to pick up the Razer Nommo V2 Pro for a console, it does work fine but will need some fine tuning on a PC first. 

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Razer Synapse is generally quite a good program, if a bit bloaty, that can connect to plenty of other Razer devices for RGB customization and custom macros. However, Synapse doesn't feel like an option here, it positions itself as a near necessary bit of software and if you are someone who likes a clean desktop, maybe this isn't for you.

That said, I don't think your desk space would feel super clean with all that RGB anyway. If you are a fan of colourful lighting in your tech, the Razer Nommo V2 Pro looks pretty great. All the lights come out the back of the speakers which gave a nice backdrop behind my monitor. You can customize how RGB functions in Synapse, from a different colour palette to reactive lighting. This works well for slower paced games, where sharply moving from one noise to another is a little less common, but can be too hectic for me otherwise. 

Downloading Synapse gives you access to one rather fantastic setting—spatial audio. The goal of spatial audio is to make that soundstage deeper and more immersive. From the thundering footsteps of Counter Strike 2 to the anthemic orchestras of Slay the Spire's soundtrack, this works incredibly well. I've found myself preferring the standard speaker mode for videos and music, yet spatial audio wins for games. Synapse has a handy little function that allows you to save specific EQ settings for certain games—meaning I rarely felt the need to mess around with the software once it got going. 

With the puck, Razer Synapse, and the subwoofer's bass being a tad loud at the start, there's a lot to get used to with the Razer Nommo V2 Pro but, once you invest the time, it really pays off.