The Razer Nommo Chroma is a uniquely designed stereo speakers designed for multimedia use and add sweet, good audio to your setup. One of its main draws is its RGB-equipped base and its compact yet full-range drivers built into sleek tubes. The Razer Nommo Chroma isn’t particularly cheap, but it’s within a reasonable price range, making it worth checking out.
Design and Features
The Razer Nommo Chroma has a peculiar, but rather attractive design that isn’t too gamer-centric like most options from its competitors. The drivers have a horizontally positioned tube housing that is around 7 inches long placed on top of a pillar and a circular base. It seems awkward at first, but its actually good looking and functional once you’ve positioned the satellites properly.
Build quality is excellent for the Razer Nommo Chroma since there are no defects or unwanted flaws in any of the parts. The device doesn’t wobble, and we didn’t get a feeling that it would easily break if you try to twist the tubes. The matte black plastic feels nice and smooth to the touch, and there are no unrefined or sharp edges.
The tubes have the 20mm woven drivers are at the front, while the rear of the tube has port holes which are more or less an inch wide. one downside we noticed is that the tubes are fixed to the pillars, so you can’t really twist or tilt them to point in a specific direction. We reckon adding a mechanical hinge wouldn’t be too difficult or expensive, but the solidity prevents additional vibrations.
Be careful with the domes on the speakers since they protrude the most and are quite fragile. Grills are ideal to keep them safe from getting poked, but we think it would ruin the raw look of the Razer Nommo Chroma. You can keep them clean with a light brush or better yet, an air blower which helps avoid contact with them.
You will notice that the right side of the pair is heavier due to most of the internals such as the amplifier built into it. You also get a dedicated knob for volume and bass on the footing, to make it easier to tweak the Razer Nommo Chroma to your liking. The knobs feel a bit loose, so there are times where granular control feels next to impossible.
All of the Razer Nommo Chroma’s connectivity can also be found at the rear of the right speaker. The placement is great for cable management, but its quite difficult if you want to connect a different device via the 3.5mm aux input. There is also a dedicated 3.5mm jack for headsets and a port for the bulky power adapter.
However, the Razer Nommo Chroma was intended to be connected to your PC via USB, so you won’t get audio even if you connect its 3.5mm jack to your soundcard. But what its truly missing is Bluetooth connectivity which comes pretty standard for most speakers in this price bracket. The latter would enhance the product’s speakers, and of course, its value for the consumers.
The RGB LEDs on the Razer Nommo Chroma can be found under its base that adds another level of customization to your setup. Some of the Synapse lightings presets available on other peripherals cannot be used on this gadget such as the Fire setting. You can only select between Audio Meter, Breathing, Spectrum Cycling, Static, and Wave.
Forcing other effects via Chroma Studio doesn’t work either, and most of the time the lights will go out. It’s also worth noting that the LEDs on the Razer Nommo Chroma are a bit dim so they only cast a light glow on your desk surface. It is more of an accent rather than actual lighting since even the LEDs on the Razer RGB mousemats are brighter.
Performance
The Razer Nommo Chroma is designed for gaming, but it isn’t the most bass-heavy 2.0 set we’ve heard in recent times. They sound airy at first, but the sound signature will grow on you if you listen to a lot of music aside from gaming. The two tiny drivers are also capable of filling a decent-sized room, and you won’t even need to set the volume to its maximum level.
The strongest aspect of the Razer Nommo Chroma’s sound lies in the mids of the output, making it great for listening to dialogue and the like. The highs are a bit weak or watered down against the latter, so sounds from cymbals or footsteps in games feel a bit muted. The speakers sound great if you are playing casually or enjoying a game’s storyline instead of its multiplayer, but you lose out if you play titles like Warzone where the smallest hint of movement is important.
As mentioned, the Razer Nommo Chroma isn’t bass-heavy, so explosions or hip-hop music don’t sound as deep as they would on larger models or those with a subwoofer. Thankfully, you can boost the bass to your liking via the leftmost knob on the right satellite. Pushing it to the maximum or close to it helps in making drumlines and effects like grenades sound a bit more convincing, although its strong enough to rattle your stuff.
It is annoying that you have to adjust the bass if you are listening to a varying playlist or if you are starting an action-packed game. However, it’s quite nice that the option is there if you need the extra oomph and a bit of freedom to set how you want it to perform.
Another missing feature from the Razer Nommo Chroma is a fully customizable equalizer that would come in handy to accentuate its strengths and help its weaknesses. The speakers can only select between four presets which include a profile for Games, Music, Movies, and the Default setting. We found the Default to be best for regular use since it’s the most balanced.
All the Game setting does is boost the bass, while the Music filter boosts highs, and the Movie preset, of course, pumps up the mids. Take note that the equalizer that comes with audio drivers or those built into Windows 10 won’t do much good. It will only take effect if the Razer Nommo Chroma works with your sound card, which, unfortunately, it doesn’t.
Thoughts on the Razer Nommo Chroma
The Razer Nommo Chroma is a decent choice if you want a more balanced sound signature as opposed to bass-heavy gaming speakers. The 20mm drivers on each satellite can offer a surprising amount of clarity and volume for their size. The product works great as a multimedia solution for music, games, and movies, but its connectivity is severely limited to the PC and a few systems.
We think that for the price, the Razer Nommo Chroma is a good deal if you don’t need anything dedicated since you already have a good gaming headset. Its also worth noting that there are only a few options that sound slightly better at around the same price, but they aren’t as attractive or eye-catching as this product.
Pros:
- Attractive and Unique Design with Razer Chroma
- Versatile Sound Quality
- Great Clarity
- Tiny but Powerful Drivers
- Reasonably Priced
Cons:
- Limited Bass
- No Bluetooth and Optical Connection
- No Dedicated EQ
- Presets are Hit or Miss
About the Author:
Paolo is a gaming veteran since the golden days of Doom and Warcraft and has been building gaming systems for family, friends, and colleagues since his junior high years. High-performance monitors are one of his fixations and he believes that it’s every citizen’s right to enjoy one. He has gone through several pieces of hardware in pursuit of every bit of performance gain, much to the dismay of his wallet. He now works with Monitornerds to scrutinize the latest gear to create reviews that accentuate the seldom explained aspects of a PC monitor.
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