There was a time where I might have claimed that I “don’t need” PC speakers at my desk, that I “prefer” just to use headphones. And, at that time, I’d have meant it. More recently though, after having dabbled in external sound with Razer’s Leviathan V2 X PC soundbar, and especially now after spending some time with its flagship Razer Nommo V2 Pro speakers, I think I’ve become a convert. With this new set, I’m finally experiencing the kind of high-quality audio and gaming immersion that I usually get from my over-ear cans without having to sacrifice comfort over long periods – though at a cost I’m not sure everyone will be prepared to pay.
Unpacking the sizeable box that the Razer Nommo V2 Pro comes nestled in (and protected by a whole heap of cardboard and foam), first impressions are great. The two speakers are solid, with a good amount of heft and a matte black finish that seems to barely attract fingerprints. Like the older Razer Nommo speakers, they’re a unique cylindrical design, sitting on a fixed stand with a slightly-upturned angle. The included wireless subwoofer is similarly finished by a very nice matte black coat and feels a lot lighter than expected, though as you’ll read further down that bears no indication of its capabilities.
Design-wise, it’s a much more subtle look than the previous Nommo Pro, which featured a tall, cylindrical sub and speakers that sat on fairly high stalks with an extra cylinder on top for the tweeters. The new set definitely isn’t small by any measure, but it’s a more desk-friendly design overall than its predecessor. I’m really glad that a lot of Razer’s recent products have started to take a more understated and sleek design philosophy than its history of honestly garish, very gamer-y gear. The brand has really put a foot forward in making its products attractive to high-end users and then backing that up with high-end features and quality.
That is exactly the case here as well, as the Nommo V2 Pro’s two speakers deliver markedly excellent audio with crisp highs, a warm and detailed middle and rumbling bass with plenty of nuance (once you tone it down a little from the out-of-the-box setting) making for a fantastic experience. On paper, these have a very slightly less wide frequency response and are naturally missing the dedicated tweeters of the previous model, but they’re also around $200 cheaper and while I’ve never listened to the original Nommo Pro first-hand I can’t imagine there being a huge difference.
The first thing I did after setting these up was hit play on Sleep Token’s new record, Take Me Back To Eden, an album that swims through genres at an olympic pace, and it sounded every bit as gorgeous as I could’ve hoped. Even throwing something like the harsh tones and bold mix of 100 gecs’ Dumbest Girl Alive at the Nommo V2 Pro brought out sounds in the track I’d never noticed before, which is always a great sign.
Music is likely just a small slice of the equation for a gaming audio solution though, and thanks to the THX Spatial Audio capabilities, the Razer Nommo V2 Pro delivers a definitively superb soundscape for games and movies, far better than I expected from two forward-firing speakers. This is absolutely a set of speakers designed for solo gaming/movie watching at a desk and not something that I’d recommend using to replace a proper soundbar/home theatre setup in the lounge room, but for the intended purpose they’re glorious. Doubly so in anything that benefits having preset THX Game Profiles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
It really is uncanny just how well these speakers can reproduce an incredibly accurate sense of 360° direction and subtle differences in distance when playing both certified and even non-certified games. They can also get loud at up to +99db, which is less a critique and more a warning to anyone with neighbours/cohabitants.
A lot of what makes the Nommo V2 Pro (and the rest of the Nommo V2 range) compelling in comparison to other alternatives is the simple integration with the Razer Synapse software. After I’d set them up, they instantly popped up in the Synapse suite and I was able to tweak things like the RGB lighting, power saving settings, full audio EQ as well as features like THX Spatial Audio and a neat but slightly underwhelming audio-monitoring lighting effect. I could also easily find all of my installed games and applications and give them individual audio presets to load whenever they were booted up.
As far as the RGB lighting goes (this being a Razer product, after all), I really dig the rear-projected ambient light from these. If you’re into expressing yourself through a desk full of different hues they do a great job of tying everything together with a bit of a fill of the back of your desk/wall without being obnoxious. At this higher end of the product line it would’ve been cool to maybe get multiple lighting zones per speaker but what’s here is great.
Pulling a lot of this together is the Razer Wireless Control Pod, a black disc-like device that looks a bit like a robot macaron and acts as the sole physical means of controller the Nommo V2 Pro and comes included in the box (or will soon be sold separately for anyone with the stripped-back Nommo V2 and Nommo V2 X). Featuring a textured, metallic metal top wheel that can be turned and clicked, as well as a single button on the base, this little gadget is actually surprisingly useful. With just the three inputs you’re able to control power, volume and mute, media playback, switch profiles and toggle between PC/bluetooth connection on a completely wireless little puck that’s lightweight, sits on a rubber pad so as not to slip with use and features a supposedly 8-month battery life off of the two included AA batteries.
The Razer Nommo V2 Pro is also compatible with PlayStation consoles via USB and mobile devices/Switch consoles via Bluetooth 5.3, meaning if you’re someone who has a console at their desk alongside a gaming PC you could feasibly switch with either a button press or quick cable swap – though when not connected to a PC with USB you’ll lose access to THX Spatial Audio which relies on the Razer Synapse software. That’s a pretty big compromise, and I definitely wouldn’t suggest picking these up solely for use with a console, but options are always welcome.
All told, the Razer Nommo V2 Pro has absolutely exceeded my expectations of what a set of desktop 2.1 PC gaming speakers could achieve in terms of both sound quality and immersion, but they come with a $699.95 price tag to match. It’s a clear drop from the previous Nommo Pro which went for upwards of $900, but it’s still a steep enough investment that it might give some people pause. If you’re rocking a gaming PC setup that cost more than a small car to put together and a set of fantastic-sounding speakers with impressive 360° spatial audio is the last piece of the puzzle though? Look absolutely no further.
