Razer Nari Ultimate Review

More than just a gimmick?

Nothing says, “I’m a gamer,” quite like sporting Razer products in your gaming setup. The RGB lighting, excessively large designs, and the world-renowned green snake branding all make up the DNA of Razer’s gaming peripherals lineup.

Taking things up a notch, the Razer Nari Ultimate introduces haptic feedback to add another element of immersion to your gaming experience. With more manufacturers taking notice, like Sony’s PS5 dual-sense controllers’ haptic feedback inclusion, will this result in a surprisingly pleasing addition?

Or is it just another gimmick or flashy word to sell another lack-luster product?

Let’s find out in our in-depth Razer Nari Ultimate Review…

Design

Let’s get things started by addressing the elephant in the room. Does the haptic feedback bring anything to the table? The answer is both yes, and no.

Starting with the positives…

When playing certain games, we did experience a sense of excitement. Razer calls the haptic feedback feature “Hypersense,” which has been made by a company called Lofelt. This company is most famous for its haptic feedback watches that send bass thumps down your arm in rhythm with the music you are listening to.

We had the most fun playing games like Call of Duty. The blasting of bombs and the rumbles of machine guns could be felt via the specially designed drivers in each earcup.

Some misgivings…

Unfortunately, it overcompensates for even the smallest amount of noise. As a result, it became annoying quite quickly whilst watching movies or videos on YouTube. Footsteps, spoken words, and smaller sound effects still create some vibration, which felt out of place.

You can decrease the sensitivity of the haptic feedback, but it wasn’t enough to stop awkward, unintentional vibrating.

Considering all the extra gear packed inside the headphones, it makes sense that these are almost twice as heavy as most headphones, weighing in at a whopping 432 grams.

Comfort and fit…

The weight could have been detrimental to overall comfort levels. However, we were quite surprised that the Nari Ultimate, for the most part, feels like most Razer headphones, which is to say comfy.

The headband doesn’t apply too much pressure on your crown, and the leatherette padding is soft. There are even hidden cutouts for people who wear glasses. Even after a long 3-hour gaming session, we were still ready for more.

The RGB lighting is used sparingly, with only the green Razer logo lighting upon each of the cups. We found it quite pleasing. It isn’t brightly lit and creates a nice ambiance whilst enjoying your gaming session.

How does the Razer Nari Ultimate sound?

The frequency response of the Nari Ultimate shows that there is a massive amount of de-emphasis in the upper-mid and high frequencies. This sort of sound profile is excellent for gaming, adding extra meat to the bass. This gives explosions and gunfire some extra oomph, while also helping gaming soundtracks and effects sound a little warmer.

This all leads to a wonderful gaming experience. The soundstage is excellent, offering a decent amount of separation. We could easily hear where footsteps or gunfire was coming from during our Call of Duty: Warzone session.

Any drawbacks?

The biggest issue we faced was vocals, which are overshadowed by any loud noises that have lower frequencies than the vocals. This is especially true whilst watching movies.

During the end fight in Avengers: Endgame, it was quite hard to hear what the characters were saying whilst all the fighting and explosions were going off.

Another let down is music. With such an emphasis on bass, EDM tracks sounded great, although lacking some of the air that the higher frequencies bring. Any other genres quickly became a muddled mess as the low-end frequencies overpowered every single instrument in the mid and high-range frequencies.

On the bright side…

Listening to some bass friendly tracks, like Skrillex’s Bangarang, we experienced a fun and energetic sound, coupled with the rhythmical vibrations from the haptic feedback. This gave us the experience of a live show, where the bass can usually be felt by the listener.

Speaking about the bass, it is important that the headphones create a decent seal to have the full experience. The Razer Nari Ultimate does a decent job of isolating noise. These don’t have active noise canceling. However, once we got into our game, we didn’t have any interruptions or outside noise coming in.

That said, if you took these on your daily commute, you’d most likely hear a lot of traffic and chatter creep in. These were made with gaming in mind, which usually happens in your bedroom, living room, or “man-cave.”

How does the Razer Nari Ultimate’s microphone sound?

Microphone quality is very important for gaming headsets since most gamers will be using the microphone when gaming online. Communication in games like Call of Duty: Warzone is key to winning, which is the most important thing, obviously.

The Razer Nari Ultimate has a retractable microphone. It can be stored away inside the microphone when not in use. Once ready, just pull it out and get ready to shout your brains out in an online server.

Well-suited to the primary task…

The sound response of the microphone has a large amount of low-end cut-out. This helps with a lot of low-rumbles that are usually present on microphones coming from refrigerators, passing cars, and air conditioners. This makes people with lower voices sound a little robotic, but the pros outweigh the cons substantially.

Other than that, the microphone performed really well. Over the course of our 3-hour Warzone session, we had no troubles communicating with teammates, and it never cut out.

Connectivity and Charging

These headphones were made with gaming in mind. The result is that there is no “true wireless” functionality found here. The headphones come paired with a USB dongle that functions as the Bluetooth transmitter.

This decision makes sense, considering consoles like the PS4 doesn’t support most wireless headphones without a USB dongle. The dongle also helps with audio-visual lag that comes with many wireless headphones that only support SBC.

The problem this creates is that these headphones cannot connect wirelessly to devices without a USB port. That means you cannot use these headphones to connect wirelessly to your phone.

Luckily Razer kept a 3.5mm jack on the headphones, which means you can connect the headphones to your phone using the included 3.5mm audio cable.

Stable and versatile connections…

We tried out the wireless connectivity on a PC, PS4, and Xbox One. All worked exceptionally well, with no cut-outs or lag. The wireless connectivity works up to 12m, which is more than enough for even the largest gaming setups or living rooms.

Battery life isn’t great, though. It would seem that the haptic feedback components took up some of the battery space. As a result, we got just over 8-hours of game time before needing to recharge. In comparison, the SteelSeries Arctis 7 offers 24-hours of audio playback on a single charge.

Charging is done via micro-USB, which also isn’t great. At this point, carrying around a micro-USB cable just to charge your headphones is a drag. Most new products use a USB-C connection. This not only offers faster-charging speeds but is also more secure and less likely to break.

Who is the Razer Nari Ultimate for?

Definitely, gamers, as is with most Razer products. We don’t expect many consumers other than gamers to buy the headphones. The haptic feedback feature will mostly appeal to gamers. The sound profile also doesn’t go well with most genres of music but sounds great when gaming.

We also considered the great microphone quality and overall sleek design and comfort levels. These features make it a great work-from-home headset. The retractable microphone is convenient and easy to use. This makes it perfect for teaching online or joining conference calls from home.

Razer Nari Ultimate Review Pros and Cons

Looking for exactly what you need for your gaming setup?

Then check out our in-depth reviews of the Best Microphones for Gaming, the Best PC Gaming Headsets, the Best Gaming Headset, and the Best Wireless Gaming Headsets you can buy in 2023.

Also, take a look at our reviews of the Best Razer Gaming Headsets, the Best Nintendo Switch Gaming Headsets, and the Best Xbox One Headsets currently available in 2023.

Razer Nari Ultimate Review Conclusion

Although difficult to recommend, we are certain there is a market for these. Considering these can be picked up anywhere between $150 to $200, they make a great gaming companion. Especially, if like us, you game on more than one system. These are great for gamers who want to use the headphones not only on PC but for consoles and mobile phones as well.

The sound profile isn’t great for media consumption or listening to music. But if you are looking for a fun gaming headset, look no further.

Until next time, happy gaming.