Razer Leviathan V2 Review – Not quite the sea monster

Razer Leviathan V2 is the company’s soundbar overhauled from the original Leviathan that launched in 2014. The product overview page declares as such:

Amp up your setup in every way imaginable with the Razer Leviathan V2—a multi-driver gaming soundbar and subwoofer featuring THX Spatial Audio and Razer Chroma™ RGB. Experience unrivalled immersion in both sight and sound, backed by low-latency Bluetooth 5.2 for seamless PC and mobile use.

That said, what is it like to utilize it?

DESIGN

The Razer Leviathan V2 is more compact than its predecessor, somewhat more streamlined with 5 buttons on the top for Source, Bluetooth, Power and Volume rocker, and 3 ports on the back for Power, Type-C to connect to PC, and the subwoofer output.

The ubiquitous Razer logo is smack in the middle of the soundbar, with the THX label off to the right. In keeping to the “illuminate your sound” tagline, the bottom is lighting as per Razer Chroma RGB. The lighting effect doesn’t extend to the Razer logo, though, which is unfortunate. Overall, the soundbar itself is black with detachable feet for you to adjust its standing angle to roughly 30 degrees. It may depend on preference, but it does feel nicer to have it raised instead of lying flat.

PLUGGING IT IN

You only really need 2 cables unless you need the Type-A, Type-C connections to PC in which you’d want 3. The soundbar is only really for PC and Bluetooth devices, not for consoles or TV. That said, it doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack, so if you really want that plug in, it’ll be inconvenient at best.

When connecting the soundbar to PC, you’ll need to use the Type-C cable to plug it in and push the Source button. Bluetooth is as simple as pairing it up by pressing the Bluetooth button. Thanks to the low latency Bluetooth 5.2, that switch is seamless between the devices you’re using.

With the Razer App, you can both utilize the Audio app, and the Chroma RGB app. Handily enough, the Audio App has all the audio-related Razer products offering customizable settings for ease of access. The default equalizers are Flat, Game, Music and Movie, which you are free to adjust as you please. Since sound is pretty subjective, at least personally speaking, the equalizer’s bass feels “too heavy”, which is fortunately a very easy fix with some tweaks. The app can double up as a remote control for even more convenience.

For any rave occasions, you can then meddle with the Chroma Illusion RGB App for the lighting effects. Sadly, these effects do not actually match the rhythm of the music.

For the actual sound, the Razer Leviathan V2 is packed with 2 each of full-range drivers, passive radiators, tweeters and 1 down-firing subwoofer, meant to deliver a crisp, clear treble and deep, punchy bass. It’s quite satisfactory to me, more so with THX technology, 7.1 surround sound and their exclusive tuning to enjoy that increased sense of immersion. It’s easy to distinguish the direction of sound, like what you’d want for competitive games, for example.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

For what it is and promises to deliver, the Razer Leviathan V2 is very enjoyable, with good quality sound and that atmosphere it can provide for movies. If you’re not using it as an additional speaker for your PC, it’ll do the job as a general use Bluetooth speaker. As mentioned, though, it’s not suited for console or TV use, at which you should look for something else.