Sound is one of the most important parts of a gaming experience, and Razer gets that. While some people may opt for high quality earphones, some of us would rather a glorious sound system instead, letting the entire house know we suck at Guilty Gear with righteous pride.
To that end, Razer has given us the chance to check out two of their top-of-the-line speakers- the Razer Nommo Pro, with its heavy artillery sound system and the Nommo Chroma, its more PC-oriented speakers. How do these stack up? Read on and find ou.
Razer Nommo Pro
The Razer Nommo Pro is, let’s face it, a home entertainment system. Sporting more elaborate speakers as well as a *massive* subwoofer, the Razer Nommo Pro is absolutely not meant to be used at point-blank. Heck, sometimes I’m struggling to think what distance you *should* use it at. For context, I live in a pretty decently sized apartment, and at about 20% of its volume you could feel the bass even from the opposite end of my apartment.
If you don’t mind the likelihood of noise comlplaints though, it’s a total luxury- music sounds great on the Nommo Pro, as the powerful 3-inch drivers and massive subwoofer give you an experience fit for a king.
It comes prepared, too- the Razer Nommo Pro includes multiple cables for different uses, such as a USB cable for things like your consoles, as well as 3.5mm jack for your phone or iPod and even an optical cable for if you really wanna get fancy with it.
Still, there’s a lot of evidence that the Nommo Pro belongs moreso as part of your entertainment than at your work desk. For one, you can use it with the Nommo Pro app, which lets you control the speakers using your phone. At first I thought this was just a tool for providing the backtrack to your Shower solo, but it’s usable even when plugged into consoles like the PS5. Considering how in a typical entertainment system, you’d have to walk up to the control module to turn it down, with the app you can just do it straight from your phone.
It’s a good thing they let you control it from your phone, too- the control module itself is unwieldy, using a rotary control where you twist the module to set the volume. If you’re currently having your eardrums blasted out by a max volume rendition of Disaster of Passion, you really want something you can use to control the volume more effectively.
That being said, you can also plug it in to your laptop, where it uses the Razer Synapse app to allow you to sync the RGB lights, as well as adjust the equalizers for the volume.
Gaming
On the gaming end, the Razer Nommo Pro really benefits cinematic games, with lots of environmental sounds. We tried Red Dead Redemption 2 with the speakers, and the sounds of the American Frontier were absolutely divine, as you hear all the small sounds of Rockstar’s intricately designed open world against its great soundtrack.
That being said, it only really works with games expecting you to listen to it this way. Games without dynamic audio tracks, such as Guilty Gear Strive, can sound weirdly shallow, since they’re not designed to make use of the speaker array provided by the Razer Nommo Pro.
If you’re a PC gamer playing on a big TV or a console gamer with a set that looks more like the Royal Treasury, the Nommo Pro is the perfect addition to it- just make sure to adjust your settings if you’re playing at night for fear o having your killstreak ruined by a security guard come to tell you about noise complaints.
Razer Nommo Chroma
While the Nommo Pro was more of a home entertainment system, the Nommo Chroma is way more suited to a bedroom or study- it sports 3″ drivers just like the Nommo Pro, though with rear-facing Bass speakers instead of a giant monolith like the Pro, or in 2001: A Space Oddyssey. As a result the bass is much easier to control, being less likely to hurt your downstairs neighbors chandelier.
In fact, this is a lot of the Nommo Chroma in microcosm- everything about it is a simpler, more plug-and-play version of the Nommo Pro. Plugging it in is way less complicated, needing only you to plug the speakers into each other, before plugging in the USB to your laptop. Similarly, it doesn’t have the control terminal that the Nommo Pro does- you can control both the volume and the bass through knobs on the right speaker.
It also doesn’t forcefully try to install Razer Synapse the moment it comes into contact with your laptop- functioning as-is, getting straight into listening to covers of your favorite anime openings while you work.
Also unlike the Pro, it also loses out a lot in functionality. It has no Bluetooth options, only having the USB and 3.5mm jack to plug in the speakers. Sadly this does disqualify the Razer Nommo Chroma from the shower support apparatus, but it’s a great set of no-nonsense speakers, with pretty RGB lighting thrown in to boot.
Performance
Despite not having the Tower of Orthanc, the Raze Nommo Chroma gives surprisingly good sound quality, especially if you’re just listening to it on your desk. Live performances sound especially great, since you really get that feeling of 3-dimensional space. What I’m trying to say is, this might be the best set of speakers to listen to a Rick Astley concert recorded on someone’s iPhone.
On the gaming front, I’d argue the Nommo Chroma is just as good as the Nommo Pro for most standard gaming experiences. If you’re playing more standard games like Apex Legends or Guilty Gear, there’s almost no difference between the Chroma’s sound quality and the Pro, since they use similar sized drivers.
That being said, it does lose out if you’re the type to enjoy more cinematic experiences- the Nommo Chroma, while a great pair of laptop speakers, are just that- laptop speakers. So if you’re looking for a super high-definition sound for your games-as-art experience you might want to consider getting the Nommo Pro.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, the Razer Nommo Pro is the height of audio luxury, but it really is just that- a luxury item. Outside of an elaborate home theatre system, its own size becomes its undoing, not so much that it becomes a problem, but moreso that most people won’t see the value in that much luxury. It’s catered to a very specific type of person, and that person is going to have an exquisite time with the Pro- but if you’re just using a normal study maybe you’d want something more elegant.
Meanwhile, the Razer Nommo Chroma is an absolute delight, feeling like its almost punching above its weight class. It’s way more suited to apartment living, but don’t be surprised if it’s not an Audio Nirvana experience in your cinematic games-as-art masterpiece sessions. That being said, it’s definitely an above-average experience for regular gaming and just jamming out at your desk, and I can’t recommend it enough.
The Razer Nommo Pro is available for 599.99 USD (RM 2537), while the Razer Nommo Chroma is available for USD 129.99 (RM550.70) .
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