The Razer Clio Headrest Guarantees Spatial Audio Sans a Headset

Of us who sport bald heads—like me—know that discovering a really snug gaming headset will be an costly wrestle. I’ve needed to eschew plenty of what can be high-quality earphones from corporations like SteelSeries and Corsair simply because they chafe in opposition to my scalp’s naked pores and skin. As a potential treatment, Razer guarantees its Clio audio-blasting head cushion will hold my noggin freed from a headscarf and nonetheless give me entry to high-quality, headset-level audio.

Razer has a operating obsession with each immersive audio and gaming chair equipment. Combining each into the $230 Clio is meant to create a customized audio expertise while you’re sitting by your lonesome self in your favourite gaming chair. The machine contains near-field twin audio system that ought to direct audio on to your ears. It ought to be obtainable beginning Could 16.

The machine has twin 43mm drivers with help for THX Spatial Audio and helps three EQ modes for gaming, films, or music. It’s also possible to set it as both the first speaker or rear speaker for a 7.1 setup. Razer suggests combining the Clio with different encompass sound speaker techniques, like Razer’s personal Nommo line, to make you are feeling such as you’re being blasted on all sides together with your sport’s audio.

The Clio wraps round your gaming chair’s headrest and connects through Razer’s 2.4 GHz Hyperspeed Wi-fi—which suggests coping with the model’s obtuse and intrusive Synapse 4 software program—or over Bluetooth. The cushion itself is constructed from reminiscence foam, and it ought to match onto most high-back gaming chairs with a single strap.

Battery life is rated at as much as 14 hours of battery, although you could possibly have it plugged in constantly through USB-C. At CES 2025, I instructed to Razer it ought to take into account including energy passthrough to its gaming chairs, resembling with its Arielle concept cooling and heating gaming chair. That method, gamers might have one cable operating from their seat with the power to plug in all of the equipment Razer desires to stay behind gamers. There’s the Razer Freyja haptic cushion that requires its personal separate plug, and now with Clio, gamers shouldn’t have to hold remembering to plug of their seats alongside all their different costly peripherals.

It isn’t the primary time Razer has positioned itself because the king of headset-less 3D audio. Razer promoted 2023’s Leviathan V2 Pro soundbar with built-in headtracking as the easiest way to get spatial sound from the entrance.  There have been even these age-old Mako speakers that sought to hit you with robust sound from all sides. The deciding issue with Clio can be how properly it sounds while you dare to reposition your head away from the headrest. A top quality pair of headphones like Razer’s personal $180 Kraken V4 don’t have that drawback, and after utilizing them for some time, they nonetheless seem to be the higher choice for most individuals with out delicate scalps. I’ve discovered different headsets just like the Alienware Pro Wireless stay snug sufficient for lengthy intervals of play.

I discover the gaming chair to be a really lonely place. Even once I’m enjoying on-line with mates, I can’t sit nonetheless in a single anymore. I find yourself with my legs curled beneath me like a dying spider, and my head is stretched a distance away from the neck relaxation. Perhaps Razer’s audio cushion could make my gaming chair a spot I’ll get pleasure from lounging in once more.