Razer Nommo Chroma Speakers Review

Razer launched its Nommo family of speakers back at CES 2018, with three devices in the range. At £99.99 we have the Razer Nommo that is the most basic model and connects to your PC via 3.5mm jack, while the top dog in the family is the Nommo Pro at £499. Today we are reviewing the middle child of the family – the £149.99 Nommo Chroma which sports RGB lighting and connects via USB. Is it worth the money?

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Specification:

• 2 x 3 inch full range drivers (1 x per speaker)
• Frequency response: 50-20,000hz
• Digital USB audio input
• 1 x 3.5mm aux input jack
• 1 x 3.5mm headphone output jack
• Bass and volume control
• Razer Chroma enabled

The major difference between the £100 Nommo and the £150 Nommo Chroma is – you guessed it – the RGB lighting. This comes courtesy of Razer's Chroma technology, and that means the lighting on the speakers can be synchronised with other Razer products – so if you have a full set of Chroma peripherals, you may want to pay more to complete the look with the Nommo Chroma speakers.

That being said, the rest of the hardware is the same – both models use the same 3-inch custom woven glass fibre drivers, in the same plastic housing with the same bass and volume control knobs. That means if you like the look of the Nommo Chroma but don't care for the RGB lighting, you can save yourself £50 straight away.

However, there is one more consideration when choosing between the two – the £100 Nommo connects via 3.5mm jack, whereas the Nommo Chroma connects over USB (to allow you to control the lighting via Synapse). Beside the ability to control the lighting, though, this also means the Nommo Chroma uses its own DAC, so you bypass your motherboard's audio processing. For those with older motherboards – which may have poor on-board audio – this could be another reason to consider spending more on the Nommo Chroma.

Overall sound quality is good considering it is a £150 product. You don't get a lush, detailed sound that you would from something that costs considerably more, but for a 2.0 desktop speaker set, I am quite happy with the sound produced by the Nommo Chroma. I would advise that you keep the bass knob turned down (i.e have less bass in the mix) as with the knob cranked up, the bass gets quite bloated and overwhelming.

With a lower bass setting, though, you still get enough low-end presence to compliment the mids and highs and prevent the overall sound from feeling flat. Speaking of mids, these are impressively clear considering the price of the speakers – the mid-range presentation isn't overly warm or lush, but it is clean and quite crisp so vocals – particularly spoken word/general dialogue – come through very clearly. This makes the Nommo Chroma a good choice for general YouTube watching or even for gaming, if you prefer to game with speakers rather than a headset.

Lastly, the treble. This is quite smooth and not hugely prominent in the mix – you don't get as much detail you would from a good pair of headphones, for instance – but there is enough high-end energy to prevent the sound from feeling veiled or muddy.

Overall, the Razer Nommo Chroma is a solid 2.0 desktop speaker system. For the £150 price point, it provides a good, clear sound that doesn't have any glaring issues. I wouldn't say I am blown away by the audio performance, but if you want a compact and good-looking speaker set this will do the job nicely.

You can buy the Nommo Chroma from Overclockers UK for £149.99 HERE.

Pros

• Good looking.
• Chroma lighting will appeal to those who own other Razer products.
• Clean and clear sound.
• USB connection means you can bypass a motherboard's on-board audio.

Cons

• Bass gets bloated once it is cranked up.
• USB and left speaker cables aren't removable.

KitGuru says: The Razer Nommo Chroma is a solid 2.0 speaker system that will appeal to Razer fans and RGB fanatics.

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