Haptic Gaming Cushion For Your Chair

Razer’s Freyja HD is a singular haptic chair cushion that allows you to really feel the path, distance, and placement of real-time audio occasions out of your PC or Android machine. Whereas it really works, the implementation and restricted assist reduce a lot of its influence.

Your modifications have been saved

Razer Freyja

The Razer Freyja is an HD haptic gaming chair cushion that works with a number of audio sources.

Professionals

• Sturdy haptic suggestions
• Makes choose video games extra immersive

Cons

• Requires AC energy
• Designed just for Home windows PCs and Android
• Restricted native sport compatibility
• Not nice for music

Value and Availability

The Razer Freyja HD haptic gaming chair cushion is obtainable from Amazon, Greatest Purchase, or direct from Razer for $300. Within the field is the cushion, 2.4 GHz HyperSpeed USB-A wi-fi dongle, AC energy adapter with quick-release connection, and a few paperwork.

The cushion works on a Home windows 10 or 11 PC with the Razer Synapse app through the USB-A wi-fi dongle. It additionally works on Android-based gadgets utilizing the Synapse Nexus app through Bluetooth Low Power, together with Google Quick Pair. The cushion must be wired to an influence supply through its included AC adapter to operate with any supported machine.

Setup and Connectivity: PC and Android

I positioned the cushion on my Cougar Armor EVO M chair, which has a comparatively customary design. The 2 elastic backrest straps and one seat strap clicked simply into place and helped safe the Freyja. The Cougar has a thick detachable lumbar cushion, which did not work nicely with the Freyja.

I might have used the Freyja with out a lumbar cushion behind it, however my decrease again did not take care of that configuration, so I put a thinner lumbar cushion as a substitute.

The Freyja does not add a lot bulk, however the roughly 1.58 inches of additional cushioning is noticeable on the backrest and seat, and might throw off the ergonomics of your chair. As such, you may nearly actually wish to do some fine-tuning in your chair’s controls with the Freyja in place. Even with some changes, I by no means ended up preferring sitting on the Freyja full-time, simply when gaming. I appreciated the additional cushioning beneath me, however the backrest felt awkward and by no means fairly proper.

The facility port cable comes out of the left facet of the chair and might be fed into cable administration loops. The facility adapter is then connected to the ability port cable and plugged into an influence outlet.

There are 4 buttons on the left of the Freyja’s backrest for energy, rising haptic depth, reducing haptic depth, and for switching sources between the Razer HyperSpeed Wi-fi Dongle and Bluetooth connections. The buttons are flat, arduous to press, and commit the cardinal sin of being black on black which makes them arduous to see. There are, nevertheless, indicator lights for energy and Bluetooth.

To hook up with my Home windows 11 desktop PC, I inserted the Razer HyperSpeed Wi-fi Dongle right into a USB-A port on the entrance of the pc and opened the Razer Synapse app that I already had put in for my other Razer brand devices.

The Freyja tab on the Synapse app is the place you may discover fundamental controls for haptic depth within the higher again, decrease again, proper leg, and left leg zones, in addition to total haptic depth with a slider from low to excessive. A button to launch the Sensa HD Haptics module gives further configuration choices.

Launching the Sensa HD Haptics module gives entry to extra options, together with switching between Audio-to-Haptics and Sensa HD Video games. Audio-to-Haptics, which is the default, lets the Freyja robotically react to any system audio.

There are 4 completely different Audio-to-Haptics profiles to select from. Managed is the default and gives a deep, bass-focused profile, which not often triggers for voice or in-game chat. Balanced smooths out the response for delicate scenes and will set off haptics for voice and in-game chat. Dynamic is probably the most intense and can extra typically set off haptics for voice and in-game chat. Customized allows you to set your personal preferences.

The Sensa HD Games possibility gives native assist for a small number of PC video games. Since haptic assist is built-in to those video games, no changes aside from haptic vibration power are potential.

Utilizing Freyja on Android requires you to put in the Razer Nexus app and pair through Bluetooth. There is a part of 18 Audio Haptics-enabled video games you may obtain or buy from Google Play, which, in principle, can help you have the identical expertise you’d get on a Home windows PC.

Sadly, I used to be by no means capable of get it to work proper with my Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, however on paper it’s alleged to work the identical as on PC with any supply of audio. The primary distinction between Android and PC assist is that, with Android, you may solely management haptic depth from the 2 buttons on the cushion somewhat than through software program.

Immersion: Video games and Music

For many use circumstances, you may have the haptic supply set to Audio-to-Haptics, which is common for every thing however Sensa HD Video games. The response throughout quite a lot of video games and music ranged from spectacular to annoying.

I examined a number of non-Sensa HD video games: Fortnite, Metallic Slug Techniques, Diablo IV, and Dave the Diver. In a battle royale sport like Fortnite, the place there’s not fixed driving bass until sure music often performs, the haptics are fairly efficient.

Freyja responded to each gun blast, busting by means of doorways, explosions, the rumble of the practice, when somebody is floating behind you within the air after leaping off the Battle Bus, the rumble of automotive engines, and extra. All of those haptics did a surprisingly good job of letting me know what path the sound was coming from like gun blasts being felt within the backrest space.

For Metallic Slug Techniques, which is a turn-based technique sport, aside from feeling a few of the music within the Freyja, solely important in-game occasions like gunshots and explosions are felt. As with Fortnite, this will increase the influence and immersion of such in-game occasions. The one factor I did not take care of was that the comparatively persistent background music triggered a daily low rumble within the seat cushion.

Diablo IV tends to depend on bass-heavy sound results, so there have been fairly a number of low rumbles within the seat. I felt each melee assault, each spell solid, and each potion drunk. Dave the Diver, in distinction, did not function a lot nuance. The background music created a relentless vibration, with the spear gun setting off further haptic impacts from the Freyja. It is an instance of a sport with little profit from what Freyja gives.

Like with the Razer Kraken V4 Pro headphones, which additionally function haptic results, there are a handful of native Sensa HD Video games that should showcase what’s potential on the Freyja. Even now, solely 5 of the 20 listed video games are supported. These are: Hogwarts Legacy, Silent Hill 2, Closing Fantasy XVI, Vendetta On-line, and Frostpunk 2.

Sadly, identical to once I reviewed the Razer Kraken V4 Professional, Frostpunk 2 did not work with haptics, which left me with Hogwarts Legacy from my assortment of Sensa HD-enabled video games.

As with the headphones, you may really feel the “form” and path of spells solid in Hogwarts Legacy, which is a superb impact. Sadly, not like with the THX Spatial Audio assist for the Razer Kraken V4 Professional’s, there’s nothing else particular about Hogwarts Legacy when used with Freyja.

The truth is, no different in-game occasions, together with cut-scenes, set off haptics. When it is there, it is splendidly immersive, nevertheless it leaves you wanting a lot extra, like what you get with Audio-to-Haptics when not overpowered by background music. If solely there was some glad middle-ground.

For music, I examined Audio-to-Haptics with Spotify set to its greatest streaming high quality. A music like Aimee Mann’s That is Simply What You Are begins out promising with the opening drum beat, however lower than 10 seconds in, it devolves into a relentless vibration. Alanis Morrissette’s 2015 Remaster of Hand in My Pocket is a greater instance, as each bass hit creates an influence within the pad, nevertheless it too finally devolves into one thing of a muddled mess.

Equally, a more recent music with a relentless bassline, like Chela’s Exhausting 4 You, causes a relentless vibration, with every arduous drum hit creating an extra, bigger influence on the pad. It is actually an attention-grabbing expertise for the kind of music like this you’d discover in a dance membership, however the Freyja continues to be not one thing I might ever wish to use for music. Briefly, if a music has any sort of bass, even when it underlies the whole thing of the music, the Freyja will particularly reply to that, which shortly proves irritating.

What’s unlucky is that Freyja clearly has the power to precisely reply to a large frequency vary, like if you use a bass demo on YouTube, which matches from 10 hz to 50 hz. It simply appears that Razer hasn’t fairly found out methods to extra virtually implement what the expertise is able to, which is proven even in how little distinction utilizing completely different profiles or adjusting vibration power typically makes.

One other irritation, significantly after lengthy gaming periods, is the Freyja’s cloth materials. It isn’t significantly breathable, so it tends to lure warmth. You additionally need to watch out to not spill something on the Freyja as it isn’t washable (although you may wipe it down).

Ought to You Purchase the Razer Freyja?

“Freyja” is without doubt one of the most well-known Norse goddesses, related to love, fertility, conflict, and magic, the latter of which pertains to seeing and influencing the long run. Sadly, the Razer Freyja does not actually stay as much as its title.

When it really works, it is magical. However that magic proves illusory with how clumsy the general implementation is. Restricted compatibility, being virtually ineffective exterior of gaming, the clunky placement on prime of an current chair, and a bent to vibrate both an excessive amount of or not sufficient, all add as much as a product that feels extra like an costly gimmick than an important accent.

Your modifications have been saved

Razer Freyja

The Razer Freyja is an HD haptic gaming chair cushion that works with a number of audio sources.