Razer Freyja Review: It Would Be the Coolest Haptics for Gaming, If Only It Worked

Two weeks ago, I played Cyberpunk 2077 the aforesaid mode I usually did: ass successful chair, headphones on, but everything felt different. I was flying done Night City’s engaged streets connected Jackie Welle’s aged bike, feeling the transportation each clip the motorcycle shifted gears. I swore I could consciousness the patter of rainfall connected my backmost going 90 miles per hour. I paused the game, and the feedback connected the Razer Freyja haptics seat cushion went silent. I had to instrumentality a breath.

I turned to my exertion and spoke with hushed excitement. “This is astir apt the coolest happening I’ve ever used,” He looked backmost astatine me, an eyebrow raised successful that condemning, unperturbed way. “What?” helium asked. “The headset?”

He couldn’t consciousness what I was feeling. He besides couldn’t spot what it was due to the fact that I was sitting connected it. There’s thing instantly engrossing astir the Razer Freyja, a $300 haptics cushion to marque your backmost and butt consciousness much engrossed successful the crippled than ever before. I privation to urge the haptic gaming chair, if thing else, for the audio-based haptics erstwhile driving similar a maniac successful a racing crippled oregon to consciousness the footwear of a instrumentality weapon without needing bulky, wearable gear. The Freyja is the adjacent realization of the prototype I archetypal experienced astatine CES 10 months ago.

As chill arsenic it is, truthful galore tiny details instrumentality distant from the afloat promise. It requires you to plug it into the wall, and the cablegram is overmuch excessively short, requiring an hold cord. It requires excessively galore layers of bundle to get moving properly. At $300, it can’t beryllium a quick-decision purchase, adjacent if I inactive deliberation Freyja is good worthy trying. Perhaps it whitethorn yet beryllium an casual recommendation, particularly erstwhile Razer adds much supported games and gets the circumstantial haptics connected those games to work.

How is the Freyja Different From Other Gaming Haptics?

© Photo: Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo

I’ve strapped myself into plentifulness of different haptic apparatus, from bHaptics afloat assemblage suit and gloves to the odd, rotating RotoVR chair for Meta Quest. Too often, gaming haptics are a gimmick. They either hinder your play oregon consciousness much similar Nintendo 64 rumble packs strapped to your thorax and forearms, hardly offering immoderate consciousness of being “in the game.” Razer is so, truthful adjacent to getting it close with the $300 Freyja. This works by translating your in-game dependable into unit feedback done 14 pads for your backmost and buttocks. It’s the slightest obtrusive, astir engrossing haptics I’ve used, and it works for practically immoderate crippled you tin play connected your PC.

Razer’s Freyja sits alongside the $400 Kraken V4 Pro headset, boasting haptic feedback. The headset’s dependable prime deserves its ain abstracted review, but I’ll besides interaction connected its haptics here. You don’t truly request the ultra-expensive Kraken if your lone extremity is to get the afloat haptics immersion. I’ve utilized Freyja with the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds and Alienware Pro Wireless Headset and had conscionable arsenic bully a clip arsenic with Razer’s headset. Simply put, immoderate high-quality dependable setup volition bash to get the astir retired of the $300 cushion.

It’s besides a perfunctory instrumentality that makes it a hassle to use. It requires you to download respective layers of Razer bundle conscionable to power the “Sensa” haptics suite. You besides request to plug the cushion into an outlet with an all-too-short cable. Finally, worst of all, I could not really usage the promised haptic effects built for immoderate games.

As of penning this review, only 5 games enactment Sensa-specific haptics, including titles like Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy XVI, and Frostpunk 2. I ain these games done the Epic Games store, yet Razer’s Chroma app does not admit them connected my system. After weeks of trying to enactment with Razer connected the issue, we could not fig retired the problem.

There volition beryllium 20 games that yet enactment Sensa HD haptics, but arsenic for now, it’s a dormant feature. The sound-based multidirectional haptics are already worthy the terms of admission, but the cushion’s bundle and cablegram requirements mean I can’t afloat urge it. And yet, it’s truthful bully astatine enhancing immersion that I’m truthful adjacent to telling users to disregard each those issues and find immoderate mode to effort it retired for themselves.

What Does the Razer Freyja Feel Like?

© Photo: Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo

The haptics successful Freyja are easy its astir awesome quality. They enactment champion successful a much immersive game, particularly good if you’re seated successful the cockpit of a car oregon are being showered successful bullets successful an FPS. What’s large is that they besides assistance with immersion successful different gaming contexts.

If you’re playing a crippled with a dense bass to its ambiance, similar the metropolis builder Frostpunk 2, you’ll commencement to construe the rumble connected your backmost arsenic buffeting winds. In Baldur’s Gate III, you won’t consciousness overmuch until you formed a spell oregon onshore a large attack, erstwhile the rumble moves up your spine.

Razer Chroma allows you to acceptable the haptic summation for some the Freyja and the Kraken. Three basal modes volition dependable disconnected haptics for antithetic frequencies. You’ll ever get immoderate haptics for sub-bass, but you tin acceptable it to rumble for debased mids up done precocious mid and treble if you privation to shingle each infinitesimal of play. You tin acceptable a preset for immoderate installed crippled connected Chroma; astatine slightest successful this regard, it works well.

What’s sometimes unusual astir the sound-based haptics is however it mightiness adjacent prime up connected dialogue. In a crippled similar Ghost of Tsushima oregon Cyberpunk 2077, nether each basal settings successful Chroma, I felt adjacent changeless rumble from the surrounding environment. Even talking with immoderate characters, I get random jolts successful my thighs. Goro Takemura whitethorn person a heavy voice, but it shouldn’t beryllium heavy capable to consciousness similar a subwoofer. You tin chopped retired the sub-bass to marque it much serene, but past you’ll miss retired erstwhile driving and shooting.

Combined with the Kraken V4 Pro, it has astir excessively galore haptics. The 4D feeling on your backmost is acold much manageable, but not truthful overmuch erstwhile your caput is rumbling, too. Razer’s bundle defaults to a debased level. That’s fundamentally each I would privation from earphone haptics. It was truthful minimal that the Kraken felt mostly unnecessary.

Razer Freyja is Such an Interesting Piece of Gaming Tech Marred by Too Many Issues

© Photo: Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo

Freyja problems commencement close astatine setup. You connect it to your seat via 3 elastic belts to clasp it successful place. Depending connected the size of your chair, it mightiness person immoderate portion of the cushion sticking out, arsenic it did mine. Of course, it’s meant to acceptable good connected immoderate of Razer’s high-backed gaming chairs similar the Iskur V2, but possibly you should measurement your setup earlier clicking the bargain button.

As is emblematic of Razer, you’re forced to download convoluted bundle to your PC to power immoderate of the Sensa haptics. In particular, you’ll request to usage Razer Chroma. Why is Razer’s haptics locked down its RGB power app? God knows, but it’s supremely annoying. Razer Synapse besides recognizes that you ain the chairs, but you can’t impact their settings. I don’t cognize if I’ll ever recognize wherefore Razer has truthful galore antithetic executables for its hardware, but it’s each the much boggling with these latest products.

At the precise least, you tin power the layers of sound-based haptics to get the champion feel, but without the game-specific haptics, there’s nary mediate ground. It feels similar it’s truthful adjacent to being a existent gyration for gaming haptics. Unfortunately, it’s conscionable not determination yet.