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Razer's whizzy gaming chair, mini mic and more arrive at Razercon

The gaming PC and accessory maker hosts a "digital celebration for gamers" and launches its first gaming chair, the Iskur.

Lori Grunin Senior Editor / Advice
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
Expertise Photography, PCs and laptops, gaming and gaming accessories
Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Lori Grunin
Dan Ackerman
2 min read
razer-iskur-2020-lifestyle-shoot-2

The Razer Iskur gaming chair.

Razer

Everything from  CES  and E3 to car shows and Apple product launches have all gone virtual, and  gaming  PC and accessory maker  Razer  is getting in on the act with a streaming event it calls Razercon 2020. Streamed on Saturday, Razercon is described by the company as "a full day of gaming goodness packed with product launches, tech demos, game reveals and then some." For its gaming goodness, Razer debuted its first gaming chair, the ultra-adjustable Iskur, along with the Tomahawk desktop case it previewed at CES 2020, a new mini model of its Seiren USB microphone, a refresh of its 13-inch Blade Stealth laptop with an 11th-gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 and a Bluetooth version of its Kraken Kitty Edition headset in pink.  

razer-iskur-2020-lifestyle-shoot-4

So many levers, so little time. The lumbar support can extend out a lot farther than most gaming chairs do.

Razer

The $499 (£500) Iskur gaming chair is pretty typical for its price class -- high-density cushions, memory foam pillow, faux leather, yada yada -- with one notable exception: a lumbar support system that can extend much farther out than the typical system offered by similarly pricey gaming chairs like the SecretLab Titan XL. That's the level of lumbar support I wish the Titan I'm sitting in now had. You can also tilt the armrests on Razer's chair. But I'm sad there's no Chroma lighting because that would be so Tron

It's designed to handle bodies up to 6.2 feet (190 cm) and 299 pounds (136 kg). But anyone who's ever bought pantyhose knows that weight and height do not comfortably describe the shape of one's lower body, specifically the width of the posterior. And, according to Razer, all the moving parts have been tested up the wazoo. You can buy it now.

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Razer Seiren Mini

Razer

The Seiren USB microphone's little brother, the $50 (£50) Seiren Mini unidirectional supercardioid mic has a fully rounded shape compared to the tubular design of its step-up siblings, with a short 6.4-inch height, sub-1-pound weight and built-in shock mount that suit it for basic desktop or hanging positioning.  It comes in pink or white as well as black, and Razer bundles the heavy-duty stand with it. It's available now.

At CES, the coolest thing about Razer's Tomahawk Gaming Chassis desktop case was its motherboard-slots-on-a-sliding-tray design, similar to its external GPU boxes. That seems to have disappeared from the final cases, which Razer's offering in a full-size $200 ATX (A1) as well as $180 mini ITX (M1). They do have Razer's signature sharp-angled ultramodern look (reminiscent of Maingear's cases) with hinged glass doors on the side. They support Chroma and offer cable management to preserve the ultrastreamlined look. The M1 should be available today (though Razer's site wasn't updated at time of publication), while the A1 should ship sometime in the next couple of months.

The updated Blade Stealth starts at $1,800 and also ships within the next couple of months, while you can get the $100 wireless pink Kraken headset with cat ears now.

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