Razer enters the component biz, releases wireless and haptic Krakens
At Razercon, the gaming company announced a new line of PC cooling components and a PSU, updates to its Kraken gaming headsets and new gaming chairs.
Hanbo, Kunai, Katana, Kraken, Enki. Sometimes Razer product names seem like tiptoeing through an Ikea catalog. On one hand, they're real words with gaming cred: three weapons, a sea monster and a god. On the other, they bear no relation to the gear that is bestowed with those names. The company's new Hanbo Chroma is a liquid CPU cooler plus case fans, Kunai Chroma is a line of case fans and Katana Chroma is a power supply unit, all part of Razer's nascent line of case components. There's also a more functionally named PWM Fan Controller. Enki and Enki X are new gaming chairs, siblings to the Eski, but for people who care more about their butt than their backs. There are also updates to the Kraken gaming headsets, with the line's first wireless and haptic models. And more prosaically, a Razer Book in Quartz Pink.
The new, as-yet-unbranded line of "high-performance" PC components is headed up by a former Corsair exec, so it's got that going for it. And they're designed with Razer's minimal-maximal style, spare abyssal black highlighted by RGB illumination -- Razer Chroma! -- with touches like a magnetic attachment to mount the PWM Fan Controller on the inside of cases.
The Hanbo all-in-one liquid coolers were developed with Asetek and come in 240mm and 360mm sizes; we lack real detail on those, save Razer's claims of higher static pressure, better (higher CFM) airflow and better acoustics than competitors, plus the ability to program them daisy-chained or independently. It will ship in November; we don't yet know pricing.
Razer says the same about its $45 Kunai case fans (better, quieter), in conjunction with the $50 thin-profile fan controller (which can handle up to 8 fans) supports custom speed curves and a plug-and-play design. The fans come in 120mm and 240mm sizes. The fan cooling components are available starting today.
When they ship within the first three months of 2022, the ATX-size Katana power supplies will come in wattages ranging from 750w to 1,200w Platinum 80, plus a 1,600w Titanium. Razer will be expanding the component line in 2022.
Following the Kraken V3 and V3 X, Razer's expanding the line with three models (with essentially identical designs) that get upgraded in big ways. All incorporate the same Triforce 50mm drivers and THX Spatial Audio that are slowly becoming standard across the company's gaming headsets (like the lightweight BlackShark), but Razer's also adding a $130 Kraken V3 HyperSense, which integrates an updated version of the haptics that debuted in the Nari -- it has an expanded range of frequencies for more granular vibratory feedback -- and the $200 Kraken V3 Pro, which combines the newer HyperSense haptics with wireless (plus analog) operation. In fact they seem very much like replacements for the Nari and Nari Ultimate .
The Kraken V3 HyperSense is shipping now; the Pro will arrive by the end of the year.
A year after it shipped its first gaming chair, the Iskur, Razer now adds a second line of gaming chairs dubbed "Enki." The cheaper Enki models bear a more subtle design and lack the adjustable lumbar support of the Iskur, but in exchange it jettisons the high seat sides so there's more room for your posterior -- it's 21 inches/54cm wide, roughly the size of the SecretLab Titan that mine's parked in right now. The Enki costs $399, while the $299 Enki X trades off features -- it reclines but the seat doesn't tilt like the Enki, it has more basic armrests and it doesn't come with the pillow -- for savings.