Razer unveils the Kraken V4 Pro headset and a haptic seat cushion (yes, really) at RazerCon 2024
Popular gaming hardware manufacturer Razer has announced a series of new products at its annual RazerCon event.
The headliner products are the Razer Kraken V4 Pro and the Razer Freyja. The former is a seriously premium addition to the brand’s lineup of gaming headsets, while the latter is described as “the world’s first haptic HD gaming pad.”
That’s right, it’s a vibrating seat cushion for your gaming chair.
The Kraken V4 Pro joins the fourth generation of headsets, joining the standard Kraken V4 and the wired Kraken V4 X that Razer unveiled last month. The Pro model looks like quite a step up in terms of features (and price, but we’ll get to that). Razer’s custom Sensa HD haptics are included here, allowing the headset to respond to in-game activities with directional haptic feedback.
A handful of games will support the technology directly, including Final Fantasy 16, Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl, And Silent Hill 2. I got to test the haptics myself at a Razer briefing last week and they definitely felt like an improvement over the Razer Kaira Pro’s HyperSense feedback, feeling much more nuanced and, well, less like having a bee inside your had a headset.
The Kraken V4 Pro also includes a PC-compatible OLED Control Hub that lets you adjust your settings on the fly, as well as monitor volume, battery life, and other metrics. You get customizable Chroma RGB on the earcups, dual audio support and instant switching between 2.4GHz and Bluetooth (useful if you need to make quick calls while gaming), 40mm drivers supported by THX spatial audio and a retractable microphone.
The Razer Kraken V4 Pro is available to purchase now from Razer’s website and other retailers, but it doesn’t come cheap. Expect to pay $399.99 / £399.99, which is quite a big step up from other models in the Kraken V4 range. Still, it has a shot at landing in our list of the best PC gaming headsets with its stacked feature set and intelligent Sensa HD haptics.
The other big reveal from this year’s RazerCon is the all-new Razer Freyja. This is a seat cushion that will fit any of the best gaming chairs that, like the Kraken V4 Pro, are powered by Sensa HD haptic feedback. That means the chair’s multi-directional haptics (with six motors: four behind you and two where you sit) respond to everything from light drizzle to sword blows and big explosions.
When I tested this at the Razer briefing last week, I found the default settings to be a bit intense. Fortunately, you can adjust the strength of the haptics on the fly, which made the experience much more bearable. That said, the Freyja will certainly have niche appeal. It doesn’t really offer anything to your play session, aside from some nice haptics. In any case, it is very comfortable, but I did notice that the haptics here were incredibly loud.
If you live with family or roommates, you may want to consider investing in sound insulation for your room when you buy the Freyja. It’s also available now from Razer’s website for $299.99. The product is unfortunately not currently available in the UK.
