Razer Leviathan V2 review

The latest accessory from gaming and lifestyle brand Razer is the Leviathan V2 soundbar. It is an update to their first Leviathan soundbar, which came out in 2014. The new V2 is slimmer and has RGB lighting added to the bottom. This soundbar is different from the first one because it supports THX spatial audio, which is a virtual surround sound found in Razer’s Kraken V3 headsets, one of which is on our list of the best PC gaming headsets. The Leviathan also comes with a 55-inch subwoofer that fires down and has been slimmed down.

The Leviathan V2 is a pound lighter and a little bit thinner than its predecessor because of its new design. It has also taken away some of the physical buttons and ports from the first Leviathan, such as the 3.5mm jack and optical audio input. Even though the Razer Leviathan V2 sounds great without the cumbersome Synapse 3 software, you will need to use it to get the most out of the V2.

Razer Leviathan V2 review: Design

The Razer Leviathan V2 is a bit sleeker than its predecessor, and its subwoofer is more cube-shaped than the original Leviathan’s. The soundbar is 19.7 x 3.6 x 3.30 inches, and the subwoofer is 8.67 x 8.67 x 9.5 inches. Both the soundbar and the subwoofer are lighter than I thought they would be. The soundbar weighs about 3 pounds, and the sub weighs about 6.5 pounds.

This makes them easy to move around in an office setting. The result is a soundbar that looks nice, is light, and fits well under a desktop monitor. Razer also made the Leviathan V2 look better and added support for Chroma RGB to the down-facing RGB. You can now change its color to match your mood or the way you have your desktop set up.

Even when it is sitting under a display, the controls are still easy to reach because they are near the front of the top panel. You can switch between USB and Bluetooth as the source of sound, turn it on and off, and change the volume. The only controls on the Leviathan are these five buttons, so you can’t say that it is hard to use.

The power cord, your computer’s USB-C port, and the subwoofer all plug into the back of the device. If you have a setup where you’d rather have the sound coming straight at you, you can raise the Leviathan with the optional foot attachments that come with it. You can also take the feet off completely if you want to. You can buy this Razer Leviathan V2 from its official website.

Razer Leviathan V2 review: Connectivity

Razer may have gone too far with how easy it is to use, and the Leviathan V2’s lack of connectivity options is too big of a problem to ignore. We already said that soundbars used to be able to get by with just one input, but now people expect them to have more than one. we think that’s even more true when we move from the living room to a desktop environment.

Only Bluetooth and USB-C can be used to connect to the Leviathan V2. We can’t seem to get over this. It’s one thing to not add more ways to connect between hardware updates, but it seems like a huge mistake to take away options.

Razer Leviathan V2 review: Sound Quality

Before putting the Razer Synapse app on my PC, we tried the Razer Leviathan V2 without any software, and we our happy to say that it sounds pretty good. We make beats with FL Studio 10, but we haven’t had good speakers in a while. Instead, We have been using headphones and the speakers in my TV.

There was something so freeing about listening to and making beats on this soundbar. The volume was loud enough, and the subwoofer’s thumps and reverberations were almost like what I’ve heard from a full stereo system. When the bass came in, the Razer Leviathan V2 had a detailed treble that went from dynamic highs to deep lows.

Songs like “March of the Fire Ants” by Mastodon and “Top” by Lil Uzi Vert, which have high treble and deep bass, got so loud that they filled up my whole apartment. When my mother came to visit, she said she could hear it as she was walking up the block. That’s pretty cool, especially since we live in a noisy part of the Bronx.

Razer Leviathan V2 review: Software

Razer has made a lot of changes to its software suite and user experience since the first Leviathan V2. Even though some features, like THX Spatial Audio, are kept separate, the audio equalizer and Chroma RGB can now be controlled from the mobile Razer Audio app.

You probably won’t use the Synapse desktop app too often, especially if you’re happy with how your personalized EQ settings sound, but these changes are nice. The Razer Cortex desktop app is still recommended when setting up the V2 Pro, but you don’t need it to get the most out of it. The soundbar was right next to my monitor.

However, the mobile app quickly became my go-to backup when we wanted to change the lighting effects or the bass. Still, you need only the Razer Synapse app to update the drivers on your PC, so we our glad that they didn’t force me to use multiple apps before.

Razer Leviathan V2 review: Performance

But after a while, you may notice, like I did, that it sounds a little less rounded in some situations. It works great for music, podcasts, and other “spoken voice” media, and you don’t need to change anything. But I did have to change the settings through Synapse to make it work right for games.

Otherwise, something was “missing.” Once that was out of the way, though, it worked well for all of my games and gave me pretty good sound. The THX Spatial sound also helped. It worked well whether we were leading units in Dawn of War III, trying to get a feel for the Big Country in Red Dead Redemption, or trying to find enemies in Apex Legends’ fast-paced battles.

We think for the latter, we’d always tell you to get one of the best gaming headsets instead, but it will still work well as a desktop audio solution. As we briefly said above, it was great for music, which is a big part of the background noise of my day, so you can be sure that it can be used for more than one thing.

Price and Availability

The lack of connections could be seen as a way to simplify, but taking away all backups and not even having an audio jack is a bad thing no matter how you look at it. Even though the above tweaks can help you get the best sound, I’ve always found that subwoofer to be a bit underwhelming.

If you can get past those things, the good news is that it’s not a bad deal at all, both as a soundbar and as speakers. As was already said, the Creative Katana V2 sounds a little bit better and has more connections, but it costs $80/£80 more, which is the price of a decent accessory you could buy instead.

And when it comes to speakers, the Razer Nommo Pro speakers may have more power, bigger speakers, etc., but they still cost at least twice as much as the Leviathan V2.

Razer Leviathan V2 review: Conclusion

The Razer Leviathan V2 is a soundbar that has been created with the specific intention of catering to the needs of gamers. It has a smooth matte black look that makes it easy to integrate into any gamer’s setup, and it provides an excellent audio experience. Because it utilizes Razer RGB Chroma, it also provides you with the opportunity to personalize the RGB lights.