- The serpentine brand is notoriously infamous for its steep pricing in contrast to its competitors which is bound to sway your thought process.
- Buying used Razer products without an active warranty might end up becoming the worst mistake of your life.
- Thanks to the brand’s inflated MSRP pricing tactics, Razer products have poor resale value, which doesn’t bode well for longevity.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the famous glowing green logo featuring three serpents interlinked together.
“For Gamers. By Gamers.” The iconic motto has never gone out of fashion.
However, regardless of Razer’s continuation to consistently attract a majority of its gaming-centric audience, which includes both newbies and seasoned veterans, the company also continues to struggle with reliability concerns.
What’s that supposed to mean?
Well, all of your Razer products will work just fine, but as soon as the warranty period expires, everything is going to go bust and explode into a wrecking ball of fire.
Let me prove it to you on the basis of my personal experience with Razer products, which have resulted in not one but two unfortunate incidents.
My First Razer Purchase
Unbelievably, I got sucked in to the craze of the True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds that was initiated by Apple’s release of the AirPods following its launch of the iPhone 7 Series.
Nevertheless, I wasn’t dumb enough to be fooled by Apple’s marketing campaigns.
Razer Hammerheads TWS
So, of course, I looked towards Razer, and found a beautiful pair of the Hammerheads TWS in black that were being sold brand new on Amazon for roughly $35, a vertiginous discount from the Hammerheads’ $100 MSRP.
In hindsight, that ‘too good to be true’ discount should’ve been the first red flag.
Nevertheless, I stupidly went ahead with my purchasing decision and ended up in love with the Razer Hammerheads TWS (1st Generation) for the first three to four days of using them.
The green serpentine logo, the snug design and fit, the 30ms low latency gaming mode, and the inconspicuous, monochrome case, all the boxes on my checklist had been successfully ticked off.
What Led To Me Divorcing The Hammerheads?
At first, I wasn’t too impressed with the sound quality, especially the total volume output. In short, Razer’s TWS earbuds felt lacklustre and failed to impress me from an acoustic standpoint.
However, I would’ve adjusted to the underwhelming volume output, but alas, I never got the opportunity.
Well, my right Hammerhead completely stopped charging out of nowhere. Before you ask, no, the earbuds underwent absolutely no sort of physical (including water) damage.
The right earbud just stopped recharging, and no matter how much I tried to reset and troubleshoot it, nothing worked.
Eventually, I went online and found that it was a common issue, and I ended up returning the Razer Hammerhead TWS (1st Gen) to Amazon for a full refund.
We Were On A Break: A Second Chance
As you can see above, my first experience with Razer was nothing short of troublesome and bothersome. However, being the idiot I am, I decided to give the three serpents the benefit of the doubt.
Razer Nari Ultimate
Three-quarters of a year later, I happened to catch a used unit of the Razer Nari Ultimate floating for sale for about $60 on Amazon.
The Razer fanatics will remember that the Razer Nari Ultimate was part of the wireless Razer Nari Series, which started at $100 for the Razer Nari Essential, $150 for the Razer Nari, and $200 for the Razer Nari Ultimate.
Furthermore, the Nari Ultimate in question sported dual 50mm drivers along with cooling gel-infused cushions and vibration motors from LoFelt that provided dynamic Haptic Feedback as per the bass output.
It probably wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that I did spring for the Nari Ultimate and absolutely loved the first six months I spent with it.
What Went Wrong?
Nonetheless, all good things come to an end, especially when we’re talking about Razer products.
Unfortunately, the proprietary 2.4 GHz wireless dongle that came with my Nari Ultimate conked out on its own one day and refused to pair with my laptop, no matter what I tried.
Subsequently, I discovered online that this, too, is a common problem with all Nari headsets, which frustrated me to a great extent.
To make matters even worse, Razer doesn’t even sell replacement wireless dongles for the Nari headphones.
The alternative? Buy scalped dongles from websites like eBay and AliExpress, where sellers were offering these vital wireless dongles at almost the price of the used headset itself.
Evidently, I refused to give in to such scalping strategies and to this day, use my Nari Ultimate with the help of its 3.5mm auxiliary connection.
Even so, I paid for a wireless headset, and I no longer have that.
Why You Should Be Cautious Of Razer
Thanks to such shenanigans, Razer products are prone to precipitous depreciation worldwide since the company’s peripherals and computers lack buying confidence.
Long story short, anything from Razer will look fabulous and run great, but get rid of it as soon as the warranty expires, and think ten times before buying pre-loved units.
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[Wiki Editor]
Ali Rashid Khan is an avid gamer, hardware enthusiast, photographer, and devoted litterateur with a period of experience spanning more than 14 years. Sporting a specialization with regards to the latest tech in flagship phones, gaming laptops, and top-of-the-line PCs, Ali is known for consistently presenting the most detailed objective perspective on all types of gaming products, ranging from the Best Motherboards, CPU Coolers, RAM kits, GPUs, and PSUs amongst numerous other peripherals. When he’s not busy writing, you’ll find Ali meddling with mechanical keyboards, indulging in vehicular racing, or professionally competing worldwide with fellow mind-sport athletes in Scrabble at an international level. Currently speaking, Ali has completed his A-Level GCEs with plans to go into either Allopathic Medicine or Business Studies, or who knows, perhaps a full-time dedicated technological journalist.
Get In Touch: alirashid@tech4gamers.com