Razer Base Station V3 Chroma Review

Razer is a household name for gaming accessories that make any setup look high class. From tech like mice, keyboards and cameras to chairs, lights and mouse mats, there is everything to fulfill a gamer’s dream, even stands for headsets. Cubed3 was provided with the brand-new Razer Base Station V3 Chroma. There is something special about this one…

Where to store the headset? Every gamer’s set up is different, but almost all have, at one point or another, made a decision on how to store the headset. Whether it is hooked onto the wall or desk, or perhaps given its own throne (aka headset stand), it is handy to be able to just lift it off and start playing. Enter the new Razer Base Station V3 Chroma, the ultimate throne for a headset. Not only does it double as a USB hub, it has so much more up its sleeve.

Straight out of the box, the Razer Base Station V3 Chroma requires minor assembly with the smallest Allen key you ever did see – but assembly is fairly straightforward and simple. Once correctly put together, the stand feels sturdy and unlikely to topple, so it’s time to plug it in! The Base Station connects to the computer with a USB-C to USB-C cable that is included, but it does mean the computer needs to have a USB-C port (or use an adapter). The Base Station then has two rear facing USB ports, which come in super handy when using a USB connected wireless headset, to plug in a keyboard or phone charger, or whatever else can be done with additional USB ports (there are never enough!).

However, there is more to this headset stand than providing extra USB ports. This stand’s actual headset rest is a button! Lifting a headset off or putting it back on activates this button, and this means there’s all sorts of stuff that can be triggered by simply using our headsets. Users can choose of course what they want to happen using the Razer Synapse software, which has to be downloaded first and is only available for Windows and newer models of Mac.

Once the Base Station is detected by the software, users can immediately choose an action when a headset is lifted off, or returned to, the Base Station. Examples include different lighting, changing the sound output from speakers to headset, starting up a game or a stream (or both), and so much more, thanks to the possibilities of macros. It is super simple to set up and works immediately (and feels a bit like magic). Of course it is great fun to play around with.

For example, for this review, lifting the headset off the stand activated dynamic RGB lighting of the Base Station, switched the sound from speakers to headset, and started up a game on Steam. Returning the headset to the stand swapped the sound back to speakers, paused the game and turned the Station’s RBG lighting back to a static pattern. The RGB lighting can be set in the Synapse software or the Chroma one for even more personalisation. The Base Station has 12 individual light zones that can all be manually set to whatever colour the user wants individually (in other words, it is possible to spend hours programming the perfect RGB lighting remix).

Since the way in which the Base Station V3 Chroma works is by a simple button that essentially pushes down when a headset sits in the holder, it does not really matter what type of headset is used, although it should be heavy enough to press the button down. Most over-ear headsets should work here, earbuds are, of course, much less likely to do the trick!

The overall design not only adds to sturdiness, but it is also space-saving on the desk and looks sleek and modern. Overall, it is fair to say that the ingenuity of adding a button to a headset stand should be applauded here.

Key Features