I want to believe that there is an RGB God, an unknown god that has not yet been named. Like all gods, this one needs an altar, a place to pray and seek salvation. I did my best to create it using Razer’s collection of Aether lighting in my office setup. Nevertheless, I doubt the RGB gods would appreciate my efforts.
We’ve all seen the promotional photos from RGB lighting manufacturers, where dark gamer rooms are filled with soft magenta and teal diffused light. There are lights everywhere, giving it a secret and exclusive feel. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen an example of a gamer den like this in real life. At least, I’ve never seen a real-life example that didn’t include a trash can piled high with bags of chips and discarded pizza boxes.
Razer provided Gizmodo with its full suite of lighting technology for review. This sits alongside the brand’s wide range of expensive gaming gear, including the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% keyboard and Kraken V4 Pro headset and control hub. Some of these products even get their own full reviews. Ignoring how each product actually works, I was more intrigued by the sheer beauty. What there is is ether light strip, ether monitor light bar, ether lamp proAnd my personal favorite is Firefly V2 Pro mouse pad.
Non-Razer products include Gigabyte G34WQC monitor, HyperX Pulsefire Heist 2 A mouse, and of course, an Asus ROG Strix PC with an Intel Core i7-13700KF and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080. The goal is to maximize RGB with the product you have, and as you can see from the photo, it’s probably possible. It won’t satisfy the RGB gods, much less be the envy of PC gamers.
It shouldn’t feel so bad. Gamer Room promotional photos always bear little resemblance to reality. No cables in sight. The shelves are pure white. In that sense, it lacks the otaku elements that show the personality of the people who live there, and it’s boring. Needless to say, to set up all of these smart light products you’ll need to download the Razer Gamer Room mobile app and connect everything through the black hole that is Razer Synapse. The WiFi in my office is so poor that I couldn’t even sync everything the way I wanted after several hours of effort.
Other than that, all of Razer’s lights are easy to operate. Most can be operated with simple onboard controls, and all are compatible if you don’t want to deal with multiple layers of Razer’s lighting software.
If you’re eyeing green RGB lamps with envy, first consider the expense. Combine everything from Razer’s Aether line, including the Razer Aether Lamp Pro, Aether Light Strip plus extender, Aether Bulb, Aether Monitor LED Light Bar, and Firefly V2, which you’ve already spent $570 on. This doesn’t even take into account the RGB goodness of the $300 Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro. The big, shiny headset with control hub costs $400, but you can also opt for just the Kraken V4 for $180.
If you’re concerned about cost, a PC (Strix G16CH starts at $2,100), a monitor (MSRP $400), and any necessary peripherals.
It was fun to play interior decorator, even if it was just a small desk space like an office. Again, it’s not much bigger than my personal space in my two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. It takes a lot of effort to make your space shine. As my efforts have proven, the altar of RGB demands sacrifice.
