Razer Handheld Dock Chroma Overview: Common Gaming Dock With Stylish RGB

	Razer Handheld Dock Chroma: MSRP $89, Presently $57 Razer’s Handheld Dock Chroma is a USB-C dock for gaming handhelds that favors construct high quality and aesthetics over cutting-edge connectivity.
	Plug And Play Ease Intuitive Bodily Design Versatile Handheld Match 100W USB-PD Assist Tasteful RGB LED Integration	Sparse Port Choice No Included Charger Premium Pricing

I like gaming handhelds. I like with the ability to take an entire PC with me in a type issue in-line with the Nintendo Change and revel in all the advantages of PC gaming wherever I am going. I can play the newest releases, I can play the legendary classics, or take pleasure in emulators. I can watch films, hearken to music, and since they’re PCs, you’ll be able to even use them for getting work performed.

In fact, doing that requires a dock, and these items actually differ in high quality. We would not fault you for searching for a name-brand dock to make sure assured performance. There’s Valve’s dock, after all, however what if you’d like one thing a bit of extra upmarket and a bit much less utilitarian? Enter the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma we’ll be displaying you right here at present…

The Razer Handheld Dock Chroma is precisely what you assume it’s: a USB Kind-C dock, or what we might have as soon as known as a “port replicator.” You plug the Kind-C cable into your gaming handheld, set it within the area offered, and it provides you three 5-Gbps USB Kind-A ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, and gigabit Ethernet, in addition to some tasteful RGB LED lighting on the entrance.

And that is about it. Thanks for studying! Jokes apart, we do have a number of good and unhealthy factors to spotlight about Razer’s dock, so maintain studying for those who’re interested in this particular providing in what has quickly change into a really crowded market.

Razer Handheld Dock Chroma Packaging And Options

The Handheld Dock Chroma is available in a really small field. The picture I took does not actually offer you any context for the dimensions, nevertheless it’s in regards to the measurement of a DVD and about as thick as a cigarette pack. I used to be stunned on the measurement as a result of it arrived in a a lot bigger transport field. Judging by the dimensions, I anticipated that there would not be an influence brick inside, and I used to be appropriate. The truth is, there’s almost nothing inside; you get the dock, a fold-out instruction guide with 4 pages, and that is it—no charger, no cables, and many others.

Kudos to Razer for decreasing packaging waste, we suppose. Nonetheless, between that and the ‘no frills’ choice of ports we have been fairly stunned given the premium pricing of this product. Make no mistake; the dock itself feels very stable and is extraordinarily well-constructed, with soft-touch surfaces throughout and a easy, intuitive bodily design. It helps USB energy supply as much as 100W (85W pass-through), so solely of us rocking Strix Halo decks might want to search a beefier answer.

We additionally should level out some shortcomings because it pertains to port choice. There is no HDMI 2.1 (for 4K120 shows), no 2.5G Ethernet, no 10-Gbps USB, and no Kind-C pass-through in any way. It does not even have the DisplayPort 1.4 connection of Valve’s official Steam Deck dock, by no means thoughts extra esoteric options like built-in CFExpress or M.2 storage enlargement, optical audio output, or legacy connectivity like a VGA or PS/2.

The button on the facet is to toggle the RGB LED lighting results.

The backstop is intelligently designed. It makes use of a double hinge such that it may be closed to function a lid for the system, or opened and tilted to succeed in many handy configurations of top and angle. In follow, we discovered that all the handhelds we had available could possibly be made to comfortably and stably match within the dock’s rubberized cradle, and the centered place of the upstream cable means that it’s going to seemingly match almost any handheld. That is a significant frustration with sure different docks which have the upstream cable popping out of 1 finish, making it a ache to suit some handhelds with far off-center ports (ROG Ally lineage).

We do have one important concern with the backstop, although. The big plastic plate could block airflow on handhelds that consumption air for cooling by the again of their chassis. This did not appear to be an issue on the handhelds we examined—the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X and the Lenovo Legion Go S have been each in a position to pull sufficient air from the underside—but when the plate rests too flush in opposition to the again of a handheld it may submit a thermal downside for that system, which is a priority whereas docked provided that methods are typically pushed more durable whereas plugged in, and the act of charging generates additional warmth, too.

Whereas we tried all of our handhelds within the dock for bodily fitment, together with each ROG Ally model, the Legion Go S, and the Steam Deck, we solely examined performance with the ROG Xbox Ally X and the Legion Go S with SteamOS. In each instances, Home windows 11 and Linux, the dock related instantly with out concern and all the ports got here on-line with no driver or different software program wanted. It’s actually a plug-and-play system, which is not distinctive, however it’s good to verify.

In fact, Razer will try to put in its software program on Home windows. By default, the software program will try to put in Synapse and Chroma. You do not really want both of those, although; you’ll be able to management the lighting utilizing the button on the facet or by Home windows 11’s Dynamic Lighting features, and all of the ports work apart from. You probably have different Razer {hardware}, you’ll be able to handle the dock’s lighting by the Synapse app you might have already got; you solely want the Chroma app if you wish to create particular synchronized shine patterns throughout your Razer tools based mostly on their place in your desk.

Razer Handheld Dock Chroma: Our Conclusions

The Razer Handheld Dock Chroma represents the corporate’s first try at making a handheld dock, and it obtained plenty of issues proper. We have purchased primary USB 3.0 hubs to make use of with gaming handhelds the place the Ethernet port drops out whenever you plug in an HDMI system and have had different random compatibility issues–that’s not the case with the Handheld Dock Chroma. Razer’s dock is stable, versatile, and sure adequate for the overwhelming majority of people that wish to use their gaming handheld docked to their TV or PC monitor. Significantly for those who’re already within the Razer ecosystem, this dock is a simple advice.

Nevertheless, the instructed retail value for this dock is $89.99 US. That is fairly steep comparatively to the remainder of the market. Evaluating on to Valve’s Steam Deck Dock, that system is $10 cheaper, but features a 45W charger. You’ll be able to choose up Razer’s dock for 33% off proper now, nevertheless, bringing it to $56.99, and that is a significantly better deal.

But, even at its presently discounted value, you are still paying a small premium for the Razer title and construct high quality. There are extra reasonably priced docks accessible which have superior options, like this UGREEN mannequin that gives 10-Gigabit USB and MicroSD enlargement for $42. Alternatively, for about the identical value as this Razer dock, you may get this JSAUX mannequin that has an equivalent set of ports and features a 100W PD charger.

Finally, we like Razer’s dock simply effective. The flexibility of with the ability to use it comfortably with nearly any handheld system could be very handy, and the characteristic set is ample. We simply want the corporate had shot a bit of bit greater for its first-generation handheld dock; Razer is a premium model that normally goals greater than sufficiency.