Review Razer Freyja is a butt-rumbling "haptic gaming cushion" with genuine purpose

Razer unveiled its "Project Esther" haptic prototype at CES 2024, a strap-on seat cushion designed to rumble your butt for a more immersive gaming experience. A year and a Norse rebrand later, and the "Freyja" gaming cushion hit store shelves relatively unchanged - a rarity for a Razer prototype. Razer sent me one to play 007 First Light, one of about two dozen games that has been updated with native support for its "Sensa HD" haptic feedback standard, and after playing through the first third of the game I actually think it's a pretty smart piece of kit. Don't get me wrong, there are some serious limitations to be aware of - and a far-from-mainstream asking price - but the Freyja is far more than the gimmick it sounds like.

Let's start with what this actually is. Essentially, the Freyja is a delivery system for six haptic transducers, a little like the rumble motors in a controller, which are spread across individual zones for your left and right upper back, lower back and legs. The cushioning here means that you don't feel the motors when you sit down, but you get localised effects, ideally based on developer integration from the game but with a fallback that works with low-frequency (30-200Hz) audio for universal support.

The cushion is tied down onto your chair with three straps, and a breakaway cable runs from the left side into a power outlet; the PC connection is handled wirelessly via a 2.4GHz USB dongle and Bluetooth support lets the system work with Android phones as well.

Playing in a Sensa HD game like 007 First Light or MechWarrior 5: Clans, and you get quite potent feedback that syncs up perfectly with what's on-screen. You can dial down the strength if necessary, but the default 4/5 delivered quite an exciting experience as car engines rev, explosions reverberate or guns are fired. You also get a bit of lower feedback in response to music and even speech in-game, so it's more about the vibration feedback getting more or less intense rather than roaring into life and then going away completely.

I also tested Razer's similarly equipped Kraken V4 Pro headset, and the combination of the seat and the headphones was properly immersive - I even turned around once, convinced someone had just entered the door behind me and tapped me on the shoulder in response to the thud of the motors, so good was the simulation. I'd hate to play a competitive game like this, but for more cinematic single-player experiences it was eerily effective - even stressful at times. The transducers are very fast to react and don't make a lot of noise, which helps the immersion considerably.

In games without developer support, the experience is a little more vanilla. You still get proper rumbles throughout, but the localisation of the effects feels more random, and I'm not sure my Google Hangouts meetings are enhanced by having Rich's voice rumble my back. Still, listening to music was pretty cool, especially with the Kraken V4 Pro turned up loud, and it's definitely something that I'd invite a visiting friend to try for the pure novelty of the experience.

However, I don't think I'll leave the Freyja hooked up to my PC 24/7, as there are some quality-of-life issues that make the system a bit annoying to use outside of that cinematic gaming scenario. For one, the cushion's added thickness pushes me forward and out of my relatively slim Herman Miller Embody chair, even with the seat depth manually extended to its maximum. I feel less supported towards my knees, and it's a lot easier to slump than it is with the chair set up normally. The extra thickness could make less cushioned chairs more comfortable, of course, so this is more of a bad combination with my particular seat than a positive deal-breaker.

Having the cable plugged in is also a bit vexing, as though it does break away easily, it still forces me to sit down from the right side of the chair to avoid tripping over the cable. A wireless version with a strap-on battery pack would feel a lot less intrusive - though I'm not sure how viable that would be in terms of battery life. A simpler alternative might be just automatically turning the Freyja on when the power is connected, as currently you have to turn awkwardly in the chair to reach the power button every time you plug it back in. This limitation would be less annoying for a fixed chair, like a sim racing rig, of course, and Freyja support is included in Sim Hub, allowing for compatibility with something like 80 sim racing titles.

The Freyja is probably at its best when part of a balanced breakfast full Razer setup, as a lot of Sensa HD games also support Razer's Chroma RGB lighting system. 007 First Light is one such example, where in-game events and locations are reflected in the lighting - so the night club mission has its own special lighting effects, you get visual indicators on your peripherals when you're in danger of losing stealth, and so on. Razer has probably been the most successful peripheral manufacturer in terms of actually getting game developers on-board, and seeing your whole setup change colour when playing through a game, from keyboard and mouse to mousepad, monitor and speakers, is pretty neat. I'd love to see this extend to the OLED displays on some Razer peripherals - eg the Kraken V4 Pro and BlackWidow V4 75 I tested - as it would be neat to see in-game stats or metrics like achievement progress, equipment loads and frame-rates replicated on these displays.

While I'm here, here are some mini reviews of each of the items I tested:

BlackWidow V4 Pro 75 (£215/$299): My favourite keyboard layout, complete with a properly useful OLED that lets you adjust your volume, media, scroll and so on via the nearby multi-function wheel. The tactile mechanical switches are loud, but were pleasant for typing and reasonable for 007's mid-paced gameplay too. This was my favourite individual item of the full Razer setup I tested, and one of the first Razer keyboards in a long time that I've actually wanted to keep on my desk following the review period.

Basilisk V3 Pro 35K (£140/$146): A comfortable high-button-count mouse with premium internals. Heavier than I prefer, but the infinite battery life and dongle-free connection delivered by the Hyperflux V2 charging mouse mat made up for that. I might even consider using this as my main work mouse, thanks to a choice of ratcheted or infinite scroll wheel modes, though the call of the ultra-light - including Razer's excellent Viper V4 Pro - remains strong.

Kraken V4 Pro (£305/$379): Again, heavier than I prefer, but the exaggerated haptics reminded me of the "bass impact" vibrating headsets that were popular in the early 2010s - just done a hell of a lot better. Build quality, button layout and audio quality are all among Razer's best, and the two-device hub here reminds me a lot of the GameHub used by the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, Nova Omni and Nova Elite. Still, I much prefer Razer's BlackShark line of lighter, esports-oriented headphones on the whole.

Overall, I was surprised how much the Freyja added to the experience, and I'm keen to try it in other games with developer support - Battlefield 6 multiplayer sounds like a bit of a nightmare from a competitive point of view, but single-player jaunts in Sniper Elite or Stalker 2 could be a lot of fun. I wouldn't recommend prioritising it over other peripherals, as getting the right monitor, mouse and keyboard can make much more of a difference to your enjoyment - but if you're looking to add an interesting extra dimension to single-player games, then that £257/$282 asking price might be worthwhile for deep-pocketed gamers with high-end setups. This is far from a mainstream product, but I could see it finding a niche regardless.

Going forward, I'm also going to move the Freyja to my sim racing rig and check out the experience there, as the cushion could be a slightly cheaper alternative to the more hardcore (eg Buttkicker) tactile feedback options from the sim racing world, providing that "seat of your pants" feeling that's so key to real-world racing.

What do you make of the Freyja and indeed the whole concept of a haptic feedback gaming cushion? How cheap would this kind of tech have to be for you to want to try it? Let me know in the comments below.

Razer provided a copy of 007 First Light and several Razer peripherals, including the Freyja, for testing purposes.

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