Putting the cool in wireless charging

Wireless charging offers a lot of convenience. Instead of fiddling with a plug at night before bed, you can just put your phone on a pad. In addition, you can have pads everywhere in your house to place your phone on whenever it needs charging. However, in this Razer Charging Pad Chroma review, we’ll tell you how you can do a lot more with your wireless charging.

Buying guide: The best wireless chargers

What is the Razer Charging Pad Chroma?

The Razer Charging Pad Chroma is a 10W wireless charging pad. At around 3.8 inches in diameter, it’s the perfect size for a smartphone or a set of true wireless earbuds. You can also use it to wirelessly charge your smartwatch or fitness band, provided they support the Qi wireless standard.

Unlike most other chargers, this Razer model uses the company’s proprietary Chroma RGB lighting system. If you’re a Razer fan, you already know what that means. If you are not familiar with Chroma, you can control the lighting scheme of your devices. This not only makes this wireless charger practical, but also fun when it is not in use.

There are 10 Chroma-capable LED lights under the charging pad. When you connect the pad to your Windows-based PC using the included USB-C to USB-C cable, the Razer Synapse app allows you to set the lights to your liking. You can choose from any color under the rainbow. You can also choose how these colors move and even use multiple colors at once. In addition, the lighting can be changed depending on the function of the charger.

As an example of what you can do, I’ve set the light effect to pulsing red when the charger is idle. Then I set it to turn into a rainbow of swirling colors when it was charged. Check out how it works in the GIF above.

If you love this effect and step into the entire Chroma ecosystem, you can even design it to sync those lights with the other Chroma products you own. That, of course, drives you into becoming a full-fledged chroma addict. So be careful.

What is good?

Even if you ignore the benefit of having Chroma on board, the Razer Charging Pad Chroma is a solid wireless charger. It has a maximum power of 10W. Of course, you need a power source that complies with this standard and that most PCs and commercially available wall adapters do not contain. However, if you have a quick charge or power adapter, a 10W compatible phone for universal wireless charger will charge at a reasonable rate. If not, you’ll see 5W speed which is best for accessories like wireless earbuds.

The building materials of this charger are top notch. The synthetic leather top has a nice, grippy texture that holds your phone in place. It’s also good weight, and its rubber bottom should keep it from sliding around when in use.

A USB-C to USB-C cable is included in the scope of delivery. Since the charging pad has a USB-C socket, you can use it with all types of USB-C cables. This is a nice perk as many wireless chargers use hard-wired cables.

But let’s be honest: the real highlight of this product is Chroma. If all you want to do is wirelessly charge your phone, you can find plenty of other chargers that do the job for a lot less money. But these chargers don’t look particularly cool on your desk!

Razer’s chroma effect cools down wireless charging.

Another great aspect of this charger is that the chroma effects come with it. For example, if you unhook it from your PC after setting the chroma effects to your liking, those effects will still work when you plug it into a wall. That means you can configure it with your PC at your desk and then bring it to your bedroom and still get the lighting you want. Of course, in this situation, this lighting would not sync with your other Chroma lights.

What’s not so good?

During my time testing the Razer Charging Pad Chroma for review, I had three grips. Neither of them was a deal breaker on their own, but the three of them together prevent this from being a five-star product.

The first problem is how short the included USB-C cable is. It is 0.5 m long or about 1.6 feet. This is very short and makes it difficult to use anywhere but directly on your PC tower. I have no complaints about the quality of the cable – in fact, it’s an incredibly solid cable with a nice braided case. But it’s just too short.

This is an amazing wireless charger, but it costs too much to miss out on some important features.

With that in mind, it’s really unfortunate that a wall adapter isn’t included here. Obviously, this would be difficult for Razer to provide as the product would have to be locked in the region for the US to get their charger, Europe to get their charger, etc. While understandable, choosing the right wall adapter for the advertised 10W speed is one tricky thing and that is a great inconvenience for the buyer. It’s not uncommon for universal wireless chargers to come without an adapter, but at this price point it would be fair to expect one.

Finally, that brings us to my final point of criticism: this charger is expensive. For $ 60, you can buy several regular wireless chargers with similar specs instead. Of course, you’d lose the chroma effects that Razer is likely betting on to attract buyers. For $ 60, I would have liked an in-box adapter and a longer cable.

Razer Charging Pad Chroma Review: Should I Buy It?

Chroma addicts are likely to be already foaming in their mouths to get one. A lighted charger on your desk that syncs with your other RGB hardware? Be calm and take my money!

Razer’s wireless charging is a great buy for chroma addicts and ordinary people alike.

However, I would easily recommend the Razer Charging Pad Chroma to people who are not yet in the Chroma ecosystem. Having control of your charger’s lighting effects makes a lot of sense even beyond the aesthetic pleasure of seeing the lights. It is very convenient to have a bright visual response when your device is charging.

That feature naturally brings this device to $ 60. That’s not a small amount of money just to top up your phone. If that’s too much money for you, we can recommend many other wireless chargers.