Good quality light for streaming is not a top priority for most PC setups, but it is an upgrade that makes a big difference in how your stream looks to your viewers. Check out the Razer Key Light Chroma with built-in RGB lighting effects and an extremely bright 2,800 lumens.

Other lights for streamers tend to focus on a single white light source. After all, this is all you need to make your stream look smart. But Razer being Razer, that wasn't enough for its latest lighting gear; the Key Light Chroma not only illuminates you brighter than a policeman's mag light on a lonely roadside, it throws an impressive array of colors from across the visible spectrum.

Now, if you're already wondering why you'd want to bathe in every color of the rainbow in a stream, this is already not the Key Light for you; at $300 (open in new tab)/300 pounds (open in new tab), the Key Light Chroma is cheap for its built-in RGB It is not. It truly breaks through the relative cost stratosphere of streaming gear and makes Elgato's comparative Key Light (which I thought was expensive at $200) look like more of a bargain.

But if you're an RGB enthusiast with nothing to lose (and I know you're out there a lot), you might be able to somewhat justify the price tag on this light. After all, it offers something that few other solutions can offer, and nothing is neater.

From the moment the box is opened, it is clear that the Key Light Chroma is very well made. Setup takes less than 10 minutes and is completely painless. Simply screw the desk clamp onto the telescoping arm, then screw the arm onto the joint, and finally screw the Key Light itself onto the joint. The arm can be telescoped in two places, has a lot of headroom, and the clamp opens up to 75 mm.

Once the light is mounted, you will have a choice of two available apps to control the light: Razer Synapse for PC or Razer Streaming for iOS and Android phones.

I quite like the idea of controlling the lights away from the PC, so the phone app is a handy option. However, it is a bit unstable on first setup and crashes regularly when I reboot to redo the process.

As for the Razer Synapse app on the PC, we were not surprised by its initial setup either.

Once launched, both are relatively easy to use on a day-to-day basis. At least, you don't have to go through a lot of steps to change settings, which is important.

Both apps have some important points to note, especially on mobile, where the brightness of the Chroma effect needs to be adjusted separately from the core brightness function of the key light in order to enable the brightest RGB effect. This is easy to do if you know where to look, but not changing these settings will result in a very washed out Chroma effect.

In Mobile, you will need to go through various sub-menus to find the brightness slider for the chroma effect. First, use the toggle switch to set the main brightness slider to the off position. Then go into the chroma settings and slide up the mostly hidden menu at the bottom of the screen and turn up the brightness of the chroma effect all the way.

On the PC, go to the Streaming tab, Key Light Settings. From there, disable the panel light toggle and make sure the chroma brightness slider is set to 100 or close to it.

Done. You get a bright RGB effect from the new lighting panel, and Razer could probably make this menu more straightforward.

However, the more active chroma effects may be a bit overdone.

The static chroma effect is really nice and allows the panel to emit wonderfully uniform RGB tones from bezel to bezel. This gives the subject (in this case, me) an even and soft light tone. The colors displayed by the key light chroma can be selected from almost any color across the spectrum, but the stronger the color selection, the better it displays. Rich blues, greens, reds, yellows, and pinks are all illuminated with amazing precision by the light's many LEDs.

However, if you select a more baptized color in the app, Key Light Chroma cannot always match it. I selected light green from the preset color palette, and the result was a very pale blue. It is possible to create brighter tones with Key Light Chroma, but you will need to tweak the panel light options to do so.

With the RGB effects to one side, the 2,800-lumen LED light source does a great job of illuminating every corner in front of you; at 100% brightness, this panel is powerful enough to illuminate even the most secluded and dim streaming setups. It works well during the day, but is also powerful at night and in areas with light-shielding curtains.

Like most webcams, my Logitech C920 webcam struggles in low light. However, some of the RGB effects put my webcam into overdrive (open in new tab). If I connect my SLR camera to my PC, I will get a better image, one that better reproduces the subtle tones of light.

And while we're on the subject of cost, let's talk about the price of the Key Light Chroma: at $300, this is a rather expensive piece of kit, and let's not pretend that Razer doesn't have tough competition in streaming lights.

Elgato's Key Light has the same 2,800 lumens but costs $100 less. There is also the Elgato Key Light Air for $130. This one has only 1,400 lumens, half that of the Key Light Chroma, but no one would argue that it is less than half the price.

This is just one popular manufacturer to consider, and if you are just looking for a bright light to brighten up your webcam or stream, there are much cheaper options than any of the above. are popular among some professional streamers today. [My partner uses two Key Light Airs in his streaming setup; having two helps reduce strong shadows on the face, and allows for more even lighting of the stream. In addition, by balancing the lighting on both sides, we can create brighter shadows that do not make the stream look artificially illuminated. Furthermore, there is no need to be particular about where you sit or the direction of the light, as is the case with a single strong light source. The problem is that with a pair of Razer Key Light Chromas, you'll be spending the cash equivalent of a new graphics card.

Ultimately, it comes down to what's best for your stream. If you're just looking for a light to flatter yourself on your webcam and brighten up your video feed, an inexpensive light would definitely be a better choice here; the Razer Key Light Chroma is blatantly expensive for that purpose alone. If you're struggling with dark streams and unflattering lighting, the Key Light Chroma isn't the answer you're looking for either; the RGB effects, while certainly fun, serve as a distraction from the core utility of the light itself.

A cheaper light or two and a simple RGB lighting strip will get you pretty close to the atmosphere you're after without having to invest too much money.

However, if you have very specific needs for RGB lighting, such as the need to spend money or set the tone for a specific game or experience, the Razer is a solid choice to fulfill them. It also simplifies your lighting setup to a single source all in one, like the Key Light Chroma, freeing you from a lot of messy cables.

The Razer Key Light Chroma offers something a little different with its RGB lighting effects; the $300 multicolor streaming light may be just one of the streaming accessories (open in new tab).