Razer promises a lot with the Leviathan V2 Pro. This beam-forming, AI-powered, head-tracking soundbar is designed to wrap your ears in positional gaming audio. With all the "AI" being thrown around so often these days, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical, but in fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Razer's head-tracking system works well in real time.

Razer uses a built-in infrared camera to track your head as you move around on the desktop or walk around in your gaming chair. The AI portion of the soundbar is responsible for determining where your ears are at all times. This data is used in conjunction with beam-forming spatial audio to create headphone-like localized audio or virtual surround sound speakers from Leviathan's five powerful flat arrays of 2-inch tweeters.

Beamforming is often used to boost wireless signals, such as Wi-Fi signals from routers to devices. It uses various types of interference to direct the signal more accurately to the device, and works with all types of wireless signals, as evidenced by the Leviathan V2 Pro's use of it to direct audio waveforms directly into the ear canals.

The THX Spatial Audio Virtual Headset mode is most interesting to me as a PC gamer. While gaming headsets are not always the most comfortable option, they are great for enjoying positional audio without the need for a full surround sound setup. Simply put, gaming headsets are great for competitive gaming, so the headset-mimicking speaker mode was right up my alley.

In virtual headset mode, the audio emanating from the Leviathan V2 Pro sounded as if it were originating directly in front of me, no matter where I sat in front of the soundbar, and equally audible in both ears. What a strange experience. Even when moving left or right, the soundbar does an excellent job of following the movements of my head in real time and keeping the audio stage comfortably centered in the center of my cranium. There is a slight delay while the audio moves left and right along the soundbar, but it is less noticeable in actual use than when trying to hear the audio move. [The audio on the Leviathan V2 Pro sounds like it is emanating from wherever you are in relation to the length of the soundbar. When this feature is turned off, the stereo audio emanates clearly from the center of the speakers, as you would expect from a balanced soundbar. In other words, you get the audio benefits of the Leviathan V2 Pro in exactly the same way as a gaming headset. It's not an exact analog, but it's much more positional and comprehensive than what a traditional soundbar can offer. However, the lack of a microphone for online gaming or calls means that the gaming headset remains the most solid all-rounder for PC gaming.

The virtual speaker mode is comparable to the virtual surround function of a gaming headset. This means a more expansive soundstage, but at the expense of audio quality that is not properly mixed for surround sound. While the virtual headset mode alone is sufficient for positional audio during games, the rear "speakers" sound better with this mode enabled during the 5.1 surround sound test. It's not a mode you'll want to turn on all the time, and it won't provide a comfortable experience for everyone, but it's interesting enough to try for a slightly different movie. However, I am not in the habit of watching too many movies at my desk.

Razer's audio quality is generally good, but falls into the pitfalls that gaming-first audio products tend to fall into. The bass is a bit clumsy. This is easily fixed. You can set your own equalizer in the software to tame the bass a bit.

Razer's use of beamforming is surprisingly impressive, but it's the premium price associated with it that makes me hesitate; Razer has pulled no punches here, with the Leviathan V2 Pro costing $400/£400 (opens in new tab). This is not only high for such a soundbar, but also against the Razer Leviathan V2 (opens in new tab), Razer's non-AI extension but otherwise almost identical.

The standard Leviathan V2 might cut out some of the fun features, including head tracking, but it's also only $250. That's much more expensive than some soundbars, but cheaper than the best PC soundbar (opens in new tab), the Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2. We knock it for its price tag and lack of optical and 3.5mm connections, and the same goes for the V2 Pro in these respects.

At least the Leviathan V2 Pro doesn't step away from the more mundane aspects of its design; it comes with all the cables needed to run on a PC and connect to both the Razer Synapse app and the Razer Audio app on mobile. Once set up, it seems to remember the device and can go right into setup. Many tweaks can also be made on the device itself, such as switching modes, adjusting volume, and switching between Bluetooth and USB sources. [The V2 Pro package also includes a 5.25-inch subwoofer. The soundbar itself also requires a power cable to the wall outlet, which will squeeze into the outlet space if you don't have much room. At least the subwoofer outputs a lot of bass for the extra power. It may be a little too much when the music mode is turned on, but you can always turn the tone down. [The Leviathan V2 Pro is a great product that specializes in head tracking and beamforming as features for better gaming audio. What I expected to be a bit of a gimmick proved to be a very impressive feature set in practicality.

Still, the price is very tough to swallow and these features are not as game changing as I need them to be. The head tracking and virtual headphones, while more than a party trick, fall into the category of features that are fun but not at all necessary. I would not want to pay $150 more for this instead of the standard Leviathan V2.

Now, if Razer manages to squeeze this into a cheaper product, I would be interested. But I have a feeling there is a reason why AI-powered infrared head tracking is so expensive.