Razer Ferox Capsule Speaker - Nice and Sharp

Looks like it’s the season for capsule speakers, as we have another pair here. This time, I checked out Razer’s Ferox, which seems to be quite the formidable opponent to the many other capsule speakers available. Let’s see how they fared when compared to the competition.

Great looking with good sound

Design and Features
These are definitely the best looking and most sturdy pair of capsule speakers I’ve seen. The design is solid and rather minimalistic with a combination of matte and glossy black finish. What I really love is the way these speakers power up. Just press down on the top of the speaker, and it gracefully rises up, revealing a wire mesh, inside which lies the 30mm driver. I think this adds a really nice touch to the speakers, as most of the others designed similarly just spring open immediately. This design also works as a bass resonance chamber to give you a little extra low-end punch. One more thing that I really liked about the Ferox is the blue LED light that goes all the way round at the base of the speakers, which gives it that sci-fi look.

Beam me up, Scotty!

Obviously, the Ferox is powered via USB and the good thing is that they’re rechargeable. Razer says that the charge should last for around 12 hours. I’ve already Used them off and on for over three days, and they don’t seem to be wearing down, so I won’t take that claim lightly. The braided cable is a single proprietary one, which has mini USB on one end and a regular USB for charging and a 3.5mm jack at the other end.

Unlike a lot of other speakers, the Ferox doesn’t have magnets at its base, so the 2 pods can’t be joined together. Some may see this as a portability issue, but Razer has included a pretty nice bag along with the speakers, so that should satisfy most.

Performance
These speakers are surprisingly loud for their size. They also have pretty decent bass response. They didn’t distort too uch when I tried them out with my iPhone 4 at full volume, but did sound a little too sharp for my taste. They also started crackling when the bass heavy parts kicked in. However, they distorted pretty bad when I coupled them with my Macbook and pumped the volume all the way up. But it’s pretty safe to say that these speakers sound really good when you don’t overload them.

Nice carrying case included

I tested the Ferox with a bunch of frenquencies and found that they could reproduce even a 60 Hz tone! And they even let me take it all the way up to 15 KHz, which was quite impressive for speakers this size.

Verdict
I really like these speakers, but I’ll have to say it again. I still prefer the sound from my Letscom HL4003, which we included in one of our Get Gadgeted pieces.  The HL4003 is as loud, but not as shrill as the Ferox. And also has better bass response. However, I do like the design on the Ferox better than any other capsule speaker I’ve seen so far. But that’s definitely not enough to make me want to part with my beloved Letscom HL 4003s! Besides, these speakers cost Rs. 3,999 and are the most expensive capsule speakers I’ve come across so far.

A great package, but way too expensive

I give these speakers a rating of 3.5, as they’re loud and clear, look awesome and are sturdy. I’ve cut points for the insane price, shrillness, lack of bass and the crackling sound at high volume. I’d have definitely bought these if these problems did not exist, though.