by There’s a certain mystique to running a speaker cable into a terminal and producing sound in another speaker – a combination of audio magic and almost pure magic. you plug it in and you get that nostalgic touch of real sound. The floor shakes beneath you and…suddenly, you’re hit with the sound of Mike Myers “hitting the grid” in a battle royale with 99 other people. Isn’t technology great?
Although I’m being hyperbolic here, our relationship with cultural speakers has changed over the past few decades. No longer your only way to get sound from a device, they are positioned in a more “audiophile” niche – from last to first choice. The NZXT Relay embodies that audio wizardry in how amazing the whole setup is, but new ideas almost always come with growing pains and there are plenty of those here.
Let’s talk about that wizard first, because it’s the most unique thing about these speakers. While you can buy the speakers on their own, the NZXT Relay team works best when you buy the Switch Mix subwoofer, headphones and stand.
Basically, that stand has a button on top that moves from speaker to headphones, depending on the weight. This means you can hang your headphones on the stand and it will automatically switch to speaker mode. Take them off and you have sound in your headphones.
NZXT Relay Specifications
Connectivity: RCA, 3.5mm aux
Speakers: 2×3 inch driver
Weight: 1.6kg (left), 1.5kg (right)
Frequency response: 70Hz – 20,000 Hz
Price: $240 | £230 (speakers only), $630 | £560 (speakers, stand, headphones and subwoofer)
This works almost immediately and, no matter how fast I tried, I couldn’t get the headphones on my head before it started playing my sounds. This is admittedly a valid test, but it’s also a good indication of how consistent that switch is.
The speakers themselves are small and look very neat on a desk. Mids and highs sound great and feel very balanced, so the geeky broken song ‘DNA’ by Darwin Deez sounds like it should, thanks to those jangly guitars. However, Lucy Dacus’ equally clever broken tune ‘Nightshift’ loses much of its raw power due to a lack of bass. When the song all comes together and Lucy’s voices are teasing you, the speaker doesn’t come.
The NZXT speaker gets a bass tone but feels none. There are no rumbles – no shakes to be found.
The same can be said about in-game audio performance. The screen depth of Nightingale’s character creation doesn’t quite hit the mark but that high orchestration is still very impactful. Balatro, the video game rendition of an earworm, gets the most out of this speaker, and its synth-driven theme is mostly good.
If you’re looking to play a shooter and really get the feel of the bass as your boots hit the ground and helicopters fly overhead, you’ll want something with more boom. However, this fared better at more intense moments than the Razer Nommo V2 Pro was quite loud.
What the speakers do well is how balanced the rest of the sound feels. If you can get a dedicated bass source, like the aforementioned subwoofer, the mids, and highs sound great tonally and manage to stay the same at the forefront of the sound. I never felt like the loud noise of a flash drowned everything out, instead taking the spotlight as it should.
Although there’s no Bluetooth option, the speakers can be plugged in via RCA or 3.5mm aux, which is a reasonably diverse grouping of connection options. This means that it can be plugged into a PS5 via the Dualsense 3.5mm port and, although it is a bit limited thanks to the wire, it does great.
The speakers turn off after a while without using them, which can be a bit annoying, and it doesn’t seem to be able to pick up when there is sound coming from the Playstation. This means that after a while it will stop and randomly come back to life on console – a little worrying.
The NZXT Relay headset is mostly a decent companion to the rest of the Relay. It can be connected with a simple 3.5mm aux jack, is super comfy, and has a very good microphone for the price range.
Buying the NZXT speakers without picking up its accessories is like buying a 4K capable 4090, and using your mum’s old monitor.
Unfortunately, the headset lags behind the speakers in that they have a clear midrange but very weak bass. It almost feels like listening to a pair of headphones – they don’t rumble but are very comfortable.
The Switch Mix is the linchpin in the NZXT Relay set and it shows in the whopping $130 price tag. As well as being a headphone stand, with that really cool ability to switch between speaker and headphones, it comes with a slider for fading between in-game sound and voice chat, as well as a volume mixer to adjust the sound and stop altogether. .
Buy if…
✅ You like to switch from speakers to headphones: The NZXT Relay series is great when you want to use both headphones and speakers but a bit of a waste if you don’t.
✅ You need a unique arrangement: I haven’t felt the distinct joy of playing with the NZXT Relay with any other set of speakers out there. These are great for waking up a friend.
✅ Everything you need: If you’re looking for a new subwoofer, speaker and headphones, the whole series is fantastic.
Do not buy if…
❌ You already have dedicated headphones: While any pair of headphones can work with the switch mix, it must have an aux jack port to fit into the entire ecosystem.
❌ You’re on a budget: The speakers themselves are very reasonably priced but it’s not a set you buy just the speakers for. The rather impressive Kanto Ora is slightly more expensive than the speakers but much less than the full set.
❌ You are very concerned about the bass: Even at the bassiest level, the NZXT Relay has transferable bass. You can feel the rumble, but it won’t shake your room.
The only unnecessary part of this arrangement is the headphones, as any other pair with a 3.5mm jack can fit in the switch combination and are able to activate the button on the top. Everything works very well, but one small issue I came across is the swapping between volumes.
If you have your set of speakers low enough and your headphone volume really high, it will burst with less than a second of sound into your speakers when you switch. This solves just finding a good volume balance but can be a problem if you want to blast your headphones but only play quietly from the speakers.
If you pick up an NZXT subwoofer to make up for the noticeable lack of bass, it will serve you well but you’re not missing out on a large number of speakers. The NZXT speakers always sit at just under half maximum volume and this works perfectly for my room, but I have to crank the subwoofer to maximum to really match the two sounds. This is a strange oversight which means that instantly elevating everything will leave the highlights and aspirations standing out above everything else.
Buying into the NZXT speakers without picking up its accessories is like buying a 4K behemoth capable 4090, and using your mum’s old monitor. It will still be a good experience but now you’ve spent all this money – you might be committed to that extra upgrade.
The speakers themselves are surprisingly compact, look great, and connect relatively easily. You just need some bass to get things going.
The subwoofer provides some bass but the volume is low enough to require something extra. The headset is decent for the price but it only makes sense if you get the smart headphone stand. When everything comes together, it’s a joy to listen to out loud to talk to friends, but one piece is missing and it all falls apart.
