Razer is one of the most popular gaming gear and peripheral manufacturers in the world. Their products have always been exceptionally well designed and engineered, and during the last years, their product lineup has grown with the addition of lifestyle devices (wearables, chairs, etc.). One of the more unconventional products in their Lifestyle range is the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier - a face mask with fans and RGB lighting. I was very excited to try out the Zephyr, and I was not disappointed. Here are my findings:

Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier: Who is it good for?

The Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier is an excellent choice for:

• Festival-goers with dust or pollen allergies
• Attention seekers
• Fans of the Razer brand who need to protect themselves from airborne pathogens and want to do it in style
• People who want an added layer of protection against COVID-19

Pros and cons

While testing the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier, I discovered the following strongpoints:

• The attention to detail is mind-blowing, and this applies to the package, the product, and the accessories
• The supplied filters are good
• The battery lasts more than eight hours with the fans off and around five with them on
• The fans help a lot with breathing in, they act like turbochargers for your lungs 🙂
• The air purifier is a head-turner

There are also some minor issues that can be easily addressed:

• Connectivity is flaky at times
• The user’s voice is muffled, but this issue can be easily fixed by buying the upcoming Pro model, which has voice amplification
• Its price is quite steep (99 USD at the time of the review)

Verdict

The Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier is, undoubtedly, a cool gadget for geeks, gamers, or festival-goers. It’s not as uncomfortable to wear as it may seem, and Bluetooth control makes it easy to customize to your liking. Beyond that, its filters do a good job of retaining smells and dust, the fans help with breathability, and the battery lasts enough for a whole day. I would highly recommend the Zephyr if you want to impress your friends, while at the same time protecting yourself from pathogens, pollen, and dust. Truly, a product made by gamers, for gamers.

Unboxing the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier

Just like most (if not all) of the products from Razer, the Zephyr is packaged in a colored, flashy box, with a picture of the product on the front. The information on the package describes some of its functions, and I was really excited to open it. Having a mask is cool, having an N95 grade wearable air purifier with Bluetooth-controlled RGB lighting is cooler. The box is slightly smaller than a shoebox (9.64 x 5.7 x 3.93 inches or 245 x 145 x 100 mm), and it weighs roughly 0.7 lbs (320 grams).

The box of the Razer Zephyr

The outer packaging slides away to reveal a black box which looks even cooler, in my opinion. The box has a drawing of the purifier, the name of the product, and the Razer logo on it.

The quality of the packaging is excellent

Once you open it, you are in for a treat: the manual is in a separate pocket, the mask is packaged inside a black pouch with a green string, and you can also notice a small plastic bottle. Wonder what that’s for.

Unpacking the Razer Zephyr is a satisfying experience

Well, as it turns out, the bottle contains an anti-fogging liquid, because the purifier is see-through, and it has an anti-fogging coating on the inside (which you can reapply after cleaning the filter). The package also contains a 1 meter (3.2 feet) long, braided USB to USB-C cable, a set of Razer stickers, and three sets of filters - more on that later. The attention to detail is incredible: the USB cable has a rubber strap with the Razer name on it, its ends are protected with plastic covers, and the interior of the USB plugs is colored in Razer green!

Razer Zephyr: package contents

Unboxing the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier is a satisfying experience. All the materials are high-quality, accessories are carefully packaged, and the whole process feels special.

Hardware specifications and design

After taking the air purifier/mask out of its pouch, I measured the weight of the device. It weighs 0.45 lbs or roughly 200 grams - light, objectively, but a lot heavier than any sort of medical mask. By the way, Razer clearly states that the Zephyr is NOT a medical device, and it’s not an N95 mask, it just has N95-equivalent filters. The purifier has three filter locations: two on the sides and one on the chin part. All filters must be in place for the device to protect you from particles. The filters are good for three days (based on 8 hours of use per day), so the three sets should last around nine days. Perfect for a festival or two. 🙂

The Razer Zephyr looks cool

TIP: The N95 rating means that the filters can retain more than 95% of particles larger than 0.3 microns. These include pollen, dust, bacteria, and fine particles like the ones in cigarette smoke.

The filter locations are accessed by removing the plastic grilles/covers. The covers are secured in place with magnets, which makes them more robust and less prone to failure than using hinges or physical retainers.

The plastic covers are secured using magnets

All the parts are carefully engineered, with low tolerances and premium materials. Once you remove the two covers for the lateral filters, you discover the next awesome feature of the Razer Zephyr: the fans. Yes, you read that right, the Zephyr has two small fans, one on each side, that pull fresh air inside the purifier. The fans have two speeds (4200 or 6200 rpm) and can also be turned completely off.

The fans are located underneath the side covers

Looking at the back of the mask, you can see the removable face seal and the adjustable head straps. I noticed the same amount of attention to detail, even in regards to the straps.

The back of the Razer Zephyr

The seal is made of medical-grade BPA-free silicone and is also secured to the body of the purifier with magnets. An excellent design choice that makes cleaning the relevant parts of the purifier trivial.

The silicone seal is removable

The Razer Zephyr has two separate light zones that can be controlled independently: two RGB rings around the lateral filter assemblies and a pack of RGB LEDs on the inside of the mask, which lights up your mouth area. The device has a multifunction button (on/off, fan speed, pairing) and a USB port on the bottom. The port is protected with a rubber cap that’s attached to the body of the purifier.

The purifier looks even cooler with the lights on

The battery should last, according to Razer, up to eight hours with the fans on Low and the lighting off, and it should recharge in around three hours. If you want more details about this amazing product, visit the dedicated page: Wearable Air Purifier - Razer Zephyr.

The design of the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier is amazing. RGB lighting, fans, all controllable via Bluetooth, magnetic locking for the various components, USB-C charging… After a close inspection of the device, I was impressed with the level of engineering and the attention to detail on Razer’s part.

Setting up and using the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier

Setting up the purifier is relatively simple. You take it out of the pouch, remove the protective plastic film, follow the instructions to insert the filters in their respective locations, put the covers back on, then start fastening the mask on your face.

The Razer Zephyr lateral filter

You need to adjust the elastic straps and position them correctly in order to enjoy a comfortable fit. I strongly recommend reading the detailed manual, it will help significantly.

The elastic straps are comfortable

To enable RGB control, you should download the Zephyr app, available both for Android and iOS. After installing it on your smartphone and enabling Bluetooth, start the app. Pairing is simple: press the multifunction button on the Zephyr (located on the right filter casing) for four seconds with the device off. This turns on the Zephyr in Pairing mode. Start searching for the device in the app to finalize the process. After pairing, you have access to several switches and settings. You can monitor the battery level, turn each lighting zone on and off, as well as the fans, and you can also update the firmware.

You have almost full control over the purifier from the Zephyr app

Pressing the name of any setting brings up additional options. For the lighting, you can set the color, the lighting pattern and intensity, while for the fans, you can select one of the two speeds.

Advanced settings for color, lighting intensity and fan speed

Using the device is an amazing experience. For starters, it will blow your gamer friends’ minds. With the mask and a hoodie, you look like a character from Mortal Kombat. In low light conditions, the Zephyr looks super cool, which makes it perfect for concerts or festivals. The excellent filtering helps protect you from pathogens (indoors) and dust particles (outdoors).

I tried a little experiment: I entered a pub with the mask on my face and with all the lights on. The result? I literally heard some necks snap from following me as I was passing through the room. It was funny, really, there were a lot of couples there, and the guys were stopping mid-sentence and were completely enthralled by the Zephyr. If not for the GDPR rules, I would have posted a video of it.

The Razer Zephyr turns many (geek) heads

Filtering was good, stopping most of the cigarette smoke from entering my lungs. I also used the ventilation, and it really makes a difference. You can breathe in much better, and this feature turns the Razer Zephyr from a fancy mask into a true air purifier. You can stand in a sweaty crowd of heavy smokers and breathe easily :). The sound of the fans is only audible in quiet environments.

Wearing the Zephyr was a little uncomfortable at first, but after getting used to its (not negligible) weight and adjusting the straps, I got used to having it on my face. Talking or yawning was a challenge, as the silicone seal impedes somewhat the movement of the jaw, but it’s a small price to pay for looking so cool. My voice was muffled, but not to the extent that I was having trouble communicating. The battery lasted for more than eight hours, using it mostly without the fans on, with just the RGB lighting at maximum brightness on both zones. The app was super easy to use, although it had a few hiccups. I sometimes needed to re-pair after not using it for a while, and at times, the device would not remember the last used color scheme. The anti-fogging coating worked flawlessly, keeping the see-through part of the mask clear. Replacing the filters was a breeze, as was cleaning the purifier. Finally, charging the purifier took a little over three hours, in line with the specs.

It may look like a toy, but it's a truly magnificent piece of engineering

I thoroughly enjoyed using the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier. The Wow factor is through the roof, the filters do their job, and the fans bring fresh, filtered air inside the mask. The connectivity and memory issues were minor and did not ruin the experience.

What do you think of the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier?

Now you know my opinion on the Razer Zephyr wearable air purifier: it’s a cool gadget for geeks, gamers, or festival-goers. Before you leave this article, I’m really curious: what do you think of the Razer Zephyr? Will you buy it? Let me know in the comments and, if you do buy it, tell me how it feels for you.