Musically, synthwave is heavily inspired by new wave and the soundtracks of many 1980s films, videogames, cartoons and television shows.Composers such as John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream are frequently cited as influences. The style is mainly instrumental, and often contain 80s cliché elements in the sound such as electronic drums, gated reverbs, analog synthesizer bass lines and leads, all to resemble tracks from that time period. However, synthwave also includes elements, such as a loud, sidechained bassline, from modern electronic music genres, such as electro house.

Aesthetically, synthwave gives a retrofuturistic perspective, emulating 1980s science fiction, action, and horror media. In this sense, it can be considered the inverse of vaporwave; while the latter expresses disdain for 80s culture, synthwave expresses nostalgia for it.