The market for gaming headsets is getting so crowded and competitive that any little marginal gain is being fought over by audio businesses tooth and nail.
This might be the mentality that has led RIG to throw in a charging dock that nicely displays its 800 Pro headset lineup while you’re not using it – why not, eh? It’s not a brand-new idea, but could it be indicative of a generosity that makes the RIG 800 Pro HS worth picking up?
Design
Available only in blackComes with a charging dock and dongleFlip-up microphone
RIG’s design language is nice and established at this point – it specialises in headsets that look futuristic and almost alien, with loads of cutouts to reduce their weight burden, and chunky microphone arms that can be flipped out of your way easily.
This is consistent with the 800 Pro HS, which has all of those hallmarks and reaps the benefits. It’s light to wear with comfortable, soft ear cushioning that makes it easy to have on for hours at a time.
The microphone arm is impressively long and nicely flexible, making it easy to position it as you like, and while it doesn’t disappear when it’s out of use, it’s far from your peripheral vision so is functionally gone.
The headband system lets you choose a rough amount of tension but then flexes heavily when you actually put it on your head, which also contributes to making the 800 Pro HS nice to wear, so it passes the comfort test with flying colours.
Included in the box is a base station that charges the headset when it’s docked using magnetic pins, and can also house the USB dongle that it connects to. Plugging this dock into your console can make it a sort of battle station for the headset.
It’s a solid enough bit of kit, and does work exactly as intended, although we’re not sure the benefits over a simple charging cable are that huge. It also has a fairly chunky footprint compared to, for example, the wireless unit that comes with SteelSeries’ Arctis Nova Pro Wireless.
Sound performance
20 Hz–20 kHz frequency response40mm drivers
If the RIG 800 Pro HS is nice to wear, then, that’s only half the battle – after all, it’s all about the sound when you’re judging a gaming headset.
The specs that RIG has packed in are fairly solid, but we can only report that the actual performance we’ve been getting has been distinctly middle of the road – it’s by no means poor, but it’s hardly going to blow your mind, either.
For the price, that’s no scandal, and the 800 Pro HS will still net you a clear upgrade on a headset that’s perhaps half its price, with clear audio that has a decent degree of oomph in the low-end.
However, it’s not the most detailed headset we’ve ever used, and at its price you can find alternatives that are more impressive – check out our list of the best PS5 headsets for some inspiration.
This doesn’t mean the 800 Pro HS is a failure on the sound front, though. Using it to play some (okay, a lot) of Modern Warfare 2‘s multiplayer, we were still consistently able to hear and react to relatively subtle audio cues, things that cheaper headsets miss out on.
It’s also been our companion in the early hours of Sonic Frontiers, where the soundtrack and effects stretch it a little more and it still comes back with rock-solid performance.
The microphone, meanwhile, is again a bit of a middling affair, with enough reach to be comfortable to use, but a tendency to pick up some scruffiness while you talk, and recording quality that is again both unexceptional and inoffensive.
Features and battery life
24-hour battery life10-metre range using base station
There isn’t actually all that much to cover when it comes to features on the 800 Pro HS, because it keeps things nice and simple.
Battery life stands at a solid 24 hours, which is more than enough to cover any healthy gaming session, and if you’re using the base station then you’ll always come back to a charged headset each morning.
This is more handy than remembering to plug it into a wire for a recharge, although if you’re forgetful you may still find yourself leaving it on the couch instead of its cradle. A duff note on this front, though – the headset charges by microUSB if you do use a cable, which is annoying in this day and age. USB-C is now basically an expectation at this price.
Range is very solid as a result of that base station though, staying pretty consistent even when we were quite a few metres away. However, line of sight is still a big variable, unsurprisingly.
There are some controls on the headset’s earcups, including a volume dial, and muting yourself is as simple as flipping the microphone up and away, which has a certain degree of mechanical satisfaction that we appreciate.