Plantronics RIG 800HS: This Set Of Wireless Gaming Headphones Will Feel Like A Cloud On Your Head

Ask any gamer to name the most important gaming accessory and you’ll get a bag of mixed responses. Gaming mice with high DPIs for you to turn a few rounds with just a flick of your wrist, a mechanical keyboard that feels great when you’re mashing keys in a frantic attempt to not die…. the list goes on.

One of the most important items I need when playing games, especially in First Person Shooters, is a good set of headphones. The ability to clearly pinpoint enemies’ footsteps and other signs of danger is an invaluable function to determine a win or a loss.

I have a decent pair of headphones, the LucidSound LS30, which has performed well at a decent price point, but when I saw the Plantronics RIG 800HS that’s designed for wireless use with the Playstation 4, I decided to give it a try.

The key selling point of the RIG 800HS is its long battery life — 24 hours on a full charge! That means there’s no need to fiddle and mess with a charging cable for three to four days, assuming your gaming sessions last for around 8 hours a day.

I didn’t really like the fact that you can’t swap out the material on the earcups though; the leather cups feel really soft and supple, but for people who sweat a lot, fabric cups would be a better choice.

The self-adjusting headstrap is a godsend for long gaming sessions, making the already lightweight headset feel close to non-existent.

There are two adjustment dials on the left earcup for the master volume as well as a balance wheel between game sound and team chat. While this is a PS4 headset, I found that it works on desktops as well, but the balance wheel doesn’t work as intended, but controlled the master volume instead.

It’s a small issue, however, I’m just happy that I can use it with a desktop. The sound itself is great, I can easily hear footsteps and accurately pinpoint the direction they’re coming from in most situations, as tested with Overwatch and PlayerUnknown‘s Battlegrounds.

For further tweaking, there’s a button at the base of the right earcup to adjust the EQ between Pure, Seismic, Intensify and Vocal Focus. The names are self explanatory, and I found that the Pure setting offered the most balanced sound, with Seismic boosting the bass at a decent amount.

The boom microphone can only be lifted up and down — up to mute the mic, and down to activate it. Even though I could not bring the mic closer to my mouth, I found that it picked up my voice clearly and thanks to the noise cancelling feature, my teammates could hear me crystal clear without any background interference.

Overall, I thought the RIG 800HS was a very decent pair of headphones if you’re not already using a good pair, but the high price point might not entice too many people to upgrade if they’re in possession of headphones that are of a similar quality.

Price: US$179 (approx. S$240)

Plantronics RIG 800HS: Launching soon in Singapore | Available on Amazon | Website | Facebook