RIG make great headsets. That has felt like a bit of a secret over the years, though following the brand’s acquisition in 2020 by Nacon, that message is starting to get through. The wireless RIG 800 Pro HS is the latest in their long line of industrially named headsets, boasting industrial-styled looks and industrial-strength battery life. For the first time ever, though, it’s toe-to-toe with a key rival with its own Astro A50-aping charging dock.
The RIG 800 Pro HS is light; it’s especially light considering the sturdiness of the build and the hefty battery life. That can be attributed to the largely plastic build, and while that does make it feel less premium than some of its competitors, it ensures that this is one of the most comfortable over-ear headsets currently on the market. The weight is perfectly distributed by the floating fabric headband, while your ears get to experience RIG’s super-plush ear cushions. Not only are they comfortable, but the leatherette outer surface helps to ensure that there’s a decent level of passive noise cancellation to keep distractions to a minimum. This is one of those headsets that feels perfect the moment you put them on.
RIG obviously love how their headsets look, as we’re well past the point where you’d expect something to change. The honeycomb headband helps with the headset’s weight, and it’s become something of an icon across the RIG range. Attraction is in the eye of the beholder, but it is one of the few headset designs that still has that old-school gamer vibe… if that’s what you’re looking for. They’re all black, save for some silver detailing on the earpieces, and there’s not a whiff of RGB, so they are slightly more subdued than some more outgoing headsets. Personally, they look good enough not to be sneered at on a stream, but there’s no way you’d leave the house with them on. Maybe to do the bins, but that’s about it.
They need to be at least vaguely attractive to your eye thanks to the charging dock that will have them taking pride of place on your entertainment centre. Now, I love a charging dock and the certainty it gives that when I pick up my headset it will be fully charged. The 800 Pro HS has voiced information notices, and thanks to this I’ve never heard them say anything other than “Battery high” for most of my time with them, apart from when I was deliberately trying to run them down. There is an unnecessarily large charging light on the front, and you might wonder if a headset with a 25-hour battery life truly needs a dock, but if you are used to mammoth gaming sessions and want to know you’ll always be good to go, the 800 Pro HS is a guaranteed winner.
One of the things I like the most with the RIG 800 Pro HS is that you’re not tied into using the dock if you don’t want to. All of the Astro’s A50 wireless receiver tech is in the chunky base, and because of that I rarely use it to hop between platforms since it’s unwieldy, despite it fundamentally being my current favourite headset. The 800 Pro HS meanwhile, ensures that it is ready to go at any point, anywhere, and you can remove the wireless USB-A dongle from the dock and take it anywhere with you, improving the headset’s portability and its multi-platform use. Despite not being on the box, the RIG 800 Pro HS is also fully compatible with the Nintendo Switch – perfect if you’re a multi-platform house in need of a wireless headset.
The 800 Pro HS is specifically designed for PS5, PS4 and PC, and that means it’s been tuned with PlayStation’s 3D Audio in mind. The 40mm drivers do an excellent job of capturing the detail of each game’s audio, and when it’s combined with Sony’s virtual surround sound tech you find that each game becomes more immersive than the last. I started things off – unsurprisingly – with Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, and from the first moments the soundtrack sounded fantastic. The incidental soundscape during hunts also felt full of life, and the 800 Pro HS placed me right in the middle of the fantastical landscape.
From there I hopped across to No Man’s Sky, and I loved being able to hear every pulse, every alien beast, every little detail of the exotic landscape I was exploring. The 800 Pro HS has a balanced EQ, with enough bass to provide some action-packed thrills and enough top-end detail to ensure you don’t miss anything, but it does suffer from the loss of a dedicated EQ button. It’s here that the 800 Pro HS misses the mark for me, particularly at around £150. Yes, you can dive into the settings on PS5 or PC and tinker with the audio setup, but I like the immediacy that a dedicated button and profile swapping brings.
As an alternative you’ve got a mic-monitoring dial, and if you regularly play multiplayer titles with teammates this almost makes up for the EQ button, allowing you to tailor how much of your own voice you can hear. The mic itself is good quality, with a clear output that’ll mean your Monster Hunter Rise teammates are absolutely sure that you just cut that monster’s tail off. It’s also easily adjusted thanks to the metal mic arm, and it won’t move from where you put it. Finally, it’s flip-to-mute, meaning that it’s easy to keep out of the way when not in use, and there’s no question marks about whether it’s still broadcasting or not.
I was surprised to find that in a world of USB-C, the 800 Pro HS is still rocking a micro-USB socket for charging, with the dock taking that input as well. We’re well past the point that micro-USB should be on a new headset, when all the new first-party controllers sport USB-C, not to mention phones, laptops, e-readers and countless other devices you have at home. Still, if you’re going to use the dock it’s something you’ll barely have to think about.
