I’ve hesitated for the longest time to make my workspace totally wireless. Despite plenty of high-quality wireless mice, keyboards, and headsets being available on the market, the added burden of needing to recharge or the possibility of a Bluetooth connection dropping has always scared me away from using them permanently. I might be finally coming around, though, thanks to the Corsair HS80 Max Wireless Gaming Headset. In all my time testing this headset, it hasn’t required a single recharge, and hasn’t dropped a single connection. When it comes to high-quality gaming headsets, this might just be my new favorite.
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The Corsair HS80 Max supports PC, Mac, PS5, and PS4 usage with the included USB dongle, and it’s a seamless plug-and-play experience. On PS5, just plugging the dongle in and turning the headset on had me set for auditory success in an instant. The impressive 24bit/96kHz sound on this headset is broadcast over a 2.4GHz wireless connection and was equally as high-quality as the sound provided by almost any wired headset I’ve previously used. Sound is rich on the PS5 – all USB headsets get the full effect of the Tempest 3D AudioTech – with the lightest of footsteps in Fortnite and the heaviest of booms in Final Fantasy XVI all coming across in vivid quality.
Plus, thanks to an impressive battery life, you’ll be in the action for as long as you want. In wireless 2.4GHz mode, the headset lasts for over 70 hours – but you can also use the Corsair HS80 Max in Bluetooth mode on devices like cell phones or the Nintendo Switch, and in that configuration you’ll be gaming for over 130 hours. Unfortunately, there isn’t dual-connection support using both modes at once, so you can’t mix Discord chat on phone with PlayStation gaming – thankfully consoles now have Discord support built in.
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I love a striking, simplistic design on a headset, but the Corsair HS80 didn’t wow me at first. The matte black of the exterior shell clashes with the memory foam ear-cups and floating cloth support headband, and while the silhouette is pretty sleek and minimalist, the multiple materials don’t make the headset look very premium. You can spice it up a bit on PC using iCue software to add some discreet RGB glow, though expect that to hit the battery life of the headset hard. That same software also lets you load EQ profiles to customize the soundstage of the headset, but as an alternative, the Corsair HS80 Max supports Dolby Atmos on PC as well.
Those design nitpicks won’t matter once the headset’s out of sight and on your head, and are more than made up for by how comfortable they make the headset to wear. The memory foam earcups feel like clouds on my ears, and never become irritating or covered in sweat regardless of how long I used them. The headband takes some adjusting to find the best fit, but once you do, it relieves so much of the weight of the headset and makes it even easier to wear the Corsair HS80 Max for extended sessions. Plus, the earcups never awkwardly pushed against my glasses, which is always important. There’s other nice tweaks like, if you’re gaming on PC, having the Bluetooth button on the headset double as a media control button, and the volume slider on the opposite earcup having a button click function that you can customise in the iCue software.
There’s little to hate with the Corsair HS80 Max, and plenty to love. Above all else, the wildly beefy battery life on these makes them an easy recommendation against other current gaming headset. Paired with the comfortable design, bevy of high-quality audio options, and competitive pricing at an RRP of $180/£170, it’s easy to call this my new favourite headset.
