This $149 headset lets you enjoy Dolby’s spatial sound technology on both Xbox One and Windows 10 out of the box, allowing you to spot enemies with precision and get extra-immersed in movies. The headset’s ear cups are large, aggressive, and loaded with knobs and ports, with lots of sharp angles and unsightly bumps.
With plush ear cups, a suspension headband that automatically conforms to your head, and a soft, sporty mesh fabric covering both, Plantronics’ headset is well equipped for marathon sessions. As with previous Rig headsets, the 800LX lets you pop the ear cups in and out of one of three notches on the headband, making it easy to get a tighter or looser fit.
Plantronics’ headset got me so immersed in Fortnite: Battle Royale, I had to take it off to make sure the in-game storm surrounding me wasn’t happening in real life. The 800LX also made it easy for me to detect enemy footsteps and gunfire, though it didn’t fix my knack for dying within the first 5 minutes of every match.
I had similarly positive results when beating up Superman as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the cinematic brawling action of Injustice 2. The list of Atmos-supported titles is currently small — highlighted by Gears of War 4, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Final Fantasy XV and Overwatch — though I did notice the added directionality when playing the latter. When I watched Sombra sneak around in an Overwatch animated short, the sounds of guards banging on the doors above and beside me made me feel like I was in the room with her.
2, I could easily hear Star-Lord hovering above me during a big battle and picked out the sounds of fireworks behind me during the film’s final scene.
The headset’s lightweight, cozy frame is a joy to wear for hours at a time, and its included Dolby Atmos voucher gives you an extra-immersive way to enjoy games and movies. But if comfort is your priority, or you simply want instant access to Dolby Atmos, the 800LX is a solid choice for Xbox and PC gamers.
Customer Reviews: Plantronics RIG 800LX SE Wireless Gaming Headset with Dolby Atmos for Xbox One Black 210440-01
The microphone is the worst thing about this headset were it picks up sounds in the entire room so there is no isolation there if you’re chatting with friends. Overall, I’d recommend it if it’s in sale don’t buy full price and if you’re wanting a headset to use more for sound and less chatting on Xbox live then look into it.
Customer Reviews: RIG 500 PRO HX 3D Audio Gaming Headset for Xbox series X
The Rig 500 Pro’s showed up at my doorstop and I immediately tore open the package and began setting them up. Setup was about as easy as it gets, take the headset out of the box, connect it up to your controller, redeem the included Atmos code in the Xbox store and then go through a guided setup from Dolby to configure your new headphones (note: if you have a Dolby Atmost receiver you can also use this code to configure Atmost on your receiver as well).
I’d highly recommend you check out the demos in which you walk through the woods or the World of Warcraft video if you want to be blown away by just how fantastic Atmos can sound.
Unfortunately Atmos is fairly limited in the real world but I knew just the game to test it with and that is Assassins Creed Origins. In my opinion too many headsets and headphones are boomy and muddled with an over abundance of bass. And speaking of which, I did play some Madden with some friends and all of them said they could hear me perfectly fine so the microphone seems to work pretty good, no crackling, buzzing or anything of that nature.
I have never gotten overly hot though enough to be bothered and have gamed for hours at a time using these so I don’t think this is a real con for most folks, but worth mentioning. I’d highly recommend these to anyone looking for a good, across the board, set of gaming headphones to use on your Xbox One, PS4 or PC.
RIG 700HX Xbox headset review: “An exceptional choice for Xbox One players”
The responsibility for something more specialist, therefore, falls upon third-party manufacturers and with the RIG 700 line of professional gaming headsets, Poly (formerly Plantronics) has absolutely risen to this challenge. Its latest is the 700HX gaming headset: an exceptional choice for Xbox One and PC players, one that’s practical, blessed with numerous extra features, and with decent audio too.
It boasts a simple yet effective all black design, featuring solid plastic construction with padded headband and ear cushions that manages to feel high-end despite the headset’s inherent light weight. I’m pleased to report that the chugging of J.D Fenix’s lancer always sounded appropriate, successfully delivering both the deep-toned punch of shots and satisfying high-pitched click of reloads to great effect. The RIG 700 HX’s 40 mm, high-sensitivity drivers with bass tubes results in incredibly sharp and clear in-game audio, only aided by the cushioned isolated earcups that work to trap all of this in. Sticking with the theme of Xbox One exclusive games, I also gave the RIG 700 HX the tall task of accurately immersing me in the thrills of Forza Horizon 4.
Flicking between radio stations and listening to the licensed music equally served to showcase the RIG 700 HX’s strong surround sound capabilities. It helps that the RIG 700 HX also won’t break the bank, giving Xbox One and PC players a reliable wireless headset option that comes in well under $130, despite comfortably being comparable to some more expensive peers.
RIG 700HX Headset for Xbox One Review
You may not have heard of Poly’s RIG gaming headsets, but with the joint history of Plantronics and Polycom behind them, this is one brand that you’re going to be seeing lots more of in the near future. But indeed I will tell you that, and I will confirm that RIG have created a brilliant piece of kit that is deserving of a place in the upper echelons of the gaming headset market.
Deep, squishy and well cushioned, the sheer length of this padding puts some other headsets to shame, and it’s great to see Poly having decided to go all out on the comfort front with the RIG 700. The same mission statement has obviously been applied to the isolating earcups too, with these dual fabric ones combining a nice leatherette touch with a softer inner material to ensure full comfort is to be had. The RIG 700HX has stood up to the full beans that Avicii has been able to deliver, and even with the volume dial situated on the left cup turned all the way up to its maximum, not an ounce of distortion or audio glitch has been noticed. As you would expect from a company that has the background it does, the audio delivered via this mic is first class, with party members never seemingly missing a beat in terms of what is being asked of them. Again, much like the sounds that have been delivered via the 40mm drivers in the earcups, I’ve been consistently happy with the party chat options that this wireless headset brings. If push came to shove though then I’d probably be more inclined to move away from these brilliant 700HXs towards the top of the range RIG 800LX, with its Dolby Atmos love, double the battery life, flip-up mic and very slight increase in weight.
RIG 700 PRO HX Headset for Xbox Review
What was once the domain of the ‘80s kids and their consoles or an underground network of PC players linking as one, has burst into the mainstream with the battle for supremacy between Xbox, PlayStation and, to a lesser extent, Nintendo. Over the course of the last couple of years though a huge number of third and first party manufacturers have tried to muscle in on this scene, providing all manner of options: the cheap, the expensive, wired, wireless and more. Include the now standard RIG adjustability that is found in the headband itself – three notches are utilised instead of the usual slider you would find elsewhere – and combine that with the stupidly low weight of 240 grams – and you’ve got something that is right up there with the most comfortable headset you could ever imagine. We’re not convinced we’ve ever quite got that number out of the headset in real-world use, but when that juice starts to run low a simple plug and play with the included USB-A to Micro-USB cable for an hour or two will see you set right again.
The new wireless adapter is a big improvement over the old style cable and box that the previous 700 HX came with, and whilst we’d have liked to have seen the use of a slightly shorter unit, what is included here is pretty much standard stuff. Whilst many may well prefer to find a flip-to-mute offering here – and we’re certainly in that group just because of the ease in which we lose things that can be removed – the detachable mic that is present has been nothing but a joy to use. If truth be known, with the inclusion of Dolby Atmos for good measure, there have been times when we’ve been blown away with the immersion that the audio brings, as it bounces around from side-to-side, firmly entrenching you in the experience at hand. We’ve constantly been left fiddling with the volume controls on both console and the headset in the hope that we could get things turned up to 11, but it just falls short there. It’s absolutely fine for the majority of gaming sessions, but when you wish to just kick back and zone out with the likes of AVICII Invector, we’ve been left a little disappointed by the outright volume.
RIG 700 Pro HX Xbox/PC headset review: This is a killer $120 product
Nacon is a large accessory manufacturer based in France, and is part of Bigben Interactive, who publishes games like Hunting Simulator and WRC Rally racing. I rocked the 800LX as my go-to headset for a bit, impressed by its audio quality, affordability, and unique modular design. The RIG 700 Pro HX is another wireless offering from the brand, with Dolby Atmos licensing baked in for good measure.
RIG 700 Pro HX Bottom line: This GameStop-exclusive headset is a killer product well worth considering, if you can find it in stock, that is.
The RIG 700 Pro HX is available exclusively from GameStop in the US by the looks of it, which isn’t great if you prefer using Amazon or another online retailer. It also sports a floating fabric headband which adjusts to your head, with generous and high-quality memory foam earcup cushions.
These things coalesce to create one of the most comfortable headset designs money can buy, and I’m glad to see RIG return to form in this area. Category RIG 700 Pro HX Compatibility Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC Speakers 40mm Features Dolby Atmos licensed, 30ft 2.4 GHz wireless range, modular design, mic monitoring, detachable mic Weight 241g Battery Micro-USB charged, 12-hour playback Price $120
I’m sure when I come to photograph them later on, I’ll spend half as much time brushing specks of dust off the gloss parts, but that’s no big deal — and it is far nicer than some horrid neon green plastic that many of RIG’s competitors seem to gun for these days.
The dials have good action, with grooves that give tactile feedback as you move between the different levels, including the mid-level. The microphone on the RIG 700 Pro HX is detachable, and as mentioned comes with mic monitoring sidetone so you can hear yourself speak. The mic itself isn’t the most amazing in the world, but it’s clear and crisp enough for active comms during competitive play.
While changing the setting, the headset gives you audio feedback within the speakers to let you know what you’ve just adjusted as well, which is a nice touch. One of the things that I typically expect with headsets coming in around the $100 dollar mark is a compromise in sound quality, but RIG shows that even under Nacon, they can still deliver. The headset is recognized by the Dolby Atmos app, giving you access to a wider variety of EQ settings and tunings if you want to tweak the balance a bit. I would have complained about the lack of EQ settings, but you can access those through the Dolby Atmos app on Xbox and PC.
The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen-2 for example has many similar features, along with Bluetooth for mixing between two different devices, as does the official Xbox Wireless Headset. The RIG 700 Pro HX has Dolby Atmos baked in by default, which elevates its value a fair bit against the LS35X as well.
Plantronics RIG 800LX Wireless Review
This can be corrected by lowering the channel mixing volume dial on the headphones as low as it can go without losing your audio.
Nacon RIG 500 Pro HX Review
It became Nacon two years ago, and since then it has bought the rights to the RIG line of gaming headsets and accessories from Plantronics (which itself is now called Poly, because every company’s changing their names these days). Each earcup is made of black plastic, with geometric, skeletal designs built around circular mounting points on the outer panels. The left earcup features a permanently attached, 4.2-foot-long, linguini-style cable that terminates in a four-pole 3.5mm plug, along with a hinge-mounted connector for the removable boom mic. The microphone itself is a long capsule on a short, flexible, metal neck attached to a plastic arm that curves into a right angle.
You can easily remove the headband, but you won’t find the variety of alternative colors and materials as optional purchases for headset customization. While the RIG 500 Pro HX is a simple, wired, stereo headset, it lets PC and Xbox gamers enjoy Dolby simulated surround. My voice sounded clear and full in test recordings, but there was a bit of underlying background fuzz I couldn’t attribute to my notebook’s fan (which some mics pick up). When the track properly kicks in, the guitar strums and cymbals stand out slightly in the mix, and the bassline’s punchy attack comes through much more prominently than any low-end follow-through.
Fortnite highlights the RIG 500 Pro HX’s relative lack of deep bass response, with the game’s bombastic soundtrack, shotgun blasts, and clunking of feet on wood floors sounding more poppy than full and robust.
I still found the high-mids and highs to slightly overpower the lower frequencies, making the sounds of action just a bit too sharp to seem natural. Using Dolby Atmos on the Xbox Series X, the RIG 500 Pro HX gave a decent sense of directionality, though the headset’s general audio balance meant granular left-right panning didn’t feel quite as accurate as it could be. I could easily tell when nearby players and creatures were running around, but the distant thunder of gunfire lacked the low-end power to give an impression of the shots’ location.
The activation code for Dolby Atmos is a nice extra, but the sound signature isn’t the most optimal to provide a really strong sense of directionality even with the processing.
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