Nacon RIG 800 Pro HX review: A headset primed for marathon gaming

Finest Costs In the present day: Nacon RIG 800 Professional HX

$149.99

The Nacon Rig 800 Professional HX is a gaming headset with a distinguished bass profile and Dolby Atmos assist for immersive 3D audio that sounds particularly nice in FPS video games. It’s additionally light-weight, snug, and comes with fast 2.4GHz wi-fi connectivity and a handy base station for charging.

Regardless of having an all-plastic body, it feels very sturdy and sports activities a contemporary look you’re by no means going to tire of. With its solely two major drawbacks being fiddly ear cups and no devoted software program app, it’s a stable possibility for critical or causal avid gamers.

Notice: See our roundup of the perfect wi-fi gaming headsets to find out about competing merchandise, what to search for in a wi-fi gaming headset, and shopping for suggestions.

Nacon RIG 800 Professional HX design and construct

The Nacon Rig 800 Professional HX is constructed from a number of supplies that appear fairly contradictory. On the one hand it sports activities a plastic body as a substitute of a metallic one and an unassuming mesh materials for its outer ear cups, but the edges are surrounded by a luxurious, premium leatherette that’s remarkably tactile.

Was this an arbitrary resolution by Nacon? A value-cutting enterprise, maybe? Admittedly, these ideas did cross my thoughts, however any reservations fully melted away as quickly as I put it on—it was simply so snug and sensible for gaming.

The largest promoting level for me was its mild weight—the plastic retains it all the way down to a lowly 290 grams, which implies it’s virtually imperceptible in your head, even throughout marathon gaming periods—which is exactly what Nacon meant it for.

The mesh cloth too was a pleasant addition that you just simply don’t see in headsets with leatherette ear cups. It felt cool towards my ears and prevented my cups getting all sweaty and greasy by a couple of stinking-hot 86-degree days.

The opposite varied elements deserve reward too; options just like the self-adjustable headband that distributes weight horizontally throughout the entire width of your scalp relatively than centering it uncomfortably at one level—and the controls on the left ear cup, which have simply the correct amount of rigidity for exact tuning.  

My evaluation unit had a quantity wheel, a recreation/occasion wheel to be used with Xbox, an on/off button, and a mute mic button, so there was loads of on-ear management at my fingertips after I wanted it.

The ear cups are a little bit completely different from the slide-down kind you see in some headsets. They don’t swivel and are available totally removable. To regulate them, you need to take them out then slot them into one among three holes within the headset’s outer body.

Nacon RIG 800 Professional HX connectivity and microphone

My 800 Professional HX evaluation unit’s packaging got here with the long-lasting inexperienced and white Xbox logos denoting its compatibility with Xbox One and Xbox X/S, in addition to PC, all with Dolby Atmos assist. However you may also buy a model that’s suitable with PC and PlayStation, or one with PC, Mac, and PlayStation compatibility.

Wi-fi connectivity is by way of a low-latency 2.4GHz USB-A Wi-Fi adapter that you may both join on to your machine or insert into the headset’s multifunction base station. Each choices gave me a sign that was fast and responsive and labored as much as 10 meters away.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

The bottom station additionally fees the headset’s 1,800mAH battery, or alternatively you’ll be able to plug the USB cable straight into the headset itself. Charging takes roughly seven hours to succeed in full capability, which supplies you roughly 24 hours of playtime.

A uni-directional noise-cancelling microphone is situated on the left ear cup and has flip-to-mute performance, which I discovered actually helpful for switching between my workforce chats and talking to household. I used to be happy to see the mic has a very clear signature, protecting distortion to an absolute minimal. The top is constructed from a versatile materials so you’ll be able to place it precisely the place you need it.

Nacon RIG 800 Professional HX software program

Regrettably, the Rig 800 Professional HX doesn’t have its personal devoted app, however you’ll be able to obtain the Dolby Atmos software program app, which supplies you some management over how the headset sounds. For instance, you may make footsteps extra distinguished by switching the Efficiency Mode setting from off to on, or optimize sounds within the high-, mid-, or low-frequency vary by selecting one of many Clever Equalizer settings within the app’s major web page. It’s comparatively simple to make use of and undoubtedly well worth the effort.

Nacon RIG 800 Professional HX efficiency

Whereas some headsets do 3D audio as a type of side-act, the 800 Professional HX makes it a major occasion. Nacon says the 40mm drivers have been exactly tuned for Dolby Atmos 3D audio, so that you could react quicker and extra precisely to what’s happening round you. The headset’s bass has additionally been enhanced, and these two issues had been actually noticeable in my playtesting.

For instance, in Name of Obligation: Trendy Warfare II, a lot of the audio sounded clear and refined, however deeper appears like explosions and the thudding of weapons firing actually stood out, resonating with a heaviness that actually bought my consideration. The audio additionally circled round my ears in a full 360 arc, giving me a exact positional consciousness that made it simpler to find foes and hold my character alive for longer.

That mentioned, avid gamers who play FPS titles like Halo Infinite, Metro Exodus, and newer titles within the Battlefield and Name of Obligation franchises, are actually in for a deal with, since they’ll reap the complete good thing about this headset’s Dolby Atmos assist. Getting it working is a chunk of cake, too—you simply plug it in and it robotically engages with the software program to optimize your sound.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Switching to a recreation of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, I listened for any distortion, however I didn’t hear any. On this recreation too, the 3D audio was elegant, bringing to life the sounds of the forest with an eerie realism that I’ve seldom heard with different headsets.

As to the controls, I actually just like the vertical orientation that made discovering my quantity wheel tremendous fast. The bottom station, too, is a superb addition—it’s so compact that it didn’t take up a lot house on my desk and helped hold my headset secure after I wasn’t utilizing it.

The one thorn on this headset’s aspect, if I’ve to say one, is that the ear cups are type of fiddly to regulate—I want they’d been the easy pull-down sort like within the Logitech Astro A30 Wi-fi, which might have prevented me having to detach and reattach them on a regular basis. That mentioned, the holes within the body look superior, giving the 800 Professional HX its trademark fighter pilot look that I by no means bought uninterested in seeing.

Do you have to purchase the Nacon RIG 800 Professional HX?

Avid gamers of all sorts will likely be impressed by the Rig 800 Professional HX’s clear and refined sound, however we’d particularly advocate it for FPS avid gamers due to its distinguished bass and elegant 3D Dolby Atmos assist. Plus, the Rig 800 Professional HX’s mild weight will hold you tremendous snug these instances when a couple of minutes gaming turns into many, many hours.