A good headset can make it or break it for me when it comes to streaming games. After spending a year wearing the Xbox One chat headset while streaming games, I was ready for a change and was looking for a headset that was not only lightweight and comfortable but provided the best value for money as well.
I think I’ve finally found the headset of my dreams with the Plantronics RIG 500HX, a headset designed specifically for Xbox One.
Straight out of the box, the RIG 500HX looked impressive, with a unique design that I wasn’t quite used to. Detachable ear cups? That was a thing?! Yes, indeed! The ear cups neatly click into place onto the headband and comes affixed with a boom mic, making it not only a lightweight headset but one that’s also extremely durable as well as portable.
The ability to detach the ear cups from the headband makes carrying the headset around easy and convenient, though this would have been much better had a carry case been provided, like that of other gaming headsets these days. However, this isn’t too much of a hassle as the headset fits comfortably in most bags and has combination of plastic and cloth, which makes it quite difficult to get scratches on while still maintaining a sleek look.
The RIG 500HX is super comfortable. More than any other headset I’ve tried out, the RIG 500HX provided me with continuous comfort throughout long periods of gaming and streaming. I wore it during my entire fundraising stream one weekend with no discomfort, nor sweat build up; a definite plus in my books. I didn’t even need to take it off to give my head and ears a breather either.
Sound quality-wise, the headset sounded perfectly fine, though I couldn’t really tell much of a difference when comparing it with other headsets I’ve worn. Game audio sounded crisp and clear and the boom mic picked up my voice perfectly. Suffice to say the fundraising stream went really well and I had a number of viewers asking me what headset I was wearing.
The Plantronics RIG 500HX is currently on my list of favourites. It looks great, sounds fantastic, is lightweight and durable, making it the perfect headset for all Xbox One gamers, especially because it’s so easy to simply plug in and go. The best part? It’s affordable at only $79.99NZD. Need I say more?