Nacon RIG 800 PRO HS review. In an increasingly crowded arena of gaming headsets and functionally adjacent gear, Nacon’s RIG 800 Pro headset feels like something of a value busting juggernaut from a features point of view. Perhaps more importantly than that, not only have Nacon crafted such a capable headset but the talented French manufacturer has also managed to fashion an extremely comfortable offering as well, providing gamers with a top of the line gaming headset to compliment their PS4 and PS5 gaming sessions (oh and the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset works just fine with PC, too) .
Nacon RIG 800 Pro Headset Review
Wireless Performance: Let’s Talk About That Base Station – It’s Neat, Really Neat
Unlike other headsets, such as the Turtle Beach 600 Gen 2 Max, the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset comes bundled with a base station which performs a number of useful functions. First off, rather than plugging a USB dongle into your PS4 or PS5, you instead hook up (via a handily supplied USB cable) the base station to the corresponding port on your PS4 or PS5 and from there you can effortlessly wireless connect the headset to either console (or again, PC), pretty much instantly.
With its dedicated 2.4GHz RF adapter, Nacon claims that the base station for the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset provides a ‘guaranteed lag-free wireless connection up to ten metres away’ and happily in practice I can confirm that such a claim is not unfounded, with the sound only really starting to break up or the headset begin to lose connection with the base station the further beyond ten metres I went. It’s impressive to day the least.
As well as providing that surprisingly robust wireless connection, the Nacon RIG 800 Pro base station also gives players a handy wireless charging dock for the headset itself, making it a cinch to just put the headset onto the base station for charging as soon as you’ve finished a particularly intense session on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or God of War: Ragnarok.
Finally, the Nacon RIG 800 Pro base station also has a rather neat trick up its sleeve too. If you want to move the dock away from your PlayStation console but still enjoy that robust wireless connection, you can do just that by removing the USB adapter that is connected to the dock and slot it into the USB port on your PS4 or PS5, while the base station can be plugged in elsewhere as you please.
Battery Life
A cursory glance at the front of the box for the Nacon RIG 800 Pro sees the claim of 24hr battery life proudly trumpeted and once again, I can confirm that Nacon aren’t misleading about that either. Though that 24 hour figure is some way off the 40 hour figure claimed by the likes of Turtle Beach for their 700 Gen 2 Max headset, it feels like it matters less than it should thanks to the fact that the convenience that the base unit provides means that topping up the battery life of your Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset is as thought-free as putting your DualSense controller on charge after a session. Quite honestly, it’s perfectly fine.
Sound Quality
Equipped with a fairly chunk set of 40mm speakers, the sound quality that the Nacon RIG 800 Pro kicks out is resolutely crisp, sharp and impactful, making both playing games and watching media content through your PS4 and PS5 a real joy. Where the Nacon RIG 800 Pro really excels though is in its support for 3D audio, thanks to its low frequency resonators and high-sensitivity speaker drivers which allow the headset to offer the 3D audio support that Sony’s PS5 Tempest audio tech provides.
If you have yet to embrace the wonders of 3D audio on your PS5 console then you’re absolutely missing out and the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset is a great way to experience it. After all, you’ve never really lived until you’re hiding behind a desk in The Last of Us Part 1 as a Clicker menacingly stalks around you, making their iconic (and terrifying) chattering noise which accurately emanates from whichever part of the world they happen to be in at the time.
Form Factor And Comfort
The Nacon RIG 800 Pro might just be the most comfortable headset I’ve worn in years and it’s down to a number of precisely engineered features. The first is a special head strap that easily allows the player to adjust the overall fit of the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset to their noggin, always ensuring that the headset never feels like it has to be ‘snapped’ or otherwise brute forced into place as is the case with some of the cheaper headsets.
The next of these features are the earcups themselves. Though they block noise to an extent (but aren’t totally noise cancelling), the earcups main boon is the way that they sink into your ears and efficiently cushion them. Indeed, over longer gaming sessions its notable that you don’t get any of the earlobe ‘pinch’ that you sometimes get on other headsets. Instead, the Nacon RIG 800 Pro remains resolutely comfortable for hours on end and that arguably stands as one of its greatest qualities.
In terms of the design of the Nacon RIG 800 Pro itself, Nacon’s headset impresses duly. Not only are all of the volume controls and other dials easily accessible during play without the need to crane your neck or put your hands in an uncomfortable position, but the noise-cancelling flip up mic is easily accessible and effortlessly straightforward to manipulate during play.
Finally there’s just the overall build quality of the thing. Quite simply the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset feels exceedingly sturdy and robust in a way that underscores the premium nature of its design. Naturally, all of this comes at a price. With the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset weighing in at €199.90, $149.90, £179.00 respectively, it certainly comes in at the higher end of spectrum price-wise, but then this also reflects that from a performance perspective the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset is undoubtedly a very high end product itself (and of course that base station would account for a chunk of its RRP, too).
The Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset is an exceedingly high quality product, that much is apparent. With high end quality 3D sound, a multi-capable base station and some of the most comfortable headset design that I have experienced in quite some time, the Nacon RIG 800 Pro headset is an absolutely must have accessory for any discerning PlayStation gamer.
The Nacon RIG 800 Pro Headset is out now and can be purchased here.
Review sample kindly provided by Nacon PR.