Few products have the same clarity of design as the RIG line of headsets. Originally created by audio specialists Plantronics, and then bought and nurtured by French giant Nacon, RIG headsets have evolved, progressed and developed, but their design language has never faltered from the robust industrial looks of the first headset. RIG headsets look, unequivocally, like RIG headsets, and there’s nothing else quite like them. As for the RIG 900 Max HS? Well, it looks like a RIG headset, and frankly, it performs exactly like one too.
The RIG 900 HS is black. There’s a black steel headband, a black fabric tension band, black plastic earpieces and black dual fabric ear cushions. There are silver RIG logos, and the most minimal of silver detailing, but this is a plain, classic, gaming headset design. If you’ve never vibed with the industrial, girders and bolts looks of a RIG headset before, there is nothing here that will convince you otherwise because it looks more or less identical to the vast majority of their output.
It’s what’s on the inside that counts, though. The 900 Max HS is, for now, the pinnacle of RIG’s lineup, with an RRP of £210/€250, and a specification that should make most prospective headset buyers sit up and take notice. There’s the dual wireless connections, with both Bluetooth and a USB dongle, allowing users able to connect to both at the same time. There’s the 50 to 60-hour battery life, and an included charging stand, which makes sure it’s nearly impossible to run out of power.
The killer feature has to be comfort. Nacon have nailed this down over the last few years, and the RIG 900 Max HS is amongst the lightest and most comfortable headsets you’ll find. Despite packing in all the necessary tech and honestly being pretty massive on your head, they only weigh 293g, and that’s dispersed perfectly across your head and ears thanks to the floating headband design. I would say that, despite their Bluetooth connectivity, this isn’t a headset I’d be wearing outside of the house, but it is one you can wear all day long, through the longest gaming sessions, and come out the other side feeling like you’ve not had anything on your head at all.
In that quest for ultra-lightweight, there are some elements that feel less premium, particularly in the amount of plastics used, and the controls and microphone boom arm missing the heft or solidity that you might find in other similarly priced headsets. Personally, I don’t mind that when it results in such a lightweight headset, but I can see some buyers feeling as though they’ve bought something economical rather than exceptional.
The audio certainly isn’t cheap though. Delivered by 40mm drivers, the key with the Nacon 900 Max HS’s delivery is tautness. It’s tight, precise and perfectly tuned, with plenty of top-note detail balanced against a bottom end that’s rounded and firm, avoiding becoming overwhelming. It’s almost restrained compared to some of its peers, particularly Turtle Beach’s offerings, but that ensures you can hear every element of a game, movie or song without losing anything. Just as with the weight, this is a headset you can listen to all day, without fatigue.
You can tune it to match your tastes, with the ability to use custom EQ settings via the RIG 900 Max Series iOS and Android app. From here, you can update your headset, alter the microphone performance, and really dig into the details with Expert Mode, shifting your options from a 3-point EQ to 10-point one, and giving you more granular control elsewhere. Since I listen to an unholy amount of rock and metal, I tend to use the classic scoop EQ layout, and the 900 Max HS gave the new Sleep Token album’s dark synth-led tones plenty of heft, without losing any detail from the soaring vocals.
The RIG 900 Max HS boasts a fold-away boom mic, and though the end is made from flexible rubber, it doesn’t particularly mould or move in any way beyond up and down. That might be a hindrance for some – particularly if you like to be able to shift your mic and whisper into it when everyone else in your house has gone to sleep, but you can tune the gain up if you’re trying to be quiet, or down when the whooping and hollering begins. I’ve been whopping and hollering quite a lot while playing Roadcraft, and my co-op partners didn’t seem to mind too mcuh, so I’d say it’s doing a good job.
Most impressively, this is a true multiplatform headset. While it’s PS5 branded, it works with Playstation, Xbox, PC, Mobile and Nintendo Switch without any fuss. The dock does exactly as it needs to as well. The connection is straightforward and robust, letting you plonk your headset down on the dock without having to wiggle or manoeuvre it into place like you might with others like the Astro A50. There’s also a USB-A port built in for the wireless dongle, keeping everything together in one place and helping ensure the dongle can provide a good signal by being out in the open.
We’re at a point now where £210 is almost becoming the mid-tier for gaming headsets, and the RIG 900 Max HS brings a lot to the table for that price. There is literally nothing on the market that’s as comfortable as this, but if you’re looking for bombastic audio there’s the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro, or if you want something that feels truly premium there’s the Corsair Virtuoso Max.