I have a relatively small head, in the grand scheme of heads. I like to think it’s because its full of brains. So if you also have a small head, then you’ll love the Plantronics RIG 700HS. It’s soft, lightweight and pretty intuitive. If you have a large head, you might be out of luck, because I was using the RIG 700 HS at its widest setting, and it was decidedly cosy.
The RIG 700 HS is a headset designed mainly for PlayStation and PC, and it does its job pretty well. In the end, it’s a fairly simple headset, and for the price, there’s not much of a leap between this and anything else on the market. If the 700HS has any failing, it’s that it just doesn’t stand out among its competitors.
It lacks the brazen “gamerness” of the similarly-priced Razer Kraken line, it doesn’t have the characteristic smoothness of the Logitech G-Series, and it doesn’t even have funky, stand-out trim like the Hyper X Clouds or Corsair’s standard range. It’s just plain and simple, which is fine — but a bit boring. Especially when the similarly priced 700HD exclusively for PC has nice gold plating that makes it look like a premium product. There doesn’t appear to be a difference in specs, so it’s disappointing that the 700HS only comes in the one black-on-black colour scheme.
Looking beyond the boringness of the 700HS, it’s actually a fairly solid headset.
[review image=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/10/Screen-Shot-2019-10-04-at-12.22.48-pm.png” heading=”Plantronics RIG 700HS” label1=”WHAT IS IT?” description1=”Lightweight gaming headphones for the PlayStation 4 and PC.” label2=”PRICE” description2=’$199.99′ label3=”LIKE” description3=”Extremely soft. Can play for long hours without discomfort. Great and clear sound. Intuitive and easily installed. Crisp mic that can be taken out when not needed. Solid battery life.” label4=”DISLIKE” description4=”Very small adjustability range. Feels a bit cheap and plasticky. Very cosy around the head.”]
So, what does the RIG 700HS have going on?
SPECIFICATIONS
- Mic frequency response 100 Hz–10 kHz
- Mic sensitivity -45 dBV/Pa
- Mic signal-to-noise ratio >42 dB
- Mic pick-up pattern Uni-directional
- Headphone weight 241 g/8.5 oz
- Headphone frequency response 20 Hz–20 kHz
- Headphone impedance 32 ohms
- Headphone sensitivity 111 dBSPL/V
- Headphone maximum input power 40 mW
- Headphone drivers Dynamic 40 mm
- Compatibility PS4
The sound is crisp and clean, although again, it’s unremarkable. My everyday pair is the putrid green Razer Kraken headset, and I didn’t notice a huge leap of different between them. If anything, the 700HS does sound a little less crackly, but again, not noticeably so. It’s also a lot more comfortable than the Krakens, and when you’re trying to blast your way through Ape Escape 2, the comfort is appreciated.
The cups of the 700HS are soft and tall enough to accomodate ears of all sizes, but there is a minor problem with the height adjust band. As mentioned earlier, I have a small head, and the band only just accommodated me. With only three height settings, there’s not a lot of leeway in that regard. Still, they fit snugly and didn’t give me the same burning sensation across the top of my head that most other headphones did. Because they are so well-fitted, they’re also a relatively small package, which makes them easy to store.
The mic included in the headset bundle is removable, which is especially useful if you’re not into online gaming or just plain don’t want a mic in the road and distracting your gameplay experience. Arguably a retractable mic would have been more practical, but as it is, removing and reattaching the mic is easy and slick, so there’s no dramas there.
Connecting the 700HS is also thankfully drama free, and hooking it up to your PlayStation or PC is a simple matter of plugging in the provided USB dongle (as well as the optical cable for the PS4) and connecting the headset with a press of a button. Once established, the connection is strong, and I never had dropouts or any kind of problem while I was using the headset — but I was also using it from only a metre away, so I’d be more than worried if it struggled with the distance.
Battery life is another great feature of the 700HS. I don’t tend to have too many marathon gaming sessions, so I was only using it for an hour or two at a time. It took me around a week to actually deplete the batteries, and this amounted to around 6 or 7 solid gaming sessions. On the packet, the 700HS claims 12 hours of battery life. That lined up pretty well in my experience, so expect a similar result.
Overall, the RIG 700HS was a solid, if boring headset. The guts inside are reliable, it’s got decent battery life and connectivity and the sound is crisp and neat. I just wish I was a little bit more excited by them. Compared to my Razer Krakens, they’re hardly a bold statement. But sometimes, boring is OK.
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