RIG 700HS and RIG 700HD Review: Seven Years Later

Most gaming headsets don’t get the chance to become long-term reviews.

They arrive, get tested for a few weeks, receive a score, and quietly disappear when the next model takes their place. The Plantronics (now Nacon) RIG 700HS and RIG 700HD took a different path.

I originally reviewed these headsets in 2019 after several weeks of daily use. Today it’s 2026, and I’m still using the same pair.

The battery isn’t what it once was. The faux-leather coating on the ear cushions gave up years ago, leaving them covered in plain cloth. Yet the headset still works.

That’s not something I can say about most gaming hardware I’ve reviewed over the years.

Looking back, I realize many of the things that impressed me during those first weeks weren’t marketing gimmicks or launch-day excitement. They were deliberate engineering decisions that helped this headset outlive products that were newer, flashier, and considerably more expensive.

Back in August 2019, during Gamescom, I had a chance to sit down with Plantronics representatives and ask them about some of the unusual design choices behind the RIG lineup.

Interestingly, the story didn’t end there. Seven years later, the RIG 700 is still on the market. The Plantronics name may be gone from the box after Nacon acquired the RIG lineup in 2020, but the headset itself is very much alive. 

What follows is largely the review I wrote back then, with a few observations added from the perspective of someone who unexpectedly ended up using the same headset for the next seven years.

Unboxing

I enjoy unboxing products and tend to notice small details that many reviewers skip. The first thing I saw after opening the box was a simple phrase printed on the inside of the lid: “Get Good.”

A little cheesy? Maybe. But it immediately tells you who these headsets are aimed at.

The packaging itself deserves some credit. Everything is secured inside molded cardboard trays similar to the material used in egg cartons. It’s sturdy, practical, and environmentally friendly.

One tiny detail I appreciated was the protective bag covering the headset. It features a perforated tear strip, allowing you to open it cleanly instead of wrestling with plastic packaging for several minutes.

The bundle contains everything you actually need and nothing you don’t:

• Detachable microphone
• Dual-channel USB wireless transmitter
• Optical cable
• Micro-USB charging cable
• Quick-start guide and warranty documentation

The only thing missing was a sticker. Every gaming product should come with a sticker!

Design

Straight out of the box, the RIG 700 looks serious.

The design is understated, but not boring. Multiple switches, adjustment points, and unusual mounting mechanisms hint at the engineering hidden beneath the surface. At the same time, it avoids the usual RGB circus that so many gaming peripherals rely on.

This isn’t the kind of headset trying to impress you with flashing lights. It looks like a tool built to do a job.

As usual, all controls are located on the left earcup. Your right hand can stay where it belongs — on the mouse. From front to back you’ll find the audio balance dial, power and pairing button, LED status indicator, volume wheel, charging port, and microphone control button.

The headband itself is remarkably slim, measuring just 28 mm across. It’s made from polycarbonate and feels almost impossible to bend out of shape permanently. The wiring connecting both earcups runs inside the frame, keeping everything clean and protected.

A small “R” marker inside the right earcup makes orientation obvious when you’re putting the headset on in a hurry. (UPDATE 2026: The letter eventually wore off after about three years, but by then I could put the headset on with my eyes closed.) 

What impressed me most is how versatile the design feels. The headset wouldn’t look out of place on a streamer during a broadcast, a teenager gaming on the couch, or someone sitting in an office.

If the battery runs dry, you can continue using the headset with a wired connection rather than ending your gaming session early.

We’ll come back to the adjustment system later because it deserves its own section.

Comfort and Ear Cushions

The ear cushions combine three different materials and are among the most comfortable I’ve used in a gaming headset.

The fabric allows airflow around your ears, helping reduce heat buildup during long sessions. At the same time, passive noise isolation remains surprisingly effective.

The cushions fully surround the ear without applying excessive pressure. Even after several hours of continuous use, I never felt the urge to take the headset off for a break.

(UPDATE 2026: The eco-leather side panels eventually deteriorated, as faux leather often does. Thankfully, those sections never touch the head directly, so comfort remained virtually unchanged. Replacement cushions are available, but I honestly wish manufacturers would stop using faux leather altogether.)

That might sound like a small thing, but anyone who spends long evenings in multiplayer games knows how important comfort becomes after the third or fourth hour.

RIG 700HS vs RIG 700HD

According to the packaging and official specifications, there are no technical differences between the two models. The HS version is simply licensed for PlayStation 4. 

Externally, the only visible differences are cosmetic. The frame accents, earcup trim, and the “R” marker inside the right earcup use different colors. The RIG 700HD features gold accents, while the RIG 700HS uses silver.

Weight, dimensions, drivers, controls, and accessories are identical.

The wireless transmitters look slightly different and carry different model names: WD1 and WS1.

At this point, that was the only meaningful distinction I could find.

The Wireless Transmitter

The transmitter deserves its own section because it’s much more than a simple USB dongle.

Measuring 57 x 57 x 17 mm, it’s large enough to house additional functionality while remaining compact enough to sit unobtrusively on a desk. Mine ended up living behind the monitor instead, no signal loss. 

The top contains a synchronization button and a small LED indicator showing connection status. The headsets arrived pre-paired from the factory and, after seven years of ownership, I honestly can’t remember ever needing to press the pairing button. 

An 80 cm USB cable extends from the back of the transmitter. Next to it is an optical input, which immediately hints at one of the headset’s most interesting features.

Dual-Channel Audio

This is where the RIG 700 series starts doing things differently.

On the left earcup you’ll find a dedicated audio balance dial. At first glance it seems insignificant, but after using it for a few days I started wondering why more manufacturers don’t implement something similar.

Here’s a situation most online gamers know well: You’re playing with friends. Everything sounds fine until someone joins voice chat and starts talking over important game audio. Or maybe you’re fighting a boss and the game suddenly becomes so loud that you can’t hear your teammates.

Normally, fixing that means diving into settings menus, opening Discord, Alt-Tabbing out of your game, or adjusting individual application volumes. The RIG 700 solves this problem with hardware.

The USB and optical connections appear as separate audio devices. You can assign one channel to game audio and the other to voice communication.

The dial on the headset then lets you adjust the balance between those two sources in real time.

When the dial sits in the center position, both channels play at equal volume. Need to hear your teammates more clearly? Rotate it toward the voice-chat icon. Need to focus on the game instead? Turn it toward the controller icon.

Move it fully to one side and the other source disappears completely.

It’s a simple idea, but incredibly effective.

The dial itself is thoughtfully designed. One ridge is taller than the others, making it easy to identify by touch. It also provides a distinct tactile click when returning to the center position.

After using it for several weeks, I found myself adjusting audio balance instinctively without even looking at the headset. Everything is literally right behind your ear.

There is one limitation worth mentioning. On the RIG 700HS, dual-channel functionality only works with the PlayStation 4 Pro because the PS4 Slim lacks an optical output. The same applies to the RIG 700HD on PC. If your motherboard or sound card doesn’t provide an optical connection, you won’t be able to use the second audio channel.

The good news is that both headsets work perfectly through USB alone. You simply lose access to the dual-channel balancing feature. For many users that won’t matter.

For players who spend a lot of time in multiplayer games, however, it’s one of those features that’s difficult to give up once you’ve experienced it.

Microphone

I normally don’t dedicate an entire section to the microphone when reviewing a gaming headset. Most of them fall into the same category: good-enough-for-Discord and nowhere-near-a-proper-standalone-microphone. The RIG 700HS and RIG 700HD made me change that habit.

The detachable microphone uses a unidirectional design and delivers surprisingly clean voice quality. No excessive hissing, no weird artifacts on sibilants, and no unpleasant distortion when speaking loudly. Obviously, it won’t compete with a pro studio condenser microphone mounted on a boom arm, but that’s not what it’s designed for.

For gaming, voice chat, and everyday communication, it does exactly what it needs to do.

The microphone arm is fully flexible and holds its shape well after adjustment. You can position it exactly where you want it and forget about it.

(UPDATE 2026: Over the years I’ve bent it in every direction imaginable, usually while eating, drinking, or trying not to poke myself in the face. The internal wire is protected by a metal gooseneck, and despite countless adjustments, the microphone still holds its position as firmly as it did when it was new.)

What really stood out, however, was the built-in microphone monitoring feature.

My family appreciated this feature almost as much as I did.

The reason is simple. The RIG 700 provides good passive noise isolation. That’s great for immersion, but it also means you don’t hear your own voice naturally. During an intense multiplayer match, it’s very easy to start talking louder than you realize.

From your perspective, everything sounds normal. Your teammates can simply adjust your volume if needed. The people sitting in the same room don’t have that luxury.

The microphone monitoring mode solves this problem by feeding your own voice directly back into the headset in real time. If you’ve ever watched a singer recording in a studio, you’ve probably noticed they wear headphones even while singing. That’s because hearing your actual voice helps you maintain a natural speaking volume instead of unconsciously trying to overpower the sound inside your head.

Windows users may already be familiar with a similar feature called “Listen to this device.” The difference is that Windows sends your voice to the PC and then back to your headphones, creating a noticeable delay. The RIG handles monitoring internally. There is effectively zero latency because the audio never leaves the headset’s hardware chain.

Once I got used to it, I found it difficult to go back.

The feature is also useful for streamers using dedicated microphones. You can continue sending your broadcast audio through a standalone microphone while still monitoring your own voice through the headset without relying on additional software.

The control button located underneath the left earcup offers several operating modes:

• Complete microphone mute
• Low-level microphone monitoring with voice transmission
• Full microphone monitoring with voice transmission
• Voice transmission without monitoring

It’s one of those features that sounds insignificant on paper but becomes genuinely useful once you’ve spent enough time with it.

The Earcup Mounting System: A Clever Engineering Solution

Every modern headset in the RIG lineup uses a rather unusual mounting system. When I first saw it during my interview at Gamescom, my immediate reaction was skepticism.

Instead of traditional size adjustment rails, the earcups attach directly to the frame using removable locking points. Each side of the headband contains three mounting positions that allow you to adjust the fit. The earcups themselves feature spring-loaded connectors that securely snap into place.

(UPDATE 2026: I adjusted the fit once during the initial review and honestly don’t remember changing it again. The headset still fits exactly the same way today.) 

My first question to the engineers was obvious: “How long before this breaks?”

They laughed.

According to them, the entire mechanism had gone through extensive automated durability testing. Countless prototypes were intentionally destroyed before the final design reached production. 

The product sitting in my hands represented the lessons learned from hundreds of failed samples. Back in 2019, I appreciated the concept. In 2026, I appreciate it even more.

After years of use, countless adjustments, and more accidental drops than I’d like to admit, the locking system still works exactly as intended.

The design serves several purposes at once.

• It reduces weight.
• It simplifies size adjustment.
• It creates a controlled failure point in case of excessive force.

That last part became particularly relevant during testing. 

Testing

This was probably one of the longest and most demanding headset evaluations I’ve ever done.

Partly because I wanted to verify some of Plantronics’ engineering claims. Partly because I simply didn’t want to stop using the headset. 

The most nerve-racking test involved durability.

Plantronics claimed that the headband could flex significantly without breaking and that the earcup mounts would disconnect under excessive stress rather than snapping.

There was only one way to verify that.

I tossed the headset onto the couch and sat on it…

Deliberately. To my surprise, everything worked exactly as advertised. One earcup detached from the frame, nothing broke, and I simply clicked it back into place a few seconds later.

It wasn’t exactly a scientific test, but it did demonstrate the logic behind the design. The goal wasn’t to build an indestructible headset. Instead, Plantronics designed it to absorb abuse intelligently. The polycarbonate frame flexes, while the earcups act as sacrificial release points.

The concept reminded me of ski bindings. When a skier falls, the skis are designed to detach before the force can snap an ankle or knee. The downside is that you may end up hiking back uphill to retrieve your equipment. The RIG follows a similar philosophy, except the detached earcup never goes far because it’s still connected by the internal cable running through the frame.

Rather than resisting every impact, the headset gives way in a controlled manner. It’s a less dramatic approach than building everything out of metal, but probably a smarter one.

The headset powers on almost instantly. There are no drivers to install and no complicated setup procedures. Plug in the transmitter, turn on the headset, and you’re ready to go.

A clear female voice announces power status, battery level, and connection events. Thankfully, it’s recorded by an actual human being rather than whatever text-to-speech engine is responsible for the legendary “zee hedset is reddy to pauuur” voice that seems to ship with half the wireless gadgets on the market.

Battery life was officially rated at around twelve hours.

My testing results were considerably better. On three separate occasions, the headset survived gaming sessions lasting roughly fourteen hours and twenty minutes before shutting down. Those happened to be some of my longest gaming marathons during the review period.

Enabling microphone monitoring reduced battery life slightly, averaging around thirteen hours and fifty minutes. The difference wasn’t dramatic and could easily have been influenced by listening volume and usage patterns.

(UPDATE 2026: It would be absurd to claim the battery still performs like it did in 2019. Lithium cells age, and seven years is a long time. I never bothered running a proper endurance test again, but based on daily use I’d estimate the headset now lasts somewhere between six and eight hours on a charge. At this point I’ve adapted my charging habits, so it rarely matters in practice. I could probably crack it open, install a fresh cell, and bring those numbers back up, but the headset still does everything I need, and I’ve been too lazy to perform battery surgery.)

There is a small amount of background white noise, but it’s so faint that I could barely hear it during late-night testing in a completely quiet room. The moment any actual audio starts playing, it disappears entirely.

On the second day of testing, I completely forgot I was wearing the headset.

At just 243 grams, it was the lightest gaming headset I had ever reviewed at the time.

That might not sound impressive today, but back then most wireless gaming headsets weighed somewhere between 400 and 450 grams. Even many wired alternatives started around the 300-gram mark (Hello Razer!).

The difference becomes noticeable after several hours.

I also failed to detect any meaningful audio latency. I intentionally launched games where I knew animation and sound timings by heart. Even minor delays usually become obvious in those situations. Here, I couldn’t find any.

As for comfort, physics still applies.

If you’re deep into an intense multiplayer match and your ears are already overheating, no headset can perform miracles.

That said, the RIG 700 remained noticeably cooler and more comfortable than most competitors I had used. Nothing pinched. Nothing pressed against my head. My ears remained comfortable. Even wearing glasses wasn’t a problem.

I’m also surprised Plantronics never emphasized how travel-friendly the design is. With the earcups detached, the headset occupies very little space in a bag. Add a hard carrying case and it becomes an excellent travel companion.

Beyond PlayStation

When I first saw “PlayStation 4” printed on the box, I was slightly disappointed.

Then curiosity took over.

Officially, the RIG 700HS targets the PS4 ecosystem. Unofficially, I discovered it works with considerably more devices than advertised. During testing I successfully connected it to a PC, Nintendo Switch, and even a smartphone through an OTG adapter. The smartphone experiment was admittedly unnecessary, but at that point I wanted to find the limits of the headset.

I never found them.

In every case, the wireless receiver was recognized immediately and functioned without additional configuration. The volume wheel on the headset controlled device volume as expected, and the entire experience remained plug-and-play.

To this day, I still can’t tell you exactly what practical difference exists between the WD1 and WS1 transmitters.

What I can tell you is that every device available to me recognized both without complaint.

A Small Charging Hack

Toward the end of testing, I came up with a little trick that made the headset even more convenient.

I ordered a magnetic charging cable. The Micro-USB connector (the newer versions now features Type-C) remained permanently inserted into the headset, while the charging cable attached magnetically whenever needed.

The setup worked surprisingly well.

When the battery ran low during a gaming session, I could continue playing while charging without worrying about accidentally yanking the cable out.

More importantly, it eliminated the risk of standing up to make a cup of tea and taking the headset, charging cable, and half my desk with me.

Consider that a free suggestion for the engineers.

Pros and Cons

After seven years and thousands of hours of use, the strengths of the RIG 700 series became very clear. 

• The biggest advantage is undoubtedly the weight. Even today, the headset feels remarkably light. Back in 2019, it was in a class of its own.
• The microphone monitoring system is another standout feature. The zero-latency implementation remains genuinely useful and solves a real-world problem that many gamers don’t even realize they have.
• Battery life exceeded official specifications during my testing.
• Comfort is excellent.
• Wireless range proved equally impressive. The signal had no trouble reaching through multiple reinforced apartment walls, allowing me to walk around the apartment without losing connection. Better than a Bluetooth. 
• Then there’s the price. At a launch price of around $130, the RIG 700 offered features normally found on considerably more expensive wireless headsets. 

(UPDATE 2026: The funny part is that the RIG 700 never really disappeared. It’s still being sold under the Nacon brand and regularly shows up on sale. Adjusted for inflation, the original $130 launch price would look quite different today, which makes some of the current discounts feel almost unfair.) 

Cons? Well… that blasted eco-leather. And micro-USB, but they fixed the latter.

Final Thoughts

When I first reviewed the RIG 700HS and RIG 700HD back in 2019, I came away impressed by the engineering.

Seven years later, that’s still the word that best describes them.

Not sound quality. Not battery life. Not features.

Engineering.

The headset solves problems in ways that feel practical rather than flashy. The lightweight polycarbonate frame improves comfort without sacrificing durability. The breakaway mounting system absorbs abuse instead of breaking. The dual-channel audio controls eliminate unnecessary trips into software settings. The microphone monitoring system solves a real problem that many manufacturers simply ignore.

Looking back, what impressed me most wasn’t any individual feature. It was how well the entire design aged.

Many gaming peripherals are built around trends: RGB lighting, aggressive styling, marketing buzzwords, and software ecosystems that disappear a few years later.

The RIG 700 focused on fundamentals.

• Comfort.
• Reliability.
• Usability.

As a result, it managed something most gaming hardware never achieves.

It stayed relevant long after its launch window ended.

But perhaps the strongest endorsement came from something I didn’t realize back in 2019.

Over the years I’ve reviewed plenty of other headsets. Some were newer. Some were more expensive. Some offered more features on paper. Most eventually ended up gathering dust on a shelf. 

The RIG didn’t.

It’s still sitting on my desk. This is the headset I kept reaching for day after day, year after year, with no real desire to replace it.

A few years ago, I bought a RIG 600-series headset with Bluetooth for my wife. More recently, I picked up another RIG headset for my daughter. Not because I was reviewing them, and not because somebody sent me a sample.

Because when it came time to spend my own money, I bought more RIG headsets.

After seven years of ownership, that’s probably the best review I can write.