Plantronics RIG 500 Review - Affordable eSports Quality Headphones?
Plantronics has been in the audio communications business for years and have recently entered the gaming market with their ESL endorsed RIG 500 headphone line.
They are a Santa Cruz California based companies with products manufactured in China and Mexico.
The RIG 500 stereo gaming headset is their ESL endorsed gaming headset because of the 40 mm drivers, low frequency resonators and noise-canceling boom.
Is it the best affordable gaming headset though? Let's find out.
Sensitivity: -45dBV/Pa
Signal-to-noise ratio: >42dB
Pick-up Pattern: Uni-directional
Impedance: 32 ohms
Sensitivity: 111dBSPL/V
Max Input Power: 40mW
Coupling: over-ear
Cable length: 1.5 m
Connector: 3.5 mm
Adapter connector: dual 3.5 mm
Adapter length: 0.5 m
Weight: 200 g
Price: PHP 2,295
Disclaimer: This Plantronics RIG 500 was seeded by Plantronics Philippines for our unbiased review.
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| Plantronics RIG 500 |
They are a Santa Cruz California based companies with products manufactured in China and Mexico.
The RIG 500 stereo gaming headset is their ESL endorsed gaming headset because of the 40 mm drivers, low frequency resonators and noise-canceling boom.
Is it the best affordable gaming headset though? Let's find out.
Plantronics RIG 500 Specs
Drivers: Dynamic 40 mm
Frequency response: 100 Hz - 10 KHzSensitivity: -45dBV/Pa
Signal-to-noise ratio: >42dB
Pick-up Pattern: Uni-directional
Impedance: 32 ohms
Sensitivity: 111dBSPL/V
Max Input Power: 40mW
Coupling: over-ear
Cable length: 1.5 m
Connector: 3.5 mm
Adapter connector: dual 3.5 mm
Adapter length: 0.5 m
Weight: 200 g
Price: PHP 2,295
Disclaimer: This Plantronics RIG 500 was seeded by Plantronics Philippines for our unbiased review.
Unboxing / Accessories
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| Premium textured box |
It is packaged with premium matte textured paper boxes. Inside are the documentation, headset frame, self-adjusting headband, isolating ear cups and dual-jack PC adapter.
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| The insides |
Build Quality / Design
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| Sturdy and flexible design |
The outer polycarbonate frame is sturdy and flexible. We tried bending it and it is able to withstand a considerable amount of pressure and return to its original form.
In between the frame is an elastic fabric covered in a tougher synthetic fabric which forms to your head. It serves to rest on your head for comfort instead of the polycarbonate frame. This makes it easier to wear even after several hour sessions.
The wires are protected by a textured rubber material that is resistant to dangling. At one end is the 3.5 mm jack while on the other connects the cable to each ear cup. The dual 3.5 mm adapter is made similarly as the long cord.
It hugs the ears and isolates the sound in a comfortable manner without stressing your ear lobes. This is true even after hours of wearing them.
Comfort / Isolation
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| Lightweight design |
The ear cups are lightweight with one side containing a polycarbonate shell that houses the drivers. The other side on the other hand are the ear enclosing foam that is covered by synthetic fabric.
It hugs the ears and isolates the sound in a comfortable manner without stressing your ear lobes. This is true even after hours of wearing them.
Sound Quality
Audio quality is excellent for gaming with decent range, echo, clarity and directional simulation for the price!
It is on the bassy side but the mids and trebles are good enough for most people. We didn't notice any latency/delays with audio. It has always been in sync with what we were seeing on screen may it be games, music or videos.
Our only gripe is that the noise isolation isn't as good as our HyperX Core. (Which we bought for PHP 2,000 but now costs PHP 4,000+).
The microphone stick can be folded up when not in use. It records sound that is adequate for most team communication heavy games.
The audio recorded is able to record our voice clearly but it does record loud ambient sounds (like truck horns outside of our house) but this is seldom and we are mostly happy with the experience. People we were playing with didn't report any negative feedback with our voice communication either.
It doesn't have LED though.
Pros - Durable flexible build, good comfort, nice sound for the price
Cons - Weak isolation
It offers decent audio and microphone quality in a lightweight and comfortable package. It may not have as good at noise isolation but this is one of the best long gaming session headphones without LED that is out right now for the price.
Overall, the RIG 500 could be the affordable eSports quality headphones for you!
Build / Design - 4
Comfort / Isolation - 4
Sound - 4
Average - 4 / 5
It is on the bassy side but the mids and trebles are good enough for most people. We didn't notice any latency/delays with audio. It has always been in sync with what we were seeing on screen may it be games, music or videos.
Our only gripe is that the noise isolation isn't as good as our HyperX Core. (Which we bought for PHP 2,000 but now costs PHP 4,000+).
The microphone stick can be folded up when not in use. It records sound that is adequate for most team communication heavy games.
The audio recorded is able to record our voice clearly but it does record loud ambient sounds (like truck horns outside of our house) but this is seldom and we are mostly happy with the experience. People we were playing with didn't report any negative feedback with our voice communication either.
It doesn't have LED though.
Pros - Durable flexible build, good comfort, nice sound for the price
Cons - Weak isolation
Verdict
With the Popular HyperX Core reaching prices north of PHP 4,000, we recommend the Plantronics RIG 500 for only PHP 2,295.It offers decent audio and microphone quality in a lightweight and comfortable package. It may not have as good at noise isolation but this is one of the best long gaming session headphones without LED that is out right now for the price.
Overall, the RIG 500 could be the affordable eSports quality headphones for you!
Build / Design - 4
Comfort / Isolation - 4
Sound - 4
Average - 4 / 5
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