There’s no beating around the Macbook when it comes to the latest offering from Plantronics – for I have in my hands (or on my head) the Plantronics RIG 500E gaming headset! This is an absolute beast of a headset that could function just as an alice band if you really wanted it too… So what gives?
Esports has pretty much exploded across the world and 2017 looks to be even more explosive – especially in South Africa. As the world realises the worth and value of this industry, companies are building the gear you need to give you every advantage, basically taking a leaf out of Nike’s athlete book.
Enter the RIG 500E Esports edition.
Basically my face every time I play CSBuilt by Plantronics with gamers in mind and endorsed (and branded by ESL – only one of the biggest Esports organisations in the world).
The RIG 500E is a modular headset that lets you swap out every piece of the headset depending on the level of comfort and performance you require. Yes, you can literally take every piece from this headset and JUST use the headband as an alice band – but it wouldn’t be very practical. Once assembled you will have a super lightweight, comfortable headset with incredibly crisp sound quality.
So, something that needs to be mentioned with the RIG 500E is that if you had yourself another headband you could quite literally build 2 sets of headphones out of 1 RIG 500E box. That’s because the Plantronics offering comes with 2 sets of ear cups – vented and isolated. One for comfort and one for “performance”. Both are equally comfortable and equally rad. There was no sound quality difference between these 2 sets of cups while I played around with them – Although the isolated cups would be much better in a competitive LAN environment. I obviously couldn’t test this and a rent-a-crowd is quite expensive – in case you didn’t know.
I’ve abused my brother’s pair of Corsairs for years now and something about over ear headphones always stood out. They are big and they get uncomfortable after a few hours of gaming… I mean “working”. Totally not the case with the RIG 500E. While big, the frame hugs your head nicely along with being only around 200grams so you eventually (literally) forget they are on your head.
The cons before I become a full fan girl?
This headset is wired. Now for us casual gamers this might be a problem if we want the freedom a wireless headset offers but if you’re competing at the highest levels you aren’t going to put your trust in batteries that could fail you before you hear those crucial footsteps coming around the door, so trust the wire. It’s long enough to give you complete freedom around your PC or from your phone (that’s in your pocket) to your head. So, that’s the con… which isn’t really a con.
I mentioned your phone just above this sentence because you the Plantronics RIG 500E comes with both a USB 7.1 surround sound extension or a simple 3.5mm phone jack extension for everyone except the latest iPhone users. Sorry for you! You could then use these headphones while doing your daily commute, no judgies, they look sexy as hell.
Things I’ve missed before I rattle on too much…
Seriously these headphones are epic. You get a removable mic and with the ease of swapping ear cups you could have it on any side you want. The mic offers exceptional sound quality – although it “could” be a little longer. It’s also easily muted simply by raising it. You also get a Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound option which I briefly mentioned above. While very good (read: VERY good), don’t expect quality like a dedicated 7.1 surround sound system. Headphones just aren’t there yet.
At a ridiculous price of R1899 I don’t think there’s anything better right now than these Plantronics RIG 500E headsets. They’ve completely won me over. Who basically gives you a replacement ear cup OUT THE BOX?! The sound quality is epic, the feel luxurious and the price ludicrous. You could arguably find better, but I don’t think you will at this price.
These HAVE to be considered on your next upgrade.
If you want to purchase this headset drop me a mail.
Disclosure: I was sent a sample unit of the Plantronics RIG 500E headset
