With the continuous growth of the e-sports scene, the gaming peripheral market has boomed. Over the years, more companies and brands have popped up, showing off their wares. Plantronics is one of the few audio communications equipment specialists that were around before that, having started in 1961, that turned their eyes on the new market. Its reputation for building great products (Neil Armstrong was wearing a Plantronics set when he first stepped on the moon) has only helped the brand’s credibility even as it entered the gaming world.
Our last experience with the brand was its BackBeat PRO 2s sometime back and we loved the clean sound it provided as well as the comfort and amazing battery life. This time however, we got to try out the brand’s new gaming headsets, namely the RIG 4VR as well as the RIG 600.
Plantronics RIG 4VR
The RIG 4VR presents a new and untapped market for PSVR (Playstation VR) gamers. Because of its relatively recent release, the PSVR headset isn’t exactly compatible with many headphones out there. The RIG 4VR however, was designed with that application in mind. Trying it out on a friend’s VR set, it lets everything sit together perfectly. While it might be a perfect fit however, the earcups are slightly shrinked to accommodate a VR set, making it a little uncomfortable for my use. Granted, I’m quite sure that my ears are slightly above average in size (which is an odd thing to write, really).
In terms of sound, Plantronics rarely disappoints and the RIG 4VR is no exception. The sound is constantly crisp but felt only a little hollow when plugged into my PC however. It’s not a full noise-cancelling headphone set, thanks to the vented cups, but we feel that if you’re going to be using it for virtual reality, that might be a better option. We’ve seen enough videos of people a little too immersed and falling over, so being able to hear your surroundings is a plus for this one.
At $119, it’s a good buy for the men who want a full dedicated system to their PSVR systems. We’ll check back on it once more brands start producing competitors to the RIG 4VR.
Plantronics RIG 600
Yeah, the RIG 600 is a little more up the alley of your usual PC gamer but one that isn’t too thrilled by the constant LED lights you see on every other gaming peripheral. While we adore the clean black and gold design (that we’re not embarrassed to bring out of the house), it’s really the high quality sound that makes the RIG 600 a good buy. The levels were balanced and not too bass-driven as some gaming headsets tend to be and at just $129, we were surprised that the quality wasn’t as far away from the BackBeat PRO 2s.
Comfort was definitely another plus that the RIG 600 provided. With yes, larger earcups, it wasn’t a difficult task to game for hours in a row and the leather mesh made it breathable, minimising the perspiration that comes from leather cups sometimes.
We are hoping however for more mature designs like the RIG 600s coming from Plantronics in the future as well as gaming headsets with better audio quality. Gamers are willing to pay these days and Plantronics shouldn’t miss out on the demographic of gamers who don’t want flashy LED lights everywhere.