Plantronics RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition Review

Plantronic's RIG 400 and 500 lines prove the value of a unique concept in wired gaming headsets.

You take removable earcups, clip them onto an easily replaceable headband, and offer combinations of them at various price and quality tiers.

The RIG 400 series was functional, the RIG 500 series improved on the idea, and now the RIG 500 Pro line offers even better performance.

The new top of the RIG stereo headset pile is the RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition, a $149.99 headset with an attractive metal design, a clever audio cable with a volume dial, and excellent audio performance.

It's a compelling wired gaming headset, but at the $150-and-above level, it faces some very stiff competition.

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RIG 500 Modularity

The RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition is unmistakably a RIG headset, with removable earcups that click onto a separate headband for a fully modular design.

Both the headband and earcups have been tweaked over the RIG 500, and the Esports Edition goes further with premium materials.

The back of each earcup is now a skeletal frame rather than a solid cover, which Plantronics says reduces body vibration and improves the output of the 50mm drivers.

The "Esports" part of the headset's name doesn't have any specific significance beyond its position as the top-of-the-line model in the RIG 500 Pro line.

There's no formal partnership with a specific esports league, team, or game; it just has a premium build that should appeal to esports fans and aspiring players.

The headet's frame is solid metal, finished in a striking but subdued dark gray gunmetal color.

The memory foam earpads use faux leather on the sides and breathable fabric on the face, reducing heat buildup as you wear the headset for long periods of time.

Plantronics includes a second pair of memory foam earpads covered entirely in breathable fabric for even better ventilation, if desired.

The left earcup features a pivoting mount for the included boom mic and a 3.5mm jack for connecting the headset to your preferred gaming device using either of the two included audio cables.

As a headset that uses a 3.5mm audio connection, it has no onboard controls.

The headband uses the increasingly popular two-part suspension design instead of thick padding.

The top part of the headband is a sturdy but slightly flexible strip of dark gray metal, while the bottom half is a lightly padded faux-leather-and-fabric strap suspended on a thick rubber band.

The lower strap sits on the top of your head, relying on the springiness of the rubber to provide a snug, light fit, lifting the upper part of the headband above the scalp where it keeps the headset structurally sound and secure.

It's a functional design that's easy to wear without making the minute adjustments required by headsets with telescoping joints between the headband and the earcups.

You can still make broad adjustments between the earcups and the headband by choosing which of the three slots on either end of the headband each earcup clicks into.

Since the earcups and headband are completely separate, you can simply pull the earcups off of the middle hole and move them a space higher or lower to tweak the fit (the lower suspension strap of the headband is part of the cups, not the headset frame, and can be removed by sliding down the plastic tabs and connecting them to the upper headband).

It also means you can mix and match RIG headset components, replacing the headband with RIG modular frames (Plantronics' term for RIG headbands) of different colors or materials.

You probably won't want to do this with the Esports Edition, considering both the earcups and headband are the sturdiest and most attractive of all available versions, but you have the option.

It also means you can get different RIG components if either part of the headset breaks, instead of a completely new headset.

Clever Cables

The RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition comes with two 4.2-foot-long cables that let you connect the headset to your PC, smartphone, Xbox One (through the headphone jack on the controller), PlayStation 4 (through the headphone jack on the controller), or Nintendo Switch (in handheld mode).

One cable is round, with a right-angled connector equipped with a bottle cap-shaped volume dial on one end.

This cable is designed for use with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One controllers, and the connector can be fitted with one of two included rubber bases that let it rest snugly against the bottom of either system's controller.

It's a very clever design that puts a physical volume dial in reach while you're gaming, and stays secure on the gamepad of whichever system you use it with.

The other cable is flat, with an in-line volume slider that rests at chest level when in use.

That cable is designed to work with PCs and smartphones.

The detachable boom mic is a thin, hexagonal black capsule on a thin, flexible arm that connects to the headset through a plastic right-angled connector that clicks securely onto the microphone mount on the left earcup.

Microphone and Game Performance

The RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition's microphone sounds very good.

In test recordings, my voice came through very cleanly, if initially a bit soft.

Increasing microphone sensitivity in the recording software and test consoles fixed that.

After minor adjustments, speech was crisp and easy to discern.

This is a functional boom mic for voice chat, podcasts, and commentary, though it can't replace the performance of a dedicated microphone; there's only so much a small capsule on a headset can do, and if you want to seriously record your voice to share with others, you should consider eventually getting a separate mic.

As a stereo headset, the RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition won't provide very good directional imaging besides the left-right mixing you can get with any headphones (optionally enhanced on certain platforms with Dolby Atmos).

Still, it sounds very clean and powerful when playing shooters, like Fortnite on PC.

The sounds of gunfire and explosions get enough low-frequency presence to make them sound forceful, but don't overwhelm with wildly powerful rumble.

The rustle of footsteps and thunk of tools also come through clearly, giving a good sense of the action around you.

The headset's clarity ensures you can pick out any nearby audio sources, even if you can't necessarily tell precisely from what direction they're coming.

Overwatch also sounds strong on the RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition.

The deep rumble and crash of explosions come through with plenty of bass, and higher frequency sound effects like Junkrat reloading get lots of crisp edge.

Directional cues are limited to stereo mixing, but they still offer enough clarity between the left and right channels to make nearby skirmishes and voice cues from teammates easy to pick out.

Music Performance

While it's designed as a gaming headset, the RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition is very capable at handling music, with a balanced sound that provides plenty of high-frequency clarity that sometimes gets lost in gaming headsets.

Elizabeth Fraser's vocals in Massive Attack's "Teardrop" get lots of texture against the heartbeat-like drum hits, which don't distort even at maximum volume.

The drum beats are forceful, but not so overwhelming they dominate the track or drown out the rain-like vinyl scratch in the background.

It sounds like the headset faithfully reproduces low frequencies as much as it can, but doesn't try to reach so far into the sub-bass that it feels like you have subwoofers attached to your heads.

You get a little rumble, but not too much.

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Styles of Beyond's "Outta Control" also sounds strong on the RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition.

The drums and bass of the track get plenty of low-end presence through the headset, and at maximum (and unsafe) volumes, give a strong sense of kick.

Ryu and Tak's rhymes come through clearly and stand at the front of the mix, sharing space with the drums but not getting overpowered by them.

The higher frequency snare hits stay in the background, present but not punching through the mix with any particular clarity; they keep time, but don't compete with the vocals or lower drums.

Quality With Competition

The Plantronics RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition looks, feels, and sounds very good, as the flagship model in the RIG 500 Pro line should.

Its metal earcups and headband give the headset a premium feel, and its two cables offer some impressive flexibility, especially the one with the volume dial and adjustable rubber caps that can work with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One controllers.

It's a bit pricey at $150, though, and it doesn't have quite the luxurious feel and powerful audio performance of the slightly more expensive Turtle Beach Elite Pro Tournament Headset.

It's an excellent headset if you want a premium build with a very light fit, and a good choice for gamers worried about heavy heads or warm ears.

Otherwise, the Astro Gaming A10 remains our Editors' Choice for affordable wired gaming headsets at half the price of the RIG 500 Pro Esports Edition.

Or you can simply choose the lower-tier, standard RIG 500 Pro for a less expensive wired headset, but you'll be giving up the nice audio dial cable and metal frame.