If you read my previous reviews, you should know by now that I am a huge fan of minimalistic designs with some futuristic notes. The Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless is exactly that. Most of the time, when the design is too good, the sound will be disappointing. Some people call this, balance. That said, I am happy that HS80 is unbalanced since their design and their sound is sick!
Almost two weeks ago, I received a package from Corsair. They wanted me to try the latest addition to their award-winning HS family of high-performance gaming headsets. The HS80 RGB Wireless. I’ve been using this headset for the past weeks and I will share my experience with you.
Unboxing
Every time I have to unbox a Corsair product, I always spend a couple of minutes to go through the whole box. I have to say that I love the design of their boxes and their attention to detail. The mix of matte and glossy surfaces at its finest. Enough with the box. Let’s crack this baby open and take a look at the actual headset.
In the box, we have:
- The HS80 RGB Wireless headset
- A 2.4 GHz wireless USB transmitter
- A USB to USB Type C charging cable
- And the manual
Design
As I mentioned above, the design is pretty minimalistic. Crafted from premium materials including machined aluminium, the HS80 RGB WIRELESS comes with an all-new design inspired by the iconic Corsair Void series.
When you take the HS80 RGB Wireless out of the box, the first impression is that it is a sturdy, premium headset. The ear cups are made of sturdy plastic, the headband is a combination of plastic and an aluminium interior. The textile headband that rests on the head is adjustable with a built-in technology hidden in the frame of the construction.
The machined aluminium addition makes the headset feel consistently higher quality and more durable.
Comfort
HS80 RGB WIRELESS comes with an all-new floating headband design for maximum comfort. What is new, are the plush premium fabric ear pads designed to provide hours of stress-free gaming.
The solid aluminium frame feels solid and is comfortable at the same time. The headband is firm and sturdy, while the textile headband is touching the head like a “baby’s touch”. It is adjustable on the inside of the aluminium part on the headband. I really love this “hidden” feature of the ski band. It is holding the headband in place without being visible on the outside.
A stress-free floating headband design with “hidden” adjustment
The ear cups with the memory foam are especially nice in combination with glasses. I notice relatively little of it on the ears and really around the ears. It feels like the ear cups are hugging my ears. Even with glasses on, thanks to the memory foam, the pressure is absorbed and then distributed well around the ear. I tested them with my Gunnar Optics and while this was unbearable with almost every other headset, HS80 RGB Wireless makes the glasses feel almost non-existent.
Play for hours in plush comfort with memory foam ear pads
Functionality
On the left ear cup you will find all the buttons and the connection port. A USB Type-C connection for charging, a LED indicator, a volume wheel and a power button. A LED indicator is also present right next to the metal-finished volume wheel. The colour red logically stands for a low battery level, orange for medium and green for full capacity.
Corsair promises 20 hours of battery life, and this is not a lie. I was able to use the headset for around 20.5 hours with one charge. Of course, the volume was most of the time around 30-40% (which is pretty loud to be honest). When the battery LED went red, it is possible to use the headset wired and charge the battery at the same time. Which is not always the case with a wireless headset.
Slipstream Wireless Technology
HS80 RGB Wireless uses Slipstream Wireless Technology, offering high-fidelity, ultra-low latency wireless speed offering industry-leading 24 bit/48kHz audio resolution. Intelligent Frequency Shift (IFS) ensures your wireless signal stays in the fastest lane, with the ability to detect and hop to the best available channel on-the-fly. A robust signal covers you from the desktop to the couch with up to 18 meters of wireless range.
When you will go out of range, there is going to be a beep sound to notify you that you are currently out of range. This is a pretty cool feature, but it can end up really annoying. Why? Because the beeping sound will not stop until you will get back in range.
| Technical Specifications | |
| FEATURE | DESCRIPTION |
| Audio Driver | Custom 50 mm Neodymium |
| Frequency | 2.4 Ghz |
| Wireless Range | Up to 60 feet / Almost 18m |
| Battery Life | Up to 20 hours |
| Frequency Response | 20Hz – 40kHz |
| Impedance | 32 Ohms @ 1kHz |
| Sensitivity | 116 dB (± 3 dB) |
| Mic Type | Omni-directional broadcast-grade |
| Mic Impedance | 2.2k Ohms |
| Mic Frequency Response | 100Hz – 10kHz |
| Mic Sensitivity | -40 dB (± 3 dB) |
| Dimensions | 205mm(L) x 97mm(W) x 183mm(H) |
| Weight | 367g |
| Warranty | 2 years |
Sound
The sound of HS80 RGB Wireless was a positive surprise for my ears. Music is one of my biggest passions, and this makes me a sound freak for games too. I want to hear everything and from the right range. The graphics of a game are a big part of it but what about the sound and the music? These are a whole new experience added in the game. Don’t be the guy/gal who cares about enjoying just the eyes. The ears want to share the same enjoyment!
The Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless connects with hyper-fast SLIPSTREAM WIRELESS, delivering incredibly detailed sound through custom-tuned 50 mm neodymium audio drivers. What does 50 mm neodymium audio drivers mean, though? So, the all-new 50 mm neodymium audio drivers provide an impressive 20Hz-40,000Hz frequency range which is double of typical gaming headsets ensuring that everything from the loudest shot to the subtlest musical note is reproduced with amazing clarity and impact.
Spatial Sound
The sound journey goes on a whole new level while using the spatial sound, or the three-dimensional sound experience with Dolby Atmos. Dolby Atmos uses three-dimensional precision game audio to immerse you in a more realistic, more intense gaming experience, and even allows you to improve your performance. Sounds with lifelike detail are precisely placed all around you, so you feel like you’re deeper inside the game – reacting faster and more accurately than ever before. It is pretty hard to explain with words and only if you put the headset on, you can get the feeling.
Dolby Atmos has to be downloaded from the Windows store. Sadly, only the first month is free, and then you will have to pay for a subscription. Bummer, amirite? Well, no! When you purchase the HS80 RGB Wireless, a Dolby Atmos licence is included for PC. You just need to download Dolby Access from the Microsoft Store, and it’ll automatically recognize the headset. That’s so cool.
Please note that Atmos is only supported on PC, so not under PlayStation 4 and 5.
The enemy of good is better. And the sound can get even better! You can get a 48kHz/24-bit sample rate wirelessly, but you can experience High-Fidelity 24bit/96kHz Sound when using a wired connection via USB.
Finally, another important thing for me (but not for everyone), is that the HS80 is a loud headset too. I love loud headsets who don’t distort the sound quality. Cranking the volume all the way up and feeling that I am in a live event!
Microphone
The broadcast-grade microphone is an omnidirectional microphone which provides wide dynamic range and superb vocal clarity. The microphone has a LED indicator and a flip-to-mute function. When the microphone is folded down it’s on and lights up in white. When the microphone is folded up, it is muted, and it lights up red. If you don’t like the LED indicator, you can switch it off completely via the iCUE software.
Another great feature of the microphone is that it is flexible and can be adjusted slightly towards the mouth. Or away from it. Always good to not make other people feel that you are breathing in their neck.
The omnidirectional microphone captures a rich sound and does a decent job of blocking out external noise
Side tone levels can be easily adjusted too, so it’s possible to hear yourself easily enough.
If you like the more technical terms, the microphone is equipped with 100Hz to 10kHz frequency response, 2.2k Ohms microphone impedance and -40dB sensitivity.
Software
iCue
Corsair’s iCUE software brings hardware and peripherals setting at one place. For example, hardware from ASUS (like motherboards) can be synchronized with Corsair lighting effects. RGB became a huge part of every gamer’s life, and being able to synchronize everything using one tool is always welcome.
On the main page, we have 3 options:
- Lighting Effects
- Equalizer
- Device Settings
On the Lighting Effects, you can change the Lighting Type. There are several presets available, including rainbow, colour pulses, colour transition and water colour spectrum. It is also possible to choose a static colour. Numerous more presets are available under the heading Lighting Link. Or you can just create your own RGB effect by selecting Custom. The only problem with the RGB effects is that the whole illumination of the headset is fairly limited to a Corsair logo on each ear cup. This means that more complex lighting effects do not come out very well.
On the Equalizer tab you can select one of the EQ Presets or you can create a custom one that suits best to your taste. A small note here. When spatial sound is enabled, the equalizer settings in the iCUE software disappear and are not accessible.
Activating the Spatial Sound, will disable the EQ
The last tab is the General Settings tab, consisting of firmware updates, battery status, LED brightness, auto power off for battery saver, battery level to be visible on the tray icon, voice prompts announcing presets, turning on and off the microphone LED indicator and pairing with The USB wireless USB receiver.
Speaking of the USB receiver, it has its own page on the iCUE. There, you can set it up for PC and PlayStation use.
Conclusion
“But, should I buy them?”
Do you like your headsets to be so comfortable that you will forget you are wearing it?
Do you want, if not the best, one of the top-tier microphones on a headset on the market right now?
Are you thinking of treating your ears with epic sound which gets legendary when you are using the headset wired and twice more epic when you activate the spatial sound?
Are you a fan of minimalistic design and even though you love RGB, you don’t want your headset to look like a rave party?
Does a mid-to-high end wireless gaming headset that you can use with your PlayStation 5 too, sound useful to you?
If your answer to all the above questions is yes, then head over to Corsair’s online store, and you can enjoy 20h of spatial sound at the price of €149.99.
In case that you already have a Corsair headset, and you are searching for the matching minimalistic keyboard, just check out our review for the Corsair K65 RGB Mini.
We would like to thank Corsair for providing the review unit we used in this review.