Nacon Rig 600 Pro HX Headset – Review

Nacon have long been one of my favourite manufacturers for accessories with their fantastic gamepads and arcade sticks and while their popular RIG brand had brought us some popular headsets over the years, I’ve never personally used one long term, until now.

I’ve had many, many headsets over the years, everything from Astro, Steel series, Hyper X, Razer, Corsair and official Xbox headsets to my current personal mouthful of a headset of choice, the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max.

It might be a little strange putting up the £90 RIG 600HX against a mighty behemoth from Turtle beach, which has a RRP of £180, but I found more than a few things I didn’t just like, I greatly preferred about the much more reasonably priced headset from Nacon RIG which boasts quite an impressive feature list, including Dual-mode wireless, bass-boosted 40mm high-sensitivity drivers, a virtually unbreakable headband, an accompanying smart app, upot 24 hour battery life andcompatibility with not just the Xbox but PC, Switch, Steam Deck and mobile devices.

First impressions weren’t the best, an all-cardboard packaging, no fancy internals, no foam padding or fancy cases, it’s just a standard cardboard outer with the interior feeling more like a recycled egg-box than anything specifically for an Xbox, at first glance and feel the 600HX looks and feels cheap and disappointing. So much so, when first removing the headset from the box, I thought it was already broke. As the feather-light ear cups dangled freely away from the headband.

After a closer look, I realised the detachment was intentional as rather than wrestling with an adjustable strap, you simply clip the cups onto the headband in one of these preset positions each side, I went for the largest, and also tested medium and small settings on the wife and kids, which suggests the headset covers a wide range of head sizes, while I wouldn’t expect real long-term longevity if you’re constantly repositioning the ear cups, for a single user its a great, trouble free way of tackling adjustable head bands.

While I really wasn’t sure about this fixed nature, its only now I write about it, when I realise how beneficial this is, from two weeks of regular daily use, wearing them non-stop for 2-hour movies and regular long gaming sessions, I didn’t once have to readjust anything.

Following on from those first cheap impressions, the all plastic and incredibly light build is always going to feel a little tacky at first, but there’s no flex (other than where you want from the headband) a tough plastic shell houses everything and while it always feels light, you soon start to feel the quality of a sturdy build (even if it feels almost hollow).

The left ear cup houses all controls, as well as a concealed, flip-down microphone which auto activates and mutes dependent on position, one complaint is that when it’s stowed away in the headset, it takes some getting used to the feel of the little notch to release and extend the microphone arm, without removing the headset to search for it.

Up the rear of the left ear cup, there’s a recessed power button, which thankfully needs to be held for a few seconds to avoid accidental touches, followed by a volume wheel, with the mode button next to it, tapping the nose button by default will switch between Xbox game sound and your party sound. Finally, there’s the Bluetooth pairing button which again needs to be held for a period of time to initiate pairing.

Once paired with my phone, (Xiaomi 12 on Android), I was easily able to use the app to make adjustments to sound profile, mic volume and mic monitoring as well as checking for updates for the headset. Like some similar prices and most more expensive headsets you can juggle game sound and Bluetooth, but I especially liked the option to have the headset automatically start in either dual mode, or just for Xbox or Bluetooth.

The app is incredibly easy to use which is another area RIG absolutely wipes the floor with Turtle beach as it took me 2 phones and a Chromebook to finally get the Stealth 700 connected to its app and even then it only works periodically and provides half the functionality it promises, even after months and months of regular usage i’m still never able to get the perfect balance of game and chat sound, but the RIG 600 Pro HX never proves an issue with its straightforward Apple like controls that “just work”.

Another area where the RIG 600 really excels is comfort, that super-light build certainly pays off and while the ear cups do press on the edge of my ears just slightly, I never felt it uncomfortable or eager to remove them even after hours of use.

This is mostly down how light they are and the soft mesh padding on the ears, but in comparison to many headsets that seem to clamp your head, these feel perfectly comfortable (and equally stable) just resting in position and avoiding any major pressure or the top of your head or around your ears.

The real star of the show is the sound quality, don’t get too excited, it’s not perfect, and the audio queues for pairing have a bit of a tinny echo, but in general use the sound is a great middle ground, there’s enough bangs and bumps from the bass, but the trebels are clear enough without ever sounding tinny.

There are obviously small (and very easy) adjustments available with the app, but whether I was playing movies, or AAA games, Fortnite or something with simpler audio like Roblox I never found a weak spot in the audio and with great control with both games and party sound and a clear mic that performs incredibly well for its size and (when down) fixed position, there’s very little to complain about with regards to the sound.

Digging through the memory banks for negatives, I’m constantly reminding myself of how cheap it looked and felt when I first removed it from the box, so I really hope Nacon consider even just a slightly more premium presentation, because when you look at everything they got right, it makes it all the more disappointing that some will be put of purchasing from similar first impressions.

But what exactly does it get right, going back to a quick comparison with the more premium (and far more expensive) Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max. A headset that I have loved since day one, despite its many floors.
The RIG 600 is more comfortable, easy to control, has a far better app, and despite the cheap and flimsy presentation and feel, packs some great sound, which might not be quite on par with headless worth nearly twice as much, but still easily matches or beats any other sub £100 headset I’ve used recently.
With battery life that seems to meet expectations and constantly easy to pair (and re-pair) with my tested devices (two Xboxes and a PC using the supplied dongle and then a Nintendo Switch, two Android Phones and a Chromeboox via the floorless and reliable bluetooth connection.

Having a Xbox Series X and Series S in the same room, I’m used to just switching over the USB dongle for the Turtle beach, but now I have the RIG 600, I will keep each headset handy and one plugged into each console. The best compliment I can give to the RIG 600 HX, is that it will sit beside the much more expensive Turtle each headset and likely get very equal usage, I might even prefer it for some longer gaming sessions.

The Nacon RIG 600 HX struggles with first impressions, but once you get to grips with it, it’s packed with features, all of which work as you’d expect (unlike many alternatives).

While the super light, almost hollow feeling ear-cups might be misleading, they pack some serious punch and with no issues at all with either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connections (even simultaneously) it’s very easy to recommend the RIG 600 HX Pro, for anyone looking for a high-quality, feature-packed wireless headset for under £100.
Considering the price, performance and feature list, it’s easy to say it could be among the best, but it’s just a shame Nacon and RIG don’t present its as anywhere near the quality on offer.

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