14 DAY TRIAL // After ending up liking NACON’s RIG 600 PRO HS a lot last month after some thorough testing, I was anxious to try out the company’s mid-range RIG 900 MAX HX, which promised even more improvements.
On paper, the RIG 900 MAX HX can be paired with PC, Xbox consoles, smartphones, and tablets, but it does work with the PlayStation 5 too. However, some features like “game to chat” will only be available on the Xbox, but that’s not that big of an inconvenience.
Although the RIG 900 MAX HX is bigger than the RIG 600 PRO HS, the headset remains surprisingly light. In fact, I don’t remember testing any pair of headphones of this size that are so light. That’s a very important quality that helps with comfortability too.
Despite being very light, the headset is relatively solidly built. The cups are very comfortable designed to accommodate ears of all sizes and shapes. Another positive is the spring steel headband with a suspension strap. The former adds to the headset durability, while the latter makes the headphones stay firm on your head.
Now, the best part is that the headset comes not only with an USB cable and a Bluetooth dongle, but also a dock that will allow you to recharge the headset whenever you want and wherever you want. The dock features an USB-C port, and it will indicate visually when your headset is correctly connected to the pins and charging.
Just like the RIG 600 PRO HS, the new RIG 900 MAX HX headset comes with a very short USB cable, but the dock included in the retail package makes it possible to charge the headset anywhere you want, so you’ll probably never use the cable.
Speaking of which, the headset offers around 50 hours of battery life in wireless mode and 60 hours in Bluetooth mode. It takes about 2-3 hours to fully charge the RIG 900 MAX HX, which is not bad at all.
The button configuration is similar to the RIG 600 PRO HS, which means all the controls are positioned on the left ear cup. Starting from the top to bottom, the headset features a Bluetooth button, multi-connection toggle, volume wheel, power on/off button, and USB-C port. Now, the microphone is no longer hidden in the right cup like it’s the case with the RIG 600 PRO HS. Instead, the RIG 900 MAX 900 HX comes with a flip-to-mute headset that’s not too flexible.
When it comes to sound quality, the RIG 900 MAX HX are some of the best mid-range headphones that I’ve ever tested. The perfect balance of bass and treble makes these sound very warmth and immersive. Even the stock audio is incredibly well-rounded, but if you want to customize your sound, the RIG 900 MAX HX mobile app will help you with that.
But what makes the RIG 900 MAX HX unique is Dolby Atmos headphone listening experience when playing on Xbox or PC. You have to download the Dolby Personalization app on your mobile, scan your entire head, and the app will automatically make changes to the sound based on the scan.
Your profile will be saved, and you can access it on PC and Xbox after logging in into the Dolby Atmos app. This is the first headset that offers the ability to personalize your Dolby Atmos headphone listening experience when gaming. Not to mention that it does it very well. In fact, I was pretty impressed by the immersive sound especially in single-player games like Lies of P and Baldur’s Gate 3.
Just like the RIG 600 Pro HS, NACON’s new headset supports dual mode connectivity. However, while this will allow you to connect to your PC/console and mobile at the same time, you will not receive sound from both simultaneously.
While you’re playing games, you’ll receive sound notifications from your phone whenever you receive messages and calls, and you can decide to switch to those and then go back to playing. However, you can’t listen to music from your phone and still hear the sounds from the game you play on your PC or console. It’s a bit disappointing, but that’s still a nice feature to have.
If there’s one thing that I regret not having is a good mic. Although it’s far from being bad, RIG 900 MAX HX’s flip-to-mute mic is probably the worst piece of technology embedded in the headset. First off, the mic captures just about every background noise (there’s no active noise reduction), so you’ll have to talk louder to be covered by those sounds (if any).
Secondly, the clarity of the mic isn’t top-notch, but rather average. It’s definitely in line with the headset’s price, but it remains its weakest point since most of the other features are way above average.
Conclusion
But it’s not just comfortability that makes the headset one of the best choices in the medium range. It’s also the sound quality and the unique Dolby Atmos audio experience that turns every gaming session into a sensory adventure.
Review based on a sample unit provided by NACON.
