Background
Raise your hand if any of you know Nacon. Few or none imagine it, but it’s Noldor who introduces you to this French multinational before the actual review begins.
My own, however, doesn’t want to be a so-called "marchetta" (please forgive the term), rather it’s meant to place the product within the context of gaming, where the above company operates. Unlike a flood of other important names in the gaming components and peripherals sector, Nacon arrived at producing them from an origin as a true videogame company.
As one might easily imagine, for a company with such a business model, producing peripherals suited to its own games means, on the one hand, leveraging the synergy between digital (video games) and physical sales. For us customers, however, this also means being able to purchase electronics developed by those who make the games, therefore highly optimised gaming accessories.
Purchase and unboxing
I’m writing this straight away and without too many preliminaries: the RIG 300 Pro HX cost 30 euros (the price at the time of the review’s publication). You’ve read that right, THIRTY euros (actually, 29.90€ if you’re precise) for a pair of gaming headphones. If, after reading the review, you’ve convinced yourself to go to Nacon’s website to buy the RIG 300 Pro HX, you’ll probably roll your eyes in disbelief too.
Be aware that this is not a promotion (the link does not contain a coupon and Kotaworld is not affiliated in any way with Nacon), so the price we have indicated is the suggested retail price.
What you’ll get once you’ve obtained the RIG 300 Pro HX is a box with a decent design (but let’s be honest, who cares about the box’s design?), but what personally matters most to me is that the amount of plastic used is minimal — both externally and internally (apologies, the scratch-prone parts are covered with film, but at least the headphones are protected by a recycled cardboard silhouette).
We’d already touched on this initiative green in our previous article, but despite the unboxing feeling being a bit “poor”, personally I’m more than happy there’s a bit more attention to the environment (and then again, who cares about the box? The content matters). So, notable packaging, though, in my view, one could do even better from this perspective.
Once unpacked, the RIG 300 Pro HX appear as shown in the photos below:
Features and performance
Let’s start with the most obvious thing, which also jumps out at you, among other things, if you look at the photo above. The RIG 300 Pro HX are compatible with PC, Playstation, Xbox and even smartphones.
Yes, because although the "price point" doesn't allow integrating wireless technology into these excellent headphones "entry level", the 300 Pro HX come with a 3.5mm jack connector interface and therefore are compatible with virtually any audio card (since even many of the latest products include a port for this standard).
Another thing that’s a bit less obvious, but it’s worth mentioning because, at least to me, it’s misleading: the cables that enter the headphones are protected by a rubber appendage (or, more precisely, soft plastic) shaped rather like a USB-C connector.
Here’s not a USB-C plug, merely a trick to protect the traditionally vulnerable part of the cable-device connection. Be careful with don’t pull the cable too hard to avoid damaging the headphones. Between these and the jack lies a volume slider and microphone switch, both minimalist.
For those unfamiliar with the RIG, the side design isn't just attractive, but allows you to adjust the headphones to your head in three different "heights" for the ear: one for each "slot" on the headband. The clip mechanism is simple but clever, enabling the lightening of the structure, which weighs a total of 233 grams and ensures a comfortable headset that doesn't press on the ears (if you think this isn't an issue, know that I personally suffer from the headset's heaviness — especially during long gaming sessions, it tends to cause ear and head discomfort).
The over-ear headphones are simple, but discreetly comfortable, softly padded with a material that feels like foam to the touch. The padding also provides a modest degree of external noise isolation, but don't expect to wear them and completely isolate yourself from the outside world, because that won't happen. The microphone is integrated into the left earcup and can be positioned in two ways: "raised" along the earcup frame during sessions where no vocal input is required, or "lowered" and "ready to go".
The performance of the RIG 300 Pro HX headphones has nothing to envy with other products on the market that may even boast an price tag excessively high. I tested the headphones listening to music (metal and EBM, to "stress" both highs and lows) and gaming... And I must say that despite the tones not being as bright as with other headphones high-end, these entry-level are decidedly satisfying and offer an optimal and dynamic audio experience (which, after all, is the main reason a player buys a pair of headphones).
There’s no denying that, in certain situations, you won’t be able to discern faint sounds against a noisy background, but for 90% of users and 90% of the time, this won’t be an issue. To put it simply, at the price they’re selling for, the audio quality has far exceeded my expectations.
Regarding input, unfortunately, I cannot make the same consideration. The microphone is not very flexible, neither in terms of adjustment nor in terms of settings (the RIG 300 Pro HX are fully passive headphones and no driver or optimisation software is provided), and the voice comes out slightly muffled.
It’s not absolutely a flaw that makes the input peripheral unusable, on the contrary, but my judgment is that this is the detail the company should have focused a bit more on (or simply the one where it chose to cut corners to allow the 300 Pro HX to carry that specific price tag)
Conclusions
In short, despite being repetitive, my overall verdict is that the Nacon RIG 300 Pro HX are an excellent buy for those unwilling to spend a lot of money , yet still want to take home a headset of a certain standard . They certainly don’t excel in some aspects, either audio (input and output) or ergonomics and setup, but at the price point they’re offered, they definitely warrant every single cent !
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