Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless Review: Bought for the Microphone

Most gaming headsets are bought for how they sound. The Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless is an unusual case, because the strongest argument for it is the microphone — and because the two independent tests we hold for it reach genuinely different conclusions about the audio.

We think you are better served by seeing that disagreement than by having it smoothed over, so this review reports both.

This is the one point on which both tests agree without reservation, and they agree emphatically.

The capture quality was described as simply excellent: a signal that is both powerful and of very high quality, and unusually respectful of the timbre of the voice. The reproduction is slightly warm and soft while staying perfectly clear. Thanks to strong directivity, it also isolates your voice from the things that leak into most headset microphones — keyboard clicks, a television left on, an open window.

The second assessment went further, rating it one of the best in its category and saying it comfortably surpasses the microphones on the HyperX Cloud II Wireless and the Logitech G733. That test noted it is a little sensitive, but concluded it is good enough to host a Twitch stream with, not merely to chat over.

For a headset of this class, that is a genuinely unusual strength.

Here the sources part company, and the disagreement is not a matter of emphasis.

What both agree on: the bass is recessed relative to the rest of the spectrum. One test found a lack of depth and impact in the low end; the other called the bass clearly withdrawn compared with the rest of the market, with an audible lack of punch on bass-heavy music. The drivers are 50 mm with a quoted range of 20 Hz to 40 kHz.

Where they diverge is the midrange and treble, and it matters.

The first test measured a very wide, pronounced dip in the presence region — roughly 2 to 5 kHz — together with somewhat timid treble. Its conclusion was that this makes the sound extremely soft but also muffled and blunted. It noted a practical consequence for gaming: foreground sources always seem slightly too far away, which makes it hard to judge instinctively how close a sound is or how it is moving towards you. That test also reported that bass reproduction remains messy and that sibilance is sometimes audible on voices. The equaliser can compensate for part of this, but the assessment was that it stays well short of real satisfaction.

The second test reached close to the opposite view on the same frequencies. It found the midrange and treble reproduction particularly good, with voices well rendered and — explicitly — no problem with difficult consonants such as sibilants. It called the HS80 a very musical headset that suits instrumental music, with a soundstage of good width and solid stereo imaging.

We cannot reconcile these two findings, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What we would say is that both tests were conducted on the exact same model, and that the disagreement is concentrated on tonal balance rather than on any measurable fault. Read practically: if a soft, recessed presentation suits you, one test's complaint is the other's compliment. If you want forward, cutting detail, the risk is real.

Both agree on the surround implementation. The headset ships with a Dolby Atmos for Headphones licence, described as one of the more convincing virtualisation algorithms currently available and, importantly, one that stays natural rather than artificial. In games it genuinely aids immersion and sound localisation, and the missing bass was judged not to hurt game audio much — explosions and heavy effects keep their impact.

One practical warning: passive isolation is poor. Ambient sound remains very audible and will break immersion in a noisy room.

The HS80 uses a suspended two-part headband: a wide reinforced plastic arch on the outside, with an elastic fabric strap underneath that actually rests on your head, adjustable by a velcro system tucked under the main arch. The strap distributes the contact points and the weight well, and the earcups are soft with a good balance between isolation and ventilation. The pads are roomy enough for most ears in width, height and depth.

But there is a clear limit for larger heads. Because the main arch is not itself adjustable and the gap between the two bands is restricted, the crown of the head quickly ends up pressed against the outer arch — which defeats the entire point of the suspension strap. Both tests flag this independently, and it is the single most likely reason to reject the headset. If you have a large head, try before you buy.

Two smaller comfort notes: the earcups could pivot more generously on the vertical axis, so they press a little firmly at the temple; and the weight is high enough to be felt in the neck over long sessions.

On that weight the two sources conflict outright: one records 367 g, the other 410 g. We have no way to resolve which figure is correct, so we report both. Either way this is a heavy headset by the standards of its class — the second test attributes that to the use of metal in the structure where rivals are almost entirely plastic.

Build quality is otherwise good: excellent-grade plastics with aluminium hinges, and pads and strap that detach easily for cleaning or replacement. Two cautions were raised. The small link cables running between the headband and the earcups are a potential fragility point, particularly in transport — and no protective case is supplied. And the peach-skin coating on the cups and headband marks very easily.

Connection is over Corsair's proprietary Slipstream Wireless via a USB-A dongle, which works with a PC or a PS4/PS5.

Close to the dongle the link is stable. Away from it, both tests found problems. One reported that walls and doors quickly degrade the connection, rating it below the Logitech G733 and the HyperX Cloud Flight. The other found the link starting to weaken at around five metres from the PC, producing unpleasant micro-dropouts, and rated it well below the Cloud II Wireless — while offering a plausible explanation: the HS80 carries a wider bandwidth than most rivals, which demands a better-quality link. With the dongle about a metre away, it behaves properly.

There is no analogue mini-jack, which rules out consoles and devices that need one. It can be used wired over USB, and in that mode runs at 96 kHz/24-bit. It can also be connected to a phone over USB-C.

Measured endurance was about 18 hours 30 minutes with the RGB lighting off — short of the 20 hours Corsair quotes, but enough that you are not recharging after every session. Turning the lighting on drops it heavily, to roughly 11 hours. The second test likewise struggled to reach the claimed figure and summarised it as about a day of use.

A full charge takes two to three hours, with no fast-charge system, which the second test called out as a genuine omission. The headset is at least fully usable while charging.

On-headset controls are minimal: a power button and a notched volume wheel that can also be clicked to switch between equaliser profiles. Muting is done by flipping the gooseneck boom up, with an LED at the tip and English voice prompts confirming the state.

Two omissions are worth knowing. There is no game/chat balance control and no sidetone control on the headset itself, which means leaving the companion software open to adjust them mid-session.

That software is Corsair iCUE. It is easy to get to grips with but could be more complete. It handles RGB lighting, microphone gain and sidetone level, listening presets and a 10-band graphic equaliser you can build your own profiles with, plus sleep-delay settings and a status-bar battery icon. What it will not do is let you modify the microphone's sound, or tell you the battery level precisely — you get vague indications such as "battery medium" rather than a percentage.

The microphone boom itself drew criticism on construction rather than performance: it is bulky and not rigid enough, so it behaves like a spring when handled and is awkward to position, it cannot be removed, and because of its length it tends to touch your head when raised.

Buy it if the microphone matters most — for streaming, for calls, for anyone who talks as much as they listen. On that measure it beats headsets that cost more, and the Dolby Atmos implementation is a real asset in games.

Look elsewhere if you have a large head, if you need an analogue connection for a console or a phone, if you play far from your PC, or if you want a forward, punchy sound signature. Given that one of our two sources rated the tonal balance a significant weakness, anyone buying primarily for music should audition it first.

Truthful Reviews has not tested this headset. The measurements and findings above — the 18-hour-30 battery result, the 2 to 5 kHz presence dip, the five-metre wireless limit, the conflicting weight figures and the microphone assessments — are published results from two independent European technology publications on our approved source list. Both tested this exact model; one worked with headset firmware 5.6.39, dongle firmware 5.5.102 and iCUE 4.17.244. Both source URLs are stored as this page's editorial provenance, and the disagreements between them are recorded rather than resolved.

We are not quoting a UK price. When we checked Amazon UK on 2 August 2026, the only listing for the exact model was in stock but sold by a third-party merchant under import terms — the listing itself warns that customs and duties may apply and that the manufacturer warranty may not — and no buy-box price was displayed. The HS80 RGB USB is a different, wired headset and the HS80 MAX is a different model; neither was substituted.

Check Amazon UK availability or search Amazon US.