One of the biggest PC peripheral manufacturers, Corsair offers a bevy of different of headsets to the gaming audience, from more budgetary options to some of the most elite models out there. Whether it’s the more recent HS series or the long-running Voids, there’s something here for everyone. Corsair is looking to expand the former’s line of headset with the HS80 Max, an improved and more feature expansive headset to their standard HS80 wireless headset. This wireless headset has all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from sub-$200 headset, be it Dolby Atmos or RGB lighting, but is it enough to convince consumers in this highly-competitive market?
One of the bigger attractions to the HS80 Max is its wireless capabilities. It features impressive 24bit/96kHz sound quality with a low latency 2.4 GHz connection and Bluetooth capabilities. On top of this, if you’re using this strictly on your PC, you’ll be happy to know that it contains Dolby Atmos spatial audio. If you don’t want to make use of this, Corsair also has audio tuning in their iCUE software to better suit the user’s needs. For PlayStation 5 users, it makes use of the Tempest 3D Audio. All of this is done through the 50mm neodymium drivers in the headset, which give the headset the perfect balance of audio quality.
It’s advertised to hit around 65 hours of battery life, but in our tests it just came up short at around 60 hours, which to be fair is still an impressive value. The RGB lighting is on it does get up to 30 hours, although we wouldn’t be surprised if you turned this off and went with the higher hour count. The headset itself only comes with subtle RGB functionality, namely the Corsair logo on the ear cover will light up a color of your desired choice. Considering the logo itself is small, we can see users opting to turn it off or turning it down in favor of ensuring they don’t have to charge it for a few hours. What is positive is the HS80 Max’s wireless range. We see plenty of headsets that boast about having up to 50 feet, but the HS80 Max certainly delivers in this promise. Even through multiple layers of disruption, we were able to get clear and precise audio quality upwards of the promised fifty feet. It did sometimes cut out, which will stop all audio completely until a stable connection is fully established, but generally the wave length for the headset is above average.
The microphone is visually appealing being a slender, flexible piece of plastic with a silver tip at the end. There’s a bit of tension when it comes down to indicate when it’s muted and when it’s open. It is, unfortunately, fully attached to the headset itself. Unlike a number of headsets at this price point, the microphone is built into the HS80 Max itself instead of being detachable, which is fine but limits its visual appeal if users plan on using this outside on their mobile devices. The quality of the microphone itself is just fine. It features an omni-directional microphone, but we didn’t find it particularly special. It’s not bad, but not something that will standout; the quality is just what you can expect. It does fortunately feature Nvidia’s Broadcast technology, which helps remove background noises and isolates your voice.
Unfortunately, the biggest issue we have with the headset is its lack of flexibility and adjustments to fit larger sized heads. This has been an issue for us in the past with Corsair headsets, and it continues to be with the HS80 Max. I, for example, have a medium-to-large sized noggin and the headset is one of the tightest fit headsets I’ve worn in a while. There’s a bit of adjustability with the head strap, but we wish it would allow for extensions vertically. In the end, I couldn’t wear this for longer than couple of hours at a time without suffering a headache or extreme discomfort, especially while wearing glasses. With that said, the design of the headset is a looker. It’s small and easily storable. The ear cups are made of breathable fabric, although the floating head strap is faux leather. The headband itself is durable with the straps being easily adjustable. It has a volume wheel on the left earcup, alongside the power button and the USB connector, while the left side sports the Bluetooth sync.
| Audio Driver | Custom 50mm Neodymium |
| Wireless Range | Up to 50 feet |
| Battery Life | Up to 60 hours (30 with RGB enabled) |
| Frequency Resp. | 20Hz – 20kHz |
| Impedance | 32 Ohms @ 1kHz |
| Sensitivity | 119 dB (+- 3dB) |
| Microphone Type | Omni-directional |
| Mic Impedance | 2.2k Ohms |
| Mic Frequency Resp. | 100Hz – 10kHz |
| Mic Sensitivity | -38 dB (+-3 dB) |
| Dimensions | 200mm(L) x 97mm(W) x 183mm(H) |
| Weight | 352g |
| Warranty | 2 Years |
Closing Comments:
The Corsair HS80 Max offers impressive sound quality that functions on PC, Mac, Mobile and PlayStation consoles, with a solid 60 hours of battery life while not taking too long to charge. It comes with a bevy of features including Dolby Atmos for those who don’t want to use Corsair’s proprietary iCUE software, and a lengthy 50-feet worth of connectivity. We do wish the RGB capabilities were more than just the small logos on the ear covers, but that’s a small gripe. With that said, it doesn’t have a lot of customizability when it comes to its design, and due to its small structure, anyone with a semi-large head and glasses will feel discomfort. At the very least the headset looks visually appealing and can be easily stored. The Corsair HS80 Max an improvement over its predecessors, but doesn’t go above and beyond to establish itself in the price range.
