Corsair HS80 Max Dolby Atmos Wireless Gaming Headset Review

How Much Does it Cost?

This isn’t a cheap headset, and at £169.99 on Amazon, it’s fair to say this is a high-end headset and hits a premium price bracket. However, when you consider that the Corsair HS80 was, and still is, excellent, and retains its MSRP of £159.99, it’s clear the HS80 Max is the way to go. The only thing that would tempt me to the HS80 (old model), is that it’s £109.99 for Black Friday, likely in an effort to clear old stock so the HS80 Max can replace it entirely.

Overview

Corsair did the smart thing here, why reinvent their headset series when it’s already one of the best looking, best made, and best performing in its class? That would be madness! They took the aspects of the HS80 people loved, and left them well alone. So the overall fit and finish look and feel the same. The weight and colours are all basically the same too, and both had a hint of iCUE RGB on them too. So if you were replacing your old and battered HS80 with this new one, putting it on your head, it’ll feel very much the same.

The differences are minor but have a big impact on the usage experience. The more tactile buttons are likely the most subtle change, and while I can’t remember exactly how the old ones felt, these ones do feel nice to the touch and are easy to both index and control.

The inclusion of SoundID and Dolby Atmos, however, makes a big difference. SoundID effectively has you sit through a sound test, checking what frequencies you can and can’t hear, giving you some A/B tests on what sounds better, and then at the end, it sets that profile to the headset, ensuring all your media has an EQ profile that best suits you personally.

However, the biggest improvement has to be the battery life. Tripling the battery life to a very impressive 65-ish-hours means that you can work and gaming 8+ hours a day, every day, and still only need to charge the headset once a week.

Should I Buy One?

If you already have a Corsair HS80 and it’s in good condition and you’re happy with it, keep the old one, it’s still very good, and I don’t think a fresh £159.99 investment will bring you a suitable reward. However, if your headset is begging to be replaced after a couple of years of abuse and you want something fresh, then the HS80 MAX is the way to go. Its MSRP is only £10 more than the old HS80, not bad given the better processing and extra battery life. At this price range, Corsair are up against the ASUS, SteelSeries, Razer and a few others, but overall, I think Corsair have the better looking, and more comfortable headset of anything else in this price range.