Renowned for their high end gaming headsets and sponsoring some of the most elite gamers in the industry right now, Turtle Beach like to cater for the masses and in this instance, means they need to offer headsets to cater all price ranges. We got sent the Stealth 600 Wireless Headset, which is one of their mid-range headsets, retailing at £89.99, which isn’t their cheapest headset but also not their most expensive. How well will it perform and is it worth that price tag? Let’s find out.
The Stealth 600 series is both available on Xbox and Playstation. We are PS4 fans, so I’m trying the PS4 version. Before I open the box, let’s talk spec and features:
- Wireless headset via USB dongle for PS4, Xbox doesn’t require the dongle.
- Flip up mic
- 15hr battery life (rechargeable via USB).
- ‘Turtle Beach Surround Sound’, which converts stereo audio into virtual surround sound.
- ‘Superhuman Hearing’, which is a TB trademark, basically saying you can hear everything from the game i.e. footsteps, a snail moving etc…
- Glasses friendly, variable mic monitoring and audio presets.
Inside the box you get the headset itself, the USB dongle, a USB cable for charging and instructions. The headset is mostly made of plastic, finished in glossy/matte black and blue (black and green for Xbox). There is both an adjustable mesh cushioned headband and earpads, which feel quite nice and springy to the touch. It’s very lightweight and as mentioned before, its glasses friendly AND I’d also say it’s VR friendly, so you can put your PSVR on, with these over the top.
There are two buttons on the headset, power on/off and a mode button, there is no volume button. Modes include a signature sound mode, bass boost and treble and bass boost mode, so maybe an attempt at volume control you could say. Hit the power button when it’s on, and you will activate the Super Human mode, which is Turtle Beach’s super sensitive, pick up every footstep mode, aka the serious stuff. The buttons are push to use, relatively big so you can find them mid game but I would have preferred some sort of dome or indent on one of the buttons, so you can easily identify which button does what. Moving onto the mic, it’s great! Push the mic down to activate, push it back up to mute it. The mic is very small but well positioned and well designed, it folds away beautifully.
The sound quality is great for the price. The headset doesn’t offer say Dolby surround sound like some of the more expensive models, but the virtual surround sound works well and adds depth to your game, making it feel immersive. You can also hear the difference between the sound modes, the Super Human mode is great for stealth games, as footsteps and smaller sounds are more defined, which may lead to that extra kill. The bass and treble mode was great for overall gameplay, such as story cutscenes, in-game explosions etc. My only concern is the lack of volume control, where is it? Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a quiet headset but I don’t want to have to go into game or system settings to control the volume, that’s not cool. The headset is very comfortable to wear, thanks to the thick cushions and after a three hour session, I didn’t have to adjust or take them off at all.
Overall, a very impressive and affordable headset from Turtle Beach. It sounds great and is very comfortable. That lack of volume control, I can get over that! For more info and to purchase, visit the official Turtle Beach website. P.S. this will work on PC, this will not work with your mobile device.
