The sounds of excellence
Turtle Beach has always been one of my favorite headsets to use. They are always priced well and the sound quality and compatibility has been excellent. They used to make high-end headsets but have gotten out of the market for a while. That all ends with the Stealth Pro. This new entry is designed with all the bells and whistles and made to compete with the best currently available. After spending weeks with the headset I can safely say it is by far one of my favorites to use with a few caveats. It sounds amazing, is incredibly comfortable, and the compatibility is superb. If they can clean up a few issues over time it could be the de facto gaming headset going forward.
Let’s kick off with what is in the box. Obviously the headset, but we also get a removable noise canceling mic, a base unit that attaches to the device and features 2.4 Ghz wireless connectivity. The headset uses replaceable batteries and one is inside the unit while the other docks into the base allowing for constant charging. There is also a USB port on the headset that can be used to charge the battery inside the headset. Each battery lasts about 12 hours, which is plenty of time in between uses so I never had to worry about swapping during game play unless I just forgot to charge or swap batteries.
MSRP: $329.99
Compatible With: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC, Mobile
Price I’d Pay: $329.99
The headset is where Turtle Beach always shines for me. The design is different from the recent Stealth models. It has a more rounded ear cup style with a solid metal band at the top. It isn’t overly heavy and I was able to wear it for several hours without issue. The one thing that I was not a fan of were the cup pads. They are not made of cooling gel sadly and it did start to warm up my ears after an hour or so. I reached out to PR about replacement cups, and while they offer them, they are simply the same design. Maybe a third party will make some, but I have just gotten accustomed to the cooling gel for longer gaming sessions. The design is also glasses-friendly as are most headsets these days.
The Stealth Pro comes packed with all the bells and whistles when it comes to features. The headset comes with 50mm Nanoclear drivers which sound outstanding. I am big on bass, and I had to tone down the bass on this unit. It is impactful and sounds amazing. The presets are decent, but the app also allows for tons of customization. These can be saved in the app for various games. There are several buttons on the headset itself. The wheel on the right can be mapped, but I kept it for volume. It isn’t sensitive enough though as I had to turn multiple times to increase or decrease the volume. There is also a mappable button here which I set to noise canceling. This feature is amazing, it really drowns out everything outside the headset, the immersion is amazing.
The other three buttons are used for power, switching sound modes, and connecting to Bluetooth. This headset has dual connectivity with the base and Bluetooth devices. The connectivity here is outstanding. One of the issues I had with the Arctis Nova Pro is interference. I had issues with it crackling during extended use, but with the Stealth Pro I went for hours with hardly any issues. The sound was always crisp and clean and the chat was great. I wish the monitor volume was a little louder, but everything else sounded fantastic.
There are things I hope are ironed out over time though. The ear cup replacement is one. I really think anything without cooling gel just feels dated now. Second, the app can be finicky at times. I had saved my settings only to have to select them again after booting it up. It sometimes stayed and other times would reset which was annoying. Also the Chat Boost option never stays. Another issue that cropped up a couple times was the headset turning on my Xbox even after shutting it down. This likely has to do with the base thinking it was turned on and triggering the Xbox to power up. I wish this was a setting in the Xbox OS to not let headsets turn on the console, but sadly that is not an option as of yet.
Another cool feature is that the base not only charges a second battery, but also has a separate USB port that can be used to charge other devices. I was able to plug in my controller dock and it works like a charm. The footprint of the base is also sleek in design, but the blinking light can be annoying at times. Still everything about the design of the Stealth Pro screams quality and for the price tag these are things I truly appreciate.
The Stealth Pro is also compatible with everything, which is great for multi-console owners. Simply changing the setting on the base allows it to work with every console including Switch with Bluetooth connectivity. This is nice for when I want to swap between consoles and not have to grab another headset. Getting it to work is also seamless, simply plug it in and go. I do hope there are some firmware updates on the way though. Some levels and features in the app are annoying and I think they can be ironed out over time.
The Turtle Beach Stealth Pro has now replaced all other headsets and become my go-to for all my gaming. It feels great and sounds absolutely amazing. It has a few quirks that need ironed out, but feature-for-feature it stands above the competition. Having a great headset can truly make gaming that much better, especially for those of use that cannot annoy everyone else in the house with a loud sound system. The Stealth Pro is the new bar and I cannot recommend it enough for enthusiast gamers looking for the best headset for any gaming device.
Review headset provided by publisher.
