Turtle Beach is back with a new headset in their Stealth lineup, the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro. This time positioning itself as a premium option in the wireless market to compete with the likes of Astro Gaming A50s and the Steel Series Nova Pro. Having tested over a dozen headsets in the past few years, it's becoming harder and harder to see what truly sets these apart from each other.
So let's tackle that first.
For me a good pair of headsets have a few things I measure them on. The first is sound quality - specifically positional audio and sound separation between lows, mids, and highs. Next is comfort and build quality - how do they feel after extended sessions on your head and will they withstands a few drops from your desk. Next is communication options - how's the microphone quality? Can I balance chat and game audio? How easy is it to tell if I'm muted? Finally there's the unique features that set it apart from competitors - what does this headset do that others don't?
Sound Quality
The Turtle Beach Stealth Pro sound great! At mid-range volume there's ample bass production in games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 while still maintaining the detail in things like footsteps, environment interaction, etc. Diablo IV's music fills your ears with strings while still feeling the thuds weapon hits, voices from characters, and chinks of gold coins hitting the ground. Further the positioning of audio was easy to discern with a fairly wide soundstage in any game I tried - knowing wear enemies were coming from for example. This is aided by the Stealth Pro's ability to have active noise cancelation turned on, further tuning out your outside environment and really let you focus on the action.
Comfort and Build Quality
I still thing the Stealth 700s have the best ear pads I've ever felt, but the quality of the rest of the headset was very plastic-y. The Stealth Pros on the other hand are mix of metal and soft rubber coated plastic making them feel a little more on the tough side. While the earpads aren't quite as comfortable as the 700s, they are soft and do a good job of isolating noise even without the active cancellation on. The buttons and volume adjustments feel good and I've worn them for several extended sessions with minimum fatigue.
Communication Options
There's a heavy duty flip up and detachable microphone that will auto mute. When muted the rechargeable puck turns red so it's easy to know when you are communicating with your teammates. Sound quality is acceptable, and you can use a dial on the side to adjust microphone monitoring so you can hear yourself - which is especially useful if you have the active noise cancellation on.
Standout Features
The biggest feature here is the receiver which also houses a second rechargeable battery that can easily be swapped in. I'm getting anywhere from 10-14 hours on a single charge of continuous use, so this is a rare action but a welcome one. No more needing to plug in temporarily while thing charge up - though that is still an option.
While the Turtle Beach Audio Hub can be used to configure some options (like customizing buttons or sound profiles) - the headset doesn't require ANY SPECIAL SOFTWARE. This is leaps and bounds better than its competitors. Honestly I installed the software once, customized things how I wanted, and haven't touched it since.
What's Missing
We're missing the ability to adjust game and chat balance. I don't know why this is so hard to include on PC headsets, I get it you need an extra virtual audio device to pull this off, but this should be standard. For competitive and co-op games trying to hear your teammates over the game's audio can be incredibly frustrating so this feature should frankly be standard.
Other than this, I don't really feel like there's anything missing here. The Turtle Beach Stealth Pros are the complete package otherwise.
Here's technical specifications.
Specifications
Connections
- Wireless Transmitter: PlayStation® Consoles, PC, Mac® and Nintendo Switch™
- Bluetooth®: iOS, Android, PC & Mac®, Nintendo Switch™ & other Bluetooth® Equipped Devices
Headphones
- Drivers: 50mm Nanoclear™ Drivers with Neodymium magnets
- Noise Cancellation: Variable Active Noise Cancellation
- >25dB Noise Reduction @ 100Hz
- Frequency Response: 10Hz - 22kHz
Microphone
- Type: Unidirectional Noise Cancelling
- >30dB Noise Reduction @ 3kHz
- Frequency Response: 100Hz – 8kHz
- Sensitivity: Boom: -22dBFS/Pa / Built-in: -26dBFS/Pa
Wireless
- Dual Connection: Simultaneous 2.4Ghz & Bluetooth
- Gaming Wireless: 2.4Ghz Lag-Free Wireless
- Range: Up to 50’ / 15m
Earcups
- Earcup Design: Over-Ear (Closed)
- Ear cushion Material: Leatherette wrapped Memory Foam
Overall if you are in the market for the top of the line cans for your hears I'd recommend the Turtle Beach Stealth Pros. At $330 they are a bit expensive, but still $50 less than Steel Series top of the line, but $30 more than the Astro A50s. You can find versions that work across most platforms - with the only specialization being Xbox or PlayStation. But if all of them work on PC, Mobile, and Switch. I can say that currently these are now my day to day pair and I'm *almost* completely satisfied.