As some of you who read the Gadgeteer on a regular basis may have seen, I previously reviewed the Turtle Beach XO THREE gaming headset. If you read my summary on that review you saw one of my issues with the XO THREE, or any gaming headset in general, is the lack of a removable/replaceable cord. Turtle Beach does have a wireless gaming headset, as a matter of fact they have a new wireless gaming headset for the Xbox One, the STEALTH 600. The STEALTH 600 is part of their Ear Force line and the folks at Turtle Beach were nice enough to send me a set to review.
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While wireless headphones are not uncommon for console gamers most of them in the past required a transmitter that you had to attach to your Xbox to use, but the Ear Force STEALTH 600 uses the native Bluetooth from the Xbox One to send sound to the headset.
The Turtle Beach STEALTH 600 headset comes with the following:
- Headset
- Micro USB to USB cable
- Quick start guide
The Turtle Beach web page list the following as the headsets features:
- Xbox wireless
- Flip up mic
- Independent game and chat volume controls
- Windows Sonic Surround Sound
- Super human hearing
- 15- hour battery life
- Glasses friendly
- Mic monitoring
- Powerful 50mm speaker
- Audio presets, including bass boost
The only issue you may have with the setup is if you are using an older Xbox One,, the instruction are made for the new Xbox One X.
The left side of the STEALTH 600s ear cup has the three position boom microphone, the on/off button, and the preset button. The right side ear cup has the Turtle Beach logo.
The bottom of the left ear cup has an indicator light, a Micro USB port, and the connect button.
Located on the rear of the left ear cup on the Turtle Beach STEALTH 600s are the game volume dial and the chat volume dial. The right side ear cup has no controls.
As mentioned previously the boom mic has three positions. All the way to the rear is the off position, halfway between the rear and all the way down is mute mode and all the way down turns the mic on. This design is fine, but it can be difficult to try to mute the mic when in full on battle mode. A nice feature is an audio chime that lets you know when you mute and unmute the mic.
The insides of both the left and right ear cups are cushioned with a soft cloth cover. Covering the actual speaker inside the ear cup is soft cloth with the Turtle Beach logo. I have been using this headset since I got them to review and I will say they are pretty comfortable. I wear my headsets for several hours at a sitting and find these more comfortable than my Turtle Beach XO THREEs, but not on the same level as my Polk Striker Pro Zxs.
The top of the headband on the STEALTH 600 headset is made of a flexible material with “TURTLE BEACH” stamped across the top.
The inside of the headband has soft padding covered by a soft cloth material.
On both the right and left sides of the STEALTH 600s are the swivel mount points that holds the ear cups to the headband. They swivel a full 90 degrees to the back allowing them to lay flat for packing, but only swivel a little forward. With the height adjustability and swivel of the ear cups the STEALTH 600s should fit most folks comfortably.
Set up and play out of the box was fairly simple, charge the headset with the included Micro USB to USB cable (you can do this thru the USB port on your Xbox), sync the headset with your Xbox One and play. One caveat here, the quick start guide seems to have been written with the new Xbox One X in mind so you may have to look around or remember where the Bluetooth sync button is on your Xbox (it is the same button you use to sync your controller).
Positives
- Wireless
- Easy to sync
- Rechargeable
- Price
Negatives
- None
Final thoughts
So, what’s my bottom line here? I think Turtle Beach hit a home run with the STEALTH 600 headset. The first thing that comes to mind is the price. Based on previous and current pricing for wireless gaming headsets, the STEALTH 600 is great at $99.95. Ease of use is another place where Turtle Beach has done it right. Being able to sync the headset straight to the Xbox without having to have an external transmitter means there is one less thing to break or loose. Although the muting feature on the mic is not the easiest to use, the mic itself is well made and everyone I gamed with said my voice was clear. Having a separate volume controls for gameplay and chat is another nice feature. In the heat of battle, you want your sound priority to be on the enemy, not your buddies. Being able to recharge the STEALTH 600 headset means no more battery replacement. Like the Xbox controllers, Turtle Beach has the ability to push out firmware updates to make the headsets work better. Like I inferred above, I really like the Turtle Beach STEALTH 600 headset, it is not the most feature-rich wireless headset that Turtle Beach makes but for $99.95 they may be the best value. Let’s face it even though my ego says I am on a pro gamer level my wallet lets me know I am not.
Price: $99.95
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Turtle Beach.