The Stealth 600 Gen 2 Headset is from Turtle Beach’s new Stealth series. It’s a lot like the Stealth 700, which we reviewed earlier, except it has a much smaller price tag. The price being a good $50 less than the 700 doesn’t bring the value of the functionality or the aesthetic of the product down, though. The Stealth 600 is as impressive as the 700 and stays true to its brand name and reputation.
Sufficiently Good Aesthetic
Just like the Stealth 700, the Stealth 600 is made out of plastic that is robust and sturdy. By excluding any metal at all, it is thankfully lightweight and has a great portability factor. But at the same time, it wins the game at managing to look classy and exude sophistication even with an all-plastic body. The exterior of the earcups of the cans has plenty of detail. The earcups have a thin layer of leather, a blue strip to add a little vibrancy and a black plastic body. The ear cushions are made out of breathable cloth and have a generous amount of padding inside.
The Stealth 600, overall, has a minimal design with a blue and black color scheme. The rotatable earcups have the brand logo etched onto them as well as printed on the interior. The brand name is engraved on the top of the headband. Admittedly, the cans are a little less flashy than the 700, probably because the latter feature hints of silver. But they’re far from being boring. For just $99, the sleekness and simplicity the Stealth 600 offers is brilliant.
Not the Most Ergonomically Designed
Now for the bad news. I was very disappointed upon putting the Stealth 600 on. Even though the padding in the headband is generous, the area is so small that all the pressure is accumulated in a very small area. There is too much pressure and it grips the top of your skull way too tightly. EPOS headsets take a very strategic route with this issue. They feature a split headband in their headsets such as the GSP 670 or the GSP 370.
When I loosened the grip a little to release some pressure, the headset kept sliding off my noggin. But when I set it to its minimum setting, it hurt. So there was really no solution with the Stealth 600. Apart from the aforementioned flaw, the headband is pretty detailed. It’s a tactile metal extender with plenty of markings and gives a generous amount of give when extended fully.
Unfortunately, the controls on the Stealth 600 are as unintuitive as the 700’s controls. The left earcup has four controls splayed on the band of its earcup along with a port and a mic, while the right earcup is empty. Even if two out of the six controls hosted by the left earcup could have been shared by the right, the layout could have been much simpler. Currently, it’s utterly clustered and very hard to get used to. At least, the game audio and chat volume dials could have been on different earcups to differentiate between which volume it’s controlling. Or the power button could have been a little further from the rest of the buttons so you don’t accidentally switch your headset off when trying to activate the superhuman hearing mode.
A Truly Immersive Experience
The Stealth 600 gave me an insanely immersive gaming session with its 50mm drivers. Its superhuman hearing mode enhanced every enemy reload and quiet footsteps to such an extent that I could locate exactly where they’re coming from. The audio was distortion-free and extremely precise. I made the Stealth 600 go through a couple of positional audio tests on YouTube and it passed them all with flying colors. I thoroughly enjoyed the GTA San Andreas session on my Chromebook, all thanks to a fairly-wide soundstage and layered audio.
The low frequency on the Stealth 600 was phenomenal. I ran it through a bass test and could hear clear bass till as low as 20Hz. Even at 15Hz, there was some rumble. While the high frequency wasn’t as crisp as I would’ve liked it to be, the low frequency and mid range were very impressive. I was pretty happy to learn that the super human hearing mode wasn’t just an exaggeration. There was a clear difference in both the modes and for a $99 headset to offer such brilliance with just the activation of a mode was amazing.
The mic on the Stealth 600 is a feature I’d like to mention separately. In fact, it deserves much more than a separate paragraph. I became a fan of the integrated mic on these cans, which t provide a connection as solid as rock. It transmitted my voice crystal-clear and without a single stutter. It is highly sensitive and has adjustable volume so you don’t have to make changes to your volume. The Turtle Beach Audio Hub app talked about in the Stealth 700’s review comes with mic monitoring and that’s the cherry on top.
Should You Buy the Stealth 600?
There’s no reason you shouldn’t buy these phenomenal headphones. With an approximately 15-hour battery life, a seamless connection and an app that enhances the functionality of the headset by a dozen times, the Stealth 600 is engineered precisely for gaming. With a price tag of just $99, I don’t think you can find a better deal.
Is it Hardcore?
Of course it is.
The Stealth 600 has some room for improvement in its ergonomics. But sound, aesthetics and battery-wise, it’s a solid headset at a ridiculously low price.
