Turtle Beach recently released the Stealth series and they’re nothing less than a treat for gamers who wish to have impressive sound and an attractive body at a very reasonable price. Today, we’re reviewing their Stealth 700 Gen 2 Headset that’s primarily designed for Xbox 360 and Xbox One but, thanks to Bluetooth pairing technology, it works perfectly well with phones too.
Well Thought-Out Design
The Stealth 700 sports a plastic body that feels very sturdy. It gives off an expensive vibe and isn’t flimsy from any angle. The headset manages to be lightweight in addition to being robust. Aesthetics wise, the Stealth 700 is fairly minimal. It sports the Turtle Beach logo with a single silver ring running along the earcup. The headband features a convenient extender that offers a lot of give when extended fully.
Underneath the headband, there’s generous leather padding that rests comfortably against the top of your skull. The earcups are made out of leather with a layer of cloth covering the area that touches your ears. I found this feature very strategic not only because of the extra comfort it provides but also because of the part it plays in preventing overheating.
Another appreciated feature of the Stealth 700 is its integrated mic that goes inside the headset when not in use, ensuring that you don’t look like a newscaster at all times. When you have non-gaming needs, you can tailor the headset accordingly. Other cherished features include the ability to move the mic not just up and down like most headsets but also close and far. This feature coupled with the fact that the mic is small and stops right before your mouth ensures that your teammates are not bothered by your breathing sounds.
A Snug Fit
The Stealth 700 is truly one of the snuggest headsets I’ve come across. The fit is superb and almost every single angle feels comfortable. Even around my small head, it feels nice and tight. It offers a generous amount of support and padding from almost all sides and stays fixed in place. A minor gripe I had with the padding was in the interior of its earcups. Just like the Logitech G733, the Stealth 700 doesn’t provide much padding in the centre of its ear cushions. As a result, the cartilage of my ears kept touching the walls of the earcups’ interior. The hard metal grills definitely didn’t feel nice against my ears and left me wishing for a little more padding.
The Most Common Problem Regarding Controls
The controls on the Stealth 700 features the same problem I am so used to critiquing by now. Just like in Sennheiser’s HD350BT, they’re all clustered on the left earcup. I fail to understand why tiny switches that need to be toggled and little dials that need to be rotated can’t be divided equally among both the earcups. And if headphone manufacturers are so obsessed with displaying them all on the same cup, why does it have to be the left? Hosting some of the important controls on the right earcup would have been a much more intuitive design.
It’s important to add, though, I really appreciate the Stealth 700’s controls. It has a dedicated switch for almost every function which adds quite a lot of points to its convenience factor. For instance, the pairing switch for Xbox and phone is different. Mic configuration has a separate dial. There’s a special button dedicated to activating the headset’s superhuman hearing mode. The Stealth 700 looks like it’s truly made for gaming, I just wish the layout could’ve been a little simpler.
Impressive Audio
I had a rather fun gaming session with the Stealth 700. It came through especially in its low frequency. There was an actual thump that I felt behind my ears and that made every gunshot and explosion sounds a dozen times better. The mixed material earcups provided complete passive noise isolation and allowed me to direct all my focus on the game. Listening to a couple of songs, I felt like the audio could’ve had a little more detail to it. It was very surface-level and lacked depth. But, overall, with a sufficiently good mid-range and a phenomenal low-frequency, I had no major complaints. The Stealth 700 is designed for gamers and fulfilled my gaming-related needs. Hardcore audiophiles like me have plenty of other headsets designed for music to opt for.
The Stealth 700’s superhuman hearing mode proves that the headset is manufactured with nothing but gaming in mind. The feature is not just another marketing strategy. It’s legit and you actually feel a difference when switching it on. The commentary was significantly enhanced with this feature activated. It felt as if the voices of my teammates were on a separate layer from the game audio. Not just their voices, but the sound of their footsteps and breathing was dramatically enhanced. All in all, it was a super fun gaming session and commentary-heavy games were a treat to play.
An Even More Impressive Audio Hub
What made the session a dozen times better was the highly impressive Turtle Beach Audio Hub app the headset comes with. Sometimes audio configuration apps are just a box that headphones companies feel compelled to tick. There isn’t a lot of effort put into it and its more show than functionality. But the Turtle Beach Audio Hub is made with the aim of complementing the already-great sound that the headset offers. It hosts a number of game presets such as bass and treble boost along with standard features such as noise gate and voice prompts. Just like the EPOS GSP 670, there is a separate option to control chat volume. So you don’t have to tire yourself out by shouting at your teammates. You can leave it to the audio hub app. I thoroughly enjoyed altering the presets and noticing the change in my gaming experience.
Other Appreciated Features
Pairing on the Stealth 700 was a breeze. It only took a few seconds for it to detect my phone and manage a stable connection with it. The headset provided me with updates on pretty much everything from battery level to pairing status. The advertised battery life is 20 hours and on average volume and on-and-off usage, I clocked a total of around 21 hours. In addition to the aforementioned pros of this great headset, it continues to impress me in other areas as well. Hence, its $149 price tag is justified if you consider its brilliant audio, great design and reliable body.
Is it Hardcore?
Definitely.
The Stealth 700 is a complete package. It offers an insane gaming experience coupled with an impressive battery life and a robust body.