A few years ago, Turtle Beach released their successful Stealth 600 series gaming headset giving gamers a solid audio experience at a very affordable price. Now with a new generation of consoles almost here they have followed it up by releasing the Stealth 600 Gen 2 which you’ll be able to use on both your current gen and next gen consoles. How does this latest pair perform?
The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 is once again affordable coming in priced at $99.99. There is an Xbox version and a PlayStation version of the headset with each of them being colored to match their platforms. I got to get my hands on the PlayStation version which I’m told will work on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 when it launches. This same thing applies for those who plan to pick up the Xbox version of the headset. With those basic things out of the way let’s talk about what this headset offers.
Design:
The Stealth 600 Gen 2 has a solid matte plastic design with a flip-up omni-directional mic on the left ear cup. This left ear cup also houses all of the buttons and volume sliders on the back of it. You have your power button, audio mode button, mic and volume wheels, and your USB-C charging port. I felt like some of these could’ve been put on the other ear cup to make it a bit easier but it didn’t take me long to get used to where they were all located while I was using it. The ear cups have fabric foam cushions on them and there is a padding under the top of the headband. The ear cups didn’t really move on me while wearing them and the band feels sturdy enough that I don’t have any worries about it breaking. Overall, I felt like they were pretty comfortable to wear even after several hours of play.
Specs:
Here are the exact specs of the headset
Speaker Frequency Response
- 20Hz – 20kHz
Speaker Size
- 50mm with Neodymium magnets
Battery
- Rechargeable 900mAh Lithium Polymer with up to 15 hours of battery life
Getting it working:
Getting the headset working on your PlayStation 4 is very easy to do as you just have to charge it up with the included USB-C charging cable and then plug in the included USB transmitter into a USB port on your console. The transmitter is smaller than some other ones I own making it so that it doesn’t stick out much. It’s easy to tell that it’s working as well by the light on it. I do wish the USB-C charging cable was longer though as the short length of the one included means I won’t be able to charge it and play at the same time if I needed to. Still, it doesn’t take too long to fully charge it so it’s not too much of an issue. It’s also worth mentioning that the PlayStation headset also works on my Nintendo Switch and PC. All I had to do was plug the transmitter into their USB ports and I was good to go.
Performance:
The Stealth 600 Gen 2 held up pretty well during the several games I played while using it. I played games such as Fall Guys, Call of Duty: Warzone, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, and more and I thought the audio experience was very good overall. The headset has some different options to let you get the kind of experience you want out of it. The Mode button on it allows you to switch between some different presets such as Signature Sound, Extra Trebel, and Extra Bass. One of the better features is for some reason tied to the power button though and that’s the Superhuman Hearing feature. This is best used for hearing footsteps in Call of Duty: Warzone but why it doesn’t have its own button on the headset is puzzling. With it being tied to the power button it’s all too easy to end up turning the headset off when you just want to toggle that feature on or off.
I like the mic on this headset as well as when it’s flipped up it blends right in with the rest of the headset design. It also automatically mutes when flipped up which is really nice. I asked some other people in the party how I sounded while playing Warzone and they all said I was coming through pretty clear so the mic seems to be sufficient.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I was rather pleased with the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 headset. It delivers great performance and a comfortable wear for a very affordable price point. The ear cups aren’t as comfortable without memory foam and some of the buttons could be designed better. Those who seek the ultimate audio experience might want to look to a more expensive pair for this set should please many gamers. With PlayStation 5 compatibility seemingly confirmed I’ll be looking forward to seeing how they perform on that when it launches this holiday.
*Headset provided by the publisher for this review.
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Headset
$99.99
Pros
- Set up process is easy
- Lightweight design
- Solid audio performance with several preset options
- Affordable price point
- Solid performing flip up mic that blends in with headset design
Cons
- Some of the button functionality could be better
- Wish the USB-C cord was longer
