Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 - Review
A few years ago, I reviewed the Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max Wireless and when the offer for this Stealth 600 came up, I honestly thought that they were sending me an older device. But it turns out that this is the Stealth 600 Gen 3, so it’s the latest in the 600 series. Does this raise the rank, as they like to say, or have they beached themselves?
As with any headset, the form factor matters more than the functions, because if you can’t wear it than nothing else matters. Taking the headset from the box, I was struck at how similar it was to the previous headset I reviewed. Looking across their range, the look is pretty consistent and I suppose that is ok, a little extra flair would not have gone astray though. The main headband consists of a hard matte plastic exterior and a thin band of padding on the interior. When I looked at it, I figured it was going to be quite plush, because it looks like there is a lot. But upon wearing it and feeling around it, you will quickly discover the hard plastic core within. Thankfully, unless your head is quite large, the headset doesn't pull down, so the little padding at the top is enough. At no point in my time wearing the headset, did I encounter any discomfort from that band.
The padding around ear cups are somehow ever softer and when I compared them to my SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5, they were firmer, but still comfy. The shape of the ear cups is also iconic Turtle Beach, there is a nice taper to the top, giving plenty of space for ears of all shapes to fit in there. On most headsets the space for your ears to sit in, is often round, sometimes an oval but almost always rounded at the top. Here that tapered point means that you have a little more space, ensuring a more satisfying fit. Wearing the headset for hours at a time never presented any issues, though it is a tad heavier than I am used to, but that is merely a preference thing, overall though, it was nice and comfy.
Now as for buttons and options, things are a bit weird, namely everything is on the left side of the headset and the right is completely barren. The controls for power, mode select, volume, chat balance and EQ mode are all there, along with the charging port. It is a very packed space and I have to wonder why, I can understand most of the controls, but I feel the power button and mode select could have been on the other ear without losing anything. Something that I did like was that all of the buttons have their own shape and feel, so you won’t get the power button mixed up with the mode select button. The final item on the left ear is the microphone, which as you might imagine contains a flip to mute mechanism. Now I have never been the biggest fan of that style of muting, because if the mechanism wears down, you might not be able to raise it and have it stay put. With the Stealth 600 Gen 3, there are a few extra clicks to ensure the mic is held in place when raised, which I appreciate. In all my time wearing it, or attempting to shake it around like a mad man, the mic never moved until I actually took hold of it.
All of that is all well and good, but how does it sound? I really have no complaints here; I put it through the usual array of tests and all sounded great to me. Inside of each cup is a 50mm driver, which has been designed to allow for spatial audio support. Now that might not sound like a big deal, but given almost every other headset at a similar price point only offers up 40mm drivers, that extra 10mm adds a lot more punch to your audio enjoyment. One of the buttons on the left ear was for EQ mode, which lets you cycle between four presets offerings, one of which was bass boost. I found this to be quite good, as it did provide a boost as promised, but never at the cost of the other levels feeling washed out. Something I never bothered with, as I was using it mostly on PlayStation 5, was that you can create your own custom EQ settings via their app on PC.
Connecting it to the PlayStation 5 was as simple inserting the included dongle, and by the time I had sat back down, it had connected. Given that the headset was also Bluetooth enabled, I did connect it to my PC without issue that way, but when I attempted to connect it to the Switch 2, it just could not be found. I also tested the dongle on the Switch 2 and it also would not connect, I mean the headset is not noted for its connection to the Nintendo platforms, but I thought it would be worth testing. Back on the PlayStation 5, I was able to enjoy some amazing sounds in games like Astro Bot and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the sound of the wind as I was swinging was amazing. I even booted into a few older games like Star Wars Racers Revenge and while it was limited in what it offered, it still sounded great. I had a match with a friend in Lego Party, to test out the microphone and noticed no issues, the raise to mute worked as expected and they were able to hear me speaking without any issues. On the computer, I have a proper mic setup, so I was not going to worry about that there, but a few tests via Discord and Teams showed no issues.
A few years ago, if you had told me I would be praising a Turtle Beach headset, I would have found the nearest sanatorium for you to move to, but this headset is just amazing. The harder plastic outer does make it a little less forgiving than some other headsets in the price range, but it has enough padding where it matters to negate that. The impressive 50mm drivers in each cup deliver some amazing sound and the EQ presets will give you control out of the box. My only real issue with the headset was that it is heavier than I would like and while I did not encounter any discomfort after a few consistent hours of wear, other folks might. For the price that you will pay for this headset, it is easily one of the best value for money options around, proving they did in-fact raise the rank.
The Score
9.0
Review unit provided by Turtle Beach
The Pros
Incredible battery life, with around 80 hours of life from consistent use and quick charge to get you back into the action asap
Device is plug and play with the dongle, plus with the EQ options built in, you have control from the outset
The Cons
The harder plastic exterior is not as flexible as others, meaning those with larger heads might be at a disadvantage
With that plastic exterior comes weight and while not too much right away, it might be an issue with extended wear
