Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Wireless Headset Review

There’s nothing quite like that feeling of opening up a product—whether it be a toothbrush, a pair of shoes or, say, a wireless headset—and just knowing you’ve got something above-standard. Opening up the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 wireless headset elicited exactly that feeling in myself. Sat down with it in my lap, spying its chunky, sturdy frame; squeezing the faux leather ear-cushions and running a finger over its bold yet tasteful design; picking it up and feeling the device’s reassuring weight; and finally placing it on my head to enjoy its secure fit sandwiching my skull had me slightly excited, giddy even. I couldn’t resist letting a little smile creep up from the corners of my mouth.

I should probably explain. For financial reasons, I’ve grown accustomed to buying my tech on a budget: controllers, mice, keyboards and—yes—even my headsets are typically chosen by way of the “sort by price - low to high” function of most major online retailers. So when I was given the chance to review Turtle Beach’s wireless Stealth 700 Gen 2 headset, I was eager to see what I’d been missing out on all these years. It may be classed as a mid-range product, but to me, it was sure to be a luxury, a perfect pairing for my shiny new Xbox Series S. On that note, it’s worth highlighting that while the headset is designed for the Xbox Series S/X and Xbox One, it also works with Windows and Android (following my testing). Reports indicate that it’s compatible with the PlayStation 4 too, albeit not wirelessly, but I wasn’t able to verify that.

Enough rambling, it’s time to find out: what had I been missing out on with my budget accessories all these years? Well, initially, it seemed the answer was “a spot of set-up”. After pulling out the headset and sorting through the rest of the box’s contents (quick-start guide, USB-C charging cable, customer support information and a Turtle Beach logo sticker), I was directed to upgrade the headset’s firmware through Turtle Beach’s proprietary PC app. I downloaded it on my PC, opened it up, plugged in the headset, pressed “go” (or something to that effect) and the program took care of the firmware upgrade from there. Great! I was all good to go. The firmware update was about as convenient and painless as possible; no complaints there.

The theme of convenience continues with Turtle Beach’s Audio Hub smartphone app. By connecting the headset via Bluetooth to my phone and opening up the app, I was able to adjust the audio settings to my liking. Here, I was given the choice to activate the headset’s (absurdly named) Superhuman Hearing setting, a function designed to enhance games’ audio, helping Turtle Beach users hear approaching footsteps and such to give them a “competitive edge” over their opponents. While I don’t think it improved my gaming performance—and trust me, there’s a lot of room for improvement on that front—it was still incredibly immersive being able to pinpoint the locations of sounds in games like Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (one of the titles I tested this headset with).

In fact, the headset's performance, both in terms of audio quality and microphone clarity, was outstanding. I genuinely felt more invested in games, wandering around the idyllic woodland of Eastshade, for instance, listening to babbling brooks, chirping birds and my own in-game footsteps in a level of detail I'd never before noticed. Using it to communicate was a major success too; at least, nobody I spoke with complained about the quality of my voice (any more than they do in real life). I later confirmed the microphone's quality by connecting it to my phone and recording a little audio ramble—it sounded crystal clear to me. Oh, and as a side-note, if you see images of this headset which appear to be missing the microphone, that’s because it can be pulled out and tucked away neatly inside a gap found in the left earpiece. Gotta love those little touches!

I do admit that the headset felt tight on my head at first, almost like a clamp was trying to gently squeeze my brain out through my nose. I exaggerate of course; it wasn't that bad, and I quickly got used to its clenching presence upon my head. Surprisingly, despite how bulky and tight it is, Turtle Beach claims that its headset is still glasses-friendly. As someone who's no stranger to glasses and headphone-inflicted injuries (another exaggeration), I was sceptical that the Stealth 700 would follow through on this bold claim. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that the headset and my glasses got on just fine. I was spared of that familiar nuisance of my glasses frame digging into the side of my head and nose—hallelujah!

I could be wrong; this headset could be nothing special and I could be a figurative pauper displaying an inordinate reaction to his first taste of the good life. I don't think that's the case, though. From its sturdy and unobnoxious design (with not a single glaring light in sight), to its easy setup and long battery life, this is one headset that looks good, sounds better and—if you can afford it—well deserves to be on your wishlist.