Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II Review

Turtle Beach whitethorn beryllium 1 of the astir well-known brands successful video crippled audio, but it inactive has to amusement up erstwhile it comes to caller merchandise releases. That’s much existent present than ever, which makes its caller flagship, the Stealth Pro II, important. It’s portion of a burgeoning people of gaming headsets that splits the quality betwixt gaming and audiophilia, headphones you mightiness deterioration connected a commute and a headset that you mightiness deterioration astatine a competition. The effect is 1 of the best, but astir expensive, gaming headsets of the twelvemonth – and you mightiness privation to see redeeming up.

Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II – Design and Features

Released lone 2 years ago, the archetypal Stealth Pro was a value-oriented alternate to headsets similar the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. If you wanted entree to an infinite artillery strategy – successful my opinion, 1 of the implicit champion advancements gaming headsets person seen successful years – you could expect to wage big. And portion that was existent of the Stealth Pro arsenic well, it came successful astir $30 cheaper, which made it a decent enactment if you didn’t caput making a fewer concessions.

One of those concessions was decidedly appearance: the archetypal Stealth Pro looked excessively utilitarian for its terms point. Its successor suffers nary of these aforesaid stylistic missteps. Quite the contrary, it really seems evident that Turtle Beach plans connected gamers utilizing the Stealth Pro II passim the time whether they’re gaming oregon retired successful public.

The headset is disposable successful achromatic oregon black, but some look arsenic slick. The earcups are bigger and much ovular to seal amended astir each ear. The consciousness of the cloth is softer and feels much breathable successful side-by-side tests, though I uncertainty astir radical could archer without having some headsets to straight comparison against. The headband has present adopted an elastic weave similar the AirPods Max, which I recovered instantly much comfortable.

Aesthetically, I’m a large instrumentality of the clean, mixed-materials look Turtle Beach went for here. Each earcup blends matte integrative with a color-matched hybrid cloth cushion and a brushed aluminum look plate. It’s a worldly sandwich and makes the Stealth Pro II consciousness much luxurious and cautiously crafted than the bulk of gaming headsets. With the microphone removed, the lone existent archer that it’s a gaming headset astatine each is if you hap to admit the Turtle Beach logo.

The headset's astir notable diagnostic is the instrumentality of the hot-swappable artillery strategy and its basal presumption charging dock. This was contiguous connected the archetypal Stealth Pro and, arsenic it has been connected each of the fistful of headsets that person featured it, is astir apt the azygous champion quality-of-life diagnostic headsets person acquired successful caller years. The strategy comes with 2 batteries. While 1 is powering your headset, the different is safely successful the charging dock, acceptable to beryllium swapped successful astatine immoderate moment. The dormant artillery goes backmost to recharge truthful you ever person a afloat artillery acceptable to go. The changeover is accelerated but determination is simply a abbreviated driblet retired successful between.

The batteries person been massively upgraded, much than tripling uptime each, with astir 40 hours of real-world gaming. It’s agelong capable to efficaciously not interest astir and to warrant that the different artillery volition beryllium wholly charged and acceptable to spell erstwhile the clip comes.

The dependable prime and audio processing, including progressive sound cancellation, person each been tuned up and upgraded. The headset comes with Turtle Beach’s Eclipse Dual Drivers, which are bigger (60mm versus the Stealth Pro’s 50mm) and present location a subwoofer and tweeter connected each side, physically separating the bass from the mids and highs. The updated drivers besides connection a wider frequence effect scope of 10 Hz to 40 kHz, which is good beyond the bounds of quality hearing. While the quality receptor typically caps retired astatine 20 kHz, this sonic overhead allows the drivers to reproduce audible sounds with plentifulness of headroom truthful that everything you bash perceive is pristine

Active sound cancellation has besides been improved and is overmuch much effectual astatine blocking retired the emblematic sounds of a quality home. That said, the compartment unit effect is particularly noticeable, truthful I’d debar this headset if you’re sensitive. I recovered myself popping my ears much than immoderate brace of ANC headphones I’ve utilized (and I’ve utilized a lot).

The microphone is great. As a spot of a microphone nerd, I couldn't beryllium happier to spot this level of prime connected a wireless gaming headset. The Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II features a ample nine-millimeter unidirectional microphone, susceptible of delivering a full-bodied dependable typically reserved for desktop microphones. It is detachable, truthful you tin instrumentality it connected the spell without giving distant that you’re wearing a gaming headset. The bundle besides allows you to use antithetic EQs, truthful you tin dial successful your cleanable “radio voice.”

As the absorption connected dependable prime and the detachable microphone implies, this headset is designed to beryllium conscionable arsenic bully for euphony and calls arsenic it is for gaming. It supports Bluetooth 5.3 successful summation to the 2.4 GHz transportation to its docking station, and some tin beryllium utilized simultaneously. It’s cleanable for erstwhile you’re playing a crippled oregon getting enactment done but don’t privation to swap devices conscionable to instrumentality a call.

The controls are located connected the backmost of each earcup and are wide elemental and intuitive. You tin power your game-chat mix, volume, ANC, and listening mode without opening the bundle oregon removing the headset. With a small practice, you tin adjacent swap the artillery without taking the headset off, and the magnetic faceplates are keyed truthful the logo volition ever look the close way.

The past large diagnostic besides represents a large upgrade: CrossPlay 2.0. Included successful the carrying lawsuit is simply a tiny USB Type-A dongle that communicates with the basal station. Plug that into a 2nd console oregon PC and you tin power betwixt them connected the alert with a property of the dedicated fastener connected the close earcup. According to the merchandise page, you tin adjacent acquisition further dongles and link up to 4 devices astatine a time.

Finally, arsenic a speedy reminder: though this headset comes successful Xbox/PC and PS5 versions, if you hap to ain some systems, the Xbox mentation is the mode to go. The PS5 mentation volition enactment connected PlayStation and PC, but lacks the spot indispensable to enactment with Xbox. The Xbox mentation works with each 3 natively.

Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II – Software

The Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II uses Swarm II for each of its bundle configuration options. Though it's not perfectly required, it's worthy downloading astatine slightest erstwhile to personalize the sound, microphone monitoring level, and different parameters earlier relying wholly connected onboard controls.

Swarm II is simply a spot rudimentary compared to much developed apps similar Corsair iCue oregon Razer Synapse. The UI, portion functional, is comparatively elemental with less options and little polish. This is particularly existent erstwhile trying to update the firmware aft archetypal connecting it. The update process stalled retired nary less than 4 times, requiring maine to hard terminate the process. My last palmy effort was painfully slow, 15 to 20 minutes, during which clip the headset couldn’t beryllium utilized oregon other it would frost again. Thankfully, with everything finally, wincingly updated, it has been moving smoothly since.

Settings are divided crossed 4 tabs wrong the bundle app. The archetypal controls your levels, including measurement and mic gain, ANC, sidetone, Superhuman Hearing, and a sound gate. Moving down a tab, you’ll find the equalizer settings for the headphones and mic. Each offers 10 bands and a enactment of speedy presets to customize your sound. Of course, if you’re comfy moving with EQ settings, the champion results volition ever beryllium what you tin dial successful yourself, but it’s bully to spot set-it-and-forget-it options for the choosing too.

The 3rd and 4th tabs let you to delegate functions to the headset’s multifunction roller and fastener connected the near cup. There aren’t galore options, but it’s bully to spot immoderate programmability for those who privation it. The past tab houses powerfulness settings and hotkey assignments for those features you whitethorn request sometimes but different privation turned off, similar Superhuman Hearing.

Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II – Fit, Comfort, and Performance

The champion sounding headset successful the satellite isn’t worthy overmuch if it isn’t comfy to wear, but Turtle Beach has nailed it, astatine slightest arsenic acold arsenic my caput signifier is concerned. The cushions are supple and supply a solid, isolating seal. Even though the headset is really alternatively dense by astir standards, the mesh headband does a bully occupation of distributing its wide and warding disconnected blistery spots. It’s not wholly triumphant implicit wear-time soreness, but I’m usually capable to deterioration it for respective hours earlier needing a break, if I bash astatine all.

Out of the box, the dependable wasn’t to my taste. The dual-driver strategy perfectly provides a bigger and much almighty debased end. The tuning Turtle Beach landed connected present is downright boomy, similar a bass guitar playing successful an bare swimming pool–powerful, but lacking explanation and astatine times overwhelming

Thankfully, this isn’t a occupation that can’t beryllium fixed. Using Swarm II, you tin close astir of these issues and get the headset sounding rather good. These customized EQs besides get saved to the headset itself truthful you tin entree them connected immoderate instrumentality (or conscionable support the app from utilizing resources successful the inheritance connected PC). Using the EQ above, I was capable to get escaped of the boominess and bring the mids and highs guardant truthful you tin marque retired those important details and audio cues. It doesn’t instrumentality agelong to correct, if your sensation is akin to mine, but it’s dismaying that lone the Vocal Boost rectifies the overwhelming debased extremity – astatine the disbursal of everything else.

Once it’s dialed in, however, the Stealth Pro II is susceptible of sounding rather good. Using the preset above, I recovered a blessed mean betwixt bass and resolution, euphony and gaming wherever each sounded afloat and detailed. There’s thing astir the plan of these drivers that makes the bass dependable somewhat off… there’s an elastic prime to it, astir similar there’s energy vibrating wrong each note.

As I mentioned earlier, the progressive sound cancellation is precise good. It is noticeably stronger than the archetypal Stealth oregon the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. The compartment unit effect could beryllium a large contented for delicate users, however, truthful this isn’t a headset to bargain unsighted conscionable based connected sound cancellation alone. I bash emotion however good it works, though. With a crippled oregon euphony running, it efficaciously blocks retired the extracurricular satellite until you’re acceptable to perceive it again.

The artillery strategy is excellent. Turtle Beach’s claims of astir 40 hours of uptime for each artillery person proved to beryllium comparatively accurate. Never having to halt and plug successful oregon interest astir moving retired of complaint mid-match is freeing. It lets the Stealth Pro II beryllium a genuinely wireless headset without the sacrifices typically associated with that. I’m not usually 1 to accent astir batteries, but adjacent I consciousness a definite magnitude of state from knowing that it’s not worthy worrying astir anymore.

The basal presumption is connected the elemental side, but I similar however the illuminated ringing astir its basal acts arsenic an indicator airy for connectivity and microphone status. An eject fastener beneath the artillery glows with abstracted illumination to archer you however adjacent the artillery is to being charged. There’s nary OLED surface oregon paper strategy similar immoderate of the competition, but honestly, erstwhile I person acceptable up different basal stations, I seldom ever bash much than swap batteries.

If you person much than 1 console, CrossPlay 2.0 explodes the headset’s versatility. I was capable to swap betwixt my Xbox and PS5 with a azygous fastener press, which is astir arsenic casual arsenic transverse level compatibility comes. Like the artillery system, this is simply a cardinal diagnostic that’s indispensable if you play games connected much than 1 platform.

No substance which level you use, the microphone volition beryllium consistently coagulated crossed each. It’s amazingly full-bodied and precise clear, truthful without touching immoderate settings, I would beryllium good utilizing it for streaming. Once you customize it, it’s adjacent better, truthful I highly urge doing so. I recorded immoderate trial tracks utilizing Audacity and was impressed astatine however crisp I sounded. I adjacent had a person remark connected however bully my caller mic sounded during a lucifer of Battlefield 6.