Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 review

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 was one of the most successful gaming headsets the company had ever released. Now Turtle Beach has released a new version to prepare for the next generation of games. The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 boasts improvements across the board, as well as support for next-gen consoles.

Is it going through?

Editor's Note: This review was updated August 6, 2021 to include new isolation and frequency response scores and graphs based on our

new test environment

.

Who is the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 for?

The players

looking for something ready for new consoles.

home workers

looking for a one-day option that also works on mobile platforms.

What does the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 look like?

The PlayStation and Xbox versions of the headset are available in the same black and silver color scheme.

Just like the recent

Stealth 600 Gen 2

If you've used a Turtle Beach gaming headset in the last couple of years, the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 is going to look pretty familiar. The headset has a lot in common visually with the popular

recon line

of the company, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

You might like:< /p>

Best Wireless Gaming Headsets

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 is a wireless gaming headset designed for

playstation4

, 5 , and PC. Unfortunately, while the new console generation has arrived, it hasn't brought a new ear of cross-platform compatibility, so you'll have to get the Xbox version if you're playing on the

Xbox One< /p>

and Xbox Series X.

The headphones are mostly plastic (with a metal strip running across the headband) and are fairly lightweight. Turtle Beach has designed a nice dual-hinge system that allows for a decent tilt range and allows the headphones to lay flat when you don't need to wear them. The ear pads are memory foam with a cooling gel layer covered in leatherette and fabric. Altogether this means that most head shapes will have no problem finding a comfortable position with this helmet on, and that includes

players with glasses

- there are channels carved into the ear pads intended to reduce pressure on the frames. It won't get you as far as velvet cushions, but it certainly makes getting a

comfortable seal

no longer a reality.

Cooling the gel in the ear pads really makes a difference with heat buildup.

The headset is quite easy to use. The tethered microphone unfolds from the left headset and reactivates when you pull it down. The left headset also has a set of onboard controls - there are buttons for power, audio preset modes and Bluetooth pairing, as well as dials for headset volume and local listening volume /monitor. This layout works well enough, although the audio mode and Bluetooth buttons are basically the same size and shape, as are the two volume dials, making them fairly easy to mix and match when you're in a game and you looking to change something. down.

Is the Turtle Beach Audio Hub app useful?

Turtle Beach offers a companion software application via mobile devices, called

audio-hub

, and the Stealth 700 Gen 2 supports it. It's a barebones application, which can be a good thing, depending on what you think of this type of software. The desktop version only supports firmware updates for the headset, so you'll need the mobile version if you want access to a handful of EQ presets, the Superhuman Hearing setting, and the ability to remap a few controls . Many gaming headsets use

applications to increase their functionality

, but Turtle Beach's mobile app is definitely a little less convenient than most.

How do you connect the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2?

The Turtle Beach Audio Hub mobile app is compatible with the headset via Bluetooth and offers a limited range of features, such as volume adjustments, equalizer presets, and superhuman hearing (more on that in a moment).

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 is largely a

plug-and-play case

, but it has a lot of options too. For gaming, the headset connects to your platform of choice using a 2.4GHz USB wireless RF dongle. Moreover, this gaming headset also supports simultaneous Bluetooth connections to your mobile device. It only offers Bluetooth 4.2 and support for

default SBC codec

, but it's not really expected to have a Hi-Res Audio device.

This feature is designed to allow you to answer a phone call or listen to something on your phone without having to pause your game or remove your headset. Unfortunately there's not really a wired option, although you can listen while it charges (via USB-C) as long as it's connected via Bluetooth or the dongle.

How is the battery?

Turtle Beach claims the Stealth 700 Gen 2 can last up to 20 hours on a single charge, and in

our tests

we found it far exceeds that. At a constant output of around 75dB, the headphones lasted 35 hours, 24 minutes of playtime on a single charge. Not only is that essentially 75% longer than advertised, but it's also one of the best battery results for a gaming headset we've reviewed.

Playing with the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2

This headset designed for PlayStation 4 and 5, but it also works well with other platforms.

Playing with the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 is a fairly easy experience to enjoy. It's simple to set up, comfortable enough for long sessions, and its battery life means you can rack up almost a day and a half of gaming before you need to charge it. The actual gaming experience is pretty standard, if a bit bare bones. Since the headset is designed for the PlayStation 5, it offers nothing on its own in terms of

virtual surround sound

. The console has its own built-in spatial audio standard, and it will work with headphones, but we're still weeks away from the PS5's release, so we can't assess it yet.

Hades

and

League of Legends

works great on

PC< /p>

, and the stereo experience while playing games like

Pokemon Sword

on

nintendo-switch

, and< /p>

Persona 5 Royal

on

playstation4

were just as good. The lack of surround sound at this point is a little disappointing if you really like games like

Fortnite

Where

Call of Duty,< /p>

But even then, stereo sound is hardly a significant handicap.

How does the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 sound?

The dip in the mids is too severe, but otherwise it's pretty close to our target curve.

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 offers fairly accurate sound for a gaming headset, but it encounters common pitfalls. Audio in the mid and high end is relatively accurate, but the bass gets a big boost across the board. Up to about 250Hz, the audio output is about twice as loud as it would otherwise be.

In music, a sound profile like this is ideal for EDM and other genres where the hearing is really intense and dominant.

bass sounds

is desirable. For example, the heavily boosted bass output and slightly boosted mids really bring out the rhythm guitar and kick/hi-hat combo that set the tone and rhythm of

Nightcall

from Kavinsky through clearly.

However, that's not all there is to the sound of the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2. The headset also has a feature available in the audio hub's mobile app called Superhuman hearing. This mode drastically changes the frequency response of the headphones

, and it is intended to make the game signals clearer.

What this mode actually does, besides just increasing the overall volume of the headphones, reduces the output on bass notes below 100Hz and high frequency sounds above 10kHz roughly up to the end. In-game, that means the rumble of explosions and gunfire won't interfere with the more subtle audio cues in heated multiplayer games, or anything else for that matter, because you probably won't hear the deepest parts of these sounds. This is an audio setting intended for competitive utility, rather than accuracy or overall listening enjoyment. If you're not really into competitive games (or like listening to music), I'd leave it off.

Such isolation is nothing special.

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 offers fairly average insulation

for a gaming headset. With attenuation like this, you shouldn't have any issues with normal house sounds, but outdoors it's a different story. Such a result isn't necessarily bad - gaming headsets aren't really designed for outdoor use - but it's a little disappointing, considering the Stealth 700 Gen 2's Bluetooth functionality. is the kind of gaming headset you could take to a coffee shop and use. You probably won't even get

fun looks

, given its understated aesthetic. It's a shame that the insulation performance just can't keep up with this potential.

How is the microphone?

Even very deep vocals should have just the right amount of bass with this microphone.

Turtle Beach has released many

gaming headsets with very precise microphones

over the past two years, and the Stealth 700 Gen 2 is no exception. This microphone delivers accurate audio output across the entire vocal spectrum, including bass where most gaming headsets fail. This means that people with deep voices should not experience thin or unusually quiet sounding issues due to a

Discord, Zoom

or console voice chat. Listen for yourself:

https://www.soundguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Turtle-beach-Stealth-700-Gen-2-mic-sample.m4a p>

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Should you buy the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2?

If you want something wireless with good battery life and an accurate microphone, you should consider the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2.

The microphone can

bow inward

also, if you need it a little closer to your mouth.

It's a very solid wireless gaming headset. Like most Turtle Beach headsets, it has decent sound, a very accurate microphone, and a comfortable frame for a long time. The Superhuman Hearing feature is kind of odd, but otherwise this is a solid, if a bit basic, gaming headset. We can't quite gauge how it will perform with the PlayStation 5 just yet, but if it performs as well there as it does anywhere else, you won't be disappointed.

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2< /p>

All prices are quoted in USD unless otherwise stated. Prices may change over time and vary by region. Unfortunately, we cannot list Amazon prices on the site, as they vary widely by currency.

$ on Amazon

Alternatives to the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2

All of that isn't to say it's a full game audio option. If you are looking for a

wireless gaming headset for pc

, something like

Logitech G Pro X Wireless

Where

Razer BlackShark V2 Pro

is certainly a little better suited to your needs.

If you are an Xbox gamer, this headset offers a

Xbox Series X/S target model

, and there are many other great options for the console, like the

Razer Thresher Ultimate

for Xbox One or

SteelSeries Arctis 9X

. Alternatively, the

LucidSound LS50X

is a great premium choice with Bluetooth capabilities and a perfectly thin microphone.

The LucidSound LS50X is a fairly bulky headset.

People playing on the Nintendo Switch might want to check out the

SteelSeries Arctis 1 Wireless

Where

Arctis 7p

gaming headsets: these are the only ones on the market that come with a USB-C dongle and therefore work wirelessly on Nintendo Switch when disconnected.

Regardless, if you're looking for something to future-proof your audio setup, the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 brings a lot to the table for a fairly reasonable price.