Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 review: The future of gaming headsets is here

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 is all comfort, sound and features for current and next-gen consoles to usher in a new wave of gaming headsets.

Next-gen is here. No, I’m not talking about the Xbox Series X and Series S, or the PlayStation 5. I’m talking about the new wave of gaming headsets that have recently been released, that work with the current Xbox One and PS4, but are designed for and fully compatible with the new consoles from Microsoft and Sony.

Turtle Beach revealed both the Stealth 600 Gen 2 ($99.95) and the Stealth 700 Gen 2 ($149.95) at the same time, with options for PlayStation consoles and Xbox consoles. I didn’t have the pleasure of trying the 600 version, but did get a Stealth 700 Gen 2 for Xbox consoles for the purpose of this review.

After spending a couple of weeks using the Stealth 700 Gen 2 with my Xbox One X, I can easily say that this is one of the most comfortable and enjoyable headsets I’ve ever used due to the full package of what it offers.

Next-Gen Design and Ultimate Comfort

I’m not kidding when I say that the Stealth 700 Gen 2 is one of the most comfortable headsets I’ve worn. In fact, it’s so comfortable that I’ve chosen to use it with my phone instead of AirPods. A big part of that is the Aerofit cooling gel-infused ear cushions. They’re squishy and soft and stay truly cool around your ears. I’ve worn this headset for up to five hours at once, and it’s comfort and ability to keep me from feeling warm never wavered. You can also see the 50mm drivers and their metal, Stark-reactor looking casing through a thin layer of mesh, giving the inside of the over-ear cushions a cool look when they’re laying flat on your desk.

The next piece of comfort comes from the metal-reinforced headband. It features a soft, plush leatherette headband that provides a nice cushion to the top of your head, with or without a hat on. That headband is also really sturdy. There’s not a lot of give or flex to it, so I think it’ll stand the test of time.

For glasses wearers, I’m happy to report that with Turtle Beach’s ProSpecs Glasses Relief System, you can wear this for hours and your glasses won’t dig into the side of your head. Nothing but comfort here.

Easy to Setup and Full of Features

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 is jam-packed full of features. Right off the bat, the headset is easy to connect to your console or mobile device, with a process that takes no more than 10 seconds on your Xbox One. You can connect to your mobile device (for me it’s an iPhone) via Bluetooth and customize all of the headset’s settings with the Turtle Beach Audio Hub app. It’ll connect to your headset, and then you’ll be able to adjust volume levels, chat, mic monitor and set audio presets. I’ve actually fallen in love with the customization available with the Stealth 700 Gen 2.

With this headset, you’re also getting a flip to mute microphone that discreetly blends into the ear cup, and up to 20 hours of battery life (thought I’ve gotten around 18 hours).

My favorite thing this headset does is having the ability to listen to something on your paired phone while playing an Xbox One game. At any point I can answer a call or bring the audio of a YouTube video front and center while lowering the sound of the game. It’s an incredibly useful feature.

Audio and Voice Quality

Sticking with the theme of customization and features, they both compliment the wonderful quality of voice chat and the audio. In both recordings and party chat my voice was crisp and party members heard no background noise (keep in mind I live in a small apartment with two boys ages 11 and 8. They’re not quiet, to say the least, so the Stealth 700 Gen 2 gets the job done.

Audio, whether from games, movies, voice chat or music was crisp, with a solid amount of bass and the ability to tune it to precisely my preferences. There’s also the ability to switch to Superhuman Hearing with the press of a button. Superhuman Hearing gives you a competitive edge in games like Call of Duty and Fortnite where the ability to locate enemies from their footsteps makes a huge difference. It makes the audio associated with such movement crystal clear while putting other sounds into the background.

Overall, the audio quality on this headset is superb, and you have everything you need at the touch of your fingers to change the sound settings to where you like them. And oh my, the virtual 3D surround sound brings your games to life. I just recently played and beat Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice exclusively using the Stealth 700 Gen 2 as my audio output. Every whisper from every voice was able to be located. I don’t know if you’ve played Hellblade, but being able to locate a certain sound, voice or… er… scream, is incredibly useful.

So should you buy it?

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 is a steal at $149.95. It’s a moderately priced headset with the quality, features and audio fidelity of a headset twice its price. If you’re in the market for a new wireless gaming headset for your Xbox or PlayStation consoles, whether its the current consoles or the soon-to-release Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, the Stealth 700 Gen 2 is worth every dollar.

Score: 9.5/10