For more than a year, I put up with the crappy headset that came with my PlayStation 4. It was the gaming headset equivalent of those terrible $5 Gumy earbuds you see hanging by the dozen in Walmart. Sometimes, I couldn’t hear my friends at all, and my microphone cut out so many times I lost count. Eventually, the tiny plastic fiend died. As annoying as that was, the broken headset forced me to realize how much I hated playing with it.
I’ve used a few other headsets since, but the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 600 Wireless Surround Gaming Headset impressed me more than most. At $100, this set is cheaper than many top headsets, but has a leg up on many of them. Often, “wireless” console headsets still require you to plug them into a controller, but not here. This is a completely wireless over-ear headset—you're sans cables until it comes time to charge the battery.
The Stealth 600s sound sensational and feel fantastic, but it takes a lot more alliteration to describe how freeing it is to just turn on a headset and go. If you’ve never ducked out for snacks between Overwatch matches while remaining completely connected, you’re missing out. A good frolic to the fridge is worth its weight in loot boxes.
Like most gaming headsets, both the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the Ear Force Stealth 600 are constructed from plastic; each adorn the signature green and blue colors of their console.
These cans are highly adjustable and should fit most heads comfortably, thanks to some extra plush foam padding on the top. Instead of a leathery covering on the earcups and padding, Turtle Beach used a mesh fabric—almost a kind of microfiber cloth. It doesn’t feel as luscious as leather and is a tad scratchy, but it does a nice job dissipating heat and sweat from your ears. For those who wear glasses, the padding in the middle of the ear cups is softer, putting less pressure on your frames as you game.
The left earcup is where the action happens. On its side, you can flip out the microphone, which automatically turns on/off as you snap it into position on the side of your mouth. Pull it up, and it mutes you. I’ve enjoyed this style of muting a lot more than the tiny, confusing toggles on many corded headsets—once you've used a microphone like this, it's hard to go back. On the back of the left earcup, two wheels adjust main volume and chat above a large power button that sits below a mode selector. The mode button lets you access specialized audio profiles, including surround sound and a special “Superhuman Hearing” mode that’s supposed to let you you hear things like the leaves rustling behind you, offering a tactical advantage. It definitely gave me superhuman hearing, and by that I mean everything was a lot louder. I’m not sure any of the modes saved my bacon in games like Fortnite, but it was still fun playing around with boosting the bass, treble, and vocals.
