Review: Turtle Beach Stealth 700 (Gen 2) – a solid, mid-range gaming headset

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

[letsreview postid=”137852″]

Gaming headsets are a dime a dozen, with many of them offering essentially the same features, sound profiles, and connection offerings. Often, buying decisions come down to brand loyalty, what’s on sale, or simply what headset looks the best to the buyer.

A household name in gaming accessories, Turtle Beach, is no stranger to gaming headsets, and recently, the company released a handful of new offerings to gamers on all platformers.

One headset is the Stealth 700 (Gen 2) for PlayStation 4 and PS5. It will also work on PC, which is a nice touch. Coming in at $149, can it compete with other similarly priced headsets?

Features and comfort

I have a love/hate relationship with headsets. I’m picky and quickly get annoyed at headsets after wearing them for multiple hours at a time. So, where does the Stealth 700 headset stand?

Somewhere right in the middle. They aren’t uncomfortable by any means, but even after wearing them for multiple hours, they still feel tight on my head, to the point where long sessions require me to switch to other headphones to give myself a break from the pressure.

The earcups are a decent size, and my ears fit comfortably in them. The Stealth 700 also features cooling gel-infused ear cushions and seems to do a good job, as my head and ears never felt overly warm during sessions.

For glasses wearers, you can also take off the earcups and adjust a channel within the earcups that are intended to help relieve pressure caused by the arms of your glasses. While using Gunnar Lighting Bolt 360 glasses, I did notice a bit of relief after making an adjustment. These also have thicker arms, making the relief all the more appreciated. While not super noticeable, it was definitely nice, as it helped with some of the tightness mentioned up above.

One thing I did appreciate about the unit was the flip-out, flip-to-mute mic. Stealth really is an appropriate word here, because when flipped up, it’s easy to miss that the unit even contains a microphone.

This goes especially nice with the unit’s ability to use Bluetooth on your Android and iOS devices.

Finally, we have the battery life. Turtle Beach states that the headset features 20 hours of playback on a single charge, and from my testing, this holds true. In fact, I averaged closer to 25 hours per charge when using the headphones at a normal volume level.

Ok, ok, ok, but how do they sound?

While things like comfort can depend on the individual using the headset, audio is typically a bit more defined. Does the sound produced from the Turtle Beach 700 (Gen 2) warrant a $150 price tag?

From testing multiple games, I would say yes. While the sound is not going to blow you away, the soundstage is solid and gamers looking to immerse themselves in their games should be happy with the sound these produce.

That said, it’s a double-edged blade. You see, nestled within the Turtle Beach app, there’s a mode called Superhuman Hearing which can be accessed through the Turtle Beach app. Without it, the headset can feel a bit bass-heavy, which in turn can drown out some of the other things the game you’re playing wants you to hear.

Turn the mode on, however, and you’ll notice that the more overpowering bass-heavy sounds like explosions are a bit duller, allowing you to hear things like footsteps and gun reloads easier. Obviously, this mode is pointed more towards players playing competitive shooters like Call of Duty, but it is a nice feature that allows for some options when gaming.

The thick earpads help keep external noises to a minimum, but it isn’t anything special.

So, should you buy the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 headset?

At $150, the Stealth 700 (Gen 2) headset sits comfortably in the mid-range gaming headset market. Its build quality, sound profile, and features definitely warrant the price tag.

If you are a fan of Turtle Beach, there’s not much to dislike here. Sure, they fit a little too snug for my liking, but as I mention in almost every headset review, I’m extremely picky on this front. Past that, battery life is solid and sound quality meets expectations.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Review: Meshforce M7 Tri-Band Whole Home Mesh WiFi System – a mesh network that just works
• Review: EPOS I Sennheiser GSP 602 Gaming Headset
• Review: Sennheiser GSP 370 wireless gaming headset
• Review: Astro C40 PlayStation 4 controller – a customizable, overpriced disaster

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more. A sample was provided for the purpose of this review.