Turtle Beach Stealth 520 Wireless Gaming Headset Review

Now, I’ve only ever owned headsets for PC gaming, so when I was handed this headphone box which detailed “PS4|PS3” on the front, my eyes widened in anticipation. I LOVE console gaming, there I said it! There’s no better feeling than lounging on your sofa on a Sunday afternoon in your pyjamas, turning on your console and blasting your way through online gaming. However, if your sofa is across the room from your TV and you don’t have surround sound, you miss out on all the awesome sound design in a game.

Headsets always looked interesting but I couldn’t deal with the idea of having a cable strewn across the room, being tethered to a console isn’t my idea of a fun time. BUT when I opened this box, the clouds separated, my eyes focused, the heavenly music started playing and a beam of light highlighted the word…. “Wireless”. As I wiped away a tear of joy I read the setup instructions, plugged in the USB transmitter to my PS4 and turned on my new best friends. It was that simple! The whole setup process took me a total of less than 5 minutes.

Before playing any games or listening to any videos I sat back and enjoyed the experience that was noise-cancelling surround sound headphones. The lightweight headset fit easily onto my head and the cushions ear pads fit snugly around my ears, my ears were not too hot or too cold, they were just right. The headphones also seemed durable! The plastic is resistant to scratches and general wear and tear and all the moving parts are solid. Although, if you’re looking for style over substance, these headphones aren’t for you, Turtle Beach always focus more on the technology inside, rather than the look and style.

And what technology it is! The 520 headset comes with built in Dolby DTS compression which allows for a truly immersive sound environment when gaming. You can choose between 2 sound broadcasts: Matrixed and Discreet. Basically, you can have the sound coming through 1 channel or several channels, which one are you going to choose? Headsets that support Dolby DTS are very limited now as they are new on the market, making this budget headset the first of its kind in the price range available. Another feature of this headset is the “Superhuman Hearing” option, this allows you the hear the faintest of sounds in the distance. It is SUPPOSED to point out enemy footsteps or shooting far away from you. In the environments that I’ve been using it, I find it to be a hindrance rather than a useful tool. I simply use the “natural” sound preset that Turtle Beach have provided and it works wonders!

Whilst playing my games I was also able to try out the microphone that comes with the headset. It comes as a simple, small boom mic that connects to the headset through a 3.5mm AUX connection, so it can be detached and reattached whenever you want. The boom is very versatile and easy to move so you can reposition it whenever you feel necessary. The headset has a system called “Mic Monitoring” which allows the speaker to hear everything they’re saying with clarity, which is a great feature when you’re using noise-cancelling headphones. Along with the mic there are simple controls on the right headphone which allow you to raise and lower the volume of your own voice and mute the microphone if needed.

And speaking of useful features there is also a 3.5mm AUX connection in the left headphone too, but this one is for your phone connection. How many times have you not heard your phone go off because you’ve been using your headset? With these headphones, all you need to do is use the provided AUX cable, plug it into your headphone jack of your phone and connect it to the left headphone. You can then speak into your phone using your headphone mic! Genius! The only problem is, I was scared to play any games whilst using the headset microphone as I wasn’t sure if the phone conversation would feed through to the in-game chat. I don’t want my fellow players to know what I’m ordering from my local takeaway!

Summary

With a battery that lasts 15 hours I could use this headset for multiple reasons, playing games, watching Netflix and YouTube and even listening to my favourite radio stations and not have to recharge in between. The comfort is second to none and the range on these is amazing. My gaming experience has been enhanced 10 times thanks to the built-in systems and I can now game way into the night without disturbing my roommates! These headphones provide a sound quality that you usually find in the £250 price range, and at less than half the price (£129). Thank you Turtle Beach for these headphones at this budget price. No doubt, if you own a PS4 or PS3 and you need a new headset, look nowhere else. These are the best of the bunch.