The Turtle Seashore Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max has a quite cumbersome title, however plenty of that comes from this headset’s pedigree, an improve to a second-generation wi-fi headset that’s the most effective in its class. It’s dearer, but in addition outright higher – and it’s one in all my favourite gaming headsets available on the market proper now.
By way of its core characteristic set, this new Max mannequin is basically just like the unique Stealth 700 Gen 2. It builds on a number of years and different fashions of Turtle Seashore headset, and because of this it’s fairly rattling sharp in all of the metrics that matter.
It’s snug and might be worn for hours, as an example. It feels about as sturdy as a light-weight, wi-fi headset might be, and appears constructed to face up to the standard-issue put on and tear that’ll come from placing it on, hurriedly ripping it off, and tossing it to 1 facet of the couch – although I clearly wouldn’t precisely wish to sit on it.
I’m a giant fan specifically of the supplies used for the headset and of its design, which I really feel does a reasonably good job of bridging ‘gamer’ aesthetics, however with out over-the-top RGB lighting and a shouty, edgy aesthetic that’d make this one thing you wouldn’t wish to put on out in public. That’s vital, too – this headset has each console and bluetooth capabilities, which implies you need to use it for gaming, but in addition as a headset whilst you’re out and about, for music, taking calls, or moveable gaming on a telephone or different machine.
The most important change on this new ‘Max’ variation is definitely to the headset’s battery life, with Turtle Seashore claiming that the set can final for over 40 hours. A few checks in VG247’s extremely unscientific lab do reveal this determine to be correct – placing it somewhat method under another basic wi-fi headsets, however in the direction of the top-end of gaming-specific units. Even for those who do run out of cost, it’s received fast charging, which means plugging it in by way of USB-C for ten or fifteen minutes will get you anyplace as much as seven or eight hours’ of motion.
Comfort is the secret, actually. The battery life is handy. So too is the connectivity. There’s broad compatibility right here, with the headset’s full suite of options suitable with all Xbox One and Xbox Collection consoles, PS4, PS5, Swap, telephones, PCs, together with the Steam Deck. Connecting is available in one in all two kinds – bluetooth, or a USB dongle that connects the headset over a 2.4GHz wi-fi sign.
Let’s discuss dongle first. I examined this on each Xbox (which is what the headset I examined is primarily marketed as being for), PS5, and PC, and every time it linked rapidly and painlessly to the machine. This must also theoretically work on a docked Swap, and even on Steam Deck with a USB adapter. The dongle has a selected ‘Xbox’ mode, which unlocks further advantages on that platform, nevertheless it works elsewhere, too – simply flick the swap on the dongle to ‘USB’.
Nevertheless, the opposite methodology is simply as viable: Bluetooth. That is suitable with all the above too, although you may get extra options on sure units with the dongle. One helpful little characteristic is the flexibility to have each Bluetooth and Dongle connections directly – so you would pair your telephone and take calls with out interrupting your recreation audio, with the amount fastidiously leveled between the 2 audio sources. It additionally permits you to arise, go away your gaming session, and stroll out of the door along with your headset nonetheless going to hearken to music or a podcast in your telephone. This can be a area of interest characteristic, however one I actually recognize.
All of this combines with that hefty battery life and different sensible design adjustments, reminiscent of a better-padded headband, to create an general a lot better headset. My greatest destructive, actually, stays the obtainable software program on PC and cellular – which is nice on paper, however just a bit bit garbage in observe. If Turtle Seashore desires to supply additional software program to energy up its headsets, it must be good, dependable, and broadly suitable. Proper now, it isn’t. Fortunately, the headset works simply nice with out.
I discovered the headset first rate at blocking out the noises of the world, although once I had it turned up loud I did get a noise leakage criticism from my companion – so perhaps don’t flip these up too loud on the prepare, and if not disturbing others when it’s loud is a precedence, maintain that in thoughts.
Sound high quality is king, in fact. Coming from Turtle Seashore, you already know what to anticipate: it’s good. One in every of this firm’s strengths is punching above its value class when it comes to sound high quality – however this headset is on the costly facet, and so has much less of that. At $200/£180 it’s characteristic wealthy, nevertheless, and actually has a premium high quality really feel that’s troublesome to come back by within the gaming house. That value places it round $50 greater than its non-max predecessor – however a slew of smaller tweaks and upgrades, together with the expanded battery, are value that punt.
None of that is to say the sound high quality is dangerous, although – it’s definitely worth the money. It has 7.1 encompass sound, is suitable with Dolby Atmos, and in addition works with PS5’s 3D audio characteristic. Its built-in microphone is first rate sufficient for on-line play, although you’re unlikely to wish to podcast with it – you must get a devoted mic for that. I am keen on that the mic mutes itself if you flick it up, out of your sight – it is a intelligent different to a bodily mute button.
The value feels somewhat excessive, however I really suppose this is perhaps my favourite of all the Turtle Seashore headsets I’ve reviewed over time. It’s an actual high quality piece of drugs – as long as you’ve received the finances. It’s a simple advice and addition to our checklist of the Greatest Gaming Headsets.
Examined on Xbox Collection X, Collection S, PC (Home windows 10), Cellular (Google Pixel 6), Nintendo Swap, and PS5. A headset was supplied by the producer for check.