Turtle Beach Stealth 420X+ Review

A few weeks ago, the good people over at Turtle Beach sent over the Xbox One, 100% wireless Stealth 420X+ headset for us to review. One of the big downsides to the Xbox One is that most headsets are not truly wireless, and the wireless options available on the marketplace have been few and far between. Does the 420X+ provide enough incentives for giving players the ability to go completely wireless? Lets find out.

Turtle Beach has never really been one for fancy packaging, and that’s not a problem for me. In my opinion, if it keeps the product from breaking in transport, the packing doesn’t really matter. When you pull it out, you don’t get the feeling of ‘luxury.’ For some, they want their products to have lots of flash. Turtle Beach is about audio, not necessarily presentation.

Looking at the Headset

The headset looks fantastic and very classy. It might not have the flashing lights that other companies include, but if I have to iterate this again, Turtle Beach is about the sound, not necessarily the look. The band of the headset is fairly rigid – more on this later – and has ‘Turtle Beach’ written across the top. Each ear cup has the Turtle Beach palm tree logo, which also act as button to set a audio preset – bass boost, bass and treble boost, vocal boost, and neutral – or to set the Superhuman Hearing feature.

Along the ear cup is the volume control, aux in port, and a charging port. The microphone is detachable, and easily clips in an out from the ear cup.

Audio

The 420X+ is not drastically different then the 420X, but does enough new things to make the upgrade worth it for most gamers. Some minor changes have occurred – such as a better audio processor which helps with increasing the wireless range – but the main focus here will be the Superhuman Hearing feature.

The Superhuman Hearing feature is one that shouldn’t be ignored. In my opinion, it is a premium headset feature on a mid-range device. Enemies movements near by, the sound of sliding in and out cartridges, and more become much more audible, creating a more immersive experience all around.

Nothing can make or break a headset than the audio quality. Even with great features like wireless connectivity and Superhuman Hearing, the headset fails if the audio is not up to par. Thankfully, it appears that this is the case with the 420X+.

I find that cheaper headsets drastically distort sounds at all levels. High range sounds are heavily distorted, making you wonder if that was a pain of glass breaking or a cat squealing. At times, it can be that hard. I found the highs and mediums with the 420X+ were spot on, with quality you would find in a headset that carries a significantly higher price tag.

The bass on this headset wasn’t as nice as I would have liked it, meaning I will use this more for gaming than actually listening to music direct. It’s a minor issue, however, as most of my gaming sounds are bass light. Authors Note – After the fact, and after using some other headsets again, I feel like I wasn’t 100% fair on the bass quality. While I still think other headsets do it better, the 420X+ is more than adequate for gaming, movies, and music.

For its price, the sound that comes from the 420X+ is better than average, making the investment well worth it. Understandably, a better sound can be found for a higher price, and if you want that and can afford to make the purchase, I’d obviously suggest other headsets on the market. But if the 420X+ is taking you to your budget max, feel confident you are getting a quality product for the price you will be paying.

One, ‘Tight’ Issue

Not all is well with the 420X+, and this could be specific to me so don’t pass by this item because of this criticism. The 420X+ is tight on my head. It’s not only tight, but uncomfortably tight, which means I won’t be using it for much longer. My wife, who has a much smaller head than me, has no issue with the headset, and she will take it over as her primary audio device when playing games. If you have a larger head, there are other headsets available from other companies, in the same price range, that might suit you better.

I’m really hoping that over time, the rigidness of the device will give a little and the 420X+ will become a more comfortable option for myself. In every other way, I love this headset – the audio is way above average, the detachable microphone makes this universal, and the headset itself is actually quite light! If Turtle Beach could do something about the fit – making it more universal than it is – I think they could rule the mid-level headset marketplace.