It has been a while since I have been able to upgrade my gaming headset to a device that I would consider my new permanent replacement. Luckily, the STEALTH 600 Gen 2 MAX wireless headset from Turtle Beach is a top contender that I had the pleasure to try out this past week. While I did find a rather annoying problem with one aspect of the headset, the overall build and easy-to-work-with setup make it a leading choice to be my new main headset.

What’s In The Box

Keeping it simple and together, everything you need is kept snugly in a plastic mold made to keep the items within the box safe until it reaches your hands. Altogether, you will have the headset itself, a USB dongle, a short USB-C cable for initial connecting and charging, and an instruction booklet that is kept in its own smaller box holster that also has the warranty within.

The USB dongle is a 2.4 GHz wireless connector with a switch on the side of it. As the headset itself was built with Xbox in mind, one side of the switch is specifically for Xbox devices. The other side of the switch simply says ‘USB’ and would be the setting to use when connecting to a PC, PlayStation, or docked Nintendo Switch.

Aesthetics and Build Quality

While this headset does have a solid aesthetic, it is mostly a user-choice situation as it comes in a variety of color options. There are no RGB lights on this headset, so the hardcover is where the full design looks are at. However, on that alone, it does have a sleek design that was built with comfort and a wide range of users in mind. They put the adjustable sides higher up in the thicker headband part rather than closer to the cups, which gives you the ability to adjust the size as needed without having to be concerned about it wearing down or breaking easily.

As for the build, they use a breathable fabric that is really comfortable even during long-term use, have adjusted the design to be friendly to glasses-wearing users, added 50mm speakers for immersive surround sound, a sturdy built-in mic that is easily muted with the same motion as putting it away, and a 48-hour battery life. The one part of the headset that I thought might be a bit of a weak point actually holds a sturdy case around it and gives users the ability to move the ear cups around as needed.

One very handy aspect is the inclusion of the Superhuman Hearing mode. They have four standard sound modes - Performance, Bass Boost, Bass and Treble Boost, Treble Boost - but by tapping the power button you can turn on Superhuman Hearing. This will let you hear even the finer details, which is incredibly handy during survival, horror, and multiplayer games. They also have a feedback audio control which lets you hear yourself through the headset so you can control the volume of your own voice in the case that you can’t hear yourself well enough while wearing the headset. The volume control for the feedback audio is as easy to adjust as the overall volume control.

Specs and Requirements

While this headset can give the best quality to users on an Xbox One or Xbox Series platform, they have made it compatible with many other devices. The wireless headset works with:

• PC and MAC

• Nintendo Switch, when docked and the USB dongle can be plugged in

• PlayStation 4 | PlayStation 4 Pro | PlayStation 4 Slim

• PlayStation 5

• Xbox One S | Xbox One X

• Xbox Series S | Xbox Series X

What It Could Have Done Better

I only have one complaint and it is a minor setback, but at the same time, it is honestly a big issue that I don’t understand. While I can just turn my headset on and start using it to hear everything on the games easily, using the microphone seems to be problematic. I tried a lot of different things to get the mic to just simply work as it should, but there was only one thing that worked every time. When I turn the headset on, I have to plug it into the device I plan to play on (PC or PlayStation 4 in my case) in order to use the mic. It doesn’t matter if I want to use it in party chat, discord chat, or in-game chat. The mic does not register until I plug the headset in with the cable for a moment before using it. This does work every time, but it is a bit of an annoyance that really shouldn’t be necessary.

*Update: It appears the issue I am experiencing with the mic is not a standard issue and has not been reported by other users at the time of this update. It is likely that you will not experience this setback with your own headset, if you choose to get the STEALTH 600 MAX.

Verdict

Turtle Beach’s new STEALTH 600 Gen 2 MAX wireless headset may have a small setback, but it is still my new favorite headset choice! The headset is so comfortable to use and I like how easy it is to mute the mic or change the sound settings. I’m no longer unsure if I am on mute or what sound setting I’m using because they have all the minor details worked out to make that very clear to the user. No more long-winded conversations only to find out that nobody can hear me! If you can overlook that one minor problem, then this is a solid headset choice to consider!

The STEALTH 600 Gen 2 MAX will be available starting May 8th for $129.99 USD.