Turtle Beach Stealth Pro is one of the best gaming headsets out there: review

The video game headset is officially all grown up.

The finest video game headsets have historically featured terrific sound and cutting-edge features.

I still remember falling in love with ASTRO headsets a good many years back. At a time when Bluetooth connectivity was yielding latency issues galore, ASTRO sets helped set a new standard. Sony’s Pulse Pro Wireless headset was a dream to use in the PlayStation 4 era, and Turtle Beach has always been among the best and brightest.

But all the bright neon colors, swappable earcup plates, and oversized structures had a slight issue: The aesthetic rarely worked for everyone. Companies like Skull Candy and the like were building headsets for those who wanted to stand out — and that had limitations.

Enter the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro, which sets a new standard for gaming headsets. This is a fully tech-ed out unit that manages to be worth every penny of its retail rice ($329) — but it’s built for a new gamer demographic. Instead of bold colors and a space-aged design, you get a lot of matte black and smooth angles. It’s a headset built for a more mature gamer. And this new aesthetic works terrifically well.

The look of the Stealth Pro reminds me of an old Beats line, the Executive Over-Ear headphone, and that unit followed a relatively similar narrative. At the time, Beats by Dre was also building towards relevance with more mature audiences, having made its name with bold colors and loud designs. The Executive announced that Beats could cater to other audiences. The Stealth Pro does the same — and when you detach the removable boom mic, it looks just as good when used as simply a pair of quality headphones.

It manages to be simultaneously quiet enough to fit right in if you’re gaming in the back of a limo, yet stylish enough to scream premium. And beyond the look, Turtle Beach loads up on thoughtful, forward-thinking features. Dual-mode wireless is the highlight here, allowing you to simultaneously connect to your gaming console and another source. It works slickly, allowing you to hear game audio while still listening to, say, the latest podcast episode of "Huberman Lab." Dual-mode wireless also makes smart decisions: If you’re linked to your phone and a call comes in, that call takes precedence. Once you hang up, the game audio pipes back in in just seconds.

Other little touches add to the package. Forget tethering yourself to your controller or console when power runs out; you’ll get a pair of batteries with this edition — and these swap out quickly, letting you swiftly get back to the action in, say, a "Call of Duty" showdown. Battery life itself is also solid: Expect to nail down four to six hours, plenty of time for most gaming sessions. There’s a minimalist charging dock, too; this mirrors the subtle, mature design of the Stealth Pro itself and fits in well whether it’s going in the bedroom of a mega-gamer or the office of a weekend gamer.

Turtle Beach completes the package with one of the finest sound profiles it’s ever delivered. Action is crystal clear, letting me here the gunshots, dialogue, and background music perfectly in "Borderlands 3," and the headset works terrifically well for movies like “Avengers: Endgame,” too.

The 50 mm drivers are capable of delivering plenty of bass pop, perfect for explosions in, say, "Overwatch 2." But if that’s not your thing, you can tune the profile easily in Turtle Beach’s mobile app. The boom mic delivers a similarly standout experience; whether I was gaming with a friend or making phone calls, I never once had a complaint about reception or an ask for me to repeat myself.

The unit is also terrifically comfortable. The earcups fit over my ears easily, but unlike some over-ear units, they didn’t make my ears sore after three to four hours. They feel extra-soft and surprisingly cool, too, ideal for lengthy gameplay sessions.

It all adds up to one of the best gaming headsets out there — and certainly the best-looking unit you may ever use. If you’re an older gamer who’s been hunting for a gaming headset worthy of your time, this unit is the one. Turtle Beach has never been better.