Introduction
Turtle Beach, easily one of the most recognisable audio brand names on the market today. Love them or hate them, there’s no doubt in my mind that Turtle Beach have created some truly fantastic gaming headsets over the years and after several recent successes, I’m hoping to see them continue that trend with the release of their Ear Force Stealth 420X. The 420X follows the premium grade, and premium priced, Turtle Beach 800X. The 800X is a £250 behemoth with a tour de force of features, but likely more so that most people need, or can afford. The 420X clocks in at a much more affordable £150, but still offers many of the thrills and features of its bigger brother, so let’s jump in and take a closer look at what it has to offer.
“Welcome to the Ear Force Stealth 420X, an officially-licensed Xbox One gaming headset with the freedom of 100% fully wireless, crystal-clear game and chat audio. The Stealth 420X comes loaded with a suite of must-have features for every Xbox gamer, including Mic Monitoring, independent game and chat audio controls, four audio presets including Bass Boost, a rechargeable battery with up to 15 hours of wireless gaming life and mobile compatibility via mobile cable with in-line mic — all packed into an cutting-edge, affordable, simple-to-set-up fully wireless gaming headset.”
The box is really nicely packaged, with everything in tidy boxes in their own compartments.
In the box, you’ll find the usual literature, as well as all the required cables for setup and operation. There’s a 4-pole 3.5mm cable with in-line single button controller and pin-hole microphone, USB charging cable, USB dongle and the detachable microphone boom.
The headset is really nicely designed, with a mixture of stealthy matte black plastics and a few glossy touches, such as the backplates on the left and right drivers. The Turtle Beach logo in the centre of the ear cup has LED backlighting and the one on this side also doubles as the master power button.
The headset is very adjustable and each driver can be rotated inwards, making it more comfortable to wear around your neck between games and also helping to provide a better fit over your ears.
There’s a good amount of pivot, helping to provide an ever closer fit over your ears.
The headband is extendable, on the smallest setting, it’s suitable for younger games and at the maximum, it even fit on my own oversized head with no issues.
On the edges of the ear cups, you’ll find all the major controls. On one side the microphone boom socket.
On the other side, the 3.5mm line-in, USB charging port, chat and game volume controls, microphone mute button and profile selector.
The headband is lightweight and durable, with a funky embossed Turtle Beach logo.
The ear cups are nicely padded with a perforated leather material, giving you lots of comfort.
More of the same padding on the inside of the headband. It doesn’t look much, but it feels supportive and comfortable when you’re wearing the headset.
The microphone has a full flexible boom, making it super easy to find a position that works best for you, plus you can remove it completely for the times you just want headphones, or to use the in-line microphone on the 4-pole 3.5mm cable.
Wait so the xbone supports USB audio?