Turtle Beach Ear Force XO Four Gaming Headset Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The XO Four is obviously not cheap, but after a little Google-fu you can pick one up for a little over £70, significantly less than the often £100 retail price of most online and brick and mortar stores. When compared to similar offerings of this price range the XO Four falls right alongside similar specification headsets from the likes of SteelSeries, Razer and MadCatz, all of which perform superbly at this price range, albeit with better aesthetics. It’s not great value for money or expensive, but it’s in line with the competition, so it’s really a matter of personal preference. Unfortunately for the consumer not all these brands make headsets designed exclusively for the Xbox One, so adaptors may be required until such time as each brand has finished transitioning their range to the new console.

Overview

There isn’t much to the XO Four headset, it’s not exactly brimming with features, but at this price range for a new console, you’ll likely not find anything more for your money. It does exactly what it says on the box; it works on Xbox One as a chat and gaming headset, while also working on mobile for similar functions and aside from the volume control panel and the detachable microphone, there aren’t any extra bells and whistles.

The performance of the headset is superb, for this kind of money I was expecting them to sound great and wouldn’t have accepted anything less, but I’m pleased that I wasn’t disappointed in this respect. The bass is deep, heavy and crystal clear, the mid tones have a lot of detail and warmth to them and the highs are bright and clear, pretty much what you would want from any premium grade audio product. For kicking back and enjoy movies, music or gaming, you’ll be more than happy with the XO Four, the addition of it working on mobile, or any other 3.5mm audio output (eg; your stereo, TV or PC) is a nice bonus.

Build quality is rock solid, the whole thing feels durable and more than capable of taking a few knocks and bumps it you’re a little heavy-handed. I do think the plastics look really dull and uninspired, especially given the somewhat premium price tag, I’m used to a much higher quality of finish from Turtle Beach and I hope they improve on this with their next model.

For the price there really isn’t much better out there, especially not with the limited choice of fully supported Xbox One headsets currently on the market. The design may not excite me, but the sound quality does and I’ll take the performance over style any day when it comes to audio products, so without a doubt this is still a gamers choice award product. Should Turtle Beach get back to the drawing board and create something that looks like it’s worth this kind of money, they’ll be on track for an Editors Choice Award.

Pros

• Powerful and detailed sound
• Heavy and clear bass
• Easily accessible volume controls
• Separate controls for game and chat volume levels
• Compatible with other devices (eg; Smartphone)
• Very durable feeling build quality

Cons

• Finish on plastics is uninspiring and dull

Neutral

• Uncomfortable fit may put some off, but it does improve greatly after the headset has been worn-in for a few hours

eTeknix says: “Turtle Beach have a rock solid reputation within the gaming market, offerings a wide range of audio products from the budget friendly, right up to their premium grade models. The XO Four balances both budget and performance nicely; it may not be packed full of features, but its sound quality alone is enough to justify a purchase, a great choice for any Xbox One gamer.

Thank you Turtle Beach for providing us with this sample.