Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless Headset Review

A Closer Look

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero has one immediately obvious upgrade from its predecessors; it folds! The new headband design and the new earcup mounts mean that it can fold in on its self. This makes it much more compact for storage, which is ideal for those who travel with their headset.

The mounting feels really robust too, and I love that they’ve left the bolts showing. It makes it look robust, but also adds a little touch of style too. These fold in, but they also offer rotation so you can wear the ear cups comfortably around your neck between uses. Again, this is another very travel-friendly feature too.

Fold them back out, and they snap firmly into place. It’s a really robust mount, most so than I’ve seen on most other folding headsets at least.

Durable

The headband features a very durable metal frame to it. It’s quite thin, so it does have some flex to it. However, it’s got plenty of resistance to ensure it the drivers are kept snug to your ears.

It uses a slightly spring-loaded wire-mounted fabric inner headband for added comfort. However, this isn’t for size adjustment, the ear cups can be extended down on their own for that purpose. This slight adjustment is purely for comfort.

The fancy ergonomics just keep on coming too. See that little kicker on the side of the ear cup? It allows some vertical angle adjustment to ensure a clear fit around your ears.

It’s pretty neat and moves the other way too, so really, it should fit perfectly even if you have a bit of a “Hey Arnold!” look going on.

Mighty Drivers

The housing for the drivers is pretty hefty in size. Of course, it also houses all the wireless technology, batteries, on-headset controls, etc. However, despite all that, they’re no bigger than the wired 2018 models we previously reviewed. Plus at just 389 grams, they’re only a little heavier than the old wired models that weigh just 363 grams; sometimes it pays to have the old model on my desk, ha!

Tucked into the bottom of the left ear cup, you’ll find a handy microphone mute button. I like that its shape follows the same design as the ventilation sections too.

There are a lot of neat little nips and tucks to the housing. It’s a fairly standard black design. However, this matte finish is a lot nicer than last years Atlas headsets’ glossy finish.

Do you want on-headset controls? Because you’ve got em here! There are two scroll wheels for adjusting volume and chat/game mix. There’s a profile button for changing the EQ modes (which can be customised), there’s the power button too. Further around, you’ll find the USB charging port, 3.5mm audio port, and the microphone jack.

Padding

The ear cups are enormous. Actually, they’re the same size as the old model, but they’re clearly redesigned to be more enclosed than before. Albeit, the old earpads moved around to provide a good fit, this time, the ear cups themselves are on pivots.

It’s a tough leather-like material creating that tight seal to lock in the sound. However, on the inside, it’s breathable memory foam, giving you a best-of-both kind of setup.

Signature Sound Drivers

The drivers are their custom 50mm models. Actually, they’re the same drivers featured in a few high-end Turtle Beach headsets. This is a good thing, as I know them well, and they’re damn good drivers for movies, music, gaming, etc. They also handle a brutal amount of EQ without distortion, so a huge thumbs up to Turtle Beach for not changing something that wasn’t broken.

They’ve got their flagship microphone on this one too, which is a promising sign. I’ll admit Turtle Beach microphones on their budget models aren’t great, but you could say the same about any budget model. However, this is a premium headset, and the microphone is a much higher specification. It also has some slick software features, which I’ll get to in a moment.

Out with the old, in with the new? I have the old Atlas (wired) on the right and the new one on the left. It really does look a lot more professional, robust, and less shiny. I still love my Atlas though, which will I stick with? Find on on the last page… yeah, that’s right, we’re baiting you now.