Turtle Beach Recon 500 Multiplatform Headset Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 Wired Multiplatform Gaming Headset is available now from Turtle Beach or Amazon. It’s on pre-order, but don’t worry, stock ships on the 18th of June, so pre-order now while it’s still in availability because I can see these flying off the virtual shelves. Prices are just £69.99 direct from Turtle Beach or Amazon. However, you can also have this sexy Arctic Camo model for the same price, oh yeah!

Overview

There’s no point beating around the bush with this one. You will not find a better sounding wired gaming headset for this price or less. Actually, I’d argue you’ll be spending another £40-50 before you start hearing better drivers. It’s the best sounding headset until you get up to something like the SteelSeries Arctis 7, Creative SXFI Gamer, or Logitech G635, which are all north of £100, some by quite a lot more.

Ergonomics

There are some caveats, though, such as the comfort of this headset. The ergonomics are excellent. There’s a lot of adjustability here, ensuring the drivers are always in an optimal position. However, I am a freak of nature and have a rather large head. Therefore, I have to have this headset absolutely maxed out to fit me, but it’s a tiny bit tight. Admittedly, only about 1/10 headsets fit me due to this, but I would like just 1 more notch on the headband, as this wasn’t an issue for me on previous models.

Like other Turtle Beach headset, the padding is pretty stiff, but that is by design. It may feel a bit hard for the first week or so, but it steadily moulds to the lumps and bumps of your head and becomes much more comfortable once it’s broken in. As a side effect, it’s much longer-lasting than a lot of headset foam too.

Build Quality

Top marks for build quality, with Turtle Beach delivering a much more robust design vs their previous models. The plastics are thicker, the padding is more robust, the headband is reinforced, the cable is braided, the microphone is improved, and even the drivers are bigger and more robust than ever. This headset is built to last, that’s for sure. However, a full detachable cable would be a big improvement for future models.

Should I Buy One?

I’m struggling to think of a better sounding headset in this price range. There are certainly some competitive models, though, such as the SteelSeries Arctis 3, which is too small to fit me but does sound good. There’s the Corsair HS60 Pro, which is a bit more comfortable, but I think the Recon 500 sounds better while still looking just as great as any of its rivals. I loved the old drivers and design Turtle Beach had, which has been improved across the board. The drivers sound even better, with great dynamic range. The microphone is better too and more robust in its design. Plus, since it runs off a single 3.5mm 4-pole jack, it’s compatible with just about anything, making it excellent value for money if using it on multiple systems.