Turtle Beach Star Wars X-Wing Pilot Gaming Headset Review

Final Thoughts

Price

As I said before, this headset is targeted at the budget end of the market and can be picked up directly from Turtle Beach or many major retailers online and in-store for just £34.99. This is great value for money overall, especially given the pricing premium you would expect for the Star Wars branding. The added bonus that Turtle Beach are a trusted and well-established brand name, as well as the multi-format support only adds to the value for money.

Overview

Turtle Beach have been winning a lot of praise from me over the last year or so. I know many of our readers and even myself personally will have had mixed feelings about their products at some point or another, but they’re been pushing hard to bring better quality products and value for money to market in recent years, and it’s clear that their hard work is paying off. Their premium headsets are up there with the best, but it’s their budget offerings that deserve the most credit, especially today.

For under £40, it can be quite tricky to find a great sounding headset. The market is very competitive at the moment, but on budget hardware, you usual have to sacrifice performance, build quality or design to get close to what you want at a good price. Unfortunately for this headset, it’s the build quality that took the hit, as the headset is made from thinner and more lightweight materials, and things like the audio cable aren’t particularly durable. For me personally, I’m unlikely to break my headset anytime soon, but with a heavy-handed younger gamer at the helm, the X-Wing headset may not have the longest lifespan, something to keep in mind if you tend to be a big rough with your peripherals.

That being said, the build quality isn’t bad it could just be better. The lightweight design does have its own merits through, as the headset is easily transported and isn’t too demanding to wear on your head for extended periods of time. What does standout, however, is the powerful drivers. The sound quality is as good as you could ever hope for at this price range, with a real punch to it that’s just fantastic for movies, music and gaming alike. What’s even better is that it’s all provided through a 4-pole 3.5mm cable, so hooking up to a console, PC, mobile device and more is not a problem. Just keep in mind you’ll need a (sold separately) Y-splitter 4-pole female to dual 3-pole male adapter to use the microphone on PC; these are super cheap on most sites like Amazon and eBay.

The aesthetics are obviously fantastic, although those of you who don’t like Star Wars or the colour orange may not agree, style is and always will be a subjective matter anyway.

Pros

• Great design and Star Wars branding
• Detachable microphone
• Powerful drivers
• Closed back design
• Very affordable price
• Comfortable and adjustable around-the-ear fit
• Multi-format support

Cons

• Thin cable
• Lightweight plastic construction

“Turtle Beach may have set out to catch some of the Star Wars hype with their new X-Wing headset, but if you can look past the funky decals, this is a great performing budget headset that’s sure to meet your gaming audio needs without sending your bank balance to the dark side.”