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0 Turtle Beach have given us two headsets to compare and see which is better for you the consumer. There are a number of factors to take into account for headsets. I’m going to look at the things that you ask us here at Thumb Culture all the time. Things like Design, Build Quality, Sound Quality and Comfort.
Today I am comparing the Turtle Beach Recon 150 Headset aimed at the PC and PlayStation Market and the Turtle Beach XO Three Headset aimed at the Xbox One and PC Market. Both headsets are recommended for ages 13+ for some reason.
Design
First thing with both Turtle Beach headsets are they look identical except for the colour scheme. The Turtle Beach Recon 150 are black with blue and the Turtle Beach XO Three are black and a fluorescent yellow/green. The design of both Turtle Beach headsets are OK. I mean they aren’t mind-blowing by anyone’s standards. You do have to bear in mind that the Press Release I got with these headsets from Turtle Beach do clearly state that they have a RRP of £49.99 each, although you can already pick these up for £39.99 each if you look around, so in my mind and as someone who spends a lot of money on headsets, I see these as an Entry Level headset or a Starter headset.
Build Quality
Turtle Beach haven’t exactly gone to town on the build quality on either the recon 150 or the XO Three headsets. I mean as we have already found out, they both look identical so this isn’t a surprise really. Both headsets are made of plastic and they do feel plastic. I don’t think either of these headsets will last the lifetime of your PlayStation, Xbox or PC.
While I have not broken either headset, I can see exactly where I would expect to see them break when I examined them closely. To me this would be slap bang in the middle of the headband. Now I’m no technician so I could be very wrong, this is just my gut feeling. Don’t expect to see memory foam in these headsets. I can’t cut them open obviously but it feels like good old-fashioned traditional foam around the ear cup and across the headband also.
Sound Quality
This is where both Turtle Beach headsets say goodbye to each other and go their separate ways.
The Turtle Beach XO Three pull into a different class compared to the Turtle Beach Recon 150. In all honesty I expected them to be the same as each other right across the spectrum, excluding colours. Both headsets advertise for specific markets although they do work on both consoles and PC. This makes them ideal for someone who wants one headset for all three machines instead of separate headsets for each. The XO Three headset is much more versatile sound-wise. They are surround sound ready and they are Surround Sound Ready and also work well with Windows Sonic for Headphones if you are on Windows 10. The Recon 150 are good with sound quality when your listening to high or mid range sounds, the base is lacking on the Recon 150 headset.
During the sound test I tried out the headsets on a fps game, racing game, a movie and some music albums. I found both headsets on the relevant consoles that the sound quality was good although I did find them a bit on the quiet side. Plug either into your PC and the sound can go louder for a better sense of immersion.
The microphones on both headsets are top quality and the best part of each headset. The sound is crystal clear without any feedback, echo or muffle.
Comfort
Turtle Beach have done a fine job putting these headsets together at this price-point. If you are a casual gamer who maybe plays an hour, possibly two hours these headsets will be great for you. Personally testing these headsets haven’t been my greatest experience.
Firstly I don’t consider myself to have a huge head but these headsets both were maxed out to fit my head, they still felt a little tight to me. They have one hell of a grip on your head and you have no worries about them falling off if you spin round quickly. They pinched my head a little too much, also after taking them off I could still feel the headband on the top of my head. Or at least the sore spot they left me with.
Secondly, Turtle Beach haven’t taken into account there are gamer’s out there that wear glasses. When I took my glasses off you could see a clear imprint of the legs from my glasses in the side of my head!! This is something every company forgets about with Entry Level headsets and seem to leave this as a Premium Feature on their top of the range models such as the Turtle Beach Elite headset priced at £150. This is something I think Turtle Beach could take advantage of to capture more of the market at this level and price point of headset.
On a side note the Turtle Beach Recon 150 and Turtle Beach XO Three headsets do fit the PSVR although there is no 3D sound from them.
Conclusion
Both Turtle Beach headsets are worthy headsets for someone just after a headset for a quick game or two, or chatting to friends although the comfort levels are enough to put off any serious gamer I think. You can use these on your phone or tablet also but, lets face it. Your not going to walk down the street with these on your head. If I were to buy one of these headsets then I would pick the Turtle Beach XO Three plain and simply because of the surround sound ready and Windows Sonic feature. That said for an extra £20-£30 you could get a more comfortable headset.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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