Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 Review – Great Audio, Even Greater Convenience

Turtle Beach has been busy updating their catalog of hardware. We recently reviewed the Turtle Beach Air, Stealth 500, and Stealth 600 Gen 3. But they weren’t done there, as they recently sent us their updated Stealth 700 Gen 3. With the largest earcup drivers to date, and two USB dongles to decrease audio switching time, have these headphones improved enough aspects to warrant an upgrade? We’ve spent a couple of weeks with this headphone set, and can answer that question in this review.

What’s in the Box?

In the box is the headset, a 2m / 6.5 ft USB-A to USB-C cord (which is slightly longer than the cord included in the other versions), a quick start guide, and two USB wireless transmitters, otherwise known as dongles. Despite costing $20 more than the Atlas Air, no carrying case is included. That’s fine, though, because I could easily see these as being someone’s daily driver, thus negating the necessity of a case in the first place.

After an initial top up of the battery, which didn’t take long (a couple of hours at most), turning on and pairing via Bluetooth to my Galaxy Z Fold 4 was quick and easy. Updating wasn’t quite as intuitive, as the process requires that both USB dongles are plugged into something, with the power on, as the app refuses to update only the headphones. So, be sure you’re near two powered USB ports when you try to use the Swarm II app.

Speaking of which, the Swarm II app has been updated to be compatible with their latest headset. That’s really all they’ve done this time around. You have the same access as with the other recently-updated headphones, and can save preset equalizers, toggle sound signatures, toggle and adjust their “Superhuman Hearing” feature, which filters audio to emphasize Footsteps, Gunshots, or other noises, and you can even adjust what some buttons and even what one of the dials does.

Superb Audio Quality

The most important question for any headphone is how good the audio quality is. For the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3, there’s good news. The 60mm dual drivers perform excellently. With a dedicated tweeter for bass and a separate one for treble in each earcup, this means an extended frequency response rate from 10 Hz to 40,000 Hz (on PC, anyway) can be achieved. In practice, this means music sounds very accurate. These headphones have a slight emphasis on bass, and due to their size, at higher volumes, they actually shake a little bit that you can literally feel, like what you’d expect with, say, a loudspeaker. It’s moving an impressive amount of air to be able to do that. Having said that, at those higher volumes the bass can occasionally sound a bit muffled. Though of course this is the most subjective part of any headphone review. But most likely, whatever your taste in audio, the Stealth 700 Gen 3 likely won’t disappoint.

The quoted 80-hour battery life is probably accurate; we haven’t needed a charge yet despite dozens of hours of listening time. Turtle Beach’s latest generation of headsets has amazing battery life overall, so this is not surprising to see in the Stealth 700 Gen 3. It also feels like it will hold up over time, thanks to the hybrid leatherette/athletic fabric ear cushions that surround the memory foam. I get sweaty when playing extended sessions of Beat Saber, and simply wipe them with my shirt or a paper towel to ensure extra moisture is dried up after. So far, there is no evidence of them having gotten sweat on them, as the fabric seems to do a good job of wicking it away.

Thanks to that same generous padding on the earcups, as well as some on the inside top of the metal-reinforced frame, it’s easy to wear these headphones all day, despite their large size. The earcups can be rotated a full 90 degrees, so you can lay them flat when not in use. The frame feels solid, and the metal yokes don’t creak against the plastic of the earcups which house the drivers, nor does the plastic itself make much of any sound when adjusting the headphones.

Crossplay Audio is Convenient

If you’re like most gamers these days, you have at least two devices you play games on that aren’t your phone. With most gaming headsets, it can be a minor hassle having to physically move a USB dongle to whatever device you’re currently playing. The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 solves this issue by simply shipping out with two USB dongles. You can have them plugged in to whichever two devices you like, and a simple press of a button on the right earcup causes the headphones to produce a beep, indicating that it has switched channels to another USB dongle. A perfect example is having one dongle plugged into a PS5, and the other into a PC. It’s something I could easily see players setting up once, and then never having to touch again. Sure, in the grand scheme of things this is a small problem, but the convenience is something you quickly get used to the more you use it.

The microphone is the classic flip-to-mute boom that Turtle Beach is known for, and the USB dongle pulses in red if the headset is connected to its channel and the mic is muted, glows green, or turns blue depending on the status of the mic and/or connection status. It’s nice to be able to see at a glance what the state of your equipment is in without having to take it off or remove your hand from the controller to feel if everything is in the right spot. The PC version has a wider capture range going all the way up to 32 kHz, and those I spoke to said my voice sounded very clear. There is also a mic monitoring feature, which can be used as a sort of transparency mode. Since this is a software solution, it’s not quite as lifelike as headphones with dedicated hardware, however it’s definitely good enough to hear your name called when you’re immersed in VR, for example.

Verdict

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 is a well-rounded, premium gaming headset with superb audio alongside some great connectivity options. The ability to have phone audio play at the same time as the console or PC audio is incredibly convenient, and people who want to stay connected while playing their games should seriously consider this headset. The dual drivers in each earcup play great quality audio, even if the bass might need some tweaking on rare occasion. Two separate USB dongles, along with a flip-to-mute mic complete this very convenient, versatile audio package, especially at $199.99 (USD).

Score: 9/10

Pros:

• Massive, fairly accurate 60mm dual drivers deliver loud, punchy sound
• Premium build quality feels like it will last for a long time.
• Easy to pair with phones and other Bluetooth-compatible devices
• Dual USB transmitters come in handy to quickly switch audio sources
• Flip-to-mute mic is very handy
• Extremely long 80-hour battery life

Cons:

• Bass can occasionally sound muffled at very loud volumes
• Updating firmware cannot be done only on your phone unless you have two available USB ports somewhere nearby

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 review unit was provided by the manufacturer. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.

Stay connected to MP1st and the latest news by following us on Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Google News.