Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 500P Review – Take Your Headset Game to the Next Level

COG writes: We consider the Ear Force Stealth 500P the Cadillac of gaming headsets. These fantastic cans are completely Wireless feature DTS Headphone: X 7.1 Channel Surround Sound, Mic Monitoring and massive 50mm speakers for PS4 or PS3.

[Digital_Anomaly]

I've got the Xbox One version of these and will be grabbing these as well. Work perfectly, easy setup, no issues.

[ocelot07]

Just got the Elite 800 my self. I did own these for a short time but sold to my friend as at the time I was happy with my Sony Pulse. But there where really good in the time I used them.

[MercilessDMercer]

Man, I want to get my hands in this!!!

[ocelot07]

What I don't understand is. The Elite 800 works with XB1 as well but for chat you have to connect the headset to the pad. Yet the 800x does not work on the PS4. Even though it is essentially the same headset.

[MysticStrummer]

There is a PS4 version of the 800. Not sure what's different about it, but the Stealth 400s and 500s are cheaper and rated higher.

[ocelot07]

Yer I have the PS4 version and it works fine on XB1. But the 800x (xbox version) does not work with PS4.

You can get it to work but won't have 7.1 surround sound and the volume controls won't work. A bit shitty for the people who have both PS4 and XB1. If you do have both consoles then the PS4 version is the best one to get out of the 800 series due to it working fine with XB1. Just needing to connect it the controller for chat.

[GrapesOfRaf]

That doesn't sound too bad for $130.

[Cdn_Seahawks_Fan]

The Xbox One sound pretty damn good so I wouldn't expect these to sound any different on PS4. Turtle Beach is on a roll that is for sure.

[Automatic79]

I bought these headsets back in January with Amazon and I can truly say that the 500XP sound fantastic. Love the quality build, surround sound and most importantly the battery life.

[MysticStrummer]

While they were on sale for the same price I bought both these and the Sony Golds, took them home for my own comparisons with games, music, and movies, and ended up keeping the Golds. If I was writing reviews I'd score the 500Ps nearly as high but the Golds would get the better score because of overall sound quality, surround sound quality, and comfort. The Golds can be used completely wirelessly but the mic quality suffers if you don't plug them into the controller, so the 500Ps win that category. My in home comparison didn't last long enough to get into battery life.

If I was using my headset mainly for chat I'd get the 500Ps, but I run all the game sound through the headset and use my mic relatively rarely so the Golds were better for me.

[Cryptcuzz]

I've had an opposite experience.
I had the PS Gold, used it and loved it until I accidentally snapped the side of one of the frame, leaving one speaker just dangling. Ended up giving to my brother, since it still works perfectly fine and he repaired it with heavy duty tape.

The PS Gold's sound quality is nice, this is a fact, but the one thing I always wished it had was more oomph to its bass. The bass on the PS Gold is basically non-existent. So even though the sound quality is nice, areas in which there should be more bass, ended up sounding a little flat in terms of sound quality.

Now for the Stealth 500P that I ordered from Walmart for $82 (can't be that) the sound quality to me is clearer, the bass a lot more fulfilling (sometimes it can be overwhelming in certain sound profiles even) and the 7.1 surround sound really let's you hear every little sound that I honestly haven't heard while using the PS Gold on games like Destiny, for example.

Battery, hands down the 500P wins. I often have to charge my PS Gold after a day or two of gaming. As for the Stealth 500P, the battery has lasted me a few days of gaming now, almost a week since I've had it and yet I've barely heard the battery low notification today.

I'd highly recommend the 500P to even those that have had the PS Gold. It's a great headset that I don't really have any complaints for and if one can find if for $82 like I did, its even better!

[MysticStrummer]

My previous Golds broke also, and I was hesitant to buy more even though I think they broke due to my own negligence. I don't know if you did a direct comparison like I did, but all I can say is to me the general sound quality was easily better with the Golds, including the bass, and the surround sound was a bit better also. It's certainly not that the 500Ps sounded bad, but the Golds were noticeably better imo. The highs with the 500Ps were a bit too harsh and the bass didn't sound quite right to me either. I charge my headset when not using it so battery life really isn't an issue. I'd recommend the 500Ps also, especially if chat was mainly their intended use, but if you look up customer reviews you'll see that both the Sony headsets and the Turtle Beach headsets have a reputation for breaking. That said, if these new Golds break again I'll probably go with the 500Ps.

[COGconnected]

I'm going to have to get me a pair.