A premium wireless headset designed for use both at home and on the go is the Turtle Beach Elite 800 wireless. It functions with Bluetooth 4.0-enabled wireless devices, and dual pairing enables you to simultaneously connect two devices. When you’re at home, a transmitter and charging dock combine to stream audio to the headset from your PS3, PS4, PC, or Mac.
The Turtle Beach Elite 800 wireless is loaded with the kind of premium features you’d anticipate from a portable headset costing $250. If you use your headphones in noisy environments or travel frequently, active noise cancellation is a function that is well worth having. Additionally, you can hear people above the background noise of the game thanks to clever Dynamic Chat Boost, DTS Headphone:X 7.1 Surround Sound, and programmable audio presets for particular games.
What Actually Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless
Although the Elite 800 isn’t as fashionable as wireless headsets from Bose and Parrot, it nevertheless represents a significant advancement over the company’s earlier efforts and gaming headsets in general. The headband, ear cups, and cushioning design are eerily identical to those of Beats Studio Wireless headphones, albeit they regrettably don’t fold up in the same manner.
The headset has a few minor problems, but they are not major ones. In comparison to comparable items like the Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 9, whose battery life is double that of this one, the battery life is adequate but only about 10 hours long. The ear cups have numerous buttons, many of which are simple to accidentally press. And considering you already have to invest £250, the absence of support for Xbox consoles without purchasing separate adaptors is unfortunate.
Brief History
Over the past ten years, Turtle Beach has undoubtedly been successful in the gaming headset market. Dedicated headsets have transformed from a luxury to a necessity as online gaming has gained popularity, and Turtle Beach has benefited. It has undoubtedly gained the most notoriety in this niche market by working with professional gamers, offering a wide range of products at nearly every price point, and simply producing high-quality goods.
The business has previously produced premium gaming headphones, including its most recent “Seven” brand. Additionally, it produces high-end wireless portable headphones, including the i30, for more general lifestyle use. The Elite 800 tries to merge both of these features into a single headset that can be used for music listening on the move as well as gaming at home.
This means that a wireless transmitter that is included in the package works with the majority of devices that have an optical audio output, including a PC, Mac, PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4, while the headset has Bluetooth wireless connectivity for connecting to portable devices like laptops, tablets, and mobile phones.
Style And Design
The headphones themselves have a good design and more in common with a set of Beats headphones than with earlier Turtle Beach gaming headsets. However, there are several issues with Turtle Beach’s design that persist. They don’t fold up for easier portability, the earcups have a few too many logos, and the blinking Bluetooth status LEDs seem silly.
Eight buttons overall, four on each ear cup, are located on the headset and are used to control the music being played. On the bright side, this means you can manage your music without digging through your pocket. You can skip tracks, change the volume, boost the bass and treble, turn on and off the microphone, activate noise cancellation, and manage Bluetooth.
Because a travelling bag is not included in the packaging, it is helpful that the headset’s plastic shell feels sturdy and long-lasting. It is quite snuggly on the head, and the padding on the ears and headband feels silky and opulent. Given that the headset weighs 372g altogether, which is somewhat heavier than the i30, which weighs 314g, this is fairly unexpected.
Innovation In Designs
Due to all the branding, we mentioned that the standard ear covers appear a little cluttered. Fortunately, they can be swapped out for fresh ones, giving this headset some customizability. Two free pairs of speaker plates are yours if you register the headset with Turtle Beach. You’ll also be eligible for other valuable perks like a two-year extended warranty and a t-shirt.
What’s Not Suitable In Turtle Elite 800 Wireless
The drawback is that they are far too simple to press accidentally. They are situated on four axis on each ear cup, which is precisely where you would touch to adjust or turn off the headset, and they don’t require much pressure to depress, so it’s initially a bit of an issue. Because you obviously can’t see the buttons when you’re wearing the headset, there are a lot of things to learn when using it for the first time.
Pairing And Connectivity
When it comes to connection, the Elite 800 pretty much has it all. Dual Bluetooth 4.0 pairing enables simultaneous use of two devices, allowing you to listen to music on your tablet and answer calls on your phone. If your portable device, like the 3DS, lacks Bluetooth connectivity, you can still connect using the 3.5mm connector that is supplied in the box.
The wireless transmitter/dock links to home electronics through optical audio and micro-USB, including PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, and Mac. Although setup differs differently from machine to machine, all required cords are included in the package, and the setup instructions are simple. The transmitter also has optical audio throughput, allowing you to continue sending the surround sound data to your TV or AV receiver. This is a particularly pleasant addition.
You may have noticed that Xbox consoles are missing from the list of home console compatibility. The headset may be connected to the Xbox One, but you must purchase an additional adaptor from Microsoft, which retails for about £20 in the UK. It’s an absolutely ludicrous scenario, and Microsoft is solely to fault. However, whereas we’re more ready to overlook the lack of an adaptor in headphones for under £100, we’re less understanding of the Elite 800.
Bluetooth
The same Bluetooth issues that have plagued headsets like this for a long time affected us as well. Some of the controls are working on some platforms but not others, and there are intermittent audio drops. When compared to other wireless headsets, the Elite 800 had less faults, but it might still be an adjustment if you’re used to the reliable performance of a cable headset.
Surround Sound System
One of the best-sounding gaming headsets we’ve ever tried is the Turtle Beach 800. Both the high and low ends sound fantastic, bringing the music and the games to life. Additionally, it increases the loudness to frankly absurd levels, which addresses the lack of silence we frequently experienced with earlier Turtle Beach headsets.
DTS Headphone:X 7.1 Surround Sound is another feature available for audio sources that output a Dolby Digital audio stream in the headphones. This enables you to hear sounds as if they are coming from a specific location, such as gunfire coming from behind you or a car accident to your side. It’s a bit of a fudge, like all surround sound processing for stereo sources, and we prefer the pure stereo option, but you may choose whether or not to use it.
The ability to put in specific audio profiles for different games, such as Battlefield and Titanfall, is more fascinating and missing from most other gaming headsets. Ear Force Audio Hub software on PC or the Android app can be used to do this. On the down side, the Mac program only upgrades the headset’s firmware, not its audio profiles, and there is no iOS app at this moment. A lack of software support for changing audio profiles was irritating to us because we were using a Macbook Air and an iPhone 6 Plus for our review.
However, Turtle Beach’s i30 headset included buttons that could make you sound like someone else, and we’ve lost track of how many phone calls we’ve answered using this headset where the person on the other end of the line said we sounded like a robot.
Battery Life
The 10 hours of battery life is a serious drawback compared to comparable headsets like the Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 9’s 20-hour battery life. We noticed the “low battery” alert about in evening, which isn’t ideal for individuals who use their headphones all day long after charging overnight.
Active Novice Cancellation
Additionally, the headset has every function you’d anticipate for anything in this pricing range. For frequent travelers, the Active Noise Cancellation is a very valuable function that has significantly improved over the feature on the i30, which occasionally seemed like it caused pressure. It has a mild effect that muffles the majority of background noise, and if music is playing at the same time, you may effectively block out the outside world.
Is it Good Choice to Buy Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless Headset?
Most aspects of the Turtle Beach Elite 800 are correct. It’s a high-quality headset that sounds great and has a lot of useful functions. Individual game-based sound profiles are a nice touch, and the surround sound really sounds good. Active noise reduction works well.
There are also a lot of excellent elements, such as the charging port, the audio passthrough, and the headset’s design. It looks better than most gaming headsets, and the adjustable ear cups are a nice bonus for gamers who are truly dedicated to their hobby.
Some drawbacks include the lack of Xbox One support, a limited battery life, and the headset’s overall thickness and weight. However, these are minor issues that do not significantly detract from the otherwise excellent work. Wireless gaming headsets that can also be used on the go, like the Elite 800, have never been better.
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Concluding Remarks On Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless
The Turtle Beach Elite 800 is a terrific headset for gamers both at home and on the go since it excels at the fundamentals of audio performance, comfort and features.
