Turtle Beach Elite 800
Turtle Beach Elite 800 wireless is a high-end wireless headset for home and travel. Dual pairing lets you connect two Bluetooth 4.0 devices simultaneously. A charging dock/transmitter connects to your PS3, PS4, P.C., or Mac and provides audio to the headset.
The Turtle Beach Elite 800 wireless has high-end features for a $250 headset. Active noise cancellation is useful if you often travel or use headphones in busy places. D.T.S. Headphone:X 7.1 Surround Sound, configurable audio settings, and Dynamic Chat Boost let you hear people over game noise.
The Elite 800 isn’t as elegant as Bose or Parrot’s wireless headsets, but it’s a major leap over prior attempts from the firm and gaming headsets in general. It has a similar headband, ear cup, and cushioning construction to Beats Studio Wireless headphones; however, they don’t fold up.
Minor difficulties with the headset. Competing items like the Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 9 are twice that length. It’s simple to press the earcup buttons accidentally. The lack of Xbox support without extra adaptors is a pity at £250.
Turtle Beach Elite 800 wireless: Design
Over the last decade, Turtle Beach has had a lot of success with gaming headphones. Online gaming has made dedicated headsets a requirement, and Turtle Beach has benefited. By partnering with pro gamers, providing a wide selection of items at every price point, and developing good products, it’s become the market leader.
The company’s “Seven” range features high-end gaming headphones. It makes high-end wireless portable headphones like the i30. The Elite 800 may be used for gaming at home and listening to music on the go.
This means the headset has Bluetooth for connecting to laptops, tablets, and mobile phones, and a wireless transmitter works with most devices with an optical audio output, such as a PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, or PlayStation 4.
Best 2015 Gaming Headset
The Elite 800 is well-connected. Dual Bluetooth 4.0 pairing lets you listen to music on your tablet while taking a call on your phone. If your device doesn’t have Bluetooth, like the 3DS, use the provided 3.5mm cord.
Wireless transmitter/dock connects to PS3, PS4, P.C., and Mac via optical audio and micro-USB. The setup differs for every machine. However, the package includes all the necessary cables and instructions. The transmitter’s optical audio throughput lets you deliver surround sound to your A.V. receiver or T.V.
Xbox consoles are missing from the compatibility list. You can connect the headset to Xbox One with a £20 Microsoft adaptor. Microsoft is responsible for this ludicrous predicament. We’re ready to overlook this with sub-£100 headphones, but not the Elite 800. At £250, a headset for the second-best-selling system sounds reasonable.
Xbox vs. PS4
This wireless transmitter doubles as a charging dock for headphones. This feature isn’t necessary because the headphones can be charged using the accompanying micro-USB connection, but it’s a nice touch.
The headphones seem more like Beats than previous Turtle Beach headsets. Turtle Beach’s design isn’t perfect. The earcups are excessively cluttered with branding, the flashing Bluetooth lights are silly, and they don’t fold up.
The headset’s strong plastic casing is a plus since there’s no carrying case. The plush padding on the ears and headband is quite comfy. This is remarkable given the headset’s 372g weight compared to the i30’s 314g.
Xbox One Versus 360
The headset has eight volume controls, four on each ear cup. You can skip music, adjust volume, boost bass and treble, turn the mic on and off, enable noise cancellation, and control Bluetooth without reaching into your pocket.
They’re easy to press accidentally. They’re situated on four axes on each ear cup, which you’d ordinarily touch to adjust or turn off the headset. They don’t require much pressure to depress, so it’s a problem until you’ve used the headset for a long. Because you can’t see the buttons while wearing the headset, there’s a lot to learn.
The default ear covers are packed with logos. They can be swapped, allowing for some customization. Registering your headset with Turtle Beach will give you two free speaker plates, a two-year guarantee, and a t-shirt.
PS4 against PS3
Audio Quality: Turtle Beach Elite 800 wireless
The Turtle Beach 800 is our favorite gaming headset. It sounds great high and low, bringing games and music to life. It also has ridiculously high volume settings, addressing prior Turtle Beach headphones’ silence.
The headset has all the expected features for its pricing. Active Noise Cancellation is a great feature for frequent travelers, and it’s far better than the i30s, which caused pressure. It shuts out ambient sounds; if you play music, you can believe the outside world doesn’t exist.
The headphones have D.T.S. Headphone:X 7.1 Surround Sound for Dolby Digital sources. This lets you hear gunfire from behind you or a car accident to your side. It’s a fudge, and we prefer true stereo, but you can enable or disable it.
PS4 Tips
The option to load specific audio settings for games like Battlefield and Titanfall is more fascinating. This is done using Turtle Beach’s P.C. software or Android app. There’s no iOS app yet, and the Mac program only upgrades the headset’s firmware, not audio profiles. We reviewed a Macbook Air and iPhone 6 Plus. Thus the lack of audio profile software was bothersome.
The Turtle Beach i30 had buttons to make you sound like someone else, and the person on the other end of the line informed us we sounded like a robot.
We could go 20 feet away from our Macbook Air without audio breaking up with Bluetooth. Competing headsets, such as the Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 9, have 20-hour battery life. After charging the headset overnight, we got a “low battery” warning at about 7 pm, which isn’t ideal for all-day users.
Xbox One Tips
We also had Bluetooth issues, as we have other headphones. Audio drops, unpredictable source switching, and some systems’ controls are not working. The Elite 800 has fewer difficulties than other wireless headphones we’ve used, but if you’re used to corded, it can be jarring.
Should I buy Elite 800?
The Elite 800 mostly succeeds. It’s a well-made, great-sounding headset packed with functions. Active noise cancellation, game-based sound profiles, and surround sound all function nicely.
The charging port is beautiful, the audio passthrough is smart, and the headset looks fantastic. Customizable ear cups make it better-looking than other gaming headsets.
Lack of Xbox One support, poor battery life, and bulky weight are problems. These are minor issues that don’t detract from the overall work. The Elite 800 is the best wireless gaming headset for usage outside.
Verdict
The Turtle Beach Elite 800 wireless excels in audio performance, comfort, and features, making it a fantastic home and mobile gaming headset.
Turtle Beach Elite 800X for Xbox One is arriving in the spring. Elite 800X info here.
