The Ultimate Turtle Beach Elite 800X Review

Turtle Beach is a bit of a strange company when comes to gaming peripherals. Many gamers pan the inexpensive design due to lackluster build quality and a lack of features while other embrace the low price tag despite the setbacks. Even with the polarizing view, it’s clear that Turtle Beach has at least some hold on the gaming market.

A pair of headphones like the Elite 800Xs show why that’s the case. These completely wireless headphones for the Xbox One pack in a surprising amount of features, with a build quality that is especially good considering some of the other cans in Turtle Beach’s lineup.

For the Xbox One, it’s hard to go wrong with these headphones. They’re durable and reliable, with excellent sound quality to boot. You have access to virtual surround sound, completely wireless, and an array of other features to make these cans worth it. With that out of the way, let’s dive into our Turtle Beach Elite 800X review.

Turtle Beach Ear Force Elite 800X Premium Gaming Headset | Amazon
$299.99

Custom DTS HeadphoneX 7.1 surround sound modes combine with enhanced Turtle beach genre-specific presets to further immerse you in your favorite games, movies and music.

Buy at Amazon
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.
03/15/2024 04:30 pm GMT

Specifications

Frequency Response   20Hz – 20kHz 
Digital Signal Processor   DTS Headphone:X 7.1 Surround 
Battery Life  Up to 10 Hours 
Speaker Size   50mm 
Price  $249.99 

Design and Build

The Elite 800Xs immediately deviate from many of Turtle Beach’s headphones with an excellent build quality. That isn’t to say that the others from the company are bad, no, but rather that they’re generally crafted of cheap plastic to lower costs.

These headphones are still made of mostly plastic, but the quality feels far higher. They’re a durable pair of headphones that sit comfortably on the head without too much wiggle on the band. It’s not a luxurious feel by any means, but it’s sufficient enough to justify the admittedly high price tag.

The ear cushions are particularly impressive. Their memory foam, with a soft leatherette covering that sits perfectly around the ears. It doesn’t have the soft plush feel on the outside, but the headphones still feel great. The tough outer material also helps for a better seal, maximizing game immersion.

Controls for the headphones are dealt with on the ear cup. You’ll find soft-touch controls for power, Bluetooth, and volume up and down. It’s a fine implementation of controls, but it would’ve been nice to receive some sort of feedback from the headphones when touching the buttons.

Now, this is a completely wireless pair of headphones, meaning they need some way to charge. There’s a micro USB port on the bottom if you’d like to choose that route, but Turtle Beach includes a magnetic charging dock with the cans. It’s an ultra-fast charging port and doubles as a nice dock for the headphones when you’re not using them.

Overall, there’s nothing special going on with the headphones themselves, but it’s a competent enough build that seals audio in, keeps your ears comfortable for hours of gaming, and can stand up to a little wear and tear. In all that, though, the standout feature is still the included magnetic headset dock.

Features

Features-wise, these headphones are absolutely stacked. The standout feature, though, is wireless functionality. These cans go completely cordless, allowing you to game anywhere you want, without being tied down.

What works so well about the wireless is the battery life. You get a full 10-hours worth of gameplay off a single charge, without any noticeable dip in quality as the battery drains. The inclusion of a magnetic dock means that, in the majority of cases, these cans will be fully charged every time you pick them up.

There are some other unique features as well, though. You get a set of hidden noise-canceling microphones with the cans, stuff under both ear cups. They cut out background noise, sure, but a built-in limiter helps keep your chat volume consistent. You can also adjust the level of your own voice in your ears so you don’t have to worry about shouting just to hear yourself.

Even better is that the chat and game volume controls are completely independent. You can set the blend to fit your tastes without sacrificing on one end or the other. The inclusion of controls of the ear cups means adjusting either of these on the fly is a breeze as well.

Last, but certainly not least, is the built-in DTS 7.1 surround sound. Of course, it isn’t true surround sound, but it gets pretty close to headphones. You can hear the nuances of footsteps or gunshots in game, and pinpoint the exact direction they’re coming from. You also get different modes and EQ presets to customize the surround to fit your tastes.

The features are certainly stacked on the Elite 800Xs, ranging from wireless functionality to practical communication controls. There are really few things I could think of to push these headphones over the edge, making this area an easy win.

Sound Quality

The sound on the Elite 800Xs is, admittedly, nothing special. While there is nothing particularly offensive about the pair of cans, there’s also nothing that stands out. However, when put specifically in the context of gaming, these headphones excel.

Particularly with the surround sound, the headphones shine in games. The 7.1 gives you excellent imaging, positioning the different sound elements around your head. It’s particularly useful in multiplayer shooters, for example, where you detect enemies all around you.

In fact, Turtle Beach enhances these types of noises. It’s called Superhuman Hearing, and Turtle Beach uses it to bring up the volume of the small details in the game. For hearing every last nuance, it works fairly well, balancing out these noises with everything else going on in the sound field.

The microphone signal is strong as well. With the noise canceling, limiting, and monitor level working in tandem, you get excellent vocal quality. It’s surprisingly clear, which is a huge compliment is a sea of microphones that work below par.

Ultimately, these are gaming headphones, though, and that clearly shows through. Listening to music on these headphones isn’t horrible, but it certainly isn’t ideal. It’s a subpar experience at best, meaning you should reserve the headphones specifically for gaming.

However, in that setting, the headphones perform great. The Superhuman Hearing actually works, combined with the DTS 7.1 surround to create an immersive experience that just might give you an edge in the game.

Alternatives to Consider

SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless

SteelSeries makes some of the best gaming headsets you can buy. This pair sits among the top of the line, coming in with a price quite above the Elite 800Xs. It has dual wireless capabilities over Bluetooth and 2.4Ghz, with a swappable dual-battery system to make sure you never lose any time gaming.

Razer Thresher Ultimate Wireless

At the exact same price, you can pick up an offering from Razer as well. This pair of headphones is surprisingly similar, containing Dolby 7.1 surround sound and a retractable microphone. However, the adjustable headband that floats below the frame makes these cans far more comfortable.

HyperX Cloud Flight Wireless

To save a few bucks without sacrificing quality, the Cloud Flights are one of the best options.

It’s a straightforward look that doesn’t do anything special, sure, but you gain an extremely comfortable headset with great quality. If you can overlook the bland look, you’ll find a great pair of headphones at a low price.

Conclusion

Turtle Beach Ear Force Elite 800X Premium Gaming Headset | Amazon
$299.99

Custom DTS HeadphoneX 7.1 surround sound modes combine with enhanced Turtle beach genre-specific presets to further immerse you in your favorite games, movies and music.

Buy at Amazon
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.
03/15/2024 04:30 pm GMT

The Turtle Beach Elite 800Xs are an excellent pair of headphones for gaming. While listening to music isn’t great, and the build quality isn’t anything to write home about, these cans still have enough features to make the price tag easily justified.

Ultimately, these headphones are for you if you plan on gaming for under 10 hours at a time, and then throwing them back on the charger. In that scenario, these headphones work great, and you should definitely consider picking up a pair.

What do you think of the Elite 800Xs? Let us know in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.

Further read: Top 9 Best Headphones for 2022

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