Turtle Beach certainly stepped it up in recent months, seeing increased competition from other manufacturers vying for those all-important esports deals. The result? Gaming headsets have never been better, with Turtle Beach's Elite range sitting comfortably among the best of the bunch.
I previously reviewed the Turtle Beach Elite Atlas, aimed at PC gamers, and the Elite Pro 2 follows very similar design and feature conventions. However, this Xbox-branded Elite Pro 2 bundle also comes with a hockey puck-like SuperAmp accessory, designed to bring more features to the table.
Is it worth the extra cash, though? Or should you simply save yourself $150 and grab a Turtle Beach Elite Atlas instead?
For the elite
Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 + SuperAmp
Bottom line: The Elite Pro 2 is a stunning headset from Turtle Beach, but the SuperAmp left me scratching my head a bit.
Pros:
- Comfortable, well-built headset.
- Incredible audio.
- SuperAmp has mic monitoring and sound tuning.
Cons:
- Bluetooth connectivity is poor.
- App requried for chat or game sound mixing.
- Elite Atlas with Astro MixAmp is more convenient at a better price.
Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 + SuperAmp: The good stuff
This headset is as gorgeous as it is well made. Like the Atlas Elite, the Elite Pro 2 sports metallic accents, with a metal headband and connectors, ensuring a level of quality that should allow this headset to last for a really, really long time. My Elite Atlas, made of the same materials, has lasted several months and still looks brand-new, despite some pretty heavy abuse. The Elite Pro 2 should fare similarly.
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Frequency response | 12Hz to 20kHz |
| Speaker size | 50 mm |
| Connection | 3.5-mm cable for headsetUSB for SuperAmp with Bluetooth option |
| Compatibility | Xbox One and PC |
| Price | $250 |
The familiarity extends to the level of comfort, too, with generously-cushioned ear cups packed with cooling gel, and a floating self-adjusting headband that keeps the headset light on your skull. The setup works well, and feels awesome. I'm happy that Turtle Beach included a much longer cable in this package, too, compared to the Elite Atlas, complete with an in-line mute switch.
The Elite Pro 2 headset for Xbox One comes in a white color, which looks really awesome when matched up with an Xbox One S console. It also packs the new Elite refinements, including magnetic speaker plates and earcups for easy cleaning and customization. There are a few speaker plates available on Turtle Beach's website, primarily with esports branding for now. Hopefully, the company will expand the range of options available in the future.
On sound, there's really nothing to dislike here, either. The audio is well-tuned for gaming, with distortion-free accentuation on high frequencies, and sweeping, booming bass tones on the low end. It'll immerse you, enthrall you, and grant you a tactical edge in competitive play.
It'll immerse you, enthrall you, and grant you a tactical edge in competitive play.
Dolby Atmos or Windows Sonic spatial sound also compliments the headset well in titles like Battlefield V and Overwatch, adding a heightened sense of positional awareness in lieu of a more traditional 7.1 virtual surround sound option.
The headset is effectively a white version of the Turtle Beach Elite Atlas, which we called the best headset of 2018 for its quality and price. However, this is a package deal which comes with a SuperAmp dial, designed to inject some extra audio controls and features into your console and PC gaming experience.
For the most part, the SuperAmp works well and does what it says on the box. The Amp has some good weight to it, and it won't be sliding around due to cable tension, and the metallic dial comes with an attractive LED which flashes red when muted, with a white ring that grows or shrinks based on volume. When connected between your headset and Xbox, you can use the SuperAmp to inject adjustable mic monitoring sidetone feedback, so you can hear yourself talking.
You can use some of Turtle Beach's audio presets for specific game genres, such as shooting games and racers. You can also add Turtle Beach's "SuperHuman Hearing" audio tuning, which emphasizes audio frequencies where sound cues like footsteps and gun reloads sit, giving you a tactical edge.
While the SuperAmp works well for the most part, it also introduces a lot of perplexing design decisions.
Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 + SuperAmp: The bad stuff
I wish the Elite Pro 2 was purchasable separately from the SuperAmp. Why would you want to purchase it separately from the SuperAmp? Well... the SuperAmp just isn't that great.
It seems odd that Turtle Beach took a step backward.
Aside from the SuperAmp's design, which is well thought out with quality materials and a good weight, the functionality is a bit maddening. Primarily, this is because much of it is configured via apps either on PC or mobile devices and via Bluetooth. On most mix hardware, there will be separate dials for chat and game sound volumes, but the SuperAmp requires you to reach for your phone or plug the SuperAmp into your PC to tweak something as basic as chat mix, which is annoying. Turtle Beach's Tactical Audio Controller had separate physical sliders for this functionality, so it seems odd that the company took a step backward here.
Speaking of Bluetooth, the Amp includes the ability to inject sound from mobile or PC devices, allowing you to take calls or use chat programs not connected to your Xbox. However, the sound quality suffers from doing this. I had hoped that I might be able to use the SuperAmp's Bluetooth connectivity to chat over Discord on PC while gaming on Xbox, but the quality is just nowhere near where it should be for anything other than a brief phone call.
It's fine enough for music, but Xbox has Spotify built-in nowadays, so I'm not sure how useful this feature is going to be for most people.
As far as calling is concerned, the chat experience on the Elite Pro 2, again, is really good, if you connect via 3.5mm, that is. I found that while using Xbox Live party chat through the SuperAmp, it intermittently interfered with the volume levels of the game I was playing.
I figured that might be due to the "Chat Boost" function included with the SuperAmp app, but even with that feature disabled, it still created an odd-sounding experience I ended up wanting to avoid completely by simply plugging the Elite Pro 2 directly into my Xbox controller. When I did this, the problem went away entirely. The SuperAmp simply did little to amp my experience, and instead, it introduced a range of pain points.
Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 + SuperAmp: Bottom line
Considering the Elite Pro 2 is almost identical to the Elite Atlas, except for the color, you're effectively paying an extra $150 for the SuperAmp. Astro's competing MixAmp can be purchased separately and provides practically all the same features as the SuperAmp, as well as physical game and chat mix dials, and 7.1 surround, albeit slightly cheaper. With that in mind, it makes more sense to recommend the Elite Atlas and Astro MixAmp as two separate purchases, than in this single bundle.
The SuperAmp is a decent product if you're only planning to use it to inject microphone monitoring and control volume, but the fact that you have to use a separate phone app via Bluetooth to control something as basic as the chat and game sound mix is odd. A simple dial on the SuperAmp would have made far more sense. The Bluetooth connectivity is also far too weak for using external sound programs for any serious length of time, too, making one of its signature features a bit weak, considering how much it costs.
The Elite Pro 2 is a stunning headset, and while the SuperAmp isn't terrible, I just wish Turtle Beach thought the SuperAmp aspect through a bit more before committing to it.
Great headset meets odd SuperAmp.
As great as the Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 headset is, the full package is a bit pricey considering the imperfect nature of the SuperAmp that inflates the price. If you're using this solely for Xbox, you won't be disappointed, but the Bluetooth features and app controls are disappointing.
