Turtle Beach made the Recon 70 gaming headset to compete with the impossibly large selection of budget headsets. With the Recon 70 selling for $39.99 MSRP, you also have a selection of colors to choose from. Regardless of color or theme, they all work the same. The Recon 70 is a passive (non-powered) gaming headset that uses a 3.5mm combo jack (TRRS) for sound and mic. That means it works well with phones (if you still have a headphone jack), tablets, controllers, computers etc.
The controls are simple, easy to use, and effective. You have a simple volume wheel on the left ear cup, and a flip-to-mute mic. The volume wheel is small and easy to spin, but it feels good enough for this price point. The ear cups don’t fold for travel, but they do rotate to lay flat. The cord is thicker than expected, with the plug having rubber reinforcement to help reduce stress on the wire in case you snag or bend the cable by accident.
I was surprised, and frankly happy, to see Turtle Beach invest where it counts. It’s extremely durable, comfortable, and has a well-balanced sound. It has some bass, but it’s not boomy or muddy. The highs are clear without being too bright or harsh. The headset is EQ’d to excel at foot steps, gunshots, and positional awareness. The mic does a great job of picking up your voice without too much background noise. The boom is short which allows you to swig a drink without moving it out of the way. One other benefit to a short boom is your friends won’t be complaining that they hear you breathing into the mic! Make no mistake, these are not high end sounding headphones, but they sound great for their intended purpose. It’s well packaged overall, with no obvious shortcomings.
I think the most important thing to convey here is value. Some people don’t have enough money to buy a high-end headset which often gives players a competitive edge. Some also choose to buy inexpensive headphones because they don’t see the value or point of expensive ones. Regardless of your reason, the Recon 70 is a great choice under $50. They allow you to be competitive in an arena full of amateur and pro gamers. It’s really amazing how well Turtle Beach dialed in the sound characteristics of the Recon 70 too excel at gaming performance. With that being said, it’s a perfect entry level headset for yourself or as a gift.
If you decide this headset is for you, you can purchase it through Amazon (and support our channel) here (thanks!): https://amzn.to/30xG3ac
