For the record - I do not claim to be a cheater. But just imagine having two really amazing people you’re dating and each one being mind-blowing and ‘soulmate’-worthy. Spoiler? SteelSeries and Turtle Beach are essentially my DC Comics and Marvel Comics - I’ll let you do the semantics for which one goes where but these two powerhouses know each other exist and go all-out in the most awesome, amazing and competitive style possible to deliver the edge in gaming experiences. Who has the current lead? All hail the mighty Turtle - coming courtesy of a pair of mind-blowing Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max wireless headsets.

There can only be one - okay, two colors

I’ll be honest - I recently caved in and rested both my Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X - yup, both of them - and put them into the hands of the folks over at GameStop - shout-out to Adam and Scott, Englewood, New Jersey stand up - and of course the decision came right at the time I received both the stunning-looking teal and pink Turtle Beach headsets.

I still remember getting my first-ever pair of Turtle Beach headphones for my Xbox Series X and thinking - ‘This is life-changing.’ It made me completely ditch having to wear my AirPods while on my stationary bike - you remember, October 2020, gyms were either still closed or way too uncomfortable to work out at during the days of pre-vaccine COVID-19. So I fell in love with Turtle Beach about a year before I experienced SteelSeries - but that’s a post for another day. What I couldn’t believe from Turtle Beach was the massively intense and yet soothing sounds of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Cold War gunfire mixing well with the experience of NBA 2K21 and then NBA 2K22.

The experience was solid and made me hooked onto Turtle Beach ever since. Fast-forward nearly three years and I’ve re-fallen in love with the Turtle Beach Stealth series and the improvements? My goodness.

For starters, the days of exclusivity for the Xbox Series X|S has significantly shifted and much like MLB The Show realized it’s biggest appeal would be going out of the Sony-only experience to including both Nintendo Switch and Xbox gamers, the same is true for these two headphones - pssssh, look below:

While optimization is of course going to be for all of you lucky Xbox gamers around the globe but for the true gamer - yes, I feel like I’ve lost a couple stripes going to exclusively PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch - you no longer have to juggle multiple headsets either at home or on the road. The USB connector gives you the choice of adjusting to strictly Xbox or simply hitting the latch on the device to ‘USB’ to give you the ability to game immediately on your Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.

Game-changing.

For some reason, I thought since I have my original Turtle Beach headset in my possession - you sneaky GameStop folks not letting us turn in headsets for store credit or cash - I would be able to at the very least use the headset for some iOS gaming or even clocking in work on the iMac because of the Bluetooth capabilities.

But nope - no luck. I bring up this minor setback to prove a major accomplishment with the new line. Being able to give your headset life out of your favorite go-to console is a massive achievement. Knowing I can use this for multiple devices is the type of excitement and joy I get - or even if down the road I retire the gaming goals - ha! Never! - I know I can pass on the headset to someone, practically any gamer because of the multi-platform powers.

Once again - this is freaking huge and reminds me of how poetic the Xbox machines departures were allowing me to immediately put these two great usage on both the PS5 and Switch.

Turtle Beach? Holy freaking smokes. The massive sound and clarity is always a signature feature of the brand but the amplified surround sound really does hit different and puts you in the action no matter what the situation - whether we’re talking Mario Kart 8 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II - you’re really ‘in’ it.

I have always been the paranoid type to charge a headset even if I only used it for 10 minutes. So for me, the 48-plus hour of battery life is too unbelievable and keeps me clutch for the ‘one’ time I’ll forget how charged up my headset is and know I have an eternity - or at least two days - of casual gaming coverage, give or take.

But in a really silly manner, I have to admit, the color scheme is what draws me in the most. Yes - I realize this is the equivalent of your annoying family member which only likes - or hates - a sports team because of their colors/uniform instead of the players, coaching staff or anything in-between.

Come on - is there any bigger statement of spring arriving than teal and pink? Heck freaking no and being a big Dipset head, yes, even in 2023, I love channeling my inner Killa Cam with the pink headset.

Bottom line - this is an absolute must-own. From what I have paid in the past for three headsets - one for the Xbox (don’t be mad Turtle Beach, I bought the official Xbox headset too as back-up), one for the PlayStation 5 and an individual one for the Nintendo Switch - combined, it cost a fraction of what these are going for.

Keep your trust in Turtle Beach - the track record speaks for itself and proving there are still achievements, improvements and new territory the brand continues to explore.

Your move, you-know-who.