Turtle Beach PX5 Review • 09.26.11
For serious gamers are headset is just as important as the console or pc itself. It provides that slight advantage that is the difference between the sweet taste of victory and the agonizing reality of defeat. The PX5, the latest entry by industry leader Turtle Beach, looks to be the best headset ever made, on paper at least. With an amazing feature set and the promise of hyrid 5.1/7.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, does it live up to the hype? Find out in our review!
Price
This is where most people are going to be turned off. The headset comes in at $249.99 MSRP. Now while that sounds like a lot, you will most likely find it for a better price at your favorite online retailer. With that said, the price is warranted. I will go into the individual features later on but a wireless headset with 7.1/5.1 surround sound 249.99 is a small price to pay for that competitive edge.
8/10 I know for a lot of people price is the most important factor so while the features support it’s price tag, I scored it accordingly.
Build Quality
The headset is made almost entirely of plastic besides the mesh ear coverings. The headset is lightweight while still feeling substantial. I would remiss to say that I have never had issues with Turtle Beach headsets breaking on me but these feel different the most others I have used. I would still be careful with them and use the included stand when they are not in use.
8/10 They feel better than other Turtle Beach branded headsets I have owned in the past, namely the x31 and x11 series which both felt flimsy, these however do not feel flimsy at all, still I would recommend a soft touch, just to be safe.
Sound Quality
Full disclaimer, I am not nor claim to be an audiophile. I can distinguish the difference between lows, mids, and highs but beyond that I don’t fret over audio. If you have never used a surround sound headset then these are going to blow your mind. You will begin to hear sounds that you never even knew where there. If you have, however, used a gaming headset before, as I have, then the shock will be less jarring but not less impactful. You can feel the difference going from a stereo headset to a Dolby Digital one. My gameplay improved drastically and I have to attribute it to directional sound. These will immerse you without disturbing others and that is nearly priceless.
9.5/10 Nothing can be perfect in my eyes, and I really struggled not give this category a perfect score. The sound is the best I have heard from a headset, ever.
Features
These are additional features that are worth mentioning but are substantial enough for their own section. The headset supports Bluetooth support for PSN chat and also for pairing with your cell phone to listen to music while playing. It sports a transmitter stand which is used to hookup your devices and also to hang the headset on when not in use. It has a optical input and output, stereo input, volume control, and power socket on the back. On the front it sports several indicator lights, Dolby bypass button and a headphone output jack. Additional features include programmable presets for specific games. In the box is batteries, Xbox chat cable, optical cable, the headset and transmitter, and two USB cables. The only feature that bugs me, or lack there of, is that the headset is not rechargeable out of the box. A lower end headset in the same line, PX3, has a rechargeable battery pack built in while the PX5 still uses standard AA batteries. They claim 15 hours and I was able to get nearly that, I wasn’t using Bluetooth which may or may not affect it’s life further.
8.5/10 It’s supplemental features are nice, and some even have everyday use but I would gladly give up programmable presets or even bluetooth to have a built in rechargeable battery.
Overall
Overall this is the best headset, wireless or otherwise, I have ever used. Bar none. I honestly think that Turtle Beach has refined so much that this could be their best headset ever. The price is going to get in the way for some but the sound, build and feature qualities are top notch and worth to even the casual player.
9/10 (not an average)
I think a lot of people often wonder what’s out there besides iPod’s in the portable MP3 player space. Nextar now has the Nextar T-30 for under $100, and it’s just a half inch thin, and weighs only a few ounces. You get a 3.5″ display in 320×400, 4GB of internal storage, and 8 hour battery. It has an FM tuner (and recorder), and has a voice recorder and eBook reader. It even has an SD slot!
