Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless Headphones Review

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless have a sleek and straightforward design that doesn't look as flashy as some other gaming headphones. The headphones are covered in a matte black and grey finish and have a somewhat casual look, thanks to the detachable boom microphone.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless have a decently comfortable fit. These headphones have very well-padded ear cups, but unfortunately, they clamp very tightly on the head. They're also quite heavy and cause a fair amount of fatigue after a short time of using them. On the bright side, they feature Turtle Beach's ProSpecs Glasses Relief System that creates room for your glasses to remove pressure from the headphones pressing against your frames. It's worth noting that this will break the seal these headphones make with your ears, and you'll experience their sound reproduction differently.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero's controls are disappointing. While the controls are fairly easy to use, unfortunately, the infinite-scrolling wheels are very easy to accidentally hit while moving the headphones. One of the buttons and one of the wheels can be remapped within the companion software, which is nice.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero are bulky. On the bright side, these headphones fold into a more compact shape, which many gaming headphones don't do.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless don't come with a carrying case.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless' build quality is only okay. The entire headphones look and feel cheap and plasticky, and the headband feels very fragile. On the bright side, the ear cups have nice thick padding that doesn't feel cheap.

Due to the high clamping force, the Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero feel decently stable on the head. They likely won't move from most normal head movements or during a jog or run, but may not be the best choice to take to the gym.

• Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless PC Gaming Headset
• Wireless USB dongle
• 1/8" TRRS cable with in-line mic and remote
• Detachable boom microphone
• Micro-USB charging cable
• Manuals
• Turtle Beach sticker

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero's sound profile is somewhat well-balanced but lacks thump and brightness. That said, they should be versatile enough for most genres. It's worth noting that due to their inconsistent frequency response, our results are an average, and people may experience their sound reproduction differently.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero's frequency response consistency is mediocre. People with glasses or long hair experience their bass differently depending on the quality of the fit and seal they can achieve. You'll also likely have to adjust them slightly to achieve the same treble reproduction every time you wear them.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero's bass accuracy is very good. While these headphones are a little lacking in thump and rumble, they still provide a good amount of punch and kick. Overall, the entire bass range is fairly even and balanced. It's worth noting that this is an average of our results, and you may experience their bass performance differently depending on the fit and seal you can achieve.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless' mid accuracy is good. Most of the range is well-balanced and even, though unfortunately, they lack a fair amount of low-mid, which thins out vocals and lead instruments.

The treble accuracy is sub-par. Almost the entire range is recessed, resulting in vocals and instruments that sound dull, lispy, and hard to understand. High mid-treble is fairly overemphasized, causing some frequencies to sound piercing.

There are quite a few peaks and dips throughout all ranges, and these headphones' performance in this regard is only okay. The dip in low-mid preceded by the peak in high-bass results in a muddy sound, as vocals and instruments are pushed back and muffled. The large peak in mid-treble makes some higher frequencies sound piercing, especially the recessed low-treble range.

The imaging performance is good. Unfortunately, their uneven group delay causes their bass to be loose, though they have a transparent treble range. The left and right drivers of our unit were well-matched, ensuring accurate placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo field. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless' passive soundstage is only mediocre. Due to these headphones' closed-back design, they don't sound very open, and they have a small soundstage that makes audio sound like it's coming from inside your head as opposed to out in front of you.

The Turtle Beach Atlas Aero support Waves NX 3D Audio virtual surround sound.

The weighted harmonic distortion is decent. At both moderate and high volume, there's very little distortion, and audio sounds quite clear and pure.

These are the settings used while testing the Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless PC Gaming Headset; therefore, the results are only valid for these test settings.

As is common with large over-ear gaming headphones, the noise isolation of the Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero is poor. These headphones do very little to block out background noise, except for the higher-pitched sounds of an AC unit or fan.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero's leakage performance is mediocre. At higher volumes, people nearby will likely hear a bit of what you're listening to.

These headphones have a detachable boom microphone as well as an in-line mic on the included TRRS cable. Our tests reflect the detachable boom mic's performance, though, which you can only use when using the headphones wirelessly. The microphone has a side-tone feature that can be turned on/off within the companion software, so you can hear yourself while talking.

The boom microphone's recording quality is good. When using the mic, your voice sounds natural, clear, and fairly full-bodied.

The boom microphone's noise handling is great. Your teammates should have no problems hearing you, even in noisy environments, like a gaming tournament.

The battery performance is excellent. They last over 30 hours off a single charge, which is superb and is exactly what Turtle Beach advertised. Unfortunately, they take almost 2.5 hours to charge, which isn't that great. On the bright side, they feature an auto-off timer, though they don't state how long it takes to turn the headphones off, and it seemed to turn off the headphones quite quickly during our testing.

The companion software is good. While it has many features, including a graphic EQ and presets, unfortunately, the software itself is confusing and hard to navigate. However, once you get used to it, you'll enjoy the plethora of available options.

These headphones only work wirelessly with their included USB receiver.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless PC Gaming Headset connect wirelessly via a proprietary USB receiver. Unfortunately, the latency is high, especially for headphones that use a dedicated receiver.

These headphones come with a micro-USB cable for charging and a 1/8" TRRS audio cable with an in-line microphone and remote.

The USB receiver for these headphones only works on PC, and when we plugged it into our PS4, it couldn't detect the headphones. While you can use them wired by plugging them into our PS4 controller, the headphones will then use the in-line microphone as opposed to the boom mic.

These headphones are compatible with Xbox One by plugging the audio cable into the controller of your console. Unfortunately, when using them wired, the headphones will use the in-line microphone as opposed to the boom mic.

The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero use a wireless USB dongle for their wireless connection. The headphones also have a small compartment in the right ear cup to store the receiver, which is handy.