Our Verdict
The Turtle Beach Elite 800 headset are best used as gaming headphones although they do have enough features to be moderately versatile headphones. However, their size makes them a bit cumbersome and not suited for sports or physical activity.
- Futuristic looking, sturdy design
- Comfortable
- Feature packed
- Poor noise cancellation
- Average sound quality
- Overly sensitive controls
Average for neutral listening. They're not designed to deliver the most balanced audio reproduction, and their poor soundstage won't be ideal for neutral listening. On the upside, they have multiple audio profiles and should sound sufficiently decent for most casual listeners.
Decent for commuting. They won't isolate well enough for the noise level of public transit. They're also a bit cumbersome to carry around.
Not made for sports use. Although they have a good wireless range, they're too bulky cumbersome and unstable for sports. They will fall off your head if used while jogging or exercising and their control scheme is not very intuitive.
Better-than-average for office use. They have a good wireless range so you won't be limited to your desk or office. However, they don't block noise well and will let the office chatter seep into your audio. They also leak at higher volumes.
Average for playing video games. They are comfortable, but they have an average sound quality. The latency is low, but only when using the base, it is high via Bluetooth. Their poor imaging makes positioning sound harder in games.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Sep 28, 2017: The microphone has been tested with our new methodology, as explained here
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Popular Headphones Comparisons
See our recommendations for the best gaming headsets, the best PS4 headsets, and the best gaming headsets for PC.
The Astro A50 Gen 3 are better gaming headphones than the Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless. The Astro have lower latency, their build quality is far superior, they feel sturdy, and they should feel way more comfortable for most people. Their sound profile is also well-balanced and more accurate. However, you can’t use the Astro wired like the Turtle Beach, and you can’t stream music via Bluetooth while gaming. The Turtle Beach are a more versatile headset due to this and don’t have such a bulky and gaming-minded design. They are also noise cancelling and block more ambient noise than the Astro. For gaming online with friends, the Astro have a better microphone.
The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Wireless and Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless are very similar gaming headsets. Both have decent performance, but the recording quality of the Stealth 700’s mic is better but doesn’t handle noise as well as the Elite 800. Both control schemes offer plenty of options, but the Elite 800 are hard to use, and the feedback is bad. On the other hand, the Elite model has an ANC feature, but it struggles to reduce background noise. Overall, both headsets are fairly cheaply made and may not be worth the investment.
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