Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 Headphones Review

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 look very similar to their predecessor, the Turtle Beach Recon 200. They have a somewhat bulky and plastic look, with bisected detailing on the ear cups. While you can't detach their boom mic, you can flip it upwards if you want a less gamer-centric look. They come in three color variations: Black, White, and Midnight Blue.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 are decently comfortable. Unlike the Turtle Beach Recon 200, they now use mesh cloth padding instead of faux leather, which feels good on your skin. They also feel lightweight and don't clamp too tightly on your head. However, they can slide around your head with slight head movements, and you may need to adjust their fit as you wear them.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have sub-par controls. Unfortunately, like most gaming headphones, they lack call and music-related controls. That said, while there are a few commands to remember, they're easy to use. Both the sidetone and volume wheel stop at min and max, and there's a light on the slider to let you know when the headphones are on. The light also changes depending on the battery level. However, it can be hard to distinguish the volume wheel from the sidetone wheel.

• Volume wheel: Raises or lowers the volume.
• Mic sidetone wheel: Raises or lowers the mic's sidetone.
• PS/Xbox slider: This slider turns on or off the surround sound effect on the console you've selected. When using either preset, 'Bass Boost' is turned on, which adds thump and kick to your audio.
• Microphone flip up and down: Mutes and unmutes the microphone.

Like most over-ear gaming headphones, the Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 aren't very portable. The ear cups can swivel to lay flat, but you can't fold their frame for easier storage. Unfortunately, you also can't detach their mic, and they don't come with a carrying case to help protect them when you're on the go.

The build quality is okay. They're similarly built to the Turtle Beach Recon 200, and their plastic frame feels cheap. Unfortunately, their silicone audio cable isn't detachable, so you need to replace the entire headset if the cable is damaged. On the upside, the headband is reinforced with a metal band, and they now use cloth padding on the ear cups instead of faux leather.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have okay stability. They can easily slide around your head with low-intensity head movements and may fall off with larger motions. Their non-detachable audio cable can also snag on something and pull them off your head if you're not careful.

• Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 headset
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Manuals
• Turtle Beach sticker

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have an excited sound profile with the slider to set to 'Xbox,' which also turns on their Bass Boost feature. You can see a comparison between the slider off and the slider set to Xbox on PC here. Using the slider, they deliver extra warmth and boom while dialogue and lead instruments are bright. However, some users may find them a bit muddy and piercing. Unfortunately, they lack any other sound customization features to help adjust their sound to your liking.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2's frequency response consistency is sub-par. Bass and treble delivery are very sensitive to the fit, seal, and positioning of the headphones on your head. You may especially notice a drop in bass if you have thick hair or wear glasses.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have satisfactory bass accuracy. The low-bass is very flat and accurate, resulting in adequate thump and rumble. However, the mid and high-bass are very overemphasized, so mixes have extra punch and boom. Some users may find this sounds muddy, though.

Bass delivery is sensitive to fit, seal, and positioning. This measurement represents an average response, and your real-world experience may differ.

The mid accuracy is outstanding. The range is very neutral and balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear, detailed, and accurate.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2's treble accuracy is good. There's a bit of overemphasis in the low and mid-treble, so the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments are detailed but a bit harsh. Sibilants like cymbals, in contrast, are bright but piercing.

Treble delivery is sensitive to fit, seal, and positioning. This measurement represents an average response, and your real-world experience may differ.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have satisfactory peaks and dips performance. A large peak in the mid to high-bass adds extra punch and boom to mixes, while a small dip from the low to mid-mid thins out vocals and lead instruments while pushing them to the back of your mix. A small peak in the left driver's high-mid can make vocals and lead instruments slightly harsh. Another peak in the low-treble affects both drivers and harshens these same sounds, and a peak in the mid-treble turns sibilants like S and T sounds piercing.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2's imaging performance is great. There are a couple of small peaks above the audibility threshold in the group delay, but they're very minor. As a result, the group delay falls within good levels, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble. There are also a couple of minor peaks in the phase response, but this shouldn't be audible for most users. That said, the L/R drivers are well-matched in phase, amplitude, and frequency response, which is important for the accurate localization and placement of objects like voices in the stereo image. However, our results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have an okay passive soundstage. Since they have a closed-back design, their soundstage doesn't seem as open or as spacious as that created by open-back headphones. The soundstage struggles to sound as if it's coming from speakers placed in the room around you, rather than as if coming from inside your head. However, the soundstage is perceived as large and natural.

These headphones are compatible with Window Sonic Spatial Audio on Xbox and 3D Audio on PlayStation 5. They also have a slider on the left ear cup that activates their surround sound and Bass Boost feature, which you can then set to PlayStation or Xbox. You can't use the virtual soundstage features without also turning on Bass Boost, though.

When the slider is off, the sound is lower and lacks a surround effect, but the Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 can still produce audio. You can see the difference between off and the slider set to Xbox on PC here. If you put the slider on the opposite console to what you're using (if you've selected Xbox when you're using a PlayStation console and vice-versa), the sound is a bit louder than when off, but it's quieter than when using the correct console settings.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance of the Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 is good. All frequencies fall within good limits at moderate and high listening volumes, resulting in clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 have a poor noise isolation performance. They hardly block out any of the low rumbles of bus and plane engines. They also struggle to cut down mid-range sounds like ambient chatter and higher-pitched noise like the hum of an AC unit.

The leakage performance is mediocre. Leakage is concentrated in the mid to treble range and sounds somewhat full. If you like to listen to your audio at high volumes, others around you can likely hear it, even in moderately noisy environments like a busy office.

The flippable boom mic has a very good recording quality. Your voice sounds natural and clear, although lacking somewhat in body.

The boom mic's noise handling is mediocre. It struggles to separate your voice from moderate ambient noise. If you like to game near an open window, sounds like traffic may drown out your voice.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have a good battery performance. They have a battery to power their Bass Boost feature, but you can turn this feature off and use them passively if you prefer. That said, they're advertised to have 12 hours of continuous playback time, and we measured under 17 hours. This longer playback time isn't uncommon, though, as other users and reviews have also reported this. While they lack a power-saving feature to help conserve battery life, you can use them while they're charging.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have a non-detachable 1/8" TRRS cable that offers full audio and mic compatibility when connected to devices with an AUX port. They come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge the headphones.

These headphones can connect to PCs via an analog connection. You can receive audio as well as use their microphone.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 are fully compatible with PS4 and PS5 via an analog connection into the console's controller.

The Turtle Beach Recon 200 Gen 2 have full mic and audio compatibility with Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles when connected to the console controller's AUX port.