Notice: Your browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.
Products
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Tested using Methodology v1.8
Updated Jun 09, 2025 01:02 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.8
Updated May 15, 2025 08:35 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Our Verdict
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 and the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (Gen 3) have different strengths. The SteelSeries' mic has a better recording quality, and they also have a sturdier build quality and a more useful companion app. On the other hand, the Turtle Beach have a much longer battery life, deliver a more consistent sound from wear to wear, and are usually a little cheaper than the SteelSeries. The Turtle Beach's mic is also a little better at separating your voice from any noise around you.
Variants
- Arctis Nova 5X (Black)
- Arctis Nova 5P (Black)
- Arctis Nova 5 (Black)
- Stealth 600 (Gen 3) (Black - PC)
- Stealth 600 (Gen 3) (Black - PS)
- Stealth 600 (Gen 3) (Black - Xbox)
- Stealth 600 (Gen 3) (White - PS)
- Stealth 600 (Gen 3) (White - Xbox)
Check Price
Black
Arctis Nova 5X
Searching
Finding storeBlack - PC
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeBlack
Arctis Nova 5P
Searching
Finding storeBlack - PS
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeBlack
Arctis Nova 5
Searching
Finding storeBlack - Xbox
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeWhite - PS
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeWhite - Xbox
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeMain Differences forNeutral Sound
Neutral Sound
Threshold
Neutral Sound
6.6
7.2
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
7.3
8.5
Peaks/Dips
6.9
8.0
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
6.7
7.2
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
7.5
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.58 lbs
0.7 lbs
Clamping Force
0.7 lbs
1.2 lbs
Controls
7.6
7.5
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Decent
Feedback
Good
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
Mute/Unmute
Mute/Unmute
Channel Mixing
Yes
Yes
Noise Cancelling Control
No
No
Talk-Through
No
No
Additional Controls
Multi function
Bluetooth + Multi function
Breathability
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
Portability
5.7
5.4
Portability Picture
L
7.7" (19.5 cm)
7.8" (19.7 cm)
W
10.5" (26.6 cm)
7.8" (19.9 cm)
H
1.9" (4.7 cm)
3.4" (8.6 cm)
Volume
148.77 in³ (2,437.89 cm³)
205.74 in³ (3,371.46 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
0.0
0.0
Case Picture
Type
No case
No case
L
N/A
N/A
W
N/A
N/A
H
N/A
N/A
Volume
N/A
N/A
Build Quality
7.5
6.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
6.5
6.0
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
350 Hz
500 Hz
Bass Amount
6.8 dB
5.6 dB
Treble Amount
1.3 dB
3.5 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
5.3
6.4
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
1.83 dB
0.77 dB
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
6.7
7.2
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
7.2 dB
6.1 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
20 Hz
20 Hz
Low Bass
4.11 dB
3.5 dB
Mid Bass
8.18 dB
7.18 dB
High Bass
9.38 dB
7.13 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
7.3
8.5
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
2.57 dB
1.49 dB
Low Mid
1.7 dB
0.28 dB
Mid-Mid
0.83 dB
1.54 dB
High Mid
2.74 dB
0.12 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
5.2
5.6
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
4.84 dB
4.52 dB
Low Treble
-0.62 dB
1.35 dB
Mid Treble
3.83 dB
6.41 dB
High Treble
-4.14 dB
-3.25 dB
Imaging
7.6
7.8
Group Delay
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
1.14
0.3
Weighted Phase Mismatch
5.34
12.73
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.33
1.17
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
2.37
2.11
Passive Soundstage
6.0
6.1
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
2.34 dB
2.18 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
6.91 dB
5.04 dB
PRTF Distance
13.06 dB
12.08 dB
Openness
4.8
5.0
Acoustic Space Excitation
3.6
3.6
Virtual Soundstage
2.0
0.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
No
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
No
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
Windows Sonic Spatial Audio
No
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.1
7.0
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.530
0.418
WHD @ 100
0.178
0.340
Test Settings
Firmware
1.7
V6.96.1480
Power
On
On
Connection
Wireless (Proprietary)
Wireless (Proprietary)
Codec
PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz
PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Default (Flat)
Turtle Beach Signature Sound
ANC
No ANC
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Boom
Boom
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
5.1
4.9
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
No
No
Overall Attenuation
-12.63 dB
-12.05 dB
Bass
0.81 dB
2.36 dB
Mid
-11.19 dB
-12.21 dB
Treble
-30.82 dB
-28.87 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
4.5
4.4
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-9.94 dB
-9.97 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-10.38 dB
-10.41 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-11.80 dB
-10.60 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
ANC Wind Handling
ANC Wind Handling Graph
ANC Wind Noise
N/A
N/A
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
No
No
In-Line
No
No
Boom
Yes
Yes
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
8.5
7.8
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
20 Hz
111.52 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
1.85 dB
1.19 dB
HFE
7,452.94 Hz
6,177.3 Hz
Weighted THD
0.081
0.863
Gain
1.98 dB
1.08 dB
Noise Handling
8.0
8.3
SpNR
42.07 dB
24.37 dB
Noise Gate
On/Off Toggle
On/Off Toggle
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
8.0
8.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
8.0
8.0
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
8.9
8.9
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
48.2 hrs
85.7 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0.0
Total Battery Life
48.2 hrs
85.7 hrs
Charge Time
1.8 hrs
4.25 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Auto-Off Timer
Auto-Off Timer
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
USB-C
USB-C
App Support
8.5
8.0
App Picture
App Name
Steelseries GG
Swarm II
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
Yes
macOS
Yes
No
Windows
Yes
Yes
Equalizer
Parametric + Presets
Graphic + Presets
ANC Control
No
No
Mic Control
Adjustable Level
Adjustable Level
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
No
Yes
Surround Support
Yes
No
Connectivity
Wired Connection
0.0
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
No
No
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
No
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connector
N/A
No Wired Option
Latency - Analog
N/A
N/A
Latency - USB
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency Connection
N/A
N/A
Bluetooth Connection
8.2
8.1
Bluetooth Version
5.3
5.2
Multi-Device Pairing
Bluetooth + Console/Non-BT Wireless
Bluetooth + Console/Non-BT Wireless
Quick Pair (Android)
No
No
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
No
Line Of Sight Range
334.65 ft (102.00 m)
334.65 ft (102.00 m)
Latency - SBC
153 ms
180 ms
Latency - aptX
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
N/A
Latency - LDAC
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
SBC
SBC
AAC Support
No
No
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
8.6
8.4
Line Of Sight Range
147.64 ft (45.00 m)
157.48 ft (48.00 m)
Latency - Dongle
30 ms
37 ms
Recorded Latency
PC Compatibility
Analog
No
No
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
No
No
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
PS5 Analog
No
No
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
No
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
Xbox Series X|S Analog
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
Base/Dock
3.4
3.4
Type
Wireless USB Dongle
Wireless USB Dongle
USB Input
Yes
Yes
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
No
No
Power Supply
USB-C
USB
Check Price
Black
Arctis Nova 5X
Searching
Finding storeBlack - PC
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeBlack
Arctis Nova 5P
Searching
Finding storeBlack - PS
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeBlack
Arctis Nova 5
Searching
Finding storeBlack - Xbox
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeWhite - PS
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding storeWhite - Xbox
Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Searching
Finding store
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (Gen 3)
Comments
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (Gen 3) vs SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5: Main Discussion
What do you think of these products? Let us know below.
Looking for a personalized buying advice from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.