Turtle Beach RECON CHAT review: An affordable chat headset with great microphone and chat sound

When gaming with friends, it’s nice to be able to chat with them to not only shoot the breeze but to coordinate attacks during multiplayer matches. Not everyone wants to shell out the money for a full-blown headphone set for gaming, especially if they already have a decent speaker or home theatre setup. While their is an Xbox One Chat Headset available, which works well enough, there are other solutions on the market. Our Turtle Beach RECON CHAT review takes a look at the Xbox One version of the chat headset and takes a look to see how it compares with the stock Microsoft one.

Specifications

The Turtle Beach RECON CHAT has the following features and specifications:

• Versatile Compatibility: Works great with Xbox One and PS4™ controllers with the 3.5mm jack, as well as mobile/tablet devices with a 3.5mm connection.
• Unique Open Ear-Cup: A unique open ear-cup allows gamers to hear game audio from the TV or home theater system in both ears (in stereo) while hearing chat audio from other players through the headset.
• Glasses Friendly: Turtle Beach’s innovative SpecsFit™ glasses avoidance zone lets gamers with glasses play in comfort, thanks to the special channel in the ear cushion which alleviates pressure on your glasses from the headset.
• Reversible Over-Ear Design: Features a full-size ear cup that can be worn over the right or left ear, whichever is more comfortable.
• High-Quality 40mm Speaker: A large, high-quality 40mm speaker delivers crystal clear chat audio.
• Crystal Clear Chat: Turtle Beach’s renowned high-sensitivity mic picks up your voice and ensures your every command is heard loud and clear.
• Convenient In-line Controls: Convenient in-line controls place Chat Volume and Mic Mute right at your fingertips.
• Weight: 120g Headset
• Speaker Frequency Response: 80Hz – 10kHz
• Console Chat Connection: 3.5mm
• Speakers: 40mm Speaker with Neodymium Magnet
• Microphone Design: Omni-Directional Boom Mic
• Headband/Earpad Material: Fabric Mesh (Black) with Foam Cushioning

What’s in the box

• Turtle Beach RECON CHAT headset
• Quick Start Guide

Design

As far as Turtle gaming headsets go, the RECON CHAT headset has a very different design, namely because it is a single ear chat headset. It ships in two pieces — the headband and the earcup. Both are constructed of a hard plastic. The headband itself is in a “p” shape. One end is angled and has a couple of notches in it, this is the end that slides into the outer shell of the earcup. The other end has a six sided polygon with the Turtle Beach logo on the outside and a soft foam padding on the inside. A couple of inches from this end piece is another soft foam pad attached to the bottom of the headband.

The earcup itself is green with a black outer shell. The Turtle Beach logo is printed in white on the outside. The headband slides into the black outer shell just behind the logo. Once inserted, it locks into place and the earcup can be adjusted up and down about 2″ for optimal fit.

The inside of the ear cup has foam cushioning across the top and around the bottom with a 1 ½” gap on either side. This gap is the Turtle Beach SpecsFit™ glasses avoidance zone, and for someone who wears glasses it works very well and is nice to not have an ear cushion pushing against your glasses while wearing the headset.

The earcup itself has an interesting design. Unlike the Xbox One Chat Headset which consists of a single ear piece which covers your entire ear, the Turtle Beach RECON CHAT goes over your ear. The center portion of the ear cup houses the 40mm speaker, while the outer area has a series of small holes on both sides and near the top and bottom. My main complaint in the past about using chat headsets is they can “unbalance” the sound from your speaker system because one of your ears is covered for chat functionality. The RECON CHAT rectifies this with its design, and the extra holes — along with the gaps for the SpecsFit™ system — allow the sound from your system to pass through which allows you to enjoy all your game sound while chatting with your friends and teammates.

The omnidirectional boom mic and the almost 4′ 3.5mm audio cable are attached to the bottom of the ear cup in such a way that the RECON CHAT can be work easily on either ear. Roughly 13″ down on the audio cable is an inline control unit which has a volume dial and microphone mute switch.

At first, I did find the Turtle Beach RECON CHAT headset a bit odd feeling — not uncomfortable but perhaps a bit stiff, but after extended use, it’s definitely light and comfortable enough for long gaming sessions.

Sound Quality

The Turtle Beach RECON CHAT headset sounds way better than the Xbox One Chat Headset hands down. When in a party, the other members come through loud and clear, and it’s easy to adjust the volume using the in-line remote control.

Microphone/Voice Quality

As expected with a Turtle Beach product, the microphone works very well. Other party members had no issues hearing me when I spoke, and there were no requests to repeat what I’d just said. I was told that the voice quality was clear and crisp.

Price/Value

With an MSRP of $19.99USD, the Turtle Beach RECON CHAT is actually $5 cheaper than the Xbox One Chat Headset, and most definitely has a better earcup for sound and microphone for clear chatting while gaming. While we tested the Xbox One version, there is a PlayStation 4 version available as well.

Wrap-up

If you’re looking for an affordable, great sounding chat headset for your Xbox One with a high sensitivity microphone for clear voice communication, you should check out the Turtle Beach RECON CHAT headset.

*We were sent a sample of the Turtle Beach RECON CHAT for Xbox One for the purposes of this review.

Last Updated on November 19, 2017.