Review: Turtle Beach Recon 200 – Bang for Buck

Anyone that knows anything about video games is familiar with Turtle Beach as a brand. I’d go so far as to say that in the gaming community, they’d be considered a household name. The last Turtle Beach we reviewed here at EFTM was the Elite Atlas Aero, a ~$270 wireless headset that really impressed – this time we’re headed to the other end of their range, a $99 wired solution that is compatible with your PS4, Xbox One and any device with a 3.5mm aux jack.

Your first concern when purchasing a budget headset is going to be “does it sound any good?” which is a worry that I will immediately put to bed – the Turtle Beach Recon 200’s sound incredible, especially for such an inexpensive device. The majority of that sound quality is coming from some serious bass boosting. It’s a technique we’ve seen for years in gaming headsets (namely the lower-end devices) in order to lull the consumer into a sense of quality – but with the Recon 200’s it seems to really make a difference. 

Between video games, high quality podcast audio and a movie, I put the Recon’s to the test and the consensus is that while the bass is exceptional and makes the gaming experience quite nice, the lighter/higher sounds in the mix do get drowned out a bit. Which is to say that voices without any background noise sounded fine, but once a few sound effects or music were involved, they dominated the sound and made it less enjoyable. Albeit still more than enough for a headset at this price point.

As far as the build itself, the Turtle Beach Recon 200’s have thin leather earcups and a very lightweight plastic casing. While the device itself feels quite flimsy, it still looks really stylish and can’t be faulted as far as comfort is concerned. The ear cups are home to a neat little Turtle Beach logo and well designed faux-carbon fiber panels.

The controls are as straightforward as they come – the back of the left cup (facing behind you) houses a headphone volume wheel, microphone volume wheel, power switch that can be toggled for PS4 or Xbox (also PC/aux) and microUSB charging port.

In terms of features, the Recon 200 is relatively stock standard in that it’s wired to your device of choice, however has an on board battery for portability – each charge will last you roughly 12 hours of use.

The built-in microphone is designed well and will mute on flip-up. It doesn’t stick out awfully far from the left cup, however the sensitivity seemed to pick up just about everything in my near vicinity anyway. 

For $99, the Turtle Beach Recon 200’s are an incredible headset that would more than accommodate the needs of the casual/regular gamer. If you’re in the market for a new headset, take a look at them on the Turtle Beach website or in-store at JB Hi-Fi.