Turtle Beach made a good SteelSeries headset clone that’s $50 less

I really liked the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, so the company didn’t have to say much to get me excited about its successor. The $399 Nova Pro Omni that came out on May 5th has a similar design to the 2022 model, but with some new and improved features — support for wireless hi-res audio (24-bit / 96kHz audio over 2.4GHz), better mic quality, and compatibility with all consoles in every model, to name the big ones. All the $599 Nova Elite has on the Omni is better build materials and bigger drivers.

But things got interesting when, just a few weeks before the Omni was announced, Turtle Beach showed off its Stealth Pro 2. To say that it’s inspired by previous SteelSeries headsets is putting it lightly. It has swappable batteries, a battery-charging wireless base station, a companion app for quickly changing audio settings, and the ability to listen to 2.4GHz and Bluetooth audio simultaneously. To top it off, it offers wireless hi-res audio support, too, and a slightly cheaper $349 price tag.

So, I did what was necessary: I called in both to test them concurrently to see which I thought was the best value. What I realized was that SteelSeries’ $399 Arctis Nova Pro Omni and Turtle Beach’s $349 Stealth Pro 2 are both great for several reasons, but they aren’t worth buying based on their hi-res audio capabilities alone — a major selling point for both. I couldn’t notice the hi-res difference compared to the default bit rate (24-bit, 48kHz) on my Windows 11 PC.

I tested out several albums’ worth of lossless tunes in Qobuz, and played a lot of Marathon, which is full of little location-based sounds that can hint at my impending doom. I can’t consider myself an audiophile because I have tinnitus, which prevents me from hearing some high-frequency sounds. Regardless, I’m in good company with many other people who cannot reliably spot the hi-res difference. It all sounded the same to me. Good, but not good enough to encourage you to spring for a new headset.

Functionally, the AirPods Max-inspired Stealth Pro 2 is the better option if you don’t have all of your gaming devices in a centralized location. Mine are sprinkled around my apartment, so I like that the Stealth Pro 2 has a button that toggles between transmitters (all while maintaining a simultaneous Bluetooth connection to my phone).

Both the Omni and the Stealth Pro 2 let you make on-the-fly adjustments to equalizer and mic settings through a mobile companion app over Bluetooth, so you won’t have to race to your PC to tweak settings. However, Turtle Beach’s headset gives you more on-device control options. You can shuffle through equalizers with a button on the Stealth Pro 2, and there are three dials to adjust USB source and Bluetooth volume independently and adjust game / chat mix levels. You can also customize what some of its additional inputs do in its app. SteelSeries delegates most of the controls to the GameHub station.

The Arctis Nova Pro Omni is a bit different in execution, but similar in function and design to the Nova Pro Wireless. Its station is the audio brain for all of your gaming gadgets, assuming all of them are within 5 feet for its two included USB-C-to-USB-A cables to reach. It can receive four wired audio sources (three USB-C, and one 3.5mm line-in audio), and mix up three at once, including Bluetooth. The mic works across platforms, too. The Omni is the best option if its USB audio source-swapping base station is always within reach.

These headsets are capable of rich, balanced audio that made me feel immersed in games. Even without their good active noise cancellation effects turned on, their ear pads muffle a good amount of outside sound. Both headsets’ software offers in-depth equalizer customization through their PC apps, but I preferred how the Omni sounds even with identical EQ waveforms across headsets. It has stronger mids and highs with warmth when content calls for it, more controlled bass, and better delineation between frequencies. The Stealth Pro 2 is close, though.

One area where SteelSeries pulls ahead is with mic quality. Its retractable boom mic is superior to what’s offered by Turtle Beach’s detachable flip-to-mute mic. My voice sounds warmer and has more detail (and doesn’t sound as much like I’m talking on the telephone). Though, neither sounds better than a dedicated desktop mic.

Most people have probably already figured out which headset gels best with their setup. The Stealth Pro 2 has a more appealing price that’s $50 less than the Omni, plus several great features that I’m more used to seeing offered in a SteelSeries headset. Then again, it might not be the right fit for everyone’s setup or sound preferences.

The Omni is a fantastic headset, too, but if your budget is locked to under $300, the SteelSeries Nova Pro Wireless is still a heck of a headset that’s commonly sold for around $270. Its lack of wireless hi-res audio isn’t a downside to me, and there’s still plenty to love about the look, feel, and performance of the last-gen model.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge