Turtle Beach Z300

The Turtle Beach Z300 touts dual-band wireless, great bombardment life and includes Bluetooth but the device is securely flawed by mediocre audio, poor wireless range, uneven microphone input and indiscrete buttons.

$170 on Amazon

Comfort

I didn't find the Z300 unbearable for multi-hour gaming sessions, only my ears did touch the speaker grills within the ear cups making these the shallowest here. This could be a problem for those with more than pronounced ears. The cushions are fabricated of a cloth material, cooler than pleather and even the dense felt pads plant on the A50. The band was just large plenty for my caput, only if you have a giant skull or are astonishingly tall, yous may discover the fit less comfortable. There'southward a generous corporeality of padding at the acme.

Audio

The overall audio profile is similar to the i60. The sound is superior to the G930 and H2100 in detail and clarity merely severely defective depression end. Notably, there are 4 EQ presets selectable on the headset. Even with "Bass heave" enabled, which Turtle Embankment claims is "for the extreme depression frequencies," the bass output was anemic.

A deal breaker for me on the Z300 was its "fading in" of audio during silent moments. What would happen is during a silent scene in a game, moving-picture show etc... if there was a sudden gunshot or quick utterance, that noise would be faded in from quiet to total volume. It only took a cursory instant, but it was plenty to annoy. I thought maybe this was a DRC antiquity (dynamic range pinch) but toggling information technology off/on did non have an effect. I don't think this is a desirable feature for virtually situations.

Wireless

Turtle Beach advertises "interference free" dual-band wireless for the Z300. Information technology too has a split Bluetooth radio for devices other than computers. While generating as much traffic beyond both bands as possible, the connection remained solid.

I don't know this, but if the Z300 and i60 use the same proprietary RF engineering, I would not be surprised. Like the i60, the Z300's poor wireless range will keep you in the same room equally the transmitter. Both of these headsets had the shortest range by far. The Z300 and i60 were the only headsets which could non exist used reliably in an adjacent room. They began breaking up the moment I exited the door and turned the corner. Fifty-fifty Bluetooth, which is non as robust every bit most of the proprietary solutions here, fared improve at altitude. Latency from mic to ear tied with the H2100, besting the G930 and i60 but falling short of the instantaneity brought by Astro and SteelSeries.

Microphone

The Z300 has a quirky microphone. I tried playing with options but the volume was often uneven and not particularly clear compared to its competition. On the plus side, indoor wind racket wasn't an issue, probably thank you to its thick foam comprehend. There's besides a mic monitoring dial on the headset for adjusting how loudly you lot hear yourself. All of the headsets hither have a mic monitoring feature, merely some cannot be adapted (e.chiliad. Astro and SteelSeries).

The detachable microphone boom is a curious characteristic. The boom is extremely flexible, so bending it out of the way isn't difficult. The big rotating arm where the mic plugs in is non-removable so the fact this is a headset remains visually obvious even when the mic is removed. Presumably, this feature makes replacing a broken mic as easy every bit ordering a new one though, so that's the real value here as far as I tin tell.

Features and Value

Essentially all of the features available on the Z300 are available from the headset itself. At that place are 4 EQ presets, a toggle for DRC (dynamic range compression), master and mic monitor volume, mic mute button, a detachable mic and a ii.5mm cable for non-Bluetooth mobile phones or consoles. The left ear cup mostly hosts the furnishings and volume controls while the right loving cup is primarily for Bluetooth controls. The bad thing well-nigh these buttons was finding them with my fingers -- they are all flat and flush with the body. For example, I found myself hitting the Bluetooth push button instead of the mic mute many times. There are no transmitter features as information technology's merely a dongle, but Turtle Beach included a stand and then that you may place it wherever you lot'd like.

Bombardment Life

The Z300 lasted over 13 hours in the synthetic examination, nearly matching the 15-60 minutes claim made past Turtle Beach. The but headset with superior battery life was the SteelSeries H Wireless which too comes with a spare bombardment pack. If you ever forget to charge up though, the Z300 can be used and charged simultaneously via a micro USB cablevision.

Overall Quality and Impressions

Like the i60, the Z300 shipped in a very prissy box with a magnetic flap. The perceivable build quality is solid and feels like information technology will last. There are overnice piffling touches like the red stitching found throughout the textile and the metal Turtle Beach logo adorning the microphone. Information technology doesn't all seem well-conceived still, given the weird semi-detachable microphone design and the perfectly smooth buttons that make information technology difficult to determine which one you're pressing. As well similar the i60, a perky female person voice giving yous a give-and-take-by-word reading of each feature you enable, disable or pass by. The hammy and unnatural delivery of those lines are fifty-fifty more than absurd and silly than that of the i60. Simple tones or beeps are preferable here, but this cannot be changed.