Turtle Beach Recon 70 review: A solid budget gaming headset

The best gaming headsets can cost a pretty penny sometimes, but Turtle Beach has made many budget ones that feel premium. The Turtle Beach Recon 70 comes very close to being up there with the best of the best. Compatible with nearly every console and now officially licensed by Nintendo for the Switch lineup, the Recon 70 is a comfortable headset.

It sounds good too for the most part, and its flip-to-mute mic works well too. But the sharp highs and muddy bass leave a lot to be desired, as does the cheap-feeling design.

For the complete breakdown, read my full Turtle Beach Recon 70 review.

Turtle Beach Recon 70 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A budget gaming headset from gaming giant Turtle Beach, for an array of consoles
• Who is it for? Anyone who wants decent sound on a budget
• How much does it cost? The Turtle Beach Recon 70 is available for $39 / £29 at Amazon
• What do we like? It's comfortable and budget-friendly, its flip-to-mute mic sounds good, and it makes games sound decent too
• What don't we like? The sharp highs, muddy bass, and cheap-feeling design

Turtle Beach Recon 70 review: Specs

Turtle Beach Recon 70 review: The ups

From its comfortable earcups to its great performance in most gaming titles, the Turtle Beach Recon 70 is a good budget gaming headset.

Comfortable earcups

The Turtle Beach Recon 70’s synthetic-leather earcups are very comfortable and fit nicely over my ears. The cups fit snugly around my ears, creating a good seal. I wore the headset for a six-hour gaming session and didn't feel like my ears were too hot or sweaty.

A cushion is located under the headband which helps the Recon 70 not put too much pressure on your head — though I wish it was a little softer. You could do a lot worse of $40, and after several hours, I kind of forgot that I was wearing the headset.

At 9.5 ounces, the Recon 70 feels incredibly light, and it didn’t move at all when I shifted my head from left to right.

Multi-platform compatibility

The Turtle Beach Recon 70 has been around since May 2019, and it's compatible with an array of consoles and smart devices, depending on the model you get. In May 2025,. though, Turtle Beach launched an officially licensed Nintendo Switch variant (the one I tested).

The Switch version is compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Switch Lite, and the OG Switch. While everything else has remained the same, this white and black model features bright red Nintendo Switch branding on its headband, adding a pop of color I like.

The Recon 70's other colors are label by console: green and black or green and white for Xbox consoles, and blue and black, blue and white or red and black for PS4 and PS5. These two variants are also compatible with PC, Android and iOS.

Good gaming performance

The Turtle Beach Recon 70 provided decent gaming sound for every title I threw at it. It's fitted with 40mm drivers and has a frequency response of 20Hz to 20KHz, enabling you to hear the softest of footsteps and loudest of explosions.

In Fortnite, the headset did a good job of detailing where gunshots were coming from, and I could even hear an enemy’s footsteps as they were running around a structure to eventually murder me. The shotgun and assault-rifle shots weren’t exactly full – the sounds were comparable to background gunfire in a war film – but were ultimately fine.

I played the remastered version of one my childhood favorite games, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, and it sounded pretty decent. The upbeat soundtrack lacked some depth, but it still popped. The sound effects of the items, and even the execution of a drift boost, had enough oomph to rope me into the experience. Aku Aku’s voice also sounded pleasantly deep.

I handed the Recon 70 over to one of my coworkers as I John Wick-ed myself through My Friend Pedro, and as his ears were serenaded with the game’s hypnotic electronic music, he found, as I did, that the bass was muddy (more on that soon). The gunshots, however, were tight, and the bullets ricocheting off of the frying pan still sounded as comical as they were meant to be.

Flip-to-mute mic

The Turtle Beach Recon 70 is fitted with a flip-to-mute unidirectional mic which makes you sound loud and clear. A unidirectional mic picks up sounds from just one direction, so from right in front of the person's mouth — and it sounds really good.

In the clip above, you can hear what the mic sounds like when there's minimal noise in the background. I sound clear and my words are crisp, just what you want from a gaming headset.

I then played some music in the background to see if the Recon 70's mic isolated my voice. While you can still hear the sounds in the background, my voice is still loud and clear and easily discernible.

Turtle Beach Recon 70 review: The downs

The Turtle Beach Recon 70 is, unfortunately, let down by muddy bass and sharp highs, and a cheap-feeling build.

Sharp highs, muddy bass

The Turtle Beach Recon 70 is a budget headset, and in some aspects, it shows. For instance, I queued up a match of Fortnite and noticed that the pickaxe attacks were a little sharp and didn’t offer enough bass for a solid hit. Switching between weapons was annoying, as the little click from the assault rifle or shotgun produced a high-pitched sound.

Similarly, in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, the higher note trumpets were a little too sharp and almost hurt my ears. In Mario Kart World, when things got very chaotic in a 24-racer Knockout Race, the Recon 70 got easily overwhelmed and the different layers of music all sounded muddled together, making for a very unpleasant listening experience.

I'd recommend the Turtle Beach Airlite Fit ($27) over the Recon 70 for a more pleasant, well-rounded listening experience — I never had any of these issues with it.

Cheap-feeling design

The Turtle Beach Recon 70's plastic shell feels cheap to touch, especially in the black and red finish. The white finish of the Nintendo Switch model offset that very slightly so it doesn't look cheap, but touching it instantly tells you that it isn't made of the finest materials. There wasn’t a lot of give when I wiggled the cups and the band, but when I put just the slightest pressure past its bend point, it seemed like it would easily snap.

If you want better build quality, I'd recommend spending a little extra on the likes of the Turtle Beach Stealth 500 ($79).

Turtle Beach Recon 70 review: Verdict

For $40, the Turtle Beach Recon 70 is a solid choice if you’re aiming to save money. The headset offers relatively comfortable earcups, decent sound for gaming, and it functions with (almost) all systems. The flip-to-mute also works like a charm, making your voice sound loud and clear.

However, you have to put up with mediocre bass and highs, as well as a cheap overall design. But really, the Recon 70 isn't a terrible headset at all. You may find better value for money in the Turtle Beach Stealth 500 or even the Turtle Beach Airlite Fit, but for the money, the Recon 70 shouldn't give you too much to complain about.