Turtle Beach Recon 500 Headphones Review

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 are sleek headphones. They look fairly plasticky, and our model is all black, except for silver accents around the ear cups. There are manufacturer logos on the ear cups as well as on the headband. If you want to make them look a little less gamer-centric, you can remove their boom mic for a more casual look. These headphones also come in another color variant called 'Arctic Camo' if you prefer a different look.

These headphones are decently comfortable. They have a lightweight fit and don't clamp on your head too tightly. However, they can move around a bit with quick head movements, which could be annoying.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 have sub-par controls. There are only two physical controls: a mute-unmute button and a volume wheel. Luckily, they're easy and intuitive to use. The button is clicky and has different depth positions for mute and unmute, though it's not a big change. The scroll wheel also stops at min and max.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 have middling breathability. They trap in heat, which could make your ears feel warm over time. They're not designed for sports use and could make you sweat more than normal if you're doing moderate physical activity.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 aren't very portable, which is to be expected for gaming headphones. The ear cups can swivel to lay flat, and you can detach their boom mic, but you won't be able to fold them up for easier storage. You can check out a photo of the headphones in their default position here.

These headphones have an okay build quality. They're mostly plastic, and although there's a metal plate inside the headphones, they still feel a little cheap. Unfortunately, their audio cable isn't detachable, meaning if it gets damaged, you may need to replace the entire unit. Like most gaming headphones, they also lack an IP rating for dust and water resistance, although we don't currently test for it.

These headphones have okay stability. They can move around your head if you make quick or high-intensity movements. Their audio cable can also snag on something and pull them off your head. However, if you're gaming on the couch or at your desk, they should stay in place.

• Turtle Beach Recon 500 headset
• Detachable boom mic
• Manuals
• Turtle Beach sticker

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 have a warm sound profile. Although they lack a bit of low-bass, they have extra boom, which can help emphasize sound effects in gameplay. However, dialogue can sound a little boxy and veiled. These headphones also lack companion software, so you won't be able to adjust their sound profile to your liking.

The frequency response consistency is sub-par. They're very prone to inconsistencies in bass and treble delivery due to their fit, seal, and positioning. You may especially notice a drop in bass if you have thick hair or glasses.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 have very good bass accuracy. They lack a bit of thump and rumble, but the rest of the range is underemphasized, resulting in extra punch and boom.

Note: These headphones are prone to inconsistencies in bass delivery. Our measurement represents an average response, and your real-life experience may vary.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500's mid accuracy is great. The low-mid is quite neutral, so vocals and lead instruments are present in your mixes. However, a bump in the mid to high-mid makes the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments sound somewhat boxy and honky.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 have good treble accuracy. The low-treble is a bit underemphasized, which can veil vocals and lead instruments. Sibilants like cymbals are bright and present.

Note: These headphones are prone to inconsistencies in treble delivery due to fit and positioning. Our treble accuracy measurements represent the average response, and your real-life experience may vary.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 have okay peaks and dips performance. The dip in the low-bass means mixes lack thump and rumble. A peak in the high-bass adds extra boom while a dip in the low-mid thins out vocals and lead instruments. Another peak in between the mid-mid and high-mid can also make vocals and lead instruments sound boxy and honky, but a small dip in the low-treble can slightly veil the upper harmonics of these sounds. Sibilants like cymbals are also piercing due to the peak in the mid-treble.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500's imaging performance is excellent. The weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in transparent treble and tight bass. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in amplitude, frequency in phase response. The slight peaks in phase response's treble range shouldn't be audible for most users. That said, this left and right match ensures the accurate localization and placement of objects like footsteps in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our model, and yours may perform differently.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 have a mediocre passive soundstage. The soundstage is perceived as wide and as if coming from speakers outside your head. However, they have a closed-back design, so it also doesn't sound very open or spacious.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is decent. There's a couple of peaks in the treble range, but it can be hard to hear with real-life content. Most frequencies otherwise fall within good limits, which should result in fairly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when using these settings.

The noise isolation performance is poor. They don't block out any of the low rumbles of bus or plane engines. They do a somewhat better job of cutting down ambient chatter, although it probably won't be enough for a shift at the office. Luckily, they're able to isolate you from the high-pitched hum of an AC unit.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500's leakage performance is okay. The leakage is spread out across the range and sounds fuller than in-ear headphones. If you like to listen to your music at high volumes, a very small part may be audible in loud environments like an office.

The microphone has an excellent quality. Your voice sounds clear, natural, and full-bodied to whoever's on the other end of the line.

The noise handling performance is good. It can separate your voice from moderate ambient noise like cars passing by an open window, so your teammates shouldn't have too much trouble understanding you.

These headphones have a 1/8" TRRS cable that can be plugged into consoles or devices with an AUX port.

You can plug the Turtle Beach Recon 500's 1/8" TRRS cable into your PC's AUX port and receive full mic and audio compatibility.

These headphones are fully compatible with PS4 and PS5 consoles by plugging their audio cable into the controller's AUX port.

The Turtle Beach Recon 500 have full mic and audio compatibility with the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S via their 1/8" TRRS cable.