Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra review: good controller, premium price

Kevin Hofer

4/2/2024

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

With the Stealth Ultra, Turtle Beach offers great haptics, fantastic buttons and a useful screen. However, the controller suffers from a weak battery and limited customisation options.

Premium controllers are usually modular. They have interchangeable directional pads, triggers or joysticks, for example. The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra takes a different approach with its screen. You can only adjust the sticks, and only using four caps to do so. It comes with a charging station, Hall effect sticks, the aforementioned screen and tactile microswitches.

Game controllers

EUR181,98

Turtle Beach B STEALTH ULTRA - Controller Wireless

Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One X, Xbox One S, PC

58

It feels great

My first impressions of the Stealth Ultra are unique. I’ve tried tactile microswitches, but never on a directional pad. These switches are characterised by short triggering distances and a tactile audible pressure point. Almost like a mouse click. They’re used on almost every button, including the four freely assignable buttons on the underside and the directional pad. Only the triggers and operating buttons, such as the Xbox button, trigger in the way I’m used to from typical controllers. After a short familiarisation phase, the keys feel great. The pressure points are pleasant and trigger reliably.

Same goes for both Hall effect sticks. In Forza Horizon 5, I use them to skilfully steer my racing cars around corners, and I hit my opponents with pinpoint accuracy in the Resident Evil 4 remake. In contrast to conventional sticks, such as those used in the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, magnets are used inside the Stealth Ultra. As a result, there’s little wear and stick drift should never occur. That’s movement in-game without me touching the stick in case you didn’t know.

The feel is excellent in other respects too. This may also be due to the fact that Turtle Beach has based its shape and design heavily on the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 from Microsoft. It fits perfectly in my hands. The Stealth Ultra is slightly wider, making it more suitable for larger mitts. In contrast, it’s significantly lighter at 255 grammes – depending on the configuration, the Microsoft controller weighs 100 grammes more.

This difference in weight is down to the materials used. The whole outside of the Stealth Ultra is made of plastic. At first glance, this makes it appear lower quality than the Microsoft competition. However, the level of quality on my test sample, provided to me by the manufacturer, is very good.

The outside of the controller is rubberised, so it doesn’t slip out of my hands – even during heated battles in Momodora: Moonlit Farewell. All buttons are easy to reach. The special buttons on the underside are particularly noteworthy. I don’t usually use these, but their placement on the Stealth Pro suits me so well that I can’t help but assign the buttons.

The only downside? I don’t like the design and colour options of the controller at all. First off, it reminds me of a tank, which I don’t like. Second, this wartime aesthetic contrasts with the garish lighting. Way too clashing.

The screen is more useful than expected

Today, everything has to have a screen. Turtle Beach probably thought the same and gave the Stealth Pro the 37 × 18 millimetre Connected Command Display. The manufacturer mainly advertises the fact that I can display social media notifications. This works, but is the least interesting feature. I prefer looking at my smartphone for messages. And I don’t want to be bothered when gaming anyway.

The display offers a total of ten menus. The most useful are, in my opinion:

• Axis – it lets me set the death zones of the triggers and sticks, and even the reaction of the latter.
• Under Connect, I connect (duh) either via 2.4 GHz and the supplied dongle or via Bluetooth.
• Mixer lets me make adjustments to a headset if I’ve connected one via the jack port at the bottom.
• I use Vibration to set the strength of the rumble motor – for both sticks and triggers. * General settings such as screen brightness, sleep timeout or power modes are found under System.
• System lets me change power-saving settings, among other things.
• Thanks to the Buttons menu, I can assign extra buttons without having to open the app on a PC or console.
• Lighting in turn lets me configure the RGB lighting.

I can also change everything I mentioned in the Control Center 2 app. However, I prefer using the small screen. That way I can configure everything at any time.

Not very modular

The trigger buttons aren’t only used for controlled acceleration in racing games, but can also be shortened individually. I can perform actions in shooters faster with the locks, activated with switches next to the triggers.

Two pairs of rubber attachments for the sticks are also included. These expand the sticks’ surfaces and provide additional grip – or convert from a concave to a convex surface. But that’s it for hardware customisation options.

Achilles heel – the battery

Turtle Beach specifies a battery life of 30 hours, but only in an ideal environment. This means with a Bluetooth connection, no lighting and a deactivated screen. If the controller is connected via 2.4 GHz, the screen is active and the lighting is set to maximum brightness, the runtime is drastically reduced. The controller only runs for around ten hours before it needs to be charged. The battery is fully charged in around two.

I don’t have to connect the controller directly to a cable to charge it. A charging station, which also provides a port for the 2.4 GHz dongle, comes included with the controller. The controller adheres magnetically. This is useful, but the magnets are so strong that the charging station stays in place even when the controller is picked up. The station would benefit from some extra mass. A three-metre charging cable and a transport case are also included. The highlight of the latter? Thanks to a lockable hole for the charging cable, I can also charge the Stealth Ultra in its case.

Verdict: good controller, but a little too pricey

The Stealth Ultra is a very good controller for Xbox Series S/X and PC – if you’re happy with the standard controls. On the hardware side, the controller offers few configuration options. Then again, the display is a great feature that allows you to change all settings directly on the controller instead of on the end device.

Ergonomically and in terms of quality, the controller is top-notch. Still, I would’ve liked more metal elements instead of just plastic. The buttons, on the other hand, are some of the best I’ve ever pushed on a gaming controller. The same applies to the joysticks, which should never suffer from stick drift thanks to Hall effect technology.

My biggest points of criticism are the weak battery and the high price. Over 165 francs (as of 4 February 2024) is a lot. You can get the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 from Microsoft for 30 francs less. If modularity is important to you, I’d recommend that one. But if the default configuration of the Stealth Ultra suits you and you want a useful screen on your controller, I can recommend it.

Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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