Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra controller review: Premium price, premium performance

As a gamer, it’s easy to fall into the “grass is always greener” mentality, especially when there are so many interesting controllers out there. Your $40 simple wired controller works fine… until you discover wireless controllers. And then that entry-level wireless controller does the job until you see another player gushing over their pro or elite wireless controller.

Next thing you know, you’re shoving another abandoned peripheral into your cabinet recesses, a day’s worth of pay already spent on the latest and greatest. It’s an easy cycle to fall in, but a dangerous one. However, those upgrades are sometimes well worth it, as peripheral manufacturers polish the technology in their products. At $200, the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra, like the brand’s other controllers, is one of the most premium-priced gaming controllers you can get. But is it really the ultra gaming controller or a shimmering mirage of greener pastures?

Price, availability, and specs

The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra, which retails for $200, can be purchased at many places, including Turtle Beach, Amazon, and Best Buy.

What’s good about the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra?

The buttons are the cake, and the aesthetics are the frosting on top

For simple starters, the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra is nice to look at. It looks like the premium controller it touts itself to be. Sleek RGB lines race along the grips, which you can change to your preferred selection from a small preset color collection. The small OLED display at the crown certainly sets this controller apart, too. I’ve also always found Xbox controllers to be a bit blocky and not super ergonomic, and the Stealth Ultra takes on a marginally slimmer profile, which is nice to see in a controller outside of Sony’s.

Thanks to the charging cable pass-through, the controller ships with a case that doubles as a charging station. The charging dock and controller nestle perfectly into the case, with a zippered pocket for storing thumb grips, cables, and other accessories.

If you’ve used an Xbox Elite v2 controller, you’ll notice some similarities with the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra. But the Hall effect joysticks are the best I have ever used, with a sensitivity and responsiveness that blows my Xbox Elite controllers out of the water. The micro switch ABXY buttons, D-pad, and four programmable quick-action buttons on the back are very snappy and clicky like a PC mouse, and audible and tactile feedback that I loved. Some gamers, however, may prefer the softer and more subdued response of most other console controllers.

Speaking of the back four P buttons, I didn’t find a need for them in most of my testing, and I have never used these buttons on any devices featuring them. But that’s largely because these buttons are often difficult for my shorter fingers to access and depress. The Stealth Ultra’s back four were way more usable than similar controls on other controllers and handhelds. (For example, I find the back four on my Steam Deck virtually impossible to use. They sit in an odd space in the crook of the handheld’s grips, making them hard to press, especially with long nails, and are really difficult to fully depress.)

The Stealth Ultra is an elite controller for FPS players. The magnetic Hall sticks ensure an unprecedented level of accuracy and sensitivity, but more than that, you can customize the Stealth Ultra’s trigger stops, which supports a faster response time and execution for FPS gamers. An onboard “Pro-Aim” preset also helps automatically tune the joystick sensitivity to FPS rangefinding, a feature that even I, as an — at best — slightly above-average FPS player, found helpful.

Another unique feature of the Stealth Ultra is its ability to control the audio profile of headsets wired into its 3.5mm jack. They aren’t super in-depth equalizer controls, but you can still access simple EQ profiles, and a feature Turtle Beach calls Superhuman Hearing, which amplifies minute noises like footsteps and the quiet reloading of a gun.

What’s bad about the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra?

Mediocre battery life means frequent charges

On the other side of the coin, the OLED display makes this controller look a bit crowded. There’s quite a learning curve before you’ll be acclimated to smaller distances to cross and more buttons to press, so be prepared for some accidental bumps and clicks.

While the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra mastered the looks of a premium controller, its tangible feel and heft betray a cheaper build hiding behind the visuals. I’d expect a less plasticky feel from a $200 controller, but this doesn’t impede the Stealth Ultra’s performance.

The battery life does not impress. Turtle Beach tells users to expect about 30 hours of play out of the Stealth Ultra, but there’s no way that number describes use with the RGB lighting and OLED display on. I couldn’t get more than 12 hours out of the controller with these aesthetic effects on and about 20-25 hours with them off. For some gamers, this is plenty for a week’s worth of gaming, while others would need to charge the controller after a few days — it just depends on how heavy your use is.

Should you buy it?

The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra is easily one of my favorite wireless gaming controllers. I’m a huge fan of the clicky keys, the Hall effect sticks, and customizations via the OLED display, with deeper controls available through the peripheral software. The battery life is a bummer, but there are at least different power-saving modes to prolong the controller’s battery life between charges.

I recommend the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra to Xbox and PC players, but the true value will depend on your current controllers. If you already have a functioning Xbox Elite controller, there’s no need to spend $200 on a replacement. There are tons of more budget-friendly options out there, too, like the GameSir Nova HD Rumble.

However, if you want to upgrade from a wired, entry-level, or mid-range controller, the Stealth Ultra is a fine upgrade that’ll enhance your gameplay.