Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra Review
A high-end controller with a built-in screen
Verdict
While useful, the unique Command Centre display of the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra wireless controller is just too clunky to properly appreciate. Thankfully, the rest of the package is durable, reliable, and complete, while microswitches and hall-effect joysticks help to justify the steep price.
Pros
- Wonderful microswitches
- Great looks
- Thoughtful accessories
Cons
- Touchscreen would have been nice
- Rear buttons are sensitive
Key Features
- Microswitches and hall effect joysticksThe thumbsticks use contactless operation to avoid stick drift, with every button using short-travel tactile microswitches.
- Four mappable action buttonsThe back of the controller features four microswitch-equipped buttons that can mimic any input of your choosing.
- ‘Connected Command’ displayChange settings, colours, and even check your social profile messages on the interactive display.
Introduction
Controllers costing almost triple the average game are becoming more and more common.
Sold to competitive gamers looking for an edge, the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra is another high-end wireless Xbox/PC pad for a specific type of player.
With drift-resisting Hall Effect joysticks, fast and durable microswitch buttons, and even a screen, is there enough useful tech here to warrant the price? The short answer is yes, but there’s still reason to wait for a revision.
Design
- Xbox-inspired design
- Charging cradle is a nice touch
- Additional thumbstick caps are appreciated
The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra controller looks to be channelling its inner Master Chief. This is primarily designed for Xbox after all.
Segmented like an iconic helmet and coloured in a very Halo-esque way with visor-like RGB trim along the grips, it’s quite the sight. And far from simple. It’s closer to those special-edition affairs that grace big releases than the sort of cheap third-party controller you always hand to player two – back when couch co-op was still a thing, at least.
On the back, you’ll spot four programmable paddles – a necessary staple of these high-end after-market controllers. Just like the rest of the buttons, these use short-travel microswitches. Even if you don’t end up using them, they double as ultra-clicky fidget toys between spawns. Being a rubbery-feeling material, the palm grips are also soft to the touch.
Where the slightly recessed USB-C cable fits, you’ll also see toggle locks on either side. These two-stage sliders turn the primary triggers from the full-plunge type to hairline buttons like the rest.
The biggest thing to note here is the existence of the 2-inch display between the menu buttons. With the iconic Xbox orb moved below its usual spot, the free space is taken up by a vibrant display with a bunch of different uses.
Stuffed in a simple cardboard box, the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra hides a lot in a small package. Inside is the included fabric zip-up case. This includes a hook and even a cable hole for charging your controller while it’s protected.
Inside, you’ll find the controller in a black plastic bag sitting atop its charging cradle. A long USB-C/A cable sits in a separate bag beneath. In the small pouch at the top, replacement rubber thumb grips and the large 2.4Ghz wireless receiver used to wirelessly connect it to your Xbox or PC are wrapped in bags of their own. It’s a bit too much plastic, but it’s certainly a complete package.
Performance
- Great, familiar fit
- Ultra-clicky microswitches and smooth sticks
- Can be slow to wake
The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra is my favourite controller. There’s no beating around the bush here. I’ve never been a fan of the wobbly, mushy face buttons of most controllers, and the swap to microswitches here gives a far more satisfying, tactile feel to each action.
Like how a good keyboard can make typing a joyous experience, these clicky switches elevate gaming in a way you certainly don’t need, but can easily appreciate.
The D-Pad, face, and shoulder buttons offer a tight, rapid actuation to translate your in-game intentions as fast and accurately as you could want. But unless you commit to a specific grip, the rear “quick-action” buttons could almost have too short a travel for their own good.
I always squeeze the area around the grips they occupy in a hectic on-screen squabble. Because of that, it’s too easy to accidentally depress the rear buttons in the moment. It’s where the long, removable paddles of the Xbox Elite Series 2 or PowerA Fusion Pro 2 may still have the upper hand.
Still, there are serious competitive boons to using short-travel microswitches. Every millisecond counts. You’ll only notice a difference at the absolute top level of play under perfect conditions, but they’re more comfortable to use over long periods; which is far more likely to make a difference to your performance.
Even after weeks of use, the grips look pristine. Where the buttons are designed to last longer than I can fathom at 5-million clicks, the thin rubber grips initially struck me as the first place I’d see signs of use. Instead, the tiny indentations appear fresh.
As you’d expect from a pricey pad, the travel distance of the chunky triggers can be rapidly adjusted via toggles on the back. Shorter travel time can emulate a quicker trigger finger, which can be great for FPS titles, but not so great for mimicking the accelerator pedal of a car. The choice is yours, and it’s easy to switch between modes in the moment.
Turtle Beach claims you can expect around 30 hours of use from the Stealth Ultra when wirelessly connected to an Xbox, PC, or other compatible device over 2.4Ghz wireless. Bluetooth improves battery life at the cost of higher input latency as usual.
Comparing that to your average TV remote, it’s not much. But put it next to most first-party pads these days and it’s quite the achievement, especially with RGB lighting and a screen. You’ll need to tweak their default brightness levels to get close to that count, however.
Enabling the auto-off feature helps too, but it can take an annoyingly long time to get back into the game if you tend to step away a lot or get lost in your phone between matches, load times, and cutscenes.
In practice, I did see the battery icon dip to around half across a 12-hour marathon of Granblue Fantasy Relink. The Dualsense Edge would have called it a day at the halfway mark, but Xbox’s own close competitor in the Elite Series 2 would still be sitting pretty at around 60-70%.
Unless you crank the brightness on the screen and cosmetic lighting, you’ll never run the Stealth Ultra controller down on a single session. Working adults might struggle to wear it out for weeks. Stick it on its bundled dock after each session and you’ll never have a problem. The pogo pin connectors, on the little ramp of the cradle, grab it effortlessly and it only takes a few hours to juice back up to a weekend-crushing full charge.
Software
- Command Display can be a bit clunky to navigate
- Adjustable standby timers are a big help
- Message relay function is niche
Most of what you’ll configure with the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra can be done through the Command Display. Disappointingly, it’s not a touchscreen. Interacting with it means redirecting inputs away from the game to the tiny display, but its quirks can prove useful.
Accessed by pressing the + button at the bottom of the controller face, you scroll through the menu with the D-pad and make selections with the face buttons. You can change things like LED colour and intensity, the EQ and microphone settings of a connected headset, calibrate the joystick dead zones, and set up the rear buttons to mimic other buttons.
The most common use case for the rear buttons is to put reload and weapon switch commands within reach of your middle or ring fingers. This helps keep your thumbs on the joysticks in a firefight. You can set these configurations to up to 10 profiles to set specific preferences for multiple games or additional users.
Against the three profiles of cheaper alternatives like the HyperX Clutch RGB Gladiate, there’s minimal risk of having to delete the controller profile of one game to make room for another.
It’s the connected features that, while cool, might not get a lot of use. By hooking it up to your smartphone, you can have your social messages pushed to the screen. You don’t need to look at your phone with each ping, but you also can’t reply. At the very least, it’s good for screening messages that can wait, but pairing it at the start of each session is too much friction for too little convenience.
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Should you buy it?
You should buy if you want a controller that could last a lifetime
Using 2.4Ghz and Bluetooth, the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra isn’t tied to a console’s proprietary wireless tech. Paired with microswitches and hall effect sensors, lifespan implications are huge.
You should not buy if you want a cheap controller
Unless you’ve worn down several pads in the last few years, you can probably settle for similar performance at half the price with some wired after-market controllers.
Final Thoughts
Durable, speedy, and satisfying microswitches put the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra controller on the list of the best game controllers around. It looks great, feels fantastic, and has enough unique bells and whistles to stand out.
It’s expensive, but it’s ready to rock on multiple devices including mobile. It also fixes the battery flaws of most competing pads and should be less prone to wear and tear with a solid body, switches rated for 5 million clicks, and drift-resistant Hall Effect joysticks. Take these into consideration and the price can start to make sense.
If you need a little more control over your triggers and don’t mind saying goodbye to almost every other convenience of the Stealth Ultra, the PowerA Fusion line is available at a fraction of the price. Demand a traditional look with a more colourful palette? Try the Scuf Instinct Pro or the first-part Xbox Elite Controller 2. For something a little slimmer, the Astro C40 could work.
How we test
We test controllers by playing a variety of games across various genres on appropriate devices. We also thoroughly examine customisation options at a hardware and software level to see how they can impact your experience and performance.
Used for over a week.
Tested customisation options.
Tested on PC, Xbox, and mobile.
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FAQs
It’s highly unlikely that the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra will get stick drift due to the use of hall effect joysticks.
Yes, the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra uses a 2.4Ghz wireless receiver that comes bundled in the box.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
