XO Seven -by Turtle Beach – RRP £129.99
From well-known audio experts Turtle Beach come the XO7s. Currently the premier end of their wired offerings on Xbox One, these headphones originally caught my attention as I wanted something a bit ‘nicer’ than average, and most importantly something that would be comfortable even for long gaming sessions.
This headset is really nice. The build quality is fantastic. There is a lot of plastic (as you’d expect from Turtle Beach design) but they don’t feel cheap or fragile. The colour is toned down to be more subtle than the XO4s, and they feel more robust. There is a lot of free movement in the headband to allow for a multitude of head sizes; but with high enough build quality that they are never too tight or uncomfortable, yet always feel secure.
The earcups are a decent leather, and the mic feels good quality: it’s a fully adjustable boom with metallic finish. If you are into customisation, the panels on the earcups are removable and replaceable (different designs are available from the Turtle Beach website)
The simulated surround sound is clear and smooth, and chat is easy to hear. They provide no problems talking to others, either. There is no monitoring/feedback of your own voice. This is obviously something common to the Xbox One (as it seems common across all headsets) but is still a little annoying.
All in all I found these a great headset for gaming. I’ve been able to keep them on for 5-6 hour sessions without any discomfort. Although the sound could do with a little more bass in my personal opinion, its still awesome. The cable is nice and long to give you plenty of working room. Also, and perhaps most importantly for most of you, it comes bundled with the Xbox One Chat adaptor (to fit to your controller).
Design: 8/10
Nice, solid and quality. the plates on the sides of the earpieces are even interchangeable- if you’re into personalising these sorts of things. Still slightly plasticy, but they look good and much nicer than XO4s when side by side.
Comfort: 9/10
Very comfortable on the ears and fully adjustable. No tightness, and no probs or discomfort even for 5-6 hr sessions.
Sound Quality: 9/10
Very good overall. A little more bass would be a big plus, but very little to complain about overall.
Chat Quality: 8/10
Chat is clear and easy to hear, and is separated from game sound well. It is a shame it doesn’t feedback your own chat, but this is a general issue across all current headsets.
OVERALL: 8.5/10
A great headset, and one I think I will be using for a long time. They are probably a little too expensive for what you get, but overall they have everything you need in a good package.
^HooksaN (@HooksaN)
Want to see how they stack up against other Headsets? Check out the ‘Headsets Head to Head’ here!
David Hook (HooksaN) contributed 26 articles to ICXM between 2014–2015, covering game reviews, and Xbox news with a focus on hands-on impressions and verified-source reporting. Their bylines on the site span the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @Hooksan.