Whenever it comes time to assess a new Turtle Beach headset, I try to play a game of Guess This Model’s Intent based on the buzzwords used by Marketing. Today’s subject was a mixed-signals affair that stumped me. The ‘Air’ half clearly pertains to the impressive cloud-like comfort of these earcup cushions. But ‘Atlas’ speaks of a load-bearing Titan who, despite being a reliable sort that Greeks of quality, must endure crippling weight. All day. Every day. Forever.
So which one is it?
The first, thankfully. I’ve sampled tons of headsets in my time, but the Atlas Air—weighing at a class-leading 301g—are among the comfiest cans I’ve ever used. At a glance, you should consider them a barely there, open-back solution for my kind of people; folks who spend more time gaming in a day than not.
Now, some of you have come to this article with your mind made up already, so I’ll quickly sort those individuals with the best prices available. If that’s not you, click here to skip all the window shopping for my continued thoughts.
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Turtle Beach Atlas Air
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Compatible with PC, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Mobile.
Let’s get to the best Atlas Air feature first—getting your ears to live their cushiest life. This headset has taken yoga classes, and the end results are supremely rotatable ear cups whose multi-directional nature provide a better match to your melon. By reducing pressure and dispersing weight better, the goal is to have you namaste in the zone for longer, because you’ve simply forgotten they’re there. I can confirm this happens during marathon sessions.
The news gets even better for my fellow squinters. Turtle Beach’s Pro spec technology, for individuals who wear….well, specs, like a pro, has been fully implemented in the Atlas Airs. I found that I could easily achieve my ideal fit and desired tension by tightening the adjustable floating strap, even while wearing my chunkiest Hans Moleman reading glasses.
Additionally, as mentioned before, these are incredibly light—Turtle Beach’s featheriest headset thus far. Furthermore, the open-back approach makes it possible for air to flow into these slightly ovoid ear cups, making the experience more breathable. Reduced heat means reduced ear moisture, which means your canals don’t become Venice.
When it comes to connectibility, Atlas Air is also one of the most adaptable headsets in Turtle Beach’s impressive range of sweet, sweet cans. First of all, for a more immersive experience, the Atlas Air is the only open-back wireless headset available that offers superior spatial awareness and more natural sound. To deliver the highest quality in a wireless headset, Turtle Beach launched a new chipset that doubles the sample rate. Basically, this allows the Atlas Air to transfer twice as much frequency range and playback in 24-bit audio.
Adapting the Atlas Air to your particular setup is a breeze. There are two ways to utilize this badboy: tethered or wireless. Your two wireless alternatives are Bluetooth with a quick switch option and a USB transmitter operating at 2.4 GHz. I should also like to say that I appreciated the option to update the firmware via wireless means (which is a convenient yet slightly nerve-racking process).
If you’re working with older tech or you have some sort of “can’t bear to cut the umbilical cord” separation anxiety, a 3.5 mm connection is a quick switch solution for wired mode. It’s worth noting that any extra cabling you need—including the always-appreciated 6-foot-long braided cable—will fit in the lovely little totebag that comes with this unit.
When it comes to battery life, the always optimistic manufacturer suggested is often less than the reality. I heard 50 hours was the mark for these; my own experiences were closer to 40ish. Mind you, that result beats the hell out of the 10 or so I’ve been subsisting on with my Stealth Pros.
Being comfortable is one thing, but these aren’t earmuffs—how does the Atlas Air sound in the heat of battle? Rather good in terms of the default EQ, which I didn’t feel the need to tinker with (via the nitty-gritty tweaks available in the Swarm II software suite). If you set your expectations to mid-range, the sound quality provided by these 40mm, high-fidelity drivers is quite impressive for what you’re paying.
The open-back design isn’t just for keeping your lugnuts cool, either; building cans this way can make for a clearer and more natural sound with better directionality. The key here is flow—low frequency and other resonances caused by the rear enclosures aren’t being bottled up as much. To take full advantage of that, however, you’re going to want a pretty quiet listening environment. Flow out also permits flow in, obviously.
The results I received in the right game cave: thumping lows, full mids, and crisp highs. This is especially true if you’re playing on PC and have taken the time to tweak a profile with your “Superhuman Hearing” and Waves 3D Audio preferences, plus the 10-Band EQs available.
My chosen audio testbed was cleaning up leftover outposts in the recently released Ghost of Tsushima on PC. Being able to acquire a better sense of space through the Atlas Airs was definitely a plus, as I was forgoing Listen Mode on Lethal difficulty. In stealth, one can easily ping the crisp sound of footfalls coming through a particular tent or the grumblings of some distant guard perched up on overwatch.
Speaking of those damn archers, while engaging multiple foes in a stand up fight, the Airs gave a near radar-like ability to better place the next bastard yelling “dosho!” (loose translation: “arrow time!”). Any shafts that did come shrieking toward me, even over the clarion clash of katanas, were more parried than usual.
Aside from tactical advantages, the Airs were wonderful ambiance enhancers of Sucker Punch’s unusually rich and busy soundscape. Much like I would stop and gawk at the oversaturated sights of Tsushima—like cherry blossoms shivering off their petals across lively seas of pampas grass—I’d take pause to appreciate the same prairie come to life in my ears. Invoking the wind that fans out in the direction of one’s next objective is magical air stuff through some Airs.
Fantastically tuned drivers aside, the mic here is capable but not quite a best-in-class affair. It supports a 16-bit, 32kHz sampling rate, and, obviously, I like that it’s unidirectional, so it focuses more on the sound coming from me and not my warring family in the background. Even with those annoyances removed from the room, I found that slight artifacting could occur. Nothing above what I’ve experienced in similar range headsets, mind you.
I also have to say that it’s slightly annoying to transition from using a straight mic (with flip-to-mute that folds away effortlessly) to one that is bend-to-straightness-then-flip-to-mute. If you don’t remember to do that extra step, it’ll pop you one in the cheekbone or the side of your head during the sheathing process.
Beyond that, there aren’t a lot of grievances I need to air over Turtle Beach’s latest. For all but the weirdest proportioned heads, they fit right, feel light, and so far as I’ve experienced, they’ve delivered stratospheric results in the sheer comfort and sound quality stakes.
Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.
