There was once a time when the words ‘Turtle Beach’ made me only think of well-made and priced gaming headsets (or possibly a small island overrun by reptilian amphibians). In recent months, however, and thanks to its React-R and Recon ranges, plus the swanky premium Stealth Ultra, new cred has been acquired. It feels like this primarily ear-cans-obsessed company has carved out quite the (turtle) beachhead in the controller space.
Or, to put it in a more dad way, its input devices are worth shelling out for.
In a minute, we’re going to dive into Turtle Beach’s latest peripheral that bears a mouthful of a name—the stylish Stealth Pivot Wireless Smart Controller. If you’re an impulse buyer who’s all ready to spend, let’s link you up to the current best prices quickly. That said, if you’re like me and always try to do some homework before you whip the wallet out, please click to skip past the window shopping and land in the details…
Table of Contents
Stealth Pivot deals Stealth Pivot hands on
Aussie Stealth Pivot Deals
Current Aussie prices
Big W – $249Mwave – $249.95The Gamesmen – $249.95
Stealth Pivot Hands-on
Despite the name of this product, Turtle Beach isn’t being clandestine about the game-changing feature of its latest controller. The ‘pivot’ being referenced revolves around the ability to radically (and relatively quickly) reconfigure the buttons and stick positioning of this unit. I’ve certainly seen that done before in other devices, though not quite this stylishly.
Being an Xbox-centric controller, the idea was to largely maintain the existing asymmetrical stick design but also open the door to more ideal control for retro-minded and/or fighting-obsessed users. Essentially, there are two diagonal input modules that can be rotated independently of one another to either remove sticks from the equation, bring d-pad control to the forefront of the ‘home position,’ and/or provide a right-side face like a Mega Drive 2’s six-button array.
I’ve got to say it, though—personally, I’ve observed over the course of 40 years of gaming that two types of players exist. Folks who doggedly, monogamously stick (ha!) to dedicated fight sticks when punching on. Secondly—and I’m in this camp—players who largely just make do with whatever controller is at hand. Because we’ve used so many weird and wild controllers over the decades (see: N64 and GameCube), our brains simply adapt to whatever is in our mitts in the moment.
I dig that a third type of gamer can now exist, one who has firm ideas about what stick configuration ought to be paired with what genre—like wine snobs do with cheese. I’m totally ok with having features not tailor-made for me thrown my way as I’m appreciating the stuff I usually value in any controller—stylish appearance, ergonomics for marathon sessions, build quality that can take my reasonable levels of abuse, and something that can give me an edge over an opponent using stock-standard controllers. Pivot has all of that.
What’s in the box?
Not a heck of a lot because this isn’t quite a premium-level controller. Alongside your Turtle Beach Stealth Pivot, you can expect a 2.5m USB-A to USB-C cable and a larger-than-I’d-like wireless USB transmitter. The latter allows you to pay wirelessly on PC with a 2.4 GHz link or via Bluetooth on Android 8.0+ devices and Smart TVs.
When it comes to first impressions, I’m all about the Pivot’s two-tone aesthetics, even before the Transformers-esque modules start to spin impressively into action. The neon aqua and pink highlights that accent the stick housing and “extra” buttons give a lovely ’80s touch, and it’s nice to see a dab of colour applied to the sliders that lock the housings and limit trigger depth on the rear (typically the most chromatically ignored part of a controller).
Speaking of sexy, I’m a fan of the high-contrast Command Display that dominates the area above the Xbox Logo. If the rhetorical question on your lips is, “Well, who even looks downwards at their controller?” the answer would be: people who want to quickly customise their 3.5mm port-dispensed audio, switch button mappings, and get social media notifications without reaching for a phone. Note: Switching from gamepad functionality to this HUD menu can be toggled via a central ‘+’ button. Simple. Effective.
When it comes to inputs, the Stealth Pivot is rocking membrane tech for buttons and d-pad, as opposed to the mechanical tech of the more premium Stealth Ultra. That translates to slightly longer travel time but also less clickiness to irritate your ears (though I know some people actually dig that sound). Meanwhile, the sticks are the always-appreciated HALL effect, which are considerably less susceptible to stick-drift issues that can crop up on Microsoft’s official controllers.
On the back we have two extra programmable paddles, which, if you’re new to the concept, are brilliant for keeping your thumbs permanently locked on looking and moving while jumping / reloading / whatever can be put at your ring fingers and pinky tips. You also have some lovely feeling triggers that can be manually slider locked to make their input characteristics be more or less digital (0 to 100% quickly).
Before we move away from the aft section, I should like to note the rear-mounted sliders, which, when unlocked, can allow you to twist the analog sticks to lower or raise their height. Personally, I was pretty happy with the standard stalk setup, but I can also see the benefits in rendering them more nub-like for some sort of faster-responding PSP experience.
Longer travel time but also less clickiness to irritate your ears.
We should probably get to the main reason why we’re here, though—the rolly-poly modules that let you switcheroo your inputs. Once you unlock the left side / right side mechanisms from the back, you can easily pivot these two housings over to reveal new options. On the right side, that means going from a right stick and four face buttons to no stick and six buttons. On the left, you transition from having your usual left stick sitting above a dpad to a dpad hovering above two additional face buttons (tied to your LSB and RSB functions).
I gotta say, I was impressed by the ease and lack of tools needed with this switching process, not to mention the speed with which it can be achieved. More importantly, however, is that once the modules are locked into your preferred array, the controller becomes rock solid again. There’s no perceivable flex or slippage on the hinged elements. That would have been a deal breaker.
For me, the next thing on the major concern is d-pad feel. I still believe that if you’re serious about modern fighting games, you really ought to invest in a stick—just as I’d steer a petrolheaded gamer towards a wheel. That being said, we’re living in the age of emulation and official remasterings of classic games—there’s absolutely a need to have a versatile controller that can slay at CoD in one session and smash out some precision platforming in Alex Kidd the next.
Also, while it flies in the face of my own advice and preferences, I took this for the hadouken test in the recently released Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. Imagine my surprise when this d-pad absolutely made the grade with every tatsumaki, dragon punch, and fireball I threw its way over the course of an impressive 20-hours worth of battery life. Better yet—and this isn’t to be understated—I’ve been subsisting for so long on having my heavies assigned to shoulder buttons that I forgot the simple, straightforward joy of having all of my damage-dispensing ducks in a double chorus-line row.
If my next bout is against an actual, trash-talking rival who needs a six-piece and soda, I’m going to put the Pivot down and pick up a stick. That said, and for anything short of that do-or-die scenario, I’ll be more than ok with relying on the Stealth Pivot to bust heads. And hey—if it’s an overtly retro game I’m playing, like TMNT Shredder’s Revenge, Broforce, or any number of the remasters that litter the Microsoft Store, I’ll get off my butt to go seek this controller out specifically for that session.
That is the power of the Stealth Pivot, a wonderful-feeling controller I’d put my Stealth Ultra down for and leave my arse print to hook up (for the right game). Given that I rise for nothing short of a pizza delivery or a house fire, this is one of the highest compliments I can give. If you’re a like-minded gamer who loves living primarily in the past, I say put this in your near future.
Adam Mathew is a connoisseur of fine controllers. He once paid way too many pesetas for a Resi 4 chainsaw controller. He was provided with a review unit by Five Star Games.
