Sony’s first-party PlayStation gaming headsets will be hit or miss. Excellent news! The newest model, the Pulse Elite wi-fi headset, is extra of the previous. It prices $150, can pair with a number of gadgets without delay, and even comes with a wi-fi charging hanger.
This headset’s predecessor was a miss, touting 3D audio and spectacular sound, however it was made out of harsh, flimsy plastic, did not assist a Bluetooth connection, and worst of all, it wasn’t even essential to get all the advantages of 3D audio. Sony’s Tempest 3D audio system works with loads of different headphones.
The Pulse Elite cures lots of these points. It helps Bluetooth audio—which you should utilize concurrently alongside the PlayStation Hyperlink adapter connection. The earcups are extra snug, and the plastic is much less flimsy; it simply feels higher throughout. If that was all of the Pulse Elite improved, it will be price the additional $50 over the older mannequin, however it’s the wi-fi charging hanger that cinches it for us.
Putting Design
The design aesthetic of the PS5 struck a chord when it first dropped, and since then the entire firm’s equipment have adopted go well with. For higher or worse. These headphones are most likely nearer to the “higher” aspect than, say, the PS5 digicam taco. The white headband extends down across the earcups, with a swoosh towards the entrance. The built-in mic slides out of one of many pointed white ideas. It’s a putting design with out trying outright foolish.
There’s a smooth, cloth strap inside the scarf that retains the headphones supported with out weighing on the highest of your head an excessive amount of. The smooth, plush earcups wrap round your ears, serving to to isolate them with out urgent too laborious on the perimeters of your head. You may regulate every earcup up and down to search out the right match.
{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft
The one factor I discover notably annoying is how the earcups are hooked up to the headset. Every is held on by a kind of ball joint that may rotate freely in any course. In concept, this helps make it possible for the earcups aren’t resting in your head at a bizarre angle, calmly jamming into the perimeters of your head. In apply, the ball joints shift so much. There’s additionally a slight, nearly imperceptible clicking noise because the joint shifts round. It might be imperceptible if it wasn’t proper subsequent to my ear.
That is solely a difficulty when I’m shifting my head, however even slight actions end result on this low however troublesome clicking noise. I are inclined to fidget greater than most, so it is likely to be an issue only for me, however it was annoying to have this frequent, irritating noise intermixed with what’s in any other case nice audio.
Delicate Sound
The annoyance of the earcup clicking apart, these headphones sound glorious. The Pulse Elite makes use of planar magnetic drivers. These use a skinny, flat diaphragm that’s bigger than the everyday dynamic drivers in most headphones you’ve most likely used. They’re additionally extra delicate, which permits them to supply extra exact, correct sound.
The result’s that, when enjoying video games like Overwatch 2, I discovered it simpler to listen to particular person sounds that sometimes are blurred collectively on different headsets. I play because the character Mercy (and often as Lifeweaver), and having the ability to hear the refined footsteps of a Genji or Tracer—or the much less refined footsteps of a Reaper—behind me can imply the distinction between life and dying. With these headphones, distinct sounds are just a bit bit simpler to make out.
The Pulse Elite comes with a PlayStation Hyperlink USB dongle for a low-latency wi-fi connection, and it could actually additionally pair concurrently by way of Bluetooth. That is most useful if you wish to, say, play some music out of your telephone whilst you’re delivering packages in Demise Stranding.
