PlayStation Pulse Elite Wireless Headset

I’ve owned the Pulse Elite headset for over two years now, and I can confidently say it remains the definitive headset for the PlayStation 5 in 2025. The sound quality, comfort, and build are top-tier — truly designed with PlayStation gamers in mind. I also use it regularly on my PC, and it works flawlessly there too. The cross-platform compatibility makes it an even better value, letting me switch between my PS5 and PC without missing a beat. Yes, there were some connectivity hiccups at launch, but Sony has long since resolved those through firmware updates. Ever since, the experience has been rock solid. Don’t let the early negative reviews sway you — this headset has aged beautifully. If you want premium performance and reliability, buy this headset. You won’t regret it!

I bought these for PC gaming after learning these contain planar magnetic drivers for under $200. I have been very impressed. After a month of ownership, these have become my go-to wireless headphones, in addition to being a PC headset. Pros: Lightweight and comfortable. These weigh less than the wired headphones I replaced (Logitech ProX). The headband and cups are unusual, but they give a great fit without needing adjustment. I can easily wear them for hours. Connectivity. These headphones have so many options to connect, wireless and wired! The USB dongle allows lossless wireless audio; it should be your primary connection. The USB dongle itself has great compatibility; it has been plug and play without issue on every device I tested it with. With a USB A to C adapter, I can even use the USB dongle to get wireless lossless audio from my iPhone 15! If your device doesn’t have a USB port, you can connect with bluetooth. Bluetooth will be lower quality than the proprietary lossless wireless used with the USB dongle. A unique feature is to have both connections running simultaneously. I personally have not found this useful, but I can see the use case for console gaming where you want phone audio by bluetooth for music or videos while also receiving game audio from the console over USB. The last option is a wired connection by 3.5 mm audio (aux cord). I love this option for compatibility with in-flight entertainment on airplanes, and a few old devices that don’t support bluetooth audio. This is not a passive wired connection, you will need battery power to listen to wired inputs, and adjust the volume on the headset itself. You cannot utilize any other connection simultaneously with the wired connection. If you use a 4 pole 3.5mm cord, you will utilize the microphone in wired connections too. 3.5mm cord (aux cord) is not included. Audio. Audio is crisp and snappy. You hear everything. No really! Everything! Planar magnetic drivers have a faster response than traditional dynamic drivers; giving more distinct sounds. Lossless wireless audio is a big deal. I love listening to music with these just as much as playing games. Battery life. Not an issue. They claim 30 hours. I never had these die on me, but I am pretty good about charging items not in use. Cons: Microphone. The microphone is acceptable, not good. It does have always-running (software) noise filter; In my opinion this does assist with clarity. People will understand what you are saying; you just don’t sound good while being clearly heard. This is the sacrifice for high quality wireless audio, the bandwidth for the mic. For games it is fine, but I wouldn’t use this headset for conferences. Build. The design is actually quite functional, and style is subjective. I am happy with what was delivered, but there are alot of soft touch plastics in this headset. We shall see how long it lasts. I can see it scratching easily over time. Audio. Audio is shallow. I really like how these sound. You hear everything. These do not sound booming or deep. You will hear the base, it wont sound bad or tinny, but it wont boom. You may be disappointed if you expect deep and booming sound. Mixer and equalizer. Without a PS5, you have no control over the mixer/equalizer. Out of the box these are balanced flat. If you want to adjust your sound profile, you need to do so on a PS5. Once adjusted, the sound profile is stored on the headset. If fine tuning your sound profile matters to you, you need a PS5 or a friend with a PS5 to tune your headset. Documentation. The manuals included in the box are limited. There are plenty of features just not listed in the manuals. It doesn’t even tell you how to turn off the headset! You need to check Sony’s FAQ for this headset online to learn all of its features. System behavior. Two aspects of system behavior annoy me. First, the blue LED that indicates the headset is powered on, is too bright for its prominent placement in front. Second, this headset automatically powers off after a period of no audio input. This period is a little short for me, but the worse aspect is that it does not play a tone when automatically powering off. It can be annoying when you hit play on your music, only to realize the headset is off and needs to be powered on. Please add a tone on automatic power off. Conclusion: This is the best all around headset to buy, even if you use PC and not PS5. You get lightweight, comfortable, great sounding, and wireless headset with tons of features and the unique sound from planar magnetic drivers, for under $200. The mic, while not good, is clear/comprehensible. No software controls for PC may be a deal breaker for some people.

So first of all, I have some Astro A40 TRs that I have used for several years now, with extensive gaming and long sessions. I have virtually no complaints with them in terms of comfort, sound quality, durability, or anything else. Except that I would like to foray into a wireless headset with my PS5; wired headsets that connect to the controller obviously draw more power from the controller battery, making it die much faster than without. Also it would be nice to not have a cord to contend with. With that said, I gave the Pulse Elite a try. I lasted all of 2 hours before I said I'm returning this thing, took it off, and went back to my Astros. First of all, who at Sony decided they should package this headset in such a way that it almost requires you to just rip the cardboard to open the thing? Dumb idea. Anyway, I was disappointed first of all we with the very thin, very loose material around the ear cups. It is bound to rip very quickly. There's also no manually adjusting the headset; the elastic strap, which is also certain to wear out fast, is the only adjustment and it moves up and down on its own. That's it. So if your head shape and size is not specifically the only thing this was designed to fit, you're out of luck. It did fit for me, but not everyone will be the same. After doing the software update and it was ready to use, the very first thing I noticed was some slight static and noise distortion every time that tone plays when you are navigating your PS5 menus. Already that told me the sound quality was an issue. I tested it on a couple games and the sound all the way around felt flat, with almost a weird extra accent to the sound, probably related to that same noise distortion for higher frequency sounds that I experienced on the menus. Anyway, I continued playing, and about an hour into gaming, I felt some slight discomfort behind my ears. The headset, in an attempt to be "noise canceling," is designed for the ear cups to fit snug around your ears like suction cups. This causes some discomfort, but also it causes you to hear yourself talking in your own head way too much. Speaking of talking, my buddies said the mic quality was worse, and louder, than my Astros. I turned the mic volume down as low as I could on the PS5, and still they had to go into our chat party and turn down my volume to the lowest possible setting also in order for me to not drown them out. I tried retracting the boom mic to mitigate this issue, and then they said it sounded like I was far away in a tunnel, causing an echo effect on my voice. There was absolutely nothing redeeming about this headset and it is extremely disappointing. I am just gonna go ahead and fork out the extra money to buy me some Astro A50s to get my wireless experience. I trust them to be high quality and comfortable, delivering on everything I need. The Pulse Elites are a definite DO NOT BUY, and I would never recommend it to anyone.

This headset is amazing. I love every aspect about it. I had the original and now upgrading to the elite. I am flabbergasted. The sound quality is even better than the original microphone is much better. It sounds way more realistic. It has a longer battery life. It doesn't disconnect from a PlayStation as easily. I haven't had it disconnect once while using it except for one walking very far away. It's very comfortable. I just love it. Everyone should get this Even if you only play single player games. The sound quality very much improves the experience of all games and it makes you feel like you're really there. The only way that you could really feel more just there would be if you had a VR headset on

Despite all the reviews about disconnects, I didn’t experience that in the hour or two I messed around with them. I had one audio stutter but updated the firmware and haven’t run into that again. Audio is MUCH better when connected to the USB dongle directly to the PS5 and gives control over 3D audio and an equalizer. Levels are much lower when connected with the Portal and I had to crank the volume from the default to get it on the same level as what it sounded like at 50% on the PS5. Really wish there was a way to have the equalizer controls on the Portal. The ability to sync up to my phone over Bluetooth simultaneously is really neat but will go largely unused by me. I didn’t test the mic because I don’t do online gaming, but I REALLY appreciate that it tucks out of the way when not in use. Online review videos show it having some pretty stellar ambient sound cancellation, so you don’t have to worry about crunching snacks in your ears during party play. Setup was mildly convoluted but works seamlessly once setup. Apparently, you can link one headset up to a max of 8 USB Link Adapters and toggle between them so I might look into getting one for my PC. Switching between PS5 and the Portal connection was relatively painless. Very comfortable and lightweight. Fits great on my big noggin. Great noise cancellation from the outside world. However, that also causes me to notice a weird, amplified noise from the strap auto adjusting and rubbing against the frame if I move around while pressed against a pillow or recliner. My favorite feature? Absolutely has to be the charger. The hanger doubling as the charger is pure convenient genius design. Mounts on the wall with one screw (not included).

Wireless connectivity is a problem volume quality is good durability quality is good but it keeps getting disconnected from my PS5 every once in a while and I will buy again if I need one

Thee headphones sound great! I had the original Pulse 3D headphones since they came out and the battery life was getting to be pretty bad so I decided to update! I love everything about these new headphones but I couldn't understand the charging mount, it seemed so wobbly. Well it turns out I almost threw away the plastic clip that secures the wall mounted charger. If you don't use that, it will not stay firmly attached to the wall.

I am looking for different headsets. Though I have the PS5, I don’t game much, it’s more for watching movies and shows. The sound is decent, and it does have good battery life and it charges quickly. Also, I can use it while charging. There are issues with it constantly disconnecting while using it. It had a firmware update so it doesn’t happen as often. But when I first got it, the headset constantly disconnected. Now it has static noises. Also, the build is poor. I personally superglue the ear muffs from coming apart. Also, the parts on the side has come apart. That is not recommended, just return or don’t buy. It is a poor product for Sony and the price. Please do not buy, I got it because it was made for PlayStation but it is not good and not worth it. It is warning DO NOT BUY!