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Sony’s first-party PlayStation gaming headsets can be hit or miss. Good news! The latest version, the Pulse Elite wireless headset, is more of the former. It costs $150, can pair with multiple devices at once, and even comes with a wireless charging hanger.
This headset's predecessor was a miss, touting 3D audio and impressive sound, but it was made from harsh, flimsy plastic, didn't support a Bluetooth connection, and worst of all, it wasn't even necessary to get all the benefits of 3D audio. Sony's Tempest 3D audio system works with plenty of other headphones.
The Pulse Elite remedies many of those issues. It supports Bluetooth audio—which you can use simultaneously alongside the PlayStation Link adapter connection. The earcups are more comfortable, and the plastic is less flimsy; it just feels better all around. If that was all the Pulse Elite improved, it would be worth the extra $50 over the older model, but it's the wireless charging hanger that cinches it for us.
The design aesthetic of the PS5 struck a chord when it first dropped, and since then all of the company’s accessories have followed suit. For better or worse. These headphones are probably closer to the “better” side than, say, the PS5 camera taco. The white headband extends down around the earcups, with a swoosh toward the front. The built-in mic slides out of one of the pointed white tips. It’s a striking design without looking outright silly.
There’s a soft, fabric strap inside the headband that keeps the headphones supported without weighing on the top of your head too much. The soft, plush earcups wrap around your ears, helping to isolate them without pressing too hard on the sides of your head. You can adjust each earcup up and down to find the perfect fit.
The only thing I find particularly annoying is how the earcups are attached to the headset. Each is held on by a type of ball joint that can rotate freely in any direction. In theory, this helps make sure that the earcups aren’t resting on your head at a weird angle, lightly jamming into the sides of your head. In practice, the ball joints shift a lot. There’s also a slight, almost imperceptible clicking noise as the joint shifts around. It would be imperceptible if it wasn’t right next to my ear.
This is only an issue when I am moving my head, but even slight movements result in this low but troublesome clicking noise. I tend to fidget more than most, so it might be a problem just for me, but it was annoying to have this frequent, irritating noise intermixed with what is otherwise great audio.
The annoyance of the earcup clicking aside, these headphones sound excellent. The Pulse Elite uses planar magnetic drivers. These use a thin, flat diaphragm that’s larger than the typical dynamic drivers in most headphones you’ve probably used. They’re also more sensitive, which allows them to produce more precise, accurate sound.
The result is that, when playing games like Overwatch 2, I found it easier to hear individual sounds that typically are blurred together on other headsets. I play as the character Mercy (and occasionally as Lifeweaver), and being able to hear the subtle footsteps of a Genji or Tracer—or the less subtle footsteps of a Reaper—behind me can mean the difference between life and death. With these headphones, distinct sounds are just a little bit easier to make out.
The Pulse Elite comes with a PlayStation Link USB dongle for a low-latency wireless connection, and it can also pair simultaneously via Bluetooth. This is most helpful if you want to, say, play some music from your phone while you’re delivering packages in Death Stranding.
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For players who have the PlayStation Portal, there’s a third connection option on the headset: Wi-Fi. The Portal allows players to stream games from the PS5 directly to the handheld. While the handheld does have a 3.5-mm headphone jack and a USB-C port, using Wi-Fi to connect to the PlayStation Portal is by far the most convenient way to stream audio to the device. There’s something that feels almost Apple-esque about how all of Sony’s accessories work together.
The microphone on the headset is serviceable, though nothing to write home about. My friends were able to hear my voice clearly for basic communication, though if you are concerned about audio quality for recording, you can do better. I do like that when you slide the microphone back into the headset when you're not using it, it's practically invisible.
In my testing, the Pulse Elite reached a little more than 30 hours of battery life on a full charge. However, depending on your setup, the battery life might not even be much of an issue at all. That’s thanks to the unique charging hanger that comes with this headset, allowing you to wirelessly charge it any time you set it down.
The hanger can be mounted to a wall using a single screw or nail. The process is no more complicated than hanging a small photo on the wall. The Pulse Elite is light enough that it doesn’t weigh the hanger down much. A USB-C cable plugs into the bottom to power the hanger.
On the top of the hanger, there’s the same four-contact connector that the PS5 DualSense controllers use to charge via charging docks. Unfortunately, the controller doesn’t balance on the hanger, so don’t get your hopes up about using it for both. Place the headset on the hanger and it will charge while not in use.
The headset recharges rather quickly. Sony claims that 10 minutes on the charger will provide up to two hours of battery life, which was close to my experience. Even when the headset’s battery got low, it took only a short break sitting on the hanger to stave off the low battery notifications for a couple more hours of playtime.
Overall, the Pulse Elite is a big upgrade over the Pulse 3D. If you’re looking for a gaming headset specifically for the PlayStation 5, few options are quite as fully featured as the Pulse Elite.
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