Sony PULSE Elite Wireless Headphones Review

The Sony PULSE Elite share a similar look to the Sony PULSE 3D Wireless, drawing from the same visual cues as the PS5 consoles. They have a striking design, with black ear cups and a black padded adjustable inner headband. It's accented by a white, Möbius strip-like outer band that wraps over and around the rest of the structure. You can adjust the fit using the ski-band design. It's only available in the monochromatic 'White' colorway.

These headphones are decently comfortable. The padding on the ear cup feels supple and pleasant, and the headset overall feels flexible. Their frame is relatively lightweight and doesn't clamp your head with too much force. While they're very comfortable to wear while sitting down with your head stationary, moving your head too much or walking around causes a loud rattling sound that could be mistaken for faulty drivers.

The control scheme is disappointing. There's a limited number of buttons that have multiple functions, so inputting basic controls (like powering the headphones on) can be ponderous and time-consuming. The buttons themselves are small, easy to miss, and don't provide a great deal of tactile feedback to indicate if commands have been registered. Many of the functions you'd expect to have physical controls can only be adjusted via the PS5 interface, like channel mixing, talk-through, and mic gain. Also, when paired to a Bluetooth device, the volume function on the headphones is disabled and defaults to the volume level on your device. Fortunately, there's audio feedback in the form of a tone that sounds when you input a command. The mic mute and link buttons also have an LED indicator to show their status.

PlayStation Link Button (found on the right ear cup):

Mic mute button (found on the mic):

Volume up/down buttons (found on the right ear cup):

These headphones aren't very portable. The frame is bulky, and their unique design means they take up quite a bit of space in a bag. Fortunately, if you want to pair them with a Bluetooth device on the go, you won't need to lug the transmitter around.

While these headphones don't come with a case to help transport them, they do come with a charging hanger that you can use both to charge the headphones and keep them off potentially dusty surfaces. You can see what this looks like here.

The PlayStation PULSE Elite's build quality is mediocre. The frame and yokes are constructed entirely of plastic, with a silicone inner headband and ear cups covered entirely in faux leather. Overall, the quality of the construction is okay, although there are some obvious weak points. Both the pivots and hinges are made of weak plastic. The yokes also make a scraping noise when they collide with the main body, which can be unpleasant to hear. Despite these weaknesses in their construction, none of the parts are replaceable. The USB-A to USB-C cable that comes with the headset is made of a soft yet stiff plastic. There's no IP rating for protection against water or dust, although this is common for gaming headphones.

These headphones have mediocre stability. They'll stay on your head during light movements, but any jerky movements in fits of gamer rage will cause them to shift off your head, and you'll need to re-adjust their positioning.

• Sony PULSE Elite headset
• USB dongle
• USB-A to USB-C cable (1.46 m or 4'7")
• Hanger (with charging contact and USB-C female input)
• User manual

The PlayStation PULSE Elite have a bright sound profile that lacks low bass. This is surprising, considering they feature planar drivers that tend to have more linear low-frequency extension compared to conventional dynamic drivers. Their lack of low bass is somewhat compensated for by a boosted high bass that can help bring out the detail in low-frequency sound effects, like engine rumble in racing games, just without any of the oomph.

The mid-range is relatively neutral, though there's a slight boost to the low-mids that can add boxiness to sounds like snares in game soundtracks or the cursor sound effects in Final Fantasy VII. A similarly-sized boost to the mid-mid helps bring the detail in vocals and lead instruments. The treble range is the more inconsistent: while there's some emphasis in the low-treble that adds some character to the upper harmonics of vocals, the mid-treble response is extremely uneven, resulting in sibilants that sound either dull or extremely shrill, depending on their pitch. There's also some audible planar crinkle in this frequency range that can be distracting. Thankfully, a graphic EQ and presets are available via the PS5 interface, which can help tame some of these inconsistencies.

The Sony PULSE Elite have poor frequency response consistency. Audio delivery varies hugely based on various factors, including head shape, hair, and whether you wear glasses or not. We conducted a large number of tests to first determine whether different connection methods caused this inconsistency. However, we ran passes with all three connection types, and while there were slight differences in audio delivery, they weren't significant at all.

We ran hundreds of passes on both our testing head and on a range of human heads. We found that most deviations were caused by physical factors, with glasses and larger heads drastically reducing audio consistency (visible as purple and yellow lines on the graph). As a result, this headset is extremely temperamental regarding placement and fit, and even slight changes in these factors could result in noticeable bass roll-off and deviations in treble response.

The bass accuracy is good. There's a bit of roll-off in the bass range, which means low-end rumble is lacking. As a result, cinematic sequences in games won't sound as intense and captivating. That said, a bump in the high-bass compensates for this somewhat, ensuring that bass frequency sounds are still present, though they lack substance. This means that instruments like kick drums and bass guitars are clearly audible, as are enemy footsteps.

However, it's worth noting that our results represent an average response based on multiple passes due to the inconsistency in how these headphones deliver audio, so your experience may vary.

The mid accuracy is great. The response is generally balanced across the entire range, resulting in mostly accurate reproduction of vocals, speech, and lead instruments. The low-mid are slightly accentuated as an extension of the boosted high-bass, meaning instruments like snares sound a little boxy. There's also a peak in the mid-mid that can help bring out the detail in dialogue-heavy cutscenes. There are some inconsistencies between the left and right drivers in the high-mid, which means that higher-pitched voices sound clearer and crisper in the right driver than in the left. However, when playing games like The Witcher 3, dialogue is still understandable and easy to follow when receiving quests.

The treble accuracy is passable, though there are some significant deviations in the response across the entire range. The low treble is slightly emphasized, meaning that the upper harmonics or vocals have some high-end sparkle. However, this is followed by a dip at the bottom of the mid-treble that dulls lower-pitched sibilants, rendering S and T sounds lispy and lifeless. This is followed by a significant peak at the top of the mid-treble that adds excessive brightness to metallic sounds, like cymbals or the clink of swords sparring. Overall, this results in an overly-bright treatment of higher-pitched sounds that will be fatiguing to listen to for extended periods.

However, it's worth noting that our results represent an average response based on a few passes due to the inconsistency in how these headphones deliver audio, so your mileage may vary.

The peaks and dips performance is mediocre, meaning they don't control their own sound profile too well. There are significant peaks in the low and high bass that can bloat mixes and muddy already-boomy sounds like explosions and 808s. A dip across the low and mid-mid can make vocals and speech sound hollow and recessed. A further dip in the high-mid also means these sounds lack brilliance and transparency in their upper harmonics. Finally, there's a massive dip in the mid-treble, followed by a sharp rise to a significant peak. This can result in sibilants that alternate between sounding dull and extremely shrill, depending on their pitch.

The imaging performance is disappointing compared to other headphones we've tested from Sony Electronics, who manufacture the PULSE and INZONE lines of gaming headsets. Good imaging is usually an indicator of solid ergonomics and good quality control, which we've come to expect of this manufacturer. However, given that this is the first over-ear headset from Sony to feature planar magnetic drivers, our unit's lackluster imaging may be a byproduct of the increased complexity involved in manufacturing planar drivers.

Group delay mostly falls beneath the audibility threshold, except for the bass range, where high group delay results in noticeably loose-sounding bass. However, our unit's L/R drivers are badly matched in phase, frequency, and amplitude. We ran tests using every input method (wired, via the transmitter, and via Bluetooth) and found that these issues persisted regardless. While there are some phase mismatches in the mid-range, the mismatches in the treble range are most noticeable. Higher-pitched vocals, for example, appear to shift to the left as they ascend in pitch, which will be clearly audible when listening to real-life content.

The PlayStation PULSE Elite's passive soundstage performance is alright, as is expected from closed-back headphones. Although it sounds spacious, it's also unnatural sounding and lacks the immersive, out-of-head quality you get with open-back headphones. That said, because of how they interact with your outer ears, they're somewhat open-feeling for closed-backs.

The Sony PULSE Elite is compatible with Sony's Tempest 3D AudioTech—this feature is available natively with the PS5. Integration will vary from game to game, and some PS4 games are even supported. This feature can create a more immersive gaming experience by using a virtual soundstage.

The Sony PULSE Elite's weighted harmonic distortion performance is decent. There's a spike in the low-bass range, especially in the low-bass region, though this range can be difficult to hear with real-life content. Otherwise, there's some perceptible planar crinkle—a kind of crackling noise that's audible with some planar magnetic headphones. This crinkle was audible during subjective listening and will likely be audible when you listen to real-life content. It's represented on the graph by the spike in the mid-treble range at both regular and high listening levels. However, it's unlikely that all units will be affected, so your experience may vary.

These are the settings used to test the Sony PULSE Elite Headset. Our results are only valid in this configuration.

The Sony PULSE Elite's full-range noise isolation performance is poor. These headphones don't have any ANC feature, so they isolate passively. That said, they provide no isolation in the bass range. Unusually, our results found that they accentuate bass range noise. We compared our results with another headset to see if there was an issue with our setup. However, this second headset performed normally. We also subjectively evaluated the PULSE Elite's performance and found that, when playing bass-heavy music next door, basslines and kicks sounded louder and more muddy across the entire range. As a result, sounds like construction work outside your window will be audible and even slightly amplified. We're unsure what's causing these strange results, but we're looking into it.

They also provide almost no isolation in the mid-range, so you can hear conversations around you. They're a little better at shielding you from high-frequency noises, like fridge hum, although the level of attenuation is still quite low.

These headphones have difficulty isolating you from common scenarios. Everything that's going on around you will make its way into your audio, and bass-range sounds like the rumble of passing bus engines will even sound slightly louder with these headphones on.

Just like in our full-range tests, we found that these headphones accentuate the response of bass frequency sounds. We're currently looking into these results.

The Sony PULSE Elite have middling leakage performance. Escaping audio is mostly concentrated in the treble and midrange, and while it sounds fairly bright, it's also rather comprehensive. You can hear lead instruments, vocals, and percussion well at ambient office volumes, while bright frequencies are loud enough to interrupt nearby conversations. How audible your leaked audio is relies on variables like how loud you set the volume.

These headphones feature a flexible, retractable boom mic that you can bend to accommodate different angles.

The boom mic's recording quality is very good. Your voice sounds relatively natural and will be easily understood by whoever's on the other end.

The boom mic's noise handling performance is amazing. It does a fantastic job of separating your voice from moderately noisy environments, so if you're gaming with a fan on in the summer, your voice will still come through loud and clear. Even at higher levels of background noise, it does an excellent job of ensuring your voice is still clear and understandable, even if some noise can still be heard.

The Sony PULSE Elite have a very good battery life performance. The manufacturer advertises 30 hours of continuous battery life, but we measured 53 hours of playtime while using the dongle. Sony possibly tested these headphones using their Bluetooth connection or both connection types simultaneously, which would explain our differing results. As always, battery life will vary depending on your usage. They also have a quick charge feature that gives you two hours of battery life from a ten-minute charge. You can charge them using the included headphone hanger.

The Sony PULSE Elite use the PS5's interface as a companion app, where you can adjust a variety of settings. You can also connect them to a PS4, but you won't have access to certain features like the 5-band graphic EQ, custom EQ presets, and control over the headphone and mic volumes. While there's no support for Dolby surround sound formats, you can enable the Tempest 3D audio feature on your PS5 and adjust the settings to create a more immersive gaming experience.

You can use the PlayStation PULSE Elite headset with a 1/8" TRRS cable, although it isn't included. Latency is extremely low when using this connection type, so you don't need to worry about audiovisual lag. They also come with a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging.

The PlayStation PULSE Elite have an okay Bluetooth performance. There's no multi-device pairing via Bluetooth, though you can connect another device via the dongle while keeping a Bluetooth device paired. They have high latency when using a Bluetooth connection, though, so if you use them to watch videos, you'll notice some lip-sync issues. It's unlikely to be a factor for gaming use, though, as you'll want to use the dongle to connect your PlayStation.

The Sony PULSE Elite have excellent connectivity via the included wireless dongle. Latency is very low when using this connection method, so you won't experience any lag between your audio and visuals when gaming. That said, the wireless connection becomes spotty at around 30m (98.4ft) and cuts out entirely at 32 m (105ft), which is quite a short range compared to other gaming headsets. However, this won't be an issue if you're gaming at home and are close to your console.

It's worth noting that many users online have experienced issues with this headset randomly disconnecting while using the wireless dongle. If you've experienced issues like this, please let us know in the forums. While we didn't experience any connection issues during the testing process, this issue does seem widespread, and you can see some of the user reports on reddit as well as YouTube.

These headphones are fully compatible with PCs via a wireless dongle or an analog connection. As you can use them wired via a 1/8" TRRS cable, you can even send audio to communicate with teammates. If your PC supports Bluetooth, you can connect to it this way, though latency will be noticeably higher.

These headphones are optimized for PlayStation family consoles, so you can connect them to both PS4s and PS5s via the Wireless dongle, analog connection, or even Bluetooth for full audio and microphone support. However, you can only access features like the graphic EQ, EQ presets, and mic/headphone volume if you have a PS5.

The Sony PULSE Elite are compatible with Xbox family consoles via analog connection only; you plug a 1/8" TRRS cable into your controller. You can send and receive audio using this method.

The Sony PULSE Elite come with a wireless USB dongle you can use to connect these headphones wirelessly without using Bluetooth. However, you'll need to charge them using the included charging hanger.