Pulse Explore is PlayStation’s small-sized, big-priced headset – Review

With its launch abroad in December 2023, the Pulse Explore opened the doors to peripherals for the Playstation 5 generation. The model was followed by the beefy version of the headphones, the Pulse Elite, which ended up arriving just two months later, back in February.

With a slight delay here in Brazil, both headphones made their appearance here in Brazil during the month of June. After getting our hands on the more powerful model, Playstation sent us their compact version of what they call “the new era of audio in video games”.

But is the Pulse Explore really all that? Is it worth buying the headset instead of another wireless model? We’ll explain it to you now in the product review.

Design and packaging

As soon as you open the Pulse Explore box, you’ll be greeted by its small 8.5-centimeter case with a tiny Playstation symbol in the corner, as well as a USB-C port for charging. Unlike other headphones on the market, this one doesn’t have a hinged lid.

Just drag the white part to the left side and voilà: there are the headphones. Right away, what catches your eye about the earbuds is not only their weird design, but their unusual size. When comparing them side by side with a Redmi Buds 3 or a JBL Tune 215, you can clearly see the difference (by the way, the two boxes side by side are almost the same size as the Playstation case).

Box contents:

• PULSE Explore Wireless Headphones;
• Recharging case;
• Adaptador USB PlayStation Link;
• 6 ear tips for headphones;
• Cabo USB-C.

With a very resistant plastic body on both the case and the headset, it will be difficult to scratch them if you keep them in a pocket with keys or in a backpack. In the box, in addition to the USB cable for charging, there is also a dongle so you can use the Playstation Link, a technology that helps avoid latency delay during your game.

Like all in-ear headphones, the box also includes six ear pads so you can adjust the size according to your ear. Since I have big ears, I’m going to go for big ear pads. I’ll admit that they don’t look very nice on my ear: it took me a while to figure out the right position for them to fit.

Both earbuds have a volume rocker on the top and a pairing and power button. Unlike the Pulse Elite, it’s much easier to turn the volume up and down on the Explore, which is a plus for me.

Unlike the PlayStation deadset, the compact headphones do not have a button to mute, having to do this on the Dualsense itself, which let’s face it: is much easier considering the size of the headphones.

Usability

With Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity for mobile devices, you can connect it to your cell phone or computer like any other Bluetooth headset. In the case of the Explore, you just need to hold down the pairing button for 8 seconds. To play with ultra-low latency, you need to use the Playstation Link dongle, which really serves its purpose: it helps your game to ensure there is no lag, no matter what you’re playing.

The sound of the PULSE Explore really surprised me. The magnetic drivers really make a huge difference when the headset is used on the Playstation 5. I tested it playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Alan Wake 2, without changing the headset settings, and the sound is very clean and detailed. Speaking of settings, when you press the pairing button three times, a menu opens so you can choose the best sound equalization, varying between bass, treble, midrange and high. There are three ready-made options and two that you can equalize according to your taste.

Just like the Pulse Elite, 3D audio is also present, giving more immersion to the gameplay due to the planar magnetic speakers. One thing to note: this 3D feature is not available in all games, so do your research before playing.

Although it is possible to use it on cell phones and computers, just like the Pulse Elite, I would not recommend it for this type of use. Although it is very simple to connect, you will have to do everything on your cell phone or PC: lower or increase the volume, pause the music, skip to the next track. None of this is possible with the headset. All that incredible sound you hear on the Playstation 5 simply disappears when you connect it to other devices, making it sound like a regular headset you won at a carnival.

Does this mean it’s bad? Far from it. For gaming, the headset is great! That’s it. I hope that in the future Sony will release an app so that you can equalize the sound the way you want on mobile devices, after all, several of the brand’s headsets have this functionality. I don’t know how complex it is to do this, but I’ll give it a tip for the company.

Thanks to Bluetooth 5.0 and Playstation Link, you can play and use your headset on your cell phone or computer at the same time, if you want to listen to audio on WhatsApp or watch a level tutorial video.

Connectivity:

• PlayStation Link™ connection for:
• PlayStation5
• PlayStation Portal™
• PC/Mac
• Bluetooth 5.0 for mobile phones

Just like the Pulse Elite, I tried using it on the Xbox and, to everyone’s surprise, they didn’t connect, lo and behold! (By the way, Mrs. Xbox: if you want to send something for testing, we’re here, okay?)

While the microphone has AI-enhanced noise cancellation, just like the Elite, I didn’t notice much difference compared to a regular headset microphone. I know the AI ​​helps cancel out external noise, but the voice also gets canned.

Battery

As for the battery, on the PlayStation website itself it says that the headset can last around 5 hours of continuous gaming, and it really does say so. I started playing Prince of Persia at 8:45 pm and the headset’s battery only ran out around 2:10 am, with a slight beep warning me that the charge was running out.

When I put them in the case, it took almost an hour for them to be 100% charged. Sony promises 10 hours of battery life for the case, which I only needed to charge once in two weeks of use, taking only half an hour to charge 100%.

Worth to buy?

In online marketplaces, you can find the PULSE Explore costing between R$1,100 and R$1,300, a little more expensive than the Pulse Elite, which is already a great headset. Honestly, I don’t understand the exorbitant price, since, if I had to choose between one and the other, I would go for the headset.

It’s not cheap, but it’s clear that these headphones were designed to be used in conjunction with the PlayStation Portal, PlayStation’s “portable” headset. The headset is especially good if you’re playing lying down or need to remove one of them from your ear to answer someone who calls you.

If you have money to spare and want to play in a more “free” way, in many quotes, it’s worth it for the audio quality when playing. Just don’t forget that on cell phones and computers it’s not possible to control anything through the headset, but nothing that a future update can’t fix. After all, I bet you bought those headsets to play and not to work, right?

So, what do you think about the PlayStation headset? Are you going to upgrade to the Pulse Elite or stick with the 3D model? Comment on Voxel’s social media!