Sony PULSE Explore Truly Wireless Headphones Review

The PlayStation PULSE Explore earbuds have a sleek, curvy aesthetic but are quite big and visible when wearing them. The small black ear tips fit inside your ears, while the white outer faces fit into your outer ear. They're only available in one white and black colorway.

The PlayStation PULSE Explore have a decently comfortable fit for most people. It can take some time to get used to how they fit, and you might need to work at getting a comfortable fit for your ears. The design has sharp edges that can dig into your ear if you don't position them correctly. However, if you twist them into place correctly, they have a snug fit and don't go too far into your ear canal, which avoids a plunger-like feeling.

The Sony Explore earbuds have physical buttons, which is unusual for earbuds. There's a volume rocker on each earbud that controls the earbud volume separately from your device's volume. The upshot of physical buttons is that you can swiftly change the volume while gaming instead of having to tap your bud four times to adjust the volume once, like on the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova. Both of the Sony earbuds have the same set of controls. You'll hear audio cues for most commands, and you can hear the physical button presses. However, you don't get any cue when you reach maximum or minimum volume. The buttons also feel mushy and not very clicky.

On both earbuds:

Volume rocker

• Adjust the earbuds' volume.

PS Link button

• Single press: Pair with a Bluetooth or PS Link device.
• Long press: Switch devices.
• Triple press Access EQ settings on PS5.

They're very portable, like most earbuds, and they won't need much space in a bag or pocket, even inside the case. They work with Bluetooth, so you can easily connect with your phone without the USB dongle. However, you need the transmitter to connect them with PlayStation consoles and PCs, so you'll have to remember to bring it with you as well if you plan to game where you're going.

The case is quite a bit bigger than cases for other wireless earbuds like the Apple AirPods Pro Truly Wireless, so it might not slip comfortably into the pocket of your jeans, but it's still very portable and has a curvy black and white design that matches the earbuds. It's light but sturdy, and the sliding lid has a solid, satisfying feel. This mechanism also feels like it might break if you drop the case accidentally, though.

They have a decent build quality. The plastic used is light and feels good quality, but not premium. The buttons on the earbuds are a weak point since they feel mushy and cheap. They aren't rated for water resistance, unlike the Sony INZONE Buds Truly Wireless, which are rated IPX4 for resistance against water splashes.

The PlayStation Explore earbuds have a stable fit. They'll easily stay in place even if you move your head sharply while gaming. While they can fall out sometimes if you make exaggerated movements, it's less likely than with the Sony INZONE Buds Truly Wireless.

• Sony PULSE Explore Truly Wireless
• 4x ear tips (S, M, L, XL)
• Charging case
• USB-A receiver
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Quick Start and User Guide

Note: Our unit is missing one small ear tip and came with an extra large ear tip, but the earbuds are meant to come with four different pairs of differently-sized ear tips.

The PlayStation PULSE Explore use planar magnetic drivers instead of the dynamic drivers found in most earbuds, which is intended to improve the clarity of audio reproduction. Their bass response is smoothly exaggerated across the range, so you hear the rumble, punch, and boom in music and sound effects like footsteps or explosions. Lead instruments and speech are clear and present in the mix due to the mostly balanced mids. The treble is more uneven with a somewhat detailed low-treble response, but exaggerated peaks and valleys can cause sibilant sounds like S and T to sound sharp or dull, depending on the frequency. Lastly, the uppermost frequencies are very de-emphasized, which lends a more closed-off sound without airiness.

They don't have a companion app with sound customization features, although if you're connected to a PS5, you can access an EQ.

They have fantastic frequency response consistency. Once you get a good fit with the ear tips, you'll get the same sound delivery every time you use them.

They have an excellent bass target compliance. It's slightly overemphasized across the range, so your game's soundtrack has thump and rumble. Sound effects like footsteps are also easy to hear.

Their mid-range profile's target compliance is outstanding. Most of the response adheres to our target, so during games with a lot of voice-acted cutscenes, like Baldur's Gate 3, characters' voices sound present and clear in the mix.

Their treble target compliance is disappointing. Most of the low-treble is a bit de-emphasized for a slightly warm tonality that can hurt speech comprehensibility. A boost in the mid-treble can cause S and T sounds to come across as sharp, while a large dip renders upp harmonics dull and lifeless.

Their peaks and dips performance is decent, indicating they control their sound profile well, except for in the upper registers. Most of the bass and mids are tight, with only minor deviations. However, the treble range has a few peaks and dips that can sound a bit harsh and shrill on vocals and cymbals, or dull and lifeless, depending on the pitch. That said, the jagged peaks in the highest frequencies aren't as easily perceived, except for those with sensitive hearing.

They have excellent imaging, like most Sony products we've tested, indicating good quality control and ergonomics. The group delay is below the audibility threshold across the range, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. Our unit's left and right drivers are well-matched in phase, amplitude, and frequency response, so objects like instruments and sound effects are accurately placed in the stereo image. However, imaging varies from unit to unit, so your earbuds may perform differently.

They have a bad passive soundstage, which is to be expected from in-ears. Because of their design, their sound doesn't interact with your outer ears, so it seems to come from inside your head rather than speakers in the room around you. The soundstage also seems small and closed-off.

These headphones don't have any virtual surround sound features. You can use Sony's Tempest 3D Audio if you connect to a PlayStation console with the transmitter, but that's the case for any headphones you connect to your PlayStation via USB or by plugging an analog cable into the controller. You can't use this feature if you're connected via Bluetooth.

They have a good weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion in the low-treble to mid-treble ranges, but it's difficult to hear with real-life content. Otherwise, most of the frequencies result in fairly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the PlayStation PULSE Explore. Our results are only valid when the headphones are used with these settings.

They have poor full range noise isolation. They don't have active noise cancelling (ANC) like the Sony INZONE Buds Truly Wireless and don't block out very much noise passively. As a result, they rely on a good in-ear fit and passive isolation to reduce bright and trebly noises, such as squealing brakes on trains. Bassy noises aren't very noticeably blocked, and conversations are only slightly reduced in loudness.

In common scenarios, these have poor noise isolation. Their passive isolation mainly tackles high-pitched noises and slightly reduces the loudness of conversations and traffic. That said, you'll still hear most of your surroundings in an airplane cabin and at the office because they lack ANC.

They have a superb leakage performance. They hardly leak any audio, so you can turn up the volume as much as you like without bothering people around you.

The mic has a sub-par recording quality. Your voice is easy to understand and full-bodied but sounds very distorted. It sounds somewhat better in a more realistic scenario than in an isolated test environment, but you can still hear the distortion. You can listen to that recording here. If you want to prioritize better recording quality, it's worth looking into a headset with a dedicated boom mic, like the Sony PULSE Elite Wireless.

The mic has passable noise handling. It manages to reduce moderately loud background noise, but it'll still be present in the background along with your voice. It can reduce louder noise, like voices or the sound of a train going by, but your voice gets garbled and drowned out simultaneously.

They last for about five hours of continuous use, which isn't very long but matches the manufacturer's advertised battery life. However, they recharge in under an hour, and the case holds two extra charges. You can also use one earbud while the other charges in the case. Keep in mind that battery life varies depending on use, though.

The Sony PULSE Explore earbuds don't have any phone or PC app, unlike the Sony INZONE Buds Truly Wireless, which have a dedicated PC program. However, you can access some settings on PS5, like an EQ, sidetone, and volume. That said, if you want to be able to plug in your wireless dongle to your PlayStation and still have app support when you switch to your phone or Windows PC, consider the ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova.

They come with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable; you can't use them wired.

The PlayStation PULSE Explore wireless earbuds have high latency via Bluetooth, so you'll notice lip-syncing issues if you're using them to watch videos or are gaming on your phone. However, they aren't intended for gaming via Bluetooth, and you're expected to use the transmitter with your PS5 or PC for a lower latency connection. They support multi-device pairing with Bluetooth and the wireless transmitter, so you can listen to audio from your phone via Bluetooth and hear your game audio at the same time via the transmitter. They also support the AAC codec, which offers slightly improved audio quality compared to the default SBC codec.

They have low latency when connected via their USB dongle to a PlayStation console or PC, so your game's audio and visuals stay in sync while you're playing.

These earbuds are fully compatible with PCs using the wireless transmitter. You can also connect via Bluetooth if your PC supports it.

These earbuds have full audio and mic compatibility with PS4 and PS5 using the wireless transmitter.

The PlayStation PULSE Explore come with a case with a couple of additional charges. It doesn't have any inputs besides the USB-C charging port and doesn't support wireless charging. They also come with a USB dongle that you can plug into PlayStations and PCs to use the headphones wirelessly.