Sony - PULSE Explore Wireless Gaming Earbuds - for PS5 - White

The PlayStation Pulse Explore earbuds are great for what they are designed to do. However, they do have a few shortcomings for anything outside of gaming use. Let's start with the good, they sound excellent when paired to the PlayStation Portal, PS5, and PC. The pairing process is simple and straight forward whether using the included dongle for PC or PS5, direct Bluetooth connection to your phone, or PS Link with the Portal and they have the ability to be paired to 2 devices at the same time which is excellent. You can pair them to your phone and PlayStation Portal as one example and while your playing, you can take a phone call and still hear your game audio at the same time. I wish more headphones/earbuds had this feature. The fit is nice, they don't hurt while gaming for extended periods of time, but it should be noted, to get the best audio experience, you will need to find the right earbud tips get the best fit, if you don't, these will sound terrible. The overall sound quality is great. Will you notice the "lossless audio" vs traditional Bluetooth? Probably not. But it's there and Sony plasters it for their promotional materials. For the not so good, the range on these earbuds is not that great when compared to traditional headphones/earbuds. For me, I can't get more than 10-15 feet away from the Portal or PS5 Link dongle before the connection becomes distorted requiring me to take the earbuds out if I need to grab a quick drink from the fridge or something. With traditional earbuds from Sony, Apple, Samsung etc... the range is significantly better where it feels like you can walk all over your house and leave your device behind and still hear everything. If you use these buds for more than just gaming, like listening to music on your phone, the sounds quality is decent. They aren't terrible by any means and most people may be happy with it, but the volume buttons on the buds themselves do absolutely nothing unless you are connected to a PlayStation device which is a let down. Also, at least for me, no matter what device I have connected to them, the max volume doesn't get very loud for my taste. If your sitting in a quiet room with no other sounds, you will get lost in whatever you are doing. If you have a room full of people or there is a lot of noise around, it may take away from the audio experience. for the $200 price of these earbuds, I wish they would have included some kind of noise cancelation. As for the battery life, it's the traditional PlayStation mediocre battery life of 4-5 hours with each earbud with an added 15 hours with the included charging case. Compared to other earbuds in the same price range with substantial more features have better battery life which is kind of let down for the Pulse Explore Earbuds. Overall, if you use these for gaming exclusively, they do not disappoint and are a must have for any PlayStation Portal owner. For mixed use, like listening to music or watching movies, I would recommend using something else, but if this is only option available, they are decent enough where most will be happy. Happy gaming!

These earbuds sound amazing while gaming. Sound is very sharp and rich. They work really well with the portal and PS5. When it comes to the phones the phone functions are super basic and it’s okay enough if you just plan to take a call from here or there or if you listen to podcasts. Music for some reason on the phone isnt as rich sounding lacking bass while vocals are really good. Microphone is passable tested on the PS5 and recorded a message there. Ear Tips are kind of flimsy would recommend getting different tips if possible. Overall I think there is something with the Planar Earbuds and I think overall definitely some of the best sounding ear buds for gaming.

Overall 4 out of 5. Good: Connectivity, multiple devices, basic battery life, easy to use. The box explains how to connect them to your device and even how to wear them easily. Quite comfortable, I recommend these for gamers who enjoy immersive sound without sound canceling (unfortunately). 5-6hrs of constant usage, to be honest I think this is great especially since you can just swap ears out or immerse yourself, take a 30 minute rest and get back to it Bad: Overlapping audios with multiple devices(double edged sword) as someone can call you and the game will be playing audio at the same time. Caution around pets as earpiece can be easily gnawed off