Sony - PULSE Explore
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Based on 1 year's data from Mar 28, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
5
2
"Pulse Explore has the best 3D sound stage (imagining). Sound is real 360."
"Drivers are the best on the market."
"I connect mine to my Sony tv and it sounds better than my pulse do connected to the PS5"
Disliked most:
0
4
"Disconnecting is really annoying. ... No, it’s disgusting and should not exist for the headphones that cost $200."
"Overpriced and sound like shit tbh. ... sound like ass. ... the irony is i can connect my airpods to my bravia tv via bluetooth and it works just fine *and* sounds a thousand times better."
"It ’s a shame they’re not so reliable for that massive price."
3
9
"No disconnection (main reason why I returned PULSE) ... expect to get disconnected time to time as far as I know, this wasn't fixed still. ... But I still don't recommend PULSE cause of disconnecting issue. ... It was a major disappointment for me since I looked forward this earbud but after using it for a few days, I decided to return it with no hesitation. ... maybe not with portal but at least with PS."
"Complete drop out - even 5 foot away - turning my head would result in the ear furthest away dropping out for a couple of seconds - even with a usb extender to move the dongle from the back of the console to the front. ... range on them was horrid - it would lose connection just by turning my head - console was about 7 foot away - and even if I used an usb extender to move the transmitter to the front of the console - it would still sometimes cut out."
"Constant random disconnections from the ps link dongle. ... I'll be sitting literally 3 feet away from it and it'll drop 5 times in a few hours. ... And the only way to fix it is to unplug the reinsert the dongle. ... Other days it won't disconnect once all day."
1
2
"Way too big and uncomfortable"
"I used some old tips I had that seem better."
0
1
"Overpriced and sound like shit tbh. ... sound like ass. ... the irony is i can connect my airpods to my bravia tv via bluetooth and it works just fine *and* sounds a thousand times better."
35thWitch 1.0Only good one I know of is the Sony (Playstation) Pulse Explore, of all things. Not cheap, but supposed to be pretty good. No ANC, if that's a problem.
Adventurous-Toe-2156 1.0I love mine, and use them all the time. Love how they work seamlessly with the portal and the console itself. Have never had any noticeable latency with games and with recent updates any connectivity issues are gone. Being able to connect your phone through Bluetooth and your PS device through PS Link simultaneously is super nice too. All that said it’s hard to say they’re really “worth jt” at such a high price when they still lack so many features in other mid-high end ear buds. Definitely a nice to have and if you have disposable income for them then go for it, but not worth breaking the bank over.
AirGuitarVirtuoso 1.0The pulse explore buds are pretty good once you replace the pads. They’re a bit cheaply made but they do the trick and sync to the portal quite nicely.
asdqqq33 1.0They are not great for general use, no noise canceling, the case is enormous, they look kind of ridiculous, but they are the best option for the Portal. I purchased a used set without the dongle (which you don’t need for the Portal) pretty cheaply. I needed them because it’s the only way to get mono audio.
bf2reddevil 1.0There are the Sony pulse Explore earbuds. Those were made with the PS5 and ps portal specific in mind. They come with the playstation link usb dongle to connect them with the PS5.
Yes, audio from those brands like Sony, bose Sennheiser will be (significantly) better. But for gaming those are not good choices. They tend to have high latency. The gaming earbuds usually work with some form of reduced latency. Usually because of a USB dongle or a different audio codec. I own these steelseries ones, the Asus cetra true wireless earbuds I have as well, and also the Sony pulse buds. Those last one use some kind of Sony audio codec to have no latency with the PS5 or ps portal.
Big_Assistance_5964 1.0I have the pulse explores and they work great now. I will say, on launch the disconnects were horrendous. They have since updated them and they rarely disconnect and when they do, they reconnect right away
BusinessDimension854 1.0People say that they’re not worth it but I love mine. The video game audio is so good.
CautiousComfort7211 1.0I use my explores for everything… at work, on the bus, music, phone calls, and they’re great for vr2
chochi4567 1.0I honestly regret my purchase a bit. Thankfully I was able to get mine in brand new condition off eBay for $90 so it stung a little less. The battery life sucks, no pass through or ANC, and they can get pretty uncomfortable. The sound quality is *fine*. Having the dual connection is nice though. But even that I can nitpick a bit and say I wish it auto paused what I was listening to when I took the ear bud out. I just wish I had saved my money and gotten the Pulse Elite. Is it worth $160? Definitely not. Is it worth the $90 you can easily find on eBay? Kinda.
CloudFF7- 1.0Got them when they were 200, still use them