IGN's Jared Schneider reviewed these earbuds and pointed out that the PULSE Explore was an outstanding gaming earbud. And that's the point. These earbuds are designed from the ground up for gaming. That means some of the non-essential gaming features you'd find in other high-end earbuds - for example active noise cancelation and transparency mode - aren't present here. What you get instead are earbuds that go big on no-holds-barred immersive sound quality.

Unlike most earbuds out there (including Sony's INZONE models), the PULSE Explore uses planar magnetic drivers, which Sony states "reproduce sound with near-perfect accuracy along the entire audible spectrum, so you can hear games exactly how the developers intended." This is a technology that was carried over from Sony's Audeze acquisition back in 2023. The caveat is that these earbuds are bigger than your typical earbud, although that doesn't really matter if you're using them at home. The PULSE Explore also supports 3D audio, so you'll be able to poinpoint the locations of your enemies just as you would with an over-ear gaming headset.

The PULSE Explore syncs seamlessly with your PlayStation 5 console via PlayStation Link. A USB dongle is conveniently included in the package. This dongle is also Windows and Mac compatible, so that the earbuds can also be used for your gaming PC. In addition to PlayStation Link, the earbuds can be paired to your mobile device over Bluetooth.

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