Features
- 7.1 virtual surround sound on the PS4 and the PS3
- Preset sound modes optimized for specific modes such as gaming, music and films
- Excellent ergonomic design makes it foldable for easy travel and storage
- Up to 8 hours use on a full charge
- Crystal clear sound and internal microphone
- On screen headset status display
- Customizable face plates
Review
First thing to mention about these is that they come well packaged which makes it a pleasure to un-box. Inside you get the dongle that acts as the receiver, in to your consoles USB port, a very short micro USB cable, a headphone jack, travel pouch and warranty documentation.
You will immediately notice they are light and well designed with Sony’s design touches prevalent all over the headset such as the X, square, circle and triangle logo on the exterior of the ear cups. They are well padded and extendable for all head sizes large and small.
Once you have them on your head you will notice they are light – particularly if you are coming from something like the Tritton Warheads, Tritton Pro or most Turtle Beaches – and also super comfy. We found these remarkably more comfortable than most headsets we have used and suffered no issues after prolonged hours of use. We also like how you can customize the face plates though felt quite content with the design straight out of the box.
The wireless feature is the reason why most people will be reading this review and whilst it makes them that bit more expensive, its totally worth it.
It represents great value anyway in that it works on the PS3 and the PS Vita as well as the PS4 and you can also use it as a headset for your smartphone/tablet though you should note the wireless functionality (and the 7.1 surround sound for that matter) does not work on the PS Vita or any smartphone and so you will have to have it wired to the device.
The internal microphone is a very clever design choice and one of the stand out features of this headset – meaning there is no external microphone that extends from your headset to your mouth. You could be forgiven for thinking this would effect the amount of sound that can be picked up but we found it works fine without any issues. In fact we found it can pick up the slightest whispers without any problem at all.
On to the sound itself, as I mentioned it is 7.1 Surround sound on the PS4 and PS3 and boy does it pack a punch on your ears. It really shows why audio should be enjoyed this way and whether its loud explosions or creeping through dark corridors, you get a level of immersion that cannot be enjoyed in any other way.
The low base tones are weighty and it copes with picking up the higher pitched tones and slightest sounds really well. There is some serious noise reducing technology at work as well as we found very little background hissing, if at all and could hardly hear anything in the real world.
The audio chat is crystal clear and there is a mixer control so you can control the balance of game and audio volume. The headset also has preset modes so you can flip from music to gaming which does have notable differences if you like to have custom modes.
Other notable features is the handy status display on screen so you can keep an eye on the battery life. You also get a mute button which is always handy and you can in addition download a companion app so you can pre-set specific sound profiles for different games making the experience even more bespoke conveniently.
The headset is not perfect however and we have a few points worthy of noting.
We cannot figure our why Sony did not use Bluetooth and instead opted for wireless technology particularly as it has been a pioneer in Bluetooth technology in the past decade and both consoles have inbuilt Bluetooth. Opting for wireless technology we felt reduces the battery life though impressively we were still getting 6 hours plus (slightly beneath the 8 hours it advertises).
We were also surprised to note how big the dongle actually was – it will stick out of your console. The short micro USB cable that comes with the headset is also a comical length but no real bug bear but you an cheaply pick up a new longer one of eBay if you havent got one already.