Hardware Review - PlayStation Gold Wireless Stereo Headset

I've never owned a gaming headset before, so I don't really have anything to compare to.  I haven't even
really ever owned a very good pair of headphones, but I think that has changed.  I really like these headphones, and the way they fit on my head.  Hooking it up to your PS4 couldn't be easier, all you have to do is plug in the included USB dongle and turn them on and you're good to go.  There is a Headset Companion App and I will get to that towards the end of the review.  I took some terrible pictures of my screen, apparently you can't use the share button on that app, I guess you wouldn't really need to ever.

I think the sound is very good and I'm hearing more details in the game that I never heard before.  I played some Assassins Creed IV and Need for Speed and both sound so much better with this headset, and I have a nice stereo and surround sound speakers.  There are less distracting sounds going on when I'm wearing these headphones.  I can't hear the furnace, refrigerator, car doors closing or any other random sounds going on;  just the game.  That feature alone is great to me and I think I will continue to use this headset while gaming.  I charged them for about an hour and then gave them a go for a couple of hours.  I played the above games and watched a little bit of Veronica Mars with them and they sounded great for that as well.  Yes, I'm watching Veronica Mars; I never watched it when it was on and now we are trying to catch up just in case we want to watch the movie when it comes out.  I'm about 7 episodes deep so far and enjoying it.

I only tested the mic by sending a voice message and listening back to it.  It sounded pretty darn good to me, and without there being a boom mic, there is less to end up breaking.  They also fold up nicely for travel in the included travel pouch.

Now, more about the headphones themselves.  I think the build quality is solid. They are comfortable and sound well.  What more can you ask for?  I guess more bass, and that's where they do lack a little, but overall I still think the sound is great.  I haven't tested it with my PS3 yet, but I assume it will work as well as on the PS4.  I did however test them via the included cable and hooking them up to my iPhone.  I listened to some Eminem and Lucky Boys Confusion, my two go to music choices, and both sounded a lot better on the PlayStation Gold headset than any headphones or ear buds I currently already own.

They headphones come with a micro USB cable for charging, but I never opened that one, just used my phone's charger, and I will probably stick with that plan.  There are rocker buttons for volume, chat, sound and mute.  There is also a slider button that turns the headphones on.  Setting 1 is just the default settings and Setting 2 has more bass by default and can be customized using the Headset Companion App below:

The Headset Companion App is available in the PlayStation Store right now and it has a bunch of different presets you can chose depending on what type of game you are playing, or for watching a movie, or even for different types of music that you are listening to.  You need to connect your headset via USB to get these presets to upload though, unless you can do it wirelessly and I couldn't figure it out?  I didn't look at any of the instructions that are included with the headset.

I picked my headset up at Best Buy and it looks like Amazon is shipping them now as well, however  Amazon currently requires an extra 1-2 days to process.

Overall I'm very impressed with this headset.  $99 isn't super cheap, but for a headset that sounds good, fits nicely, has a built in mic and is actually pretty comfortable, I think it's a pretty good deal.  I will give the PlayStation Gold Wireless Stereo Headset a 9 out of 10.