Despite being far more popular than the PC market, the console space is actually kind of a funny spot for gaming headsets. By and large, these problems won’t be fixed any time soon, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to settle for fewer features on a console. Editor’s note: This review was updated on April 15, 2021 to include a microphone score based on the results of our reader feedback poll. Even slight pressures can become pretty acute after a couple hours of gaming, and this seems designed for too narrow a range of ears.
The PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset connects to devices using a 2.4GHz RF USB adapter, so you won’t have to worry about the audio lag Bluetooth sometimes brings. Sony doesn’t make any claims about how long the battery for this headset is supposed to last, but in our testing we found it managed just over 8 hours and 8 minutes of continuous playback.
Playing games with the PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset is a pretty easy experience, with a couple of drawbacks. The headset brings 7.1 virtual surround sound to PlayStation 4, without the need for added software—it’s just (yet another) a button on the left headphone (to be clear there is an optional app, but you’re not missing anything by ignoring it). Playing games like Fortnite and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, it became immediately apparent how well the surround sound function works. When you plug the PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset into a PC, the computer side volume control fully doesn’t work.
When playing games, this means you shouldn’t have any issues making out the sounds of footsteps or speech, even when confronted with a hail of gunfire. In music, the significant de-emphasis in the very low bass range means some sounds, many of which are most common in EDM, might be a little bit harder to hear than they otherwise should.
The Stan Rogers classic Watching the Apples Grow features myriad guitar and fiddle parts all layered on top, but the PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset never struggled with clarity at any point. The average open and close of a door or the whirr of the fridge aren’t exactly the big distractions and noises something like ANC is built for. There’s a pretty significant issue with clarity here, and it seems to largely stem from the fact that the mic is embedded in the left headphone, rather than attached to a wire. The inclusion of surround sound, and without the need for additional software no less, makes this is a very solid pair of wireless gaming headphones. If you want something geared more towards extended voice chat sessions, even a wired headset like the HyperX Cloud Alpha or the Fnatic React would probably be better. If you’re in the market for something with slightly more battery life, headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis 7, HyperX Cloud Flight S, and Razer Thresher Ultimate are all great wireless options, albeit at increasingly higher prices.
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PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset Review (2018): Finally Golden
Sony’s 2014 Gold Wireless Headset also angered gamers due to a fragile, crack-prone headband. Like a Model T, this headset is completely black, from earcup to headband, with part of it wrapped in a soft leather-like material. Underneath all that faux leather, its entire headband is a single curved horseshoe piece of metal (or possibly an extremely durable plastic) that you pull apart to fit your head. The earcups don’t flex forward and back a whole lot (just a wiggle), but they can slide up and down the band itself, which makes for a surprisingly comfortable fit.
A little rotation in the earcups would also make resting the headset on your shoulders and neck far more comfortable in-between matches. The only area on the PlayStation Gold that isn’t brushed or leathery are the glossy vinyl-like edges of the earcups, where all the buttons and controls are located.
PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset Review
Be it because console manufacturers want you to buy within their ecosystem or just a lack of interested people (we doubt it!) The headset comes equipped with a full plastic body, but still feel sturdy.
If your ears are of the average size, you will find that the headset is quite comfortable and very light. On the front side, you will find a power switch and a volume rocker that controls chat volume/balance.
The headset provides great comfort for gaming for longer hours, just as long as it fits. However, if you don’t connect wirelessly to your PlayStation and opt for the 3.5 mm jack, you won’t get any surround sound. The 7.1 surround itself is by far the best way to game on headsets and provides you with a fully immersive sound experience. Footsteps in Call of Duty run all around you, providing extra depth to the way you play the game. The headset provides some decent separation between the instrumentation and vocals with clear mid- and high range frequencies. There is a large amount of low frequency that gets lost, which distorts any deeper voice. Sound clarity is also significantly affected, which could be because of the embedded microphone inside the headset itself. Sony advertises eight hours of gameplay, but we found the headset falling short of that number by only a few minutes.
Any gamer who has a PS4 setup and wants to play games online or enjoys surround sound media by themselves. If you’re a competitive gamer playing FPS shooters, the 7.1 surround sound would be to your advantage as well.
For more options, check out our reviews of the Beyerdynamic Custom Game, the Logitech G432, and the superb Razor Kraken. The surround sound is the obvious selling point of these, and they make a great addition to anyone who already has a decent PS4 setup.
Sony PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset Review
It doesn’t feel quite as luxurious or sound quite as good as the higher-end model, but if you want to stay wireless without spending much money it’s a very solid choice. The headband is wrapped in black faux leather, and the lightly padded over-ear earpads are covered in the same material. The headset is reasonably comfortable, but the light padding of the circular earcups can feel a bit cramped for larger ears.
The front edge holds a thin rocker switch that adjusts the balance between game and chat audio. Following that edge down toward the back are a pinhole microphone, a power/mode switch that toggles between standard and bass boost modes, a 3.5mm jack, a micro USB port, a mic button, a volume rocker, and finally a button to activate virtual surround sound on the top of the back of the earcup. It showed up as a generic wireless headset when we plugged it into a Windows 10 test computer, and worked perfectly fine this way. Sony doesn’t specify how long the Gold’s battery lasts, but we tested it for several hours without needing to charge it again. The opening guitar notes in Yes’ “Roundabout” show a good amount of string texture, and while the electric bass doesn’t get much power, the track manages to sound fairly rich.
The high-mids and high frequency-heavy sound effects and voices can be easily heard through the headset, neither fighting amongst themselves or with the score for your attention.
The Sony PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset is a solid and affordable accessory that makes some concessions in comfort for its $100 price. The Steelseries Arctis 7, the Astro Gaming A20, and Sony’s own PlayStation Platinum Headset all feel nicer and offer more powerful sound without wires, but you’ll be spending closer to $150 for any of those options. The Bottom Line The PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset is an affordable, cable-free way to get game audio and voice chat through your PS4 or PC.
PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset review: The strong, silent type
Most of the time, even on the intended platforms, gaming headsets don’t offer the same kinds of features as on PC, like surround sound. PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset review comes from the audio experts at our sister site SoundGuys. Even after using this headset for an extended period, I couldn’t remember what was where; it made even simple things like adjusting the volume take a lot longer.
The headset connects using a 2.4GHz wireless RF USB dongle, which is great for gaming because it isn’t plagued with the same lag as Bluetooth devices. The battery life is a little on the short side, and according to SoundGuys’ full PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset review, lasted just over eight hours on a single charge with surround sound turned off. The volume rocker and the one controlling game and chat balance are on opposite headphones, and it’s easy to get them mixed up.
Fortnite and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order were great tests of how well the surround sound works, as they use it in very different ways. Surround sound isn’t supported on the platform, so you’re stuck with stereo, and volume control gets pretty weird. When you plug the PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset into a PC, the computer-side volume control doesn’t work.
The actual gaming experience on PC is fine, but the volume issue certainly puts a damper on things. In music, the significant de-emphasis in the very low bass range means some sounds, many of which are most common in EDM, might be a little bit harder to hear than they otherwise should. Likewise, the de-emphasis in the highs might make the sounds of some strings and cymbals a little bit harder to hear, but nothing too major.
If you want a detailed breakdown of the frequency response, checkout the full PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset review. The exceedingly thin headphone pads may be comfortable, but they don’t block out average sounds like someone opening and closing a door, or the whirr of a fridge — let alone the louder environments active noise canceling was built for.
However, that low profile design makes the headset harder to use, with an overly complicated button layout, and a sub-par microphone.
Customer Reviews: Sony Gold Wireless Stereo Headset Black 3002498
Its battery life had dwindled down to almost nothing and the leather material on the ear cups had completely flaked off. I turned to the non-Sony world of headsets which included Astro, Razer, HyperX, and SteelSeries. (The ones with great battery life lacked surround simulation, the most comfortable sets had poor mic quality, the ones with the best audio only offered full surround sound on PC, some that almost seemed perfect required an external audio module that utilized unique software and drivers that were plagued with failed updates and a lack of support, etc). I put them on my head and quickly realized that Sony finally achieved the right balance of secure and firm fitment while being extremely light and comfortable. One of the main issues with the Platinum headset is how uncomfortable the headband shape and materials are for extended periods of gaming. My core games are Overwatch and Gran Turismo Sport, which both sounded absolutely amazing.
Sony’s NEW Gold Wireless Headset Review: The Good, The Bad, The Mediocre Microphone
When I finally got around to reviewing the original Gold headset back in 2016, I lamented that Microsoft didn’t have a competing surround sound product. Last year, Microsoft launched Windows Sonic for free, and Dolby Atmos for $15, allowing Xbox and Windows users to access high quality virtual headphone surround systems on any pair of headphones. Suddenly, the $99 that Sony charged for the Gold Headset, and by extension access to their own virtual surround tech, seemed a little silly. And the $159 Platinum headset, while having a 3D surround system that competes quite well with Atmos, also still suffers from a lack of titles with full true 3D sound support.
Now, Sony has introduced a new headset into their lineup, and rather than come up with a new name for it, they’ve just gone the route of Nintendo and put “new” onto the front of the old name. It is better than the old Gold headset in a number of key ways…but I still wish Sony would just go the route of Microsoft, and sell their virtualization software for use with any headphones plugged into your PS4 controller.
There’s also a standard 3.5mm jack and included 4 pole cable for connection to phones and any other device with a headphone port. The default setting is a moderate bass boost, and you can use the headset companion app on a PS4 to store a variety of profiles there.
Unfortunately, the headset no longer collapses…but given the amount of crap Sony took over those plastic hinges before, this is probably a good thing. I had to crank it a little higher than other headphones I own to get a solid listening level, but it still offered impressive bass performance and pleasant detail in the upper ranges. In spite of being a more expensive solution than Dolby Atmos or Windows Sonic, this can still proudly compete with those in terms of surround quality. In general, this feels like they took the Platinum design and scaled it down a touch to create the new Gold Headset.
Today, after several days of use, this comfort issue no longer exists, so the headband must have stretched out a touch. The Astro A10, Steelseries Arctis, HyperX Cloud lineup, Turtle Beach Stealth 600, Plantronics RIG 400, Logitech G433, and Corsair HS50 all offer a fit that’s better.
They were still adequate for loud coffee shop use, but nowhere near a private cocoon of audio that you can get with some other closed back headsets. In wireless mode, sound is over-compressed with a hard digital edge, and a bit too quiet. You can also use the mic with the wire, and it does sound better…but then you lose all the noise-cancelling and the processing, so if you’re in a loud room, forget it. But a lot of wired mics sound better and still cancel out the background, like those on the Arctis, Astro A10, and RIG 400.
If you need access to Sony’s amazing 7.1 virtual surround sound in a sleek, durable wireless package for your PS4, this is the headset for you.
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