SONY is a well-known brand to the gaming community.
With their INZONE products, may they be 4K gaming monitors or their gaming headsets.
And I have had the opportunity to utilize the H3, the H7 and H9 to test these headsets through gaming, watching movies, listening to audio and more. And for those with a PS5 can take advantage of the Tempest 3D AudioTech feature for greater spacial expression.
You can also download the INZONE Hub Software (which is compatible with Windows 10 64-bit and later) to customize your audio and voice communication settings. This will allow for 360 Spatial Sound for Gaming and converting stereo signals into 7.1 channel virtual surround sound.
These headsets are Discord-certified for clear communication and are compatible with console devices such as the PS5 and PC.
The audio cables are 3.9 foot and are gold-plated with 4-pole 3.5mm mini-lug. I do wish the audio cables were braided or had more of a protected surface, considering the price.
The headset also has a uni-directional boom mic (which you can flip mic to quickly mute your chat) and a built in earcup volume control.
Review of the SONY INZONE H3
The SONY INZONE H3 is a wired gaming headset which works for consoles and computers and has a flip-up boom microphone with mute function. And utilizing Sony’s personalized 360 spatial sound for gaming. And is equipped with 40mm dome drivers with neodymium magnets. The headband and ear pads are made of soft nylon. The H3 comes with an USB-A cable with an audio box with 3.5mm audio input (which allows you to connect to your PC). The H3 retails for under $100.
With the SONY INZONE H3 wired headphones, noticeable differences are the black boom mic and of course, being a wired cable, a much thinner cable.
In some ways, it’s a bit no frills in terms of look, it does match up with the colors of the PS5.
I think one of the saving graces of this wired headset compared to other cheaper gaming headsets is that it can be utilized with the INZONE HUB software.
The INZONE Hub is what allows you to customize your sound profile. May it be for more music/video, for more bass or for those who like to tinker with their sound settings, you can set a custom profile. From here you will be able enable Spatial Sound and also Dynamic Range Control (this is only for those who want to reduce the volume of loud sounds and amplify quiet sounds, and compresses an audio signal’s dynamic range).
It’s important to note that if you enable Spatial Sound, you will need to download the SONY 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer smartphone app, which literally takes a photo of your ears and then sends the information back to the INZONE Hub application.
Once done setting your sound settings, you are good to go!
Now one of the advantages of the H3 vs. the H7 and H9 is that it’s wired and that you get stable audio. While the H7 and H9 have more features, both headsets gave me moments of frustration because I would get cutoffs or warbled sound. With the H3, I know that audio will be stable because of the wired connection.
But for a wired connection, even the most cheapest gaming headsets are utilizing a 50mm driver and for their wired cable, it’s usually braided or it utilizes some heavy duty cabling.
This is a problem with wired headsets is that some people tend to destroy them. May they trip on it, gets caught on their chair, newer gaming headsets in the $45-75 price range offer better cabling protection.
The H3 is a thinner cable that you need to be careful of tripping or destroying.
Now one thing that is surprising is that all INZONE headsets use a 40mm driver, differences are in quality of the cuffs, differences on how the earcuffs go around your ear and positioning, but thankfully audio does sound good and again, you can customize your audio profile.
As for the mic, it worked well, but you need to tweak that with the software, as I had to put it more towards the chat side a bit for better mic quality.
If anything, the big difference with its more expensive counterparts is noise cancelling and the others offer better mics but the flipping up of the mic does mute, so that’s a plus.
But is it worth the $99?
You are going to have to pay more for that SONY brand and like any major brands, you are going to have to pay a a little higher for its wired line of gaming headphones. At $99, you would hope for a better, durable cable. But considering you get the attachments such as the audio/mic splitter and also a USB attachment (which allows you to use the INZONE HUB and of course, for PC gaming or listening on your computer).
But one can’t deny that the personalized sound for those who are more PC or PS5 gamers will like with the INZONE wireless gaming headsets. The able to personally customized your own sound profiles is a major plus and thus justifies part of that high cost. Most under $100 gaming headsets don’t let you customize sound settings, so this is a plus for the SONY INZONE H3.
But the gaming industry is competitive when it comes to gaming headsets. And we are seeing companies really going after the consumers with high quality sound at a fraction of the cost of SONY’s INZONE H3.
The SONY INZONE H3 is a good gaming wireled headset. Are there better sounding ones that are cheaper? Yes. But do they allow for customizing your audio profile? Most cheaper headsets do not. They are plug and play and you are ready to go. This works well for the PS5 and the PC.
Of course, I tested this with other consoles and it worked.
But overall, for SONY’s INZONE wired gaming headset, if SONY could give what people want and that is a durable cable, it would have made a big difference. Even a bump up to 50mm drivers would also make a big difference.
For those who are fans of SONY and want a wired headset that won’t break the bank, but a bit more expensive than other comparable gaming headsets that are under $75, then definitely give the SONY INZONE H3 Wired Gaming Headset a try!
