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.
Headset Differences
The INZONE H3 is a wired 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.
The INZONE H7 is a wireless headset that you can pair with devices via Bluetooth. It comes equipped with a rechargeable battery that can be charged via USB-C to USB-A and according to SONY, will last up to 40 hours of continuous gameplay from a single charge (3.5 hours for complete charge, quick charge for 10 minutes for 1 hour of use). 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, while earcups are oval-shaped with a secure fit for powerful bass. The boom mic is bi-directional and has a USB wireless transmitter with low-latency 2.4 GHz frequency signals of about 30 feet. Bluetooth 5.0 for hands-free calling and wireless music streaming with compatible devices. The H7 retails for under $229.
The INZONE H9 is a wireless headset that comes with dual noise sensor technology to shut out surrounding sounds and has ambient sound mode that keeps you aware of important sounds. As well as having multiple microphone noise cancelling. It can be paired with devices by Bluetooth and comes equipped with a rechargeable batter for up to 32 hours of continuous gameplay on a single charge (3.5 hours for complete charge, quick charge for 10 minutes for 1 hour of use). 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 synthetic leather, while the oval-shaped vented earcups are over-ear with a closed-back design to provide noise isolation. The boom mic is a flexible bi-directional and has a USB wireless transmitter with low-latency 2.4 GHz frequency signals of about 30 feet. Bluetooth 5.0 for hands-free calling and wireless music streaming with compatible devices. The H9 retails for under $299.
Review of the SONY INZONE H9
With the SONY INZONE H9 headphones, you do see some noticeable differences from the H7. The boom mic is white (I think the H3 is the only one that’s black), you see the power button, Bluetooth pairing button and a chat/game button on the bottom right cuff. But under the left cuff, specific to the H9 is a button with NC/AMB (to activate the noise canceling or ambient sound).
Both are similar in that the earcups move inward and I do like it that no wires are left exposed on top of the earcup. A difference between the H9 to the H7 is that there is a white or blue glow on top.
Another difference is the material of the earcups are made of soft synthetic leather compared to the soft nylon that the H3 and H7 utilizes, and for the most part they are very comfortable.
Pairing the headset wasn’t difficult. It was quite easy to be honest. But wanting to take advantage of the 360 spatial sound and control audio, I installed the INZONE HUB.
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, I do have some strong feelings about wired or wireless, but these are subjective. For one, while the Bluetooth pairing worked fine, as did connecting via wireless through the provided dongle, but for those who want to avoid choppy audio or cutting out, make sure your headset is fully charged. Also, that too many applications are not open.
Personally, I am more of a wired headset type of person because you deal with simplicity and less audio cutouts because your headset is receiving the audio directly from the device. No need for charging your headset and wired headsets are much more cheaper than its wireless counterpart.
Wireless headsets have to encode the audio data and transmit it wirelessly. But of course, there are benefits to wireless headsets as you are restricted in movement, no worries of cable damage and durability of the battery is only good for so long.
And while pairing on Bluetooth worked fine and performed with a fluctuation of good audio to cut off audio, I went back to the wireless 2.4 GHz frequency signal and I am just about a foot away from the USB dongle and when music is good, it’s very good and I felt there was an improvement in sound quality when compared to the H7. But I believe that it is part of how the earcuffs cover up your ears much better.
But I would be lying if I said everything went perfect during my listening sessions. While I experienced more stability audiowise with the H9 vs. the H7, there were times of when things got really garbled and when the only way to remedy the situation is to unplug the dongle and that can be a hassle when it happens numerous times during your gaming/music or movie watching experience.
But I do notice considerable differences between the H9 and H7. They essentially have the same 40mm drivers but the H9 was a much more pleasant experience.
But I wished that with the accompanying USB cable used for charging, I could also listen via wired, if I chose not to go wireless. For gamers and those who want to listen to their music or hear their films, no one likes latency and while there are benefits to wireless, gaming and enjoying audio without interruptions is something I’ll take anytime.
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.
Last but not least, you are going to have to pay for that SONY brand, like any major brands, you are going to have to pay a premium for the INZONE H9. At $299, you would think for the the H9 (and even the H7), that it would utilize 50mm dome drivers, which many gaming headsets are doing for way much less.
But one can’t deny that the personalized sound for those who are more PC or PS5 gamers will like with the INZONE H9 wireless gaming headset. The able to personally customized your own sound profiles is a major plus and thus justifies part of that high cost.
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 H9.
Overall, the SONY INZONE H9 is a good gaming wireless headset. Quite pricey but SONY knows that with its white/black aesthetic, SONY and PS5’s who want things to be the same look, will no doubt be purchasing this headset. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very good gaming wireless headset, but for the price, you expect a bit more.
While I do recommend the SONY INZONE H9 in the long run for those who like to customize and tweak their sound settings, better noise canceling and comfort, please do your own due diligence and see what else is out there in the market for price, specs and overall quality before you buy.
