Sony makes very good headphones, in fact Sony makes excellent headphones and within the past year or so, Sony has made a real push to be more involved in the PC gaming space. They introduced the INZONE line of products to the world that includes gaming monitors and gaming headphones both bearing the INZONE branding.
For the past 3-4 weeks I’ve been using the INZONE H9 gaming headphones and I’ve had some fun with them but I also have some thoughts.
SONY DESIGNED THESE WITH THE PS5 IN MIND
Right away when you look at these headphones you can clearly see the inspiration. The All white and the touches of black is reminiscent of the PS5 console. The design isn’t innovative but the fact that it matches the PS5 console does make it look really cool as a matching set.
The INZONE H9’s are comfortable and lightweight with a solid, sturdy design. The earcups are super comfortable and hug your ears really tight. The microphone is on the left hand side and all of your function buttons are well placed on each side of each earcup. The volume, bluetooth sync, game and chat buttons as well as the noise cancel and ambient control are at your fingertips but well spaced and specifically sized so you’re not really pressing buttons randomly very often.
What you get from these headphones just from the look out of the box is a clean looking set of gaming cans and even more so if you’re in matching your gear.
BATTERY LIFE IS SOLID
Battery life is always going to be a big factor when you buy anything wireless. With the INZONE H9 you’ll get a very decent time before you’ll need a charge. These headphones come with a USB Type-C port and on a full charge you can get anywhere from 20-24 hours consistently. I averaged about 20 – 22 hours and I used the headphones from full charge to zero numerous times in my testing. So, if you’re worried about battery life with the H9’s. Don’t be. They’ll hold up just fine and give you plenty of time between charges so you probably won’t feel the pressure of needing to charge all the time. Also, there’s no headphone jack so keeping these charged is a must. Power management with the H9’s is key so basically just pay attention to your playtime and charge time and all will be fine.
THE SOUND ON THESE HEADPHONES ARE SUPERB
I wasn’t too surprised with what I heard from these headphones. As I stated in the beginning of my review is that one thing that Sony does well is make a very good sounding set of headphones and they didn’t cut corners with the H9.
I played a bunch of games with the H9’s that each have different sounds and certain games require a different sound profile because of the type of game. I don’t play Ratchet and Clank and Destiny 2 with the same soundstage because Destiny 2 has PvP and sound is hugely more important for D2 than R&C.
Noise cancellation on the H9’s is amazing in my opinion. When I played God of War: Ragnarok I felt fully involved in that game. I could hear everything and the clashing of swords and axes was just great. Watching movies and media was also a great experience. The ambient sound was fine but for the best experience stick with the ANC. It really is the best thing about the H9’s.
Listening to music can be a bit of a weakness for gaming specific headphones but not with the H9’s. The bass and treble aren’t overwhelming, I felt like they were well balanced even when listening to already bass heavy music. I never got the sense of my music sounding like it was underwater. The H9’s handled my music very well.
The mic is probably the weakpoint of the headphones in that they sounded a little faint and like I was far away but tradeoffs. It wasn’t a dealbreaker for me and it probably won’t be for you unless you play competitively and I get that.
You can also use the H9’s with your phone and connect the H9’s to more than one device which is super helpful. So I can take a phone call and then switch back to my game fairly easy.
SONY INZONE HUB
I’ll be completely in honest in saying that I’ve reviewed a plethora of headphones and nearly all of them come with a either an app or a PC/Mac hub that allows you to control and configure every element of your headphones so it’s customized to your specific listening needs and wants.
The Sony INZONE Hub gives you exactly what you expect when you buy a set of gaming headphones, especially a pair that cost $300 bucks. I don’t wish to be blunt but I won’t complicate this review with an in depth analysis of a software hub. That’s not to say that the INZONE software isn’t good, it’s quite the opposite, this software is incredibly good, it’s just not revolutionary stuff. It does exactly what you need it to with ease and without requiring you to have a knowledge of audio or needing to be an audiophile to get the best out of your sound. A few clickable options, and some listening tests and BOOM! You’re ready to rock. Kudos to Sony for the ease of use.
YES, you can set your headphones up with sound profiles, presets for media and those FPS games so you can hear those footsteps and get those shots off before your opponent is able to react. The INZONE Hub is a must if you want to get the best out of the H9’s whether it be gaming or music.
VERY GOOD GAMING HEADPHONES, BUT, THAT PRICE
The Sony INZONE H9 are no doubt a premium set of headphones let alone gaming headphones. When you consider the sound, features and look (If this look is your thing), then you can justify paying a good penny for these headphones. With my time with them so far, I am having a great time and I’m enjoying them, they’re also my daily gaming headphones on the PS5 and PC at the moment. My ONLY problem with these headphones are the cost. I can’t unequivocally say that these gaming headphones are worth $300 when you think about what $300 is nowadays. It’s a lot of money to spend on headphones. To be fair to Sony though, there isn’t a set of gaming headphones as whole right now worth that money in my opinion. So, sorry Sony, I gotta ding you for the price.
I will say that Sony did a very good job with these headphones. To be expected. Sony has a great track record of making quality headphones and they excel at noise cancelling and overall sound and you get that with the INZONE H9’s. These headphones are some of the best that I’ve ever used for gaming. That’s no BS.
This is a pretty good first effort for a company that is trying to expand its overall product portfolio into a very fickle gaming market. It’s tough to make it here with games let alone peripherals as the offerings are aplenty. Would I recommend these headphones? Yes, they’re very good. If you have an interest in these headphones you can snatch up a pair HERE on Amazon or direct from Sony right HERE. If you pick up a pair of these, let us know what you think. ENJOY YOUR GAMING!
You can catch a quick glimpse of the H9 in action on my TikTok.
