The Inzone H9 wireless gaming headset is a great option for those who want a good-looking and well-performing headset, but it falls short in terms of sound quality.

The Sony INZONE H9 Wireless gaming headphones are designed to work with the PlayStation 5 gaming system. They have a similar look and feel to other expensive gaming headphones, but they lack many features that would make them stand out from their competitors. Their build quality isn’t quite on par with other expensive gaming headphones, but they are the most expensive model in this range.

Sony Inzone H9 review: Design

The PS5 design of the H9 is particularly slick, and the earcups are made of smooth plastic with tiny perforations for the ANC microphones. The actual earcups don’t feel empty and provide a sturdy frame. Given the similarity in price between the two products, comparisons to Sony’s flagship WH-1000XM5 are unavoidable.

The Inzone H9 headset is a more upscale option than the Inzone H7 headset. The H9 features smooth leather ear cups instead of the incredibly soft fabric finish, which felt good on our head and ears. ..

The Inzone H9 is a great gaming headset that is comfortable and has good passive noise isolation. It is slightly heavier than the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max, but it doesn’t feel constricting or apply an excessive amount of clamping force to our heads.

Sony Inzone H9 review: Comfort

We don’t like how we look when we wear the Sony Inzone H9, but we do appreciate its extraordinary level of comfort. It’s simple to forget you’re wearing this headset because of how comfortable it is. This information stands alone as a strong selling point. The headset’s rotating earcups and adjustable arms allow you to customize the fit. We are confident that you will be able to adjust the Inzone H9 to fit your head, no matter what size it is, if we can make it fit our large head. It’s sufficient to say that we adore how cozy the Inzone H9 is. ..

Connectivity

The Sony Inzone H9 is a high-end headset that has some great connectivity options. You can now play audio simultaneously from your console/PC, phone, or another Bluetooth device thanks to this convenient feature that has recently made its way to some high-end headsets. This feature is great for people who want to be able to hear their music and other audio sources at the same time.

The Bluetooth button on the right ear cup is a really handy feature because it allows you to quickly and easily pair with your Bluetooth devices. Additionally, the button does three additional functions: pressing it once starts or stops a song, twice skips it, and three times resumes it.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless Headset comes with a USB Type-C port on the left side of the ear cup that can be used to charge the headset. The headset also comes with a USB Type-A cable from Sony, but you can also use a USB-C to USB-C connection to charge it. Unfortunately, when we tested the headset on Windows and Mac, we were unable to get it to function over a wired connection. You must still use the USB dongle for connectivity if you need to charge the headset while it is in use. Unlike the Pulse 3D, there isn’t a 3.5mm jack either. ..

Sony Inzone H9 review: Noise Cancelling

The H9 is a great gaming headset that offers noise cancellation and ambient settings. It is affordable, and its handling of ANC is simple to switch between the two modes.

We never missed a delivery while wearing the headset because it uses ambient mode to keep you aware of what’s going on at home without impairing your ability to play video games. For clarity’s sake, we would have preferred a clearer indication of the mode you’re in; a voice prompt would have been preferable to the two somewhat similar tones, but that’s just me being nitpicky.

Audio Performance

The Inzone H9 is a great option for those looking for an affordable music player that delivers high-quality audio. However, we found that the clarity with which the H9 delivers bass was a little lacking.

The H9’s bass was overstated and lacked finesse, while the in-game explosions were visceral and appropriately dramatic. Gaming headphones often emphasize low-end reproduction, but the H9 did so with an excessive amount of passion in our opinion. Dialogue would occasionally suffer as a result; in Horizon Forbidden West on the PS5, conversations between Aloy and members of the large supporting cast weren’t as clear as we’d have liked, and vocals on musical numbers suffered as well.

Sony’s 360 Spatial Audio Personalize app allows gamers to adjust audio settings to their own personal preference. Though it only works on PC games, the way the H9 positions sound around your head is impressive regardless of the gaming platform. ..

Sony Inzone H9 review: Software

The Sony Inzone H9 is a digital audio player that has a companion app for both Windows and Mac devices. The main focus of the app is to allow users to customize their sound experience, as well as disable noise canceling and ambient sound. In order to use the customization features, users must scan QR codes with their smartphones and take pictures of their left and right ears. Spatial Sound can also be enabled in the app. ..

Dynamic Range is a setting on the microphone that allows you to adjust how loud the audio is. It can be High, Low, or Disabled. Additionally, the mic levels can be changed. You can also modify the headphones’ equalisation on the Sound Settings page. Although the EQ options aren’t as extensive as those on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, which allow you to adjust the mixer, game, and chat levels, there are still plenty of things you can fiddle with.

The Inzone Hub has a few presets, including ones for watching videos or listening to music, for a standard sound, and for amplifying the bass. However, if your headset is set to “Inzone H9 – Chat” in your Sound Settings, the equalizer adjustments you make won’t be usable, so you must make sure each time you pair the device on Mac or Windows that it is recognized as “Inzone H9 – Game.” The EQ presets that are already prepared in the Inzone Hub each have a unique tone. There is room for experimentation, but the chart layout will probably intimidate and confuse you if you are not familiar with how to change the frequency for an audio device.

Battery and charging

The Inzone H9’s battery life can last up to 32 hours. In our tests, we were able to use the device for roughly 30 hours before deciding to plug it in to recharge. Your battery life is not clearly displayed on the Inzone H9 headset itself. No display indicator or even a blinking LED will let you know when the battery is running low. Checking battery life requires a connection to a PC or PS5, and even then it only displays a three-bar icon on the PS5 to show how much juice is left in the battery rather than an exact percentage or estimated time.

Sony Inzone H9 review: Price and Availability

The Inzone H9 is a new headset that has been released in addition to the Inzone H9+ and Inzone H3. These headsets have leather cushioning and computerized noise cancellation. The H9 is a wired headset that can be connected to a device using a 3.5mm headphone jack or with a wired USB adapter that is included, as opposed to the H7 which has wireless and Bluetooth connectivity.

Conclusion

The Sony H9 are adequate for wireless gaming on the PC and PS5. They come with a wireless dongle that has very low latency and a battery that can run constantly for more than 22 hours. Their boom mic makes sure your voice is audible even in fairly noisy areas, and their default sound profile is boomy, which can help highlight sound effects like footsteps. You can adjust their sound to your preferences using the graphic EQ and presets in their companion app. ..