Customer Ratings & Reviews

TLDR: Sony's H9II InZone Headphones combine excellent ANC rivaling their best XM1000 headphones with a full set of features for gamers. Next level performance for gamers. PROS Amazing ANC capabilities Classic "old school" Aviator styling Simple Controls InZone Hub Software for nearly any platform CONS Adjustable strap is fiddly Still prefer a mic that pivots to turn on/off vs a button Included USB-C transceiver doesn't come with USB-A adapter KEY FEATURES / ACCESSORIES Up to 30hrs of playback 2.4GHz and Bluetooth audio Active Noise Cancellation USB-C 2.4GHz Transceiver 3.5mm Audio Cable Detachable Boom Mic SET-UP Sony has made the InZone's easily configurable for gamers. PC gamers can download the InZone Hub software for their Windows-based PC's and mobile users have the Sony SoundConnect app for configuration. I tried the Sony software on all the various platforms I own and use; Windows 11, an Android Google Pixel 10 Pro, and an older iPad. The SoundConnect software has proven to work perfectly on every platform. Anyone that has read my past reviews know that I am very critical of manufacturers' apps and have no tolerance for a poorly designed user experience. Sony deserves a special shoutout for not only making 3 error-free apps, but keeping the platforms similar regardless of the device the software is installed on. Simple, quick, effective. Excellent work Sony. I wished other manufacturers apps were this polished. USE The H9II's came partially charged upon arrival. Full charge time from empty is up to 3.5 hours. Quite long by today's standards. However, a single 5 minute charge gets you up to 1 hour of playback (ANC off). The InZone's support Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3, which is the latest of the 5.0 specs, but well short of the cutting edge Bluetooth 6.0. Still, the InZone connected instantly to any device I paired them to. Every pairing attempt went perfectly and without any issue whatsoever. Excellent. Sony claims up to 30hrs of playback time without using the ANC function. I don't come close to 30hrs. Why? Because I can't stop using the ANC feature. Sony must have incorporated the same tech in the H9 II's that they graced their XM1000 headphones with. ANC performance on these InZone's is the best I've used on ANY gaming headset to date, regardless of the manufacturer. I have an older set of XM1000 headphones that I use as my flying headphones. Their noise cancelling abilities are top-notch, easily rivaling the other big 4 letter brand. The InZone H9II's are just as good, if not better than my XM1000's. A recent flight confirmed my observations. These H9II's are quiet. I've never experienced a flight so peaceful in all my years of travel. Between the nicely muted hush of the aircraft to the complete shutout of the lavatories' flushing sounds, the flight was amazingly quiet and peaceful. I felt noticeably less fatigue after a longish 3hr flight than I normally do. Noises around the house are no match for the H9's. Granted some sounds can make their way through like if you have a TV on in the background, but as a whole, the environment becomes vault-like while using the H9's. NEGATIVES First. I'm not a fan of the adjustable head strap. I've always have to remove the headphones to adjust the strap. Maybe I just haven't learned the magic touch yet, but I find it cumbersome to adjust the strap. Second. I would like to see the inclusion of a USB-A to USB-C adapter with the H9's. My gaming PC doesn't have a front facing USB-C port, so I was forced to find an adapter to make the included transceiver work. Third. I find the Sony 360 degree audio just so-so. I have better luck with using the Dolby Atmos or DTS:X on my Windows 11 PC while gaming. Not only do they do a better job at conveying a sense of a 360 degree soundstage, they are much more universally supported by game designers. FINAL THOUGHTS If you couldn't tell already, I am officially a HUGE fan of the H9II's. In my short time of ownership, they have officially become my favorite set of gaming headphones. I have been very fortunate to had the opportunity to review other manufacturers' top-of-the-line gaming offerings. The Sony InZone H9II's are a step above all the rest. No gimmicky haptics, no flashy RGB, just high-quality Sony sound with Active Noise Cancellation that is second to none. I've said in every one of my other reviews, a good set of headphones must be a jack of all trades. I usually don't recommend a set of cans that can't do it all. The H9II's can and do, do it all. With authority. Sony may not be one of the big names in the gaming market space, but products like the H9II's are sure to get them on the radar. If you are in the market for a good-looking "retro styled" set of headphones that can do music, movies, and games, these Sony H9II's deserve to be on the list. In addition to their excellent sound quality, they have the best Active Noise Cancellation of any set of headphones I've used to date. The InZone's deserve the praise for bringing the goods. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

📦 UNBOXING: Inside the box, you’ll find the headset, a travel pouch, a 3.5mm cable for wired use, a USB Type C to Type A cable for charging, the detachable microphone, some INZONE stickers, and some documentation. The packaging is recyclable, which I also appreciate. 💪 BUILD: Whereas the design of the original H9 from 2022 was completely in-house, Sony opted to develop the H9 II with eSports team Fnatic. While a lot of the DNA of the original H9 is still in this new model, there are some notable improvements worth talking about. The overall exterior material is a matte plastic material that avoids smudges well, and should be durable enough to withstand a drop. The headband has been upgraded to a suspension style strap, which decreases weight and delivers better weight distribution across the head. I measured the headset with microphone weighs in at 266g which is a significant decrease compared to the original H9’s 330g. The dongle is USB-C and unfortunately, Sony does not provide an adapter in the box for USB-A, so you’ll need to bring your own if you need one. The dongle has an LED indicator to show when it’s connected or searching for the headset, and you can toggle “PC” mode or “Other”. PC Mode creates two different output devices—one for Game and one for Chat so that you can configure chat applications to use the Chat output, and use the Game/Chat volume rocker to mix how much game audio you want with chat audio. The “Other” provides only one audio output and gives the standard experience for most other devices. ⚙️ CONTROLS: On the left earcup, you have the detachable microphone port, a mini-plug for wired analog usage, a USB Type-C input for charging with an LED charging status indicator, the ANC/Ambient toggle button, the volume wheel, and the mute button that also toggles the red LED on the detachable boom mic. Meanwhile, the right earcup has the Power button and LED status, a Bluetooth multi-function button with LED status, and a Game/Chat volume rocker. Bluetooth controls are as you would expect. Long-hold to power on/off, extra long-hold to pair, single-press to play/pause, double-press for forward, and triple-press for backward. Volume can only be controlled on your bluetooth device, as the volume wheel is reserved only for use with the dongle. ☁️ COMFORT: Comfort of the H9 II is great. The ear pads are very breathable, making use of foam cushions with fabric padding. The suspension style headband is very comfortable and I don’t experience pressure points on my scalp during long sessions. And the strap height adjustment mechanism is done on each side of the headband with locking adjustments. It should accommodate a good variety of head sizes, both small and large. 🎧 SOUND QUALITY: The H9 II is a significant departure in sound signature compared to the original H9. While the original H9 delivered the typical overpowered bass found in cheap headphones, the H9 II takes a more balanced approach out of the box. The stock sound signature to my ears has a bass shelf, but without overwhelming the mid-range frequencies. The mid-range frequencies lean neutral to my ears, lending to good overall clarity for speech, footsteps, gunshots, and so on. The treble response is also laid-back, but delivering sufficient detail without leading to sibilance or other harsh artifacts. For a lot of people, this might sound pretty boring, but it’s a good baseline for what I think makes a good listening experience, since there is the option to use the 10-band EQ within both the INZONE Hub on PC as well as Sony’s Sound Connect mobile app when you use it over Bluetooth or on PS5. While I have yet to hear Sony’s WH-1000XM6 (from which the H9 II shares the same driver) , I own the XM5 and I personally think the H9 II sounds better out of the box. 🔊 ANC / AMBIENT SOUND: While Sony is proud to claim that they use the same driver as the WH-1000XM6 for the H9 II, they don’t seem to make the same claims about their ANC. In my experience, the ANC is nowhere near the same level as Sony’s consumer ANC headphones. It might even be less effective than the original H9, and this might be partly due to the new breathable pads. The passive noise isolation is reasonably good as is, and enabling ANC does a bit more noise attenuation, but it’s honestly not much more than the passive isolation. My meowing cat cuts right through to my ears, while the XM5 does a significant job at attenuating the noise. However, the ambient sound mode has vastly improved from the original H9. I was able to wear it while having a conversation sitting on the other end of the couch while also hearing a documentary playing on the TV. I never needed to take the headset off, which was quite impressive. There is a small noise floor that can be heard when Ambient sound mode is engaged, but it’s not distracting. 🎙️ MICROPHONE QUALITY: The H9 only has a detachable microphone, so there are no internal microphones. In my testing, the microphone sounded clear and crisp, with a focus on the midrange frequencies. There is also built-in AI noise canceling on the microphone, so the people you are communicating with should not hear mouse clicks, keyboard typing, and extra background noise. Honestly, it’s one of the better boom microphones I’ve heard in recent years, as it doesn’t sound compressed and crunchy, nor boomy. 💿 SOFTWARE: For software, you have The INZONE Hub on PC or the Sony Connect mobile app. Both provide 10-band equalizers with presets, which I appreciate. Both platforms also allow you to configure the ambient sound level and toggle a voice focus mode for ambient sound. If your Bluetooth device supports the LC3 Audio codec, you can enable it in the Sound Connect app, but don’t expect any battery improvement despite using a more efficient codec. Available in the INZONE Hub, there is a dynamic range control option if you want to compress audio to make quieter sounds easier to hear. There is also a sidetone volume control, and an auto-gain microphone toggle to ensure that microphone gain is handled for you so you are never too quiet and never too loud. Another feature I actually really appreciate is remembering the last mode for Bluetooth connectivity when powering the headset on. So often I turn on a headset and they automatically connect to my last-paired Bluetooth device, even if I don’t want it. This allows me to let the headset remember the last mode when it was powered off. Easily one of the best features I didn’t realize I could ever have. The same preference can be set for the ANC/Ambient mode, so I can have it resume where I left off, and I can even disable whichever modes I don’t want to use, so if I never use it in “Off” mode, I don’t have to press the button multiple times to reach the setting I want. 🔋 BATTERY: Battery life on the H9 II is good, but more akin to a lot of consumer ANC headsets as opposed to many gaming headsets coming out these days. With ANC or Ambient on and while in chat, you can probably expect around 20 hours of use, but if you are not using the microphone, the headset shuts down certain blocks to save energy, which yields closer to 24 hours of playback time. However, if you have ANC set to “Off” mode, then you can yield around 30 hours of time while chatting, and closer to 40 hours when not in chat. If you opt to use Bluetooth, these times will be cut even further to 18 hours with ANC or Ambient modes, and 24 hours with it set to “Off” 🧐 CONCLUSION: Overall, the INZONE H9 II is a solid improvement over the original in most ways. If you’re expecting these to have high-end ANC, you will likely be disappointed, but the good news is that the passive noise isolation is decent. Sound quality is decent with room to adjust thanks to the 10-band EQ. Microphone quality is also among some of the better offerings in my opinion. Comfort has also been quite good thanks to the suspension style headband. Battery life is decent although not competitive with some of the offerings on the market that can go multiple times longer before needing a charge.

Sound is excellent as you would expect from a high end headset. The thing that surprised me is how Comfortable this headset is. I typically have trouble with headsets after wearing them for an hour or so not with this one I can wear it for hours without any issues. Holds charge pretty well also. I bought this open box so saved a few dollars but would absolutely pay retail if I needed to buy again.

I am very excited about this next-generation Sony INZONE H9 II Headset! Honestly, it is one of the best entries into the gamer accessory space that Sony has made, to date. I think on this H9 II headset, they have finally arrived at how to make it feel worth its price tag in terms of minimizing plasticky feeling materials and matching performance and versatility to that equation as well! I really enjoy my blended use of this headset. The Bluetooth connection makes it a perfect companion for me when I am on the go and want to have some quality audio for my tunes. I actually this while out mowing my lawn and the active noise canceling was more than a match for the hum of my Toro 22” electric mower! I was super impressed by that. Further impressive was my experience of then getting to go back in with the exact same headset and hooking up to my PC via 2.4ghz wireless connection in order to play some Gears of War Reloaded! High-end headsets just can’t be beat in terms of versatility like this. Speaking of video games, the preset audio profiles the Sony Inzone software has for gaming are actually quite impressive. They have varying FPS settings, including one that is dedicated to enhancing footsteps and enemy movements. In games like Hunt: Showdown and THE FINALS, it is so handy to have this edge if you feel like pulling on your competitive hat and trying to clutch some fights. Overall, I have really no criticisms of this headset. Gaming peripherals have come a LONG way in the last 10 years, and I never thought I would be using a headset like this as a replacement in day-to-day life for dedicated audio headphones while still being able to take it home and game! Altogether, 5 out of 5 stars for sure!

These headphones are very convenient and worth the investment. They amplify all video games and streaming on my PC. Countless times in Arc Raiders I've heard others looting in buildings allowing me to prepare for confrontations. Also very clutch in Battlefield 6 when protecting an area. My friends mentioned how much clearer I sound in discord as well. The app to fidget with the equalizer was neat too. Very comfortable and light. Great buy!

I got the white pair and they look really clean. The audio is very clear and immersive. Light weight and comfortable on the head. The dongle is easy to connect to iPhones and PS5. The headphones pair up instantly. The bass is very low, would NOT recommend if you want to hear music.

Great headset from Sony. Superb microphone, decent sound (driver could have been slightly larger), and very lightweight and comfortable! You can wear this for hours and not even realize it. Other headphones on the market might seem better on paper but if they’re not comfortable, it doesn’t matter how good they are. I recommend these!

This headset is great. If you're buying it for PS5. PS5 integration is missing as of now. The old H9 you had game to chat mix and could see your volume being adjusted on screen. This isnt the case as of now. I'm hoping there will be a firmware update in the near future but, until then this is what we've got. The 30mm drivers perform excellent. I've seen reviews saying the base is lacking but thats not the case. Detail retrieval was great. The anc is top tier. The fit is fantastic and couldnt ask for better comfort. The mic is also good. Overall I am pleased with these. Now if theyd just do an update for better PS5 integration.

Excellent sound for music and gaming. They are made with the same drivers as the XM6. The microphone sounds good, and I appreciate that the microphone can be removed when you don't need it. They are extremely light and comfortable. I like that it is not the typical plastic headband, that adds more comfort and takes away a weight to support from your skull. I put 4/5 stars because they are a little expensive for the drivers that are 30mm. With that price, you can get bigger drivers and get a more enriching sound.

I can hear everything. The headphones are pretty lightweight. The audio is crisp, but I’m not sure if the H9 and H9II mics have any differences. It has an appealing design, but it has one problem which isn’t that big of a deal. If you plug it into a PS5, you won’t have audio, so you cannot leave the USB-C plug in the PS5 at all times. And it’s not as comfortable as the previous H9.

So far so good, light , comfy , no connection issues with pc, dual connection to phone and pc at the same time is nice, pc software is basic but reliable. Only thing I’d like more is how swapping batteries but the battery life is great so far

The wear and tear on my Pulse 3D headphones was getting bad so I decided to look for an upgrade. After doing some research and reading reviews for a few different options, inclusing the Inzome H9 II, i decided to go with the latter. So far theyve been amazing headphones for my PS5. The audio quality is clear and sharp with great noise cancellation. My gaming friends also tell me I come through very clear with no background noise. The headphones are also very comfortable and light when they’re on but they feel very sturdy and high-quality. I’d say these are a great upgrade from the Pulse 3Ds and a good option if you’re looking for your first gaming headphones.

This is the first headset I actually dont dread putting on. Every single one prior the instant it went on my head I could feel the unsettling over clamping and I knew it was a matter of time before I would get a headache. NOT WITH THESE. I can use them all day for work and still throw them back on for a gaming session at the end of the day. ON TOP OF being the best audio quality I have heard. I use them wired so I can’t take advantage of the Inzone app but the “Steelseries Sonar” app does the job perfectly with equalizing and adjusting the quality. Some people may see that they are 30mm drivers and think wow that isnt very much oomph but let me tell you they are crystal clear when pinpointing footsteps while maintaining the immersion. Top tier headset. Might buy another set just for fun.

The heatset is very comfortable to wear and is extremely light and audio is very crisp and clear.

Comfort is great and the adjusting mechanism on the headband ensures its the same every time you put them on. Comfortable earpads and the sound quality is definitely great. Only thing is the drivers are 30mm so they dont have that big thump.

After looking at a bunch of headsets I picked this one. I like that it can be used on a bunch of platforms but I will 100% use it on PS5 only. The comfort of these are top notch and noise cancelling works great. Not a big thing but I like that there is a red light on the mic so you can see when your muted. I also like that it has a physical dial for volume...not + or - buttons. It comes with a bag to store it in but not a big deal for me. It's expensive but you get what you pay for.

Excellent headset. Been using Corsair for 8 yrs and tried these. Once you master the software for tweaking they are fantastic. Very light weight and the option to answer a phone call and play music from your phone is fantastic. Price is a little high but I do recommend

Light weight, comfortable, great sound, great noise canceling

The headset is an excellent product with great 3d audio for the PS5. I like how you can fine tune its EQ settings via the app and being able to connect both my phone and PS5 simultaneously is a game changer. Must buy if you need an audio solution for your PS5!

The mic is amazing at canceling backround noises and picks up my voice clearly. It has simultaneous connection with the dongle and Bluetooth together. I just wish it had a bit more bass and an app on the PS5 for customization.