Sony - INZONE H3 Wired Gaming Headset - White

Tested the H3 with several games to see what I was missing with the PS5s Tempest 3D audio. Those games included Demon's Souls, Returnal, Horizon Forbidden West, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. The standout game (for me) for 3D audio was Ratchet and Clank. I guess the best way to describe 3D audio is that once you experience it, you want it in all games. The sound moves around you convincingly, such as with a surround sound system and media designed to take advantage of it. In Ratchet and Clank, for example, the audio moves around you as a character you're interacting with moves in the game. It's very cool and turned a skeptic (I'm one by nature) into a believer. Regarding features, the H3 is the most bare-bones of the INZONE product line-up. The added benefit is that the headset has the price tag to match. This is a wired headset, something I've forgotten about with the mass adoption of wireless headsets. The wire is plenty long and unobtrusive.

These are pretty decent for the price! They beat out my old pair of turtle beaches that were twice the price years ago.

TLDR: There is a big difference between the 3.5 mm and USB DAC that is included. I don’t recommend using the 3.5 mm port for sound as it makes everything “worse.” General sound is highly treble focused and can come across as sharp/harsh. Mids are solid without any issues. But bass in general is anemic. However, directional sound and imaging is superb. Making these a solid contender for a competitive headset as you can hear all audio cues at the cost of everything else. Meaning if all you care about is performing well in game these might be for you. Otherwise, best to skip. Outside of that the comfort is superb (one of the best I've tried). The microphone is adequate. It has a long cord making it easy for PS5 or PC. Solid build quality. Overall, solid but depending on preference may not be "great". SOUND: The 3.5mm sound is almost pure treble. Mids are present and fine. Bass does not really exist. This makes it possible to hear any and all audio cues making them superb for competitive games. But that treble comes across as sharp and harsh. Also, completely ruins immersion without the bass. As not only do you not have the rumbling lows (which is pretty normal) but you don’t even have much for gunshots or similar. This is really best for those who want to go hard in competitive games as I didn’t miss a single audio cue and was able to pick those apart from a good distance with absolute precision. As for the DAC this dramatically changes the sound. The first thing you’ll notice is that you now have some bass. Still don’t have any rumbling lows, but at least there is something which helps, but nothing to really write home about either. Mids continue to be consistent and fine. It appears there is some more mid-bass here which kind of muddies somethings up making it a bit less competitive as when compared to the 3.5 mm it reduces the directional accuracy and imaging a smidge. Treble is slightly reduced so it isn’t as harsh but still the focal point. This makes it so immersion is improved and what I think most people will prefer. Unless if you are going full try hard. I also noticed that depending on the game sound can either be GREAT or it can be BELOW average. For example, Escape From Tarkov sounded amazing. Horizon Zero Dawn sounded meh. So, this headset’s sound dramatically changes based on how the game studio tuned their sound engine. Which is why I think so many people are disappointed with it. Along with most general consumers preferring a bass heavy headset over a treble focused one. Even though personally, I find treble focused headsets to be best for gaming as they do better with audio cues, locational audio, and generalized immersion (as you can actually hear everything). But you miss out on those rumbling lows that get your heart pumping. At first, I was very confused about why they would have BOTH a 3.5mm port and a USB A to 3.5 mm female port adapter (which is actually a DAC). As I think costs could have been cut (while making this a more competitive headset) if it just was a USB which is how I think most people will use it. But then I noticed the difference in sound and think the rational behind that is you have ONE headset that operates as a perfectly adequate immersion headset (giving good enough sound) for single player and non-competitive multiplayer. But when you want to win those rank games you go to 3.5 mm so you can just dominate by using sound to your advantage. I tested this both on PC and PS5. Both sounded nearly the same. You are able to adjust the EQ using the included software. Which works well and is basic and easy to navigate. But the sound is still quite locked in and the EQ only changes it mildly. I personally used the flat preset (that it comes stock with) for testing. Also, it has “spatial sound” that you can activate on PC. But that can RUIN the sound if you don’t use it right. As a lot of games have HRTF built-in (Apex Legends, Escape From Tarkov, COD) and if you turn on the spatial sound it will ruin it. But if you play something like GTA with 7.1 surround sound with Spatial Sound it will work well. COMFORT: This is probably one of the ugliest headsets I’ve ever seen but trades that ugliness for comfort. Which I’ll take every time. As comfort is where this headset really shines, as it is superb. The earcups have a lot of padding, are breathable preventing your ears from getting hot, and feel great. They are even made from recycled material which is a win everyone can get behind. The clamping force is light, to the point if you shake your head hard it will shake but not quite fall off… unless if you headbang then it will fly off to meet its doom on your floor. The top of the headband has plenty of padding as well (but appears to be filled with air over actual padding). Both earcups swivel quite a bit to the front, back, and side to side to really adjust to an individual’s head, while being stiff enough they don’t freely rotate when handling it. Last, but not least the notches to adjust the headband height are perfectly calibrated where they move with little force while still holding its place well. It is probably one of the most comfortable headsets I’ve tried. They really did nail this part. Controls are simple. As the mic is on the left side, flip to mute, moves smoothly, and you can hear a dedicated click when it activates/deactivates. The only other controls you have is the volume wheel on the left earcup, which also moves smoothly with mild/moderate resistance and has a maximum and minimum point which I always prefer. It does not wobble and comes across as solid, but nothing special. Overall build quality is solid as well. Where I notice no creaking and it feels fine in the hand. But again, isn’t anything special either. MICROPHONE: The microphone for this is fine. It is flip to mute which is nice. Also, tends to move itself right into the ideal position. You can understand what people are saying just fine, but it comes across as perfectly adequate despite being Discord certified. It gets the job done but will not be blowing any ones socks off and isn’t bad to the point your friends will dislike you. CONCLUSION: This was a very hard headset to review. As the sound is so unique that I think it will be highly polarizing. But I think once you realize the target demographic it transforms them from being adequate to solid/great. As these are some of the best audio cues and directional audio I’ve heard from a headset EVER. But it leaves the immersion (from sound accuracy etc.) lacking which most people will hate. The comfort is superb and some of the best as well. Microphone is perfectly adequate. I think giving an overall rating just doesn’t do it justice. I’m going with 4 stars overall, but my individual breakdown is below. Immersion: 3/5 Directional Sound: 5/5 Imaging: 5/5 Audio Cues (without DAC): 5/5 Audio Cues/Directional Sound W/ DAC: 4/5 Comfort: 5/5 Microphone: 3/5 Treble: 4.5/5 Mids: 4/5 Bass: 2/5 Aesthetics: 2/5