Sony’s InZONE line of high-end games has now launched in Australia and after a few weeks of use, I’m ready to talk about my experience with the inZONE H9. It’s been a great year for headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless and the Razer Barracuda Pro, but if you’re a PS5 owner (and I’m guessing most of you will be reading this review) it’s pretty tough pass by the Sony InZONE H9 which offers many of the same features as the two aforementioned headsets, but simply pairs with the PS5 in a way that these other headsets cannot.
While I’ve said publicly that the Arctis Nova Pro was my favorite headset to ever come out and I still think that’s definitely the case, through no fault of SteelSeries it doesn’t have the ability to control game audio /chat on the actual headset as well as things like battery life and on-screen volume while using it with a PS5.
Because the InZONE H9 is an official Sony product, it not only allows you to adjust the game/chat audio on the headset (and display it on screen), but it also gives visual cues to the screen that show you if your headphones are muted, or if you have a low battery or how high or low your volume is. These aren’t must-have features, but they’re definitely nice to have and would probably make me want to use the H9 on the Arctis Nova Pro as a daily driver on the PS5.
CHEAPEST PRICE: $348 WITH FREE SHIPPING FROM AMAZON
As for the design, it’s a bit hit and miss in my opinion. The headset is super light and extremely comfortable using the Sony XM5’s soft leather ear cups/band and even with glasses it was never a burden to wear. While I appreciate that the design ties in with the PS5s, their size means that while they’re a great headset with Bluetooth connectivity and noise canceling, I don’t feel like you Would never wear out of the house, which is a shame considering the price and the fact that they could very well serve as an everyday headset as well as a dedicated gaming headset.
I really liked the ease of access to all the controls on the headset, with the noise canceling having its own button, an easy to reach volume wheel, game/chat balance buttons as well as an audio button. dedicated power and Bluetooth buttons. They’re all a really good distance apart, so even after a few minutes with the headphones on, I didn’t second-guess myself. The microphone can’t be detached, but it mutes when raised, which is handy.
That’s probably no surprise given that the Sony XM3-5s have one of the best noise cancellations in consumer headphones and the inside of the inZONE H9 has similar interiors to the XM3s, but noise cancellation was really excellent on this particular headset and probably better than the others I’ve mentioned in this review. While your game sounds are likely to drown out a good amount of noise, the active noise cancellation went the extra mile to drown out my barking sausage dogs or my husband scrolling through TikToks on the couch. Still, being able to quickly switch to transparency mode to have a quick conversation was also much appreciated, and worked well.
I was even more impressed when I upgraded to the InZONE Hub PC software which had more customization than any headset software I’ve ever used presented in a really user-friendly way. Initially when using the headset with the PS5 I was annoyed that the noise canceling button toggled between on, off or ambient (letting noise in) because for me I would never want the noise canceling noise is activated or people’s voices are reinforced in ambient mode. when someone in my house tries to talk to me, and low and lo and behold, I was able to customize it using the software to have this button toggle it between noise canceling on or ambient only.
I was also able to customize things like what would happen when the headset first turns on, which is minor, but totally allows people to customize exactly how they want to use their headset, and I appreciate that.
I could also make Ambient Mode focus only on voice input, which I suspect draws from the excellent XM5 noise cancellation technology. I was amazed at how different the changes made using the software were, especially in this case.
The Bluetooth connectivity also worked exactly as I wanted with the InZONE H9, allowing me to connect both my PS5 (via the dedicated dongle) as well as my mobile phone to the headphones by pressing the button on the headphones. This meant I could either listen to music on my phone while gaming or quickly take a call/watch TikToks while waiting for a FIFA match to load. Like noise cancellation, it’s not something every gamer needs, but it’s the kind of thing you won’t be able to live without once you experience it.
I’m not the biggest audiophile, but the sound coming out of the InZONE H9 was really nice. I spent the majority of my time with these playing the Modern Warfare 2 beta and the gunfire sounded crisp, the bass was immense and the ability to turn up the volume and have game audio really strong was absolutely there. The flip microphone isn’t the best I’ve used, but it’s usable unless you’re a professional gamer.
The battery life is said to be around 32 hours while using noise cancellation with 10 minutes of fast charging giving an hour of battery life and I found all of that to be true. While I definitely missed the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ dual battery, needing to charge won’t be frequent enough with these to be much of an issue.
The headset is also PC compatible, with the included USB dongle (which has a switch that goes between PS5/PC) and to be honest, to get the most out of this headset you’ll need a PC to play with settings using the InZONE software. Anything you select carries over to the PS5, but it’s a bit of a shame not to have this app available on PlayStation or an app, and hopefully that feature will roll out.
All in all, if you want a noise canceling headset that can connect to your PS5 and a phone at the same time, there really isn’t a better option than the InZONE H9 as it pairs perfectly with the PS5 d in a way that no other non-Sony headphones can.
Sony’s InZONE line of high-end games has now launched in Australia and after a few weeks of use, I’m ready to talk about my experience with the inZONE H9. It’s been a great year for headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless and the Razer Barracuda Pro, but if you’re a PS5 owner (and I’m guessing most of you will be reading this review) it’s pretty tough pass by the Sony InZONE H9 which offers many of the same features as the two aforementioned headsets, but simply pairs with the PS5 in a way that these other headsets cannot.
While I’ve said publicly that the Arctis Nova Pro was my favorite headset to ever come out and I still think that’s definitely the case, through no fault of SteelSeries it doesn’t have the ability to control game audio /chat on the actual headset as well as things like battery life and on-screen volume while using it with a PS5.
Because the InZONE H9 is an official Sony product, it not only allows you to adjust the game/chat audio on the headset (and display it on screen), but it also gives visual cues to the screen that show you if your headphones are muted, or if you have a low battery or how high or low your volume is. These aren’t must-have features, but they’re definitely nice to have and would probably make me want to use the H9 on the Arctis Nova Pro as a daily driver on the PS5.
CHEAPEST PRICE: $348 WITH FREE SHIPPING FROM AMAZON
As for the design, it’s a bit hit and miss in my opinion. The headset is super light and extremely comfortable using the Sony XM5’s soft leather ear cups/band and even with glasses it was never a burden to wear. While I appreciate that the design ties in with the PS5s, their size means that while they’re a great headset with Bluetooth connectivity and noise canceling, I don’t feel like you Would never wear out of the house, which is a shame considering the price and the fact that they could very well serve as an everyday headset as well as a dedicated gaming headset.
I really liked the ease of access to all the controls on the headset, with the noise canceling having its own button, an easy to reach volume wheel, game/chat balance buttons as well as an audio button. dedicated power and Bluetooth buttons. They’re all a really good distance apart, so even after a few minutes with the headphones on, I didn’t second-guess myself. The microphone can’t be detached, but it mutes when raised, which is handy.
That’s probably no surprise given that the Sony XM3-5s have one of the best noise cancellations in consumer headphones and the inside of the inZONE H9 has similar interiors to the XM3s, but noise cancellation was really excellent on this particular headset and probably better than the others I’ve mentioned in this review. While your game sounds are likely to drown out a good amount of noise, the active noise cancellation went the extra mile to drown out my barking sausage dogs or my husband scrolling through TikToks on the couch. Still, being able to quickly switch to transparency mode to have a quick conversation was also much appreciated, and worked well.
I was even more impressed when I upgraded to the InZONE Hub PC software which had more customization than any headset software I’ve ever used presented in a really user-friendly way. Initially when using the headset with the PS5 I was annoyed that the noise canceling button toggled between on, off or ambient (letting noise in) because for me I would never want the noise canceling noise is activated or people’s voices are reinforced in ambient mode. when someone in my house tries to talk to me, and low and lo and behold, I was able to customize it using the software to have this button toggle it between noise canceling on or ambient only.
I was also able to customize things like what would happen when the headset first turns on, which is minor, but totally allows people to customize exactly how they want to use their headset, and I appreciate that.
I could also make Ambient Mode focus only on voice input, which I suspect draws from the excellent XM5 noise cancellation technology. I was amazed at how different the changes made using the software were, especially in this case.
The Bluetooth connectivity also worked exactly as I wanted with the InZONE H9, allowing me to connect both my PS5 (via the dedicated dongle) as well as my mobile phone to the headphones by pressing the button on the headphones. This meant I could either listen to music on my phone while gaming or quickly take a call/watch TikToks while waiting for a FIFA match to load. Like noise cancellation, it’s not something every gamer needs, but it’s the kind of thing you won’t be able to live without once you experience it.
I’m not the biggest audiophile, but the sound coming out of the InZONE H9 was really nice. I spent the majority of my time with these playing the Modern Warfare 2 beta and the gunfire sounded crisp, the bass was immense and the ability to turn up the volume and have game audio really strong was absolutely there. The flip microphone isn’t the best I’ve used, but it’s usable unless you’re a professional gamer.
The battery life is said to be around 32 hours while using noise cancellation with 10 minutes of fast charging giving an hour of battery life and I found all of that to be true. While I definitely missed the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ dual battery, needing to charge won’t be frequent enough with these to be much of an issue.
The headset is also PC compatible, with the included USB dongle (which has a switch that goes between PS5/PC) and to be honest, to get the most out of this headset you’ll need a PC to play with settings using the InZONE software. Anything you select carries over to the PS5, but it’s a bit of a shame not to have this app available on PlayStation or an app, and hopefully that feature will roll out.
All in all, if you want a noise canceling headset that can connect to your PS5 and a phone at the same time, there really isn’t a better option than the InZONE H9 as it pairs perfectly with the PS5 d in a way that no other non-Sony headphones can.