Just barely few months ago, SONY unveiled their INZONE lineup of gaming headphones that we did the review for one of it, which is the H3, one of the entry level. Now we just got received their highest end of the series, the H9 that targets both console and PC, and also a versatile one as it can be used on any connected device. As a start, the INZONE H9 headphone is targeted for those who wanted a premium headphone, lets dive into our quick review on this headphone.
If you are interested in the INZONE H3, Click here to read our review
Unboxing Contents
The SONY INZONE H9 comes with the following
- The Headphone
- USB 2.4Ghz dongle
- USB A to C cable for charging
- User Manual
Design & Comfort
The SONY INZONE H9 just looks identical to the lower tier H7 and H3 at first glance, which the surrounding headphone colors in white, matching the color esthetics of Sony Playstation 5, while the inner wear of the headphone is mixed with black color with same can be said over the earcups and the microphone. The dual tone color design may look normal and does not represent any gaming esthetics to it, but to the very least it is suitable to be paired with any gaming gear you had in your hands. Wearing it does not feel warm over long hours thanks to the Nylon Earpads that still keeps the sound within your ears while keeping it just fit and air will still go though while it might look bulky, the weight is just 331 grams only, which is lightweight and easy to store in my bag. Over to the left of the earcup side you will spot a small knob where you can control the volume manually with a noise cancellation button, while on the right side there is a power button, Bluetooth button toggle and game/chat button scenario profiles for quick switching. At the same time flipping up the microphone will mute it automatically to ensure privacy.
Features & Experience
The SONY INZONE H9 came with the inclusion of the USB dongle which is compatible with PC and PlayStation 5, which is to extend the features of the H9 by downloading InZone App which you can obtain from Sony’s Website or otherwise you will not be able to enjoy the full experience however with its 40mm driver unit, even using it as a normal headphone is satisfying enough for my gaming and music listening needs. The built in Battery will last you about 28 hours average, in my case a charging every 3 to 4 days with 7 hours daily usage.
Now towards the INZONE HUB, which is SONY’s customized app dedicated for the headphone with the supplied USB wireless receiver, which when launched gives you several advantages and customization, such as equalizer custom profiles, spatial sound personalization which you will need to use your phone camera to capture the size and shape of your ears to optimize your listening and dynamic range control, which adjusts the effects of listening based on the game sound or audio that is playing giving greater effect like a soundstage. We did an experience music listening simple test on the headphone and for the most part, from ambient to noise cancellation functionality were working excellent as intended running at 75% volume. However we did experience some Bluetooth audio quality issues, exhibiting lower quality audio and jitter when playing over via our test laptop on Bluetooth 5.0, we tried replicating with other TWS and there is no issue. Over the boom microphone, the overall audio voice captured is clear and not muffled as compared to certain headphone that could be disrupted due audio and microphone active at the same time, in other words, separation works well.
Technical Specs
| DRIVER UNIT | 40mm, Closed, dynamic |
| MAGNET | Neodymium |
| IMPEDANCE (OHM) | 35ohm (1kHz) |
| FREQUENCY RESPONSE | 5Hz-20,000Hz |
| PLUG | USB C for Charging only, connected with wireless USB dongle or Bluetooth 4.x/5.x |
Verdict & Conclusion
Overall the SONY INZONE H9 does provide a great premium experience which actually fits in most scenario, especially if you are using it for Gaming, communications and work purposes. From the multimedia perspective such as music and vocal heavy listening, it does the job pretty good as long you are good at predefining your equalizer settings. This makes it great beyond just gaming and it is Discord certified too, making it perfect for all your team mate communication or discussion sessions while taking a few frags on the way. With the inclusion of the USB wireless dongle, it does not bother me much missing on the 3.5mm audio jack point as it operates at a very low latency between the headphone and my laptop. It is still recommended to use the USB dongle and I think SONY will still need to fix the audio latency and jitter, otherwise I would say this is a good premium headphone, and being premium it is priced at a retail of RM1299. Some might look somewhere else because of the price but if you are using a PlayStation 5, this is a good addition to all your audio gaming needs.
Special thanks to SONY for providing us the loan review unit. Click here to know more about the SONY INZONE H9