Sony InZone H7 Gaming Headset - Better than the H9's ?
/Did you ever hear that story about Goldilocks? The little girl that broke into the house of three bears & sat down started eating their food.
Well, long story short. There were three bowls of porridge. One was too cold, too lumpy & one was too hot, too runny, but the one in the middle was just right.
This story is a metaphor for human existence & place in the universe. It's also a metaphor for Sony's new inZone gaming headphones line.
Allow me to explain. So you see, the inZone H3 is their entry-level model. It's wired, has 40mm drivers, a removable mic on a boom arm, supports spatial audio, and can be tweaked with Sony's inZone hub PC gaming software.
Now I can't tell you from experience. I can only tell you what I've heard. So I heard some people say they're not outstanding. But I think those might people might be missing the most critical point. They're less than £90 here in the UK. So they are aimed at the budget gaming headset market.
Now the Sony H9 is the all singing all dancing flagship model. they have 32hrs playback, Bluetooth 5.0 , and 2.4ghz Wi-Fi, so they do support multiple connections, they have active noise cancelling, with 4 exterior ANC mics, game-changing and performance enhancing customisable RGB lights on the earcups.
And premium padding taken straight from the sony WH1000 XM5's headphones. The H9s have a premium build, premium 40mm drivers, and advanced customisation features via the inZone hub PC software.
And InZone H9s are premium, but despite its technical accolades, it also stumbled upon some criticism…interestingly enough. Most of the complaints surround mic quality… & the price point of over £300 at launch. I haven't tested them. This is just what I've heard.
Now enter the Goldilocks inZone the Sony inZone H7. These are the ones that I have thoroughly tested for the last couple of weeks. And the price point, I believe, is just right.
They come in at under £180 at launch. Which is an even more attractive price when compared to the H9s. And the price category places it in line with the top 5 PS5 headsets I reviewed. And In that video, I scored those headsets in five categories.
Style, comfort, usability, and sound quality & then I did a blind mic quality test to get the final scores. So it seems fair to score these in the same way, and in the end, we will do the blind mic quality test again. At this point, the total score will be out of my hands.
And what's going to be interesting is how these matchups against the 5 best PS5 gaming headsets from the previous video. Which Included the official Sony Pulse 3Ds.
Style
So the H7s look virtually identical to the flagship H9s minus the game-enhancing RGBs & premium XM5 padding. The H7 share some key components like the drivers & the white polycarbonate materials used & button placements.
The similarities include The boom arm mic, the nicely raised and rounded volume dial on the right earcup, the game and chat mix rocker, Bluetooth and power buttons.
One downgrade from the H9 is the smooth nylon used on the H7 earcups. Now that doesn't mean it's terrible. It looks pretty nice and feels nice. The question is how it will look after 6 months. But the answer is that only time will tell.
I do like that there seem to be some Vents added for….uh ventilation. I hope & of course, if you're a PS5 owner, you'll love the style here. It matches Sony's PlayStation perfectly.
So my score for H7's style is an easy 8.5
Comfort
So when it comes to wearing the H7, I'm happy to say the clamping force is not too powerful. There's no pinching at the top of your head, thanks to a nice amount of padding. That padding is protected by vegan leather…so now cows' lives were lost in the making…and this finish should stop any hair grease seeping in.
The earcups are incredibly soft, so no complaints here.
I will say I do love how my ear can fit entirely into the earcups & because the depth of the ear cups is quite large, my ears are not pressed right up against the drivers.
However, I noticed my ears warming up a bit during longer gaming sessions but not dramatically more so than the other 5 PS5 headsets I rated. After seeing the vents, I thought I would stay a little longer… Maybe it's just me. I've known to get a little sweaty when it comes to gaming.
One of the things that I really like about the inZone line, in general, is the unique hinge. It's got good dexterity and feels substantial. It also allows the headphones to turn inwards to sit comfortably around your neck when not in use.
The mic position is excellent, and there seems to be a flexible wire inside, so adjusting it to the perfect spot is easy. My only criticism is that the ear cups might feel pretty huge to some people…& they make you look like a helicopter pilot…But hey, if that's your bag, you know. You're gonna love them. The nearest to these from my previous video is the Razer Black sharks. So I'm giving the InZone H7's an 8 of 10 for fit.
Usability
So when it comes to the user experience, we have to look at this in two ways. The PS5 experience with the Tempest 3D audio support & the PC gaming side. The H7 definitely gets bonus points for the inZone hub software that opens the door to a crazy amount of customisation. You got a 10-band equaliser, dynamic range control, and spatial sound control.
That involves using Sony's headphones app to take photos of your ears…so that the spatial sound can be tailored more specifically to you.
One downside is these are not loaded onto the headset or dongle. So any changes made cannot be carried over to your PS5. The tempest 3D will take over.
A great feature that the H7 have is the ability to connect your phone over BT, just like the flagship H9. So if you're gaming and a call comes in, you can answer them on the H7's. So, they get a bonus point for that.
The mic arm, when flipped up, locks off the mic. I like that. That's something I loved about my Sennheiser GSP headphones. Another usability aspect I really appreciate is the placement and design of the volume dial. It's perfect. The raised and rounded design makes it instantly easy to find, and it's not in a spot where you can accidentally turn it up.
And when using it with the PS5, you get on-screen volume levels and, of course, full support of the PS5s 3D spatial sounds software.
And going back to the intro of the video & why I think the H7 is the Goldilocks inZone. Despite being nearly half the price of the flagship. The battery life is better, with 6 hours more playback time maxing out at 40hrs. And this is likely due to the omission of the RGB and ANC.
But do you know what out of all the gaming headsets I've tested? The H7s take the easy win when it comes to passive noise cancelling. The ANC isn't needed unless you live on a construction site.
So for usability, I was going to give it a 9 but of 10. But because the custom EQs can't be carried from PC back to PS5…I have to give them with a solid 8.5
SOUND
Sound is probably the most essential aspect of any audio device.
So what I like the most about the sound on the inZone H7s is the perception of a massive soundstage. With the H7's, you get such a good idea of distance & direction within games. I've mainly been using these on warzone, and I think they give you an advantage in their ability to pick up and enhance quiet footsteps and their direction.
Taking the custom EQs out of the equation. The standard audio profile is nice. The bass is not too overwhelming on the PS5. They're not too sharp on the high end frequencies either. So you're not going to get too much listening fatigue after a long gaming session. Drawing upon my experience with the top 5 gaming headsets from an audio standpoint. The H7s seem quite similar to the Astro A40s. So I've got to put these on the same pedestal at 8.5 out of 10.
Ok, now the final score and this one, take control of the H7's fate out of my hands. I'm going to get a friend of mine, Yamakasi, from the No call of duty for old men clan to score the mic quality out of 10 in blind mic test…and then we shall have our final score. Watch the Sony InZone H7 video here for the mic test
Are you looking for the best headset for PS5 in 2022? I purchased the top 5 & most mentioned headphones for PlayStation 5. In this video, I rank these gaming headsets using an unbiased scoring system. Which one will win? Let's see...
