Sony INZONE H9 review, futuristic design and minimal top performance. Announced a few months ago, the new Sony INZONE H9 headphones are positioned as a medium-high-end model for gaming, in an arena where brands such as Razer and Logitech G are found.
Google Chrome now with passkey technology support
These are accessories with sophisticated technology, already seen in the Sony WH-1000XM5 (tested by Macitynet here), but here intended for a market which, although much more vertical than the music one, is very demanding.
What these headphones are capable of is remarkable as we could see in our test of a few weeks, between dangerous challenges, assaults to the death and breathtaking duels.
Compatible with practically everything
The box in which the Sony INZONE H9 are sold does not offer particular opportunities for flights of fancy. The graphic winks, with its contained aggressiveness, to the destination of the product but once opened you will find only a cardboard box with a polystyrene core to protect the product.
In addition to the actual headphones (one size only), in the package there are also a USB-A / USB-C cable for recharging and a USB-A dongle for wireless control: to those who were wondering, we answer that there is no ‘is the ability to use headphones with a jack; since these are headphones intended for a very specific market, Sony has rightly decided that their use via the classic 3.5mm connector would have been practically nil.
The Sony INZONE H9 are compatible with practically all platforms: we used them with macOS Ventura and Windows 11 via Dongle, even without installing the software, but also with iPhone and Android via Bluetooth.
The specifications also refer to Sony’s flagship gaming platform: Playstation 5, which we don’t have at hand, but we have found that they also work correctly with a Playstation 4.
However, some features are exclusive to the Windows platform, where it is possible to install the software and operate on a much better equalization level, use a 360° visualized audio and adapt the use of headphones (as happens with the Sony WH-1000XM5 ) to the shape of your ears, after a photographic scan performed by the smartphone app.
Fortunately, other controls, such as active noise reduction (ANC) are also accessible via hardware and can be activated and adjusted on all platforms.
Great without hiding it
The Sony INZONE H9 headphones are not very light, the specifications speaking of 330 grams, however the shape and the support with the bearing are very well designed, in addition to the fact of the construction in plastic material, they make them seem lighter.
Dimensions are also important to the point that we can define these headphones as large: we are talking about headphones that are almost thirty centimeters wide and ten deep (28.8 x 27.5 x 10.7 cm) with earcups measuring approximately 8.5 by 6 .3cm.
The white color and the black profiles, the curved surfaces, the tapered and rounded microphone with the dimensions, at the same time refer to the design of the Playstation 5, as well as the new 27″ monitors INZONE M3 (FullHD) and INZONE M9 (4K) from the same gaming line. At the same time, the Sony INZONE H9 looks like something from the future, from the cabin of a spaceship or a control room of devices operated by some mysterious and innovative technology.
This clearly makes them headphones for home and tournament halls, certainly not to be worn while walking: they would work the same (with a smartphone) but they would appear bizarre.
The connection
Good transmission via Bluetooth Version 5.0: the specifications speak of devices that support the A2DP profile (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) or AVRCP (Audio Video Remote Control Profile) such as.
The USB-A dongle is not essential but significantly improves the wireless connection with private 2.4 GHz band (2.4000 GHz – 2.4835 GHz). The declared range of 10 meters is underestimated: in our tests we had connections even beyond this distance even with some walls in between.
Thanks to the connector, any frequency disturbances are also eliminated (such as band saturation) and above all, the audio lag with respect to the game is reduced, a problem that afflicts cheap or a few years old wireless headphones and which represents a real problem in the game where sound and action must be perfectly synchronized.
Finally, the Sony INZONE H9 also supports the simultaneous connection of two devices by intelligently switching from one to the other based on the sound source.
Very comfortable
Once worn (an electric blue light at the insertion of the bows accompanies the ignition and pairing phases) the Sony headphones show what is one of their most important strengths: they prove to be really comfortable, as we said the shape is well designed so as not to weigh much on the head and the pads always offer a feeling of freshness on the ears, so much so that it is not a problem to use them for several hours.
The commands are delegated to physical buttons, excellent during the most agitated phases of the game because they can also be traced by touch without having to remove the headphones.
The volume is analog with a knurled wheel, using it you do not act on the volume of the computer or smartphone but only on that of the headphones. The adjustment is very precise thanks to the very long stroke of the wheel, and can be managed through two different Chat and Game outputs, which appear as selectable in the volume control, so as to easily have two different environments to manage with a single switch.
The microphone is also very good, among other things Discord certified, which is Bidirectional. The boom works as a manual control of the Mute function: raising it the microphone is muted, it becomes operational again by lowering it.
Let’s put them into play
We used the Sony INZONE H9 in three different contexts (three and a half… as we will see to be precise) obviously starting from the game, the context for which they were born. Here the headphones obviously gave their best.
In particular, we have entrusted them to the young enthusiast of gaming platforms we have at home who tested them on his Playstation 4 using them to discuss with friends to organize ambushes and tactics to defeat opponents. When we were able to put our hands on the headphones during the intervals, we must say that we had the sensation of very high quality: the three-dimensional audio is excellent (even if the level of refinement varies from title to title) and in any case substantially increases the atmosphere and involvement in the title, especially if on strategic ones.
Noise reduction is very good, even if during combat sessions it is not essential, because often the audio of the game covers any noise anyway, but reduce the impact of loud noises such as that of the vacuum cleaner in the next room or the neighbor home who uses the drill is useful.
Thanks to the USB Dongle, as mentioned, the lag of the Sony INZONE H9 is non-existent: the audio is always synchronized with the action; it’s like having an invisible and intangible thread with the game environment. The dream of every demanding gamer.
We also used headphones on the computer to listen to music. On Mac we have shades that veer towards the “dark” with the bass that dominates and is sometimes too important. No wonder why they are gaming headsets that are not made to bring out the texture of the music. The result is that the details of the highest notes disappear.
Although these headphones are certainly not designed for music, and Sony has much more on their list for this, they defend themselves well and accompany important songs very well, losing a little identity only in the lighter Pop music.
To do these headphones justice, we most appreciated the chamber sounds of artists such as Audiomachine and Two Step from Hell, as well as the intriguing soundtrack of the recent Netflix series “Wednesday” by Danny Elfman & Chris Bacon.
Finally, from time to time we used headphones with our iPhone 13 Pro especially with Discord, because in this way we preserved the speech with any load peaks of the game on the computer.
Not being able to express a completely complete opinion in this, because we cannot judge our voice, we can say that those on the other side of the platform greatly appreciated the speech of the microphone, with a more distinct and crystalline voice compared to the other headphones don’t think for gaming.
Conclusions
Distinguished by a distinctive and modern design, the Sony INZONE H9 carve out a position of prominence in the crowded sector of gaming headsets, both for consoles and for computers.
Divided into three models, of which the H9 are the top model (there are also the slightly cheaper H7 and the H3 which are not wireless), the Sony school needs an important accessory here, which looks very attractive to those has a Playstation or a PC and also dedicates the latter to gaming
These are more discreet and minimal headphones than those of other competitors (see the almost absent accent on the lights) but without quality savings: the price is important, but in line with the quality expressed and also with the more interesting models of the competition .
If you like to play, alone or in company, the Sony INZONE H9 can be your ideal companion. Born for consoles, they are compliant with PCs and you can use them on smartphones even if you lose some function guaranteed by the USB Dongle.
The only small general problem that we must underline is the annoying intermittent light that comes from the Dongle when the headphones are off, therefore unreachable: the dongle lights up intermittently, a function that we consider useless and annoying.
A specific problem instead affects Apple users who cannot use the adjustment software that is only for Windows. Having it also available for Mac would have given a hand to the gaming environment on macOS, which historically is in hiding and no one has ever fully understood why.
Pros:
• Elegant design
• Very comfortable and powerful
• They connect to two devices
Versus:
• No Audio Jack
• Size matters
• Very high-end price
Price:
• €299.99 (INZONE H9)
• €230.00 (INZONE H7)
• €100.00 (INZONE H3)