Sony INZONE H3 Headphones Review

The Sony INZONE H3 share a nearly identical look to other headphones in this manufacturer's lineup, like the Sony INZONE H7 Wireless, but they're just a little bit smaller. They have a white plastic design with a non-detachable black boom mic so that they match the PS5 console. Their headband has the manufacturer's logo, and they only come in one color variant: 'White'.

The Sony INZONE H3 are fairly comfortable. They're lightweight and have a better range of motion than the Sony PULSE 3D Wireless. The headband also has adequate padding, so you won't feel pressure on your head when wearing them during long gaming sessions. While the padding on the headband feels comfortable, the ear cups feel shallow, so if you have big ears, your ears may touch the padding.

The Sony INZONE H3 have sub-par controls. There's only one button, which is the volume wheel. It has min and max stoppers. You can also flip the mic upwards to mute yourself. However, there are no call or music-related controls.

Sony INZONE H3 aren't very portable headphones, though this won't be a problem if you plan to keep them at home. If you want to take them with you on the go, they have a bulky design, which is normal for gaming headphones, and in their default position, they still take up a bit of room. Luckily, the ear cups can swivel to lay flat.

The Sony INZONE H3's build quality is mediocre. Most of their frame is very plasticky and feels cheap. They also have cloth padding on the cups, but it doesn't feel as durable as the Sony INZONE H9 Wireless, which have faux leather padding. Their audio cable isn't detachable either, so if you damage it, you'll have to replace the entire unit. Overall, they aren't the most sturdy headphones, given their price, and could be prone to damage over time.

The Sony INZONE H3 have sub-par stability. They're gaming headphones and aren't meant to stay in place with vigorous head movements. A small shake can cause them to fall off your head, which can be frustrating if you tend to move your head a lot while gaming. Their audio cable isn't detachable either, so if it gets snagged on something, it can pull the headphones off your head. However, it won't be an issue if you're gaming from your couch or desk.

• Sony INZONE H3 headset
• USB-A to analog dongle
• User manual
• Stickers

The Sony INZONE H3 have a boomy and bright sound profile using the USB dongle. They have a bump in extra warmth, which can help emphasize sound effects like footsteps in gameplay. Dialogue and instruments are a little veiled, while sibilants like cymbals are pretty piercing. This sound isn't the best choice if you're listening to music as mixes sound muddy and sharp. However, they're well-suited for gaming, especially if you want to hear sound effects like footsteps more clearly. If you want to change their sound, their companion software offers a graphic EQ and presets. You can also see a comparison of different EQ presets here.

Although we did our sound testing using the USB dongle, as we expect most people to use the headphones like this, you still may want to use the AUX cable from time to time. As a result, we conducted passes using both connections, and you can see a comparison of both frequency responses here. There's a difference in the amount of bass present, as the USB dongle can reproduce more thump, rumble, and boom than the AUX cable. However, this can bloat dialogue and instruments. The AUX cable also has a bit more treble, which helps to articulate vocals and lead instruments. That said, subjectively, it seems that the USB dongle has better sound quality than the AUX cable.

The Sony INZONE H3's frequency response consistency is sub-par. The headphones are prone to inconsistencies in audio delivery, especially in the bass range. You may notice a drop of bass if you have thick hair or wear glasses. There are also some deviations in treble delivery, so it's important to take the time to adjust their fit, positioning, and seal each time you use them.

The Sony INZONE H3's bass accuracy is very good. There's adequate thump and rumble, but a bump in the mid to high-bass adds punch and intense warmth to mixes. It can help bring out sound effects like footsteps in first-person shooters, but it can also be very boomy and can muddy vocals and instruments in cinematic cut scenes. If you like to listen to music while you game on PC, you may find vocals like that in the first verse of Redbone by Childish Gambino cluttered by the bassline.

The Sony INZONE H3 have excellent mid accuracy. There's some overemphasis coming from the high-bass into the low-mid, which muddies dialogue and instruments in mixes. The mid to high-mid are very flat and neutral, so vocals and instruments in cinematic cut scenes sound clear and present.

The Sony INZONE H3's treble accuracy is sub-par. A dip in the low-treble veils the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments. You'll hear this in climactic music like In the Blood from Hades' first ending sequence, as the high notes by the lead singers in the final chorus are slightly weakened by the trumpets and drums. However, the mid-treble is a lot more overemphasized, so sibilants like hi-hats are piercing.

The Sony INZONE H3's peaks and dips performance is mediocre. A dip in the low-bass lessens thump and rumble, while a peak in the high-bass adds boom and muddiness to mixes. Another dip in the mid-mid nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. The biggest peaks and dips are found in the treble range. The low-treble veils the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments, while a sharp peak in the mid-treble turns the sound of hi-hats piercing.

The imaging performance is excellent. Sony generally has good quality control when it comes to their headphones' drivers, so you can expect their products left and right drivers to be well-matched. Our unit is no exception. Even though there are a couple of peaks in the phase response's treble range, which indicates that audio skews slightly towards one driver, it's very hard to hear with real-life content. Mismatch in the treble range is also hard to hear as humans lose sensitivity to this range over time. As a result, you won't encounter any issues while gaming as objects like dialogue, instruments, and sound effects like footsteps are accurately placed in the stereo image.

The passive soundstage performance is bad, but this is normal from closed-back headphones. The soundstage seems closed-off, small, and unnatural. Sound also seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you.

Since these headphones are a Sony product, they're compatible with Sony 360 Spatial Sound, which analyzes your unique ear shape via photograph to create a more immersive sound. However, once set up, you can only turn this feature on or off. To set this feature up, you need to use the Sony 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer app on your smartphone to set up the virtual soundstage on PC.

The Sony INZONE H3 are also compatible with PlayStation 5's 3D Audio, which is found on the 'Settings' page. This spatial audio feature can help add depth and directionality to sound effects like footsteps and voices. However, we didn't notice a big difference between on and off.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is decent. There's a peak in the low to mid-treble at moderate and high volumes. However, it can be hard to hear with real-life content. That said, the rest of the range falls within good limits, which results in mostly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings we used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when used in these settings.

The Sony INZONE H3's noise isolation performance is disappointing. Unlike the Sony INZONE H9 Wireless, they lack noise cancelling and won't block out a large amount of ambient noise. That said, when it comes to sounds more typical of a gaming environment, they do a passable job of cutting down mid-range noise like ambient chatter. However, it still may not be enough if you want to use them in a busy office. They can significantly block out the high-pitched hum of AC units and computer fans. If you want to use them outdoors, they struggle to block out the low rumble of bus engines.

The Sony INZONE H3's leakage performance is decent. Audio bleed is mostly concentrated in the mid to treble range and sounds somewhat thin. That said, the leakage isn't very loud, so if you want to crank your audio to the max, the leakage won't bother others around you too much.

The Sony INZONE H3's boom mic has a great recording quality. Your voice sounds full-bodied, clear, and natural, so your teammates won't have a problem hearing you clearly.

There's white noise present in our recording. It's the noise made from our testing rig's mouth speaker, which is picked up by this headphones' mic. The recording quality score isn't affected by this noise, though.

The mic's noise handling performance is satisfactory. Unlike the Sony INZONE H7 Wireless and Sony INZONE H9 Wireless, they don't have a noise gate, so they can't automatically cut out noise when you aren't talking. That said, the mic can still separate your voice from moderate ambient noise, but there's still some background sound present. If you're talking to teammates in a loud environment, they'll hear the sound around you, but your voice will still be clear and understandable.

Sony INZONE Hub is good software. You can set different profiles with unique settings so you can easily swap between saved presets. You can customize the sound profile using the 10-band graphic EQ or three EQ presets, turn on and off the spatial sound feature, and access microphone controls like volume, gain control, and sidetone level. You can adjust dynamic range control (DRC) between 'High', 'Low', and 'Off', which can help automatically balance the volume of your content. Keep in mind that if you're using this app, you can't transfer your presets to the PS5.

The Sony INZONE H3 have a non-detachable 1/8" TRRS cable. They also come with a USB-A to analog cable, which has very low latency, ensuring that your audio and visuals stay in sync while gaming.

You can connect the Sony INZONE H3 to your PC via analog or wired USB with full compatibility.

The Sony INZONE H3 are fully compatible with PS4 and PS5 consoles via analog or wired USB.

These headphones have full audio and mic compatibility with Xbox consoles when you plug the 1/8" TRRS cable into your controller's AUX port.

These headphones come with a USB-A to analog cable. However, it doesn't offer any other inputs.