Inzone H5 Review - A Surprisingly Comfortable Mid-Range Wireless Headset
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Sony’s Inzone H5 wireless gaming headset is at a good spot in terms of price point and features, as it delivers a light and comfortable headset with the right amount of features to make it a reasonable contender for those looking for a mid-range peripheral for PC and PS5 gaming sessions. Thanks to the impressive spatial audio and slick design, Sony’s latest offering in the Inzone line is a solid choice within an already-crowded gaming headset market.
Key Specs
Connection: 2.4GHz (USB dongle), and can be plugged in wired
Driver: 40mm
Microphone: Bi-directional boom mic
The package contains: 3.55 audio headset cable, 1 USB cable, and a USB dongle
Controls: buttons on headset for volume, game and chat balance, etc
Battery: ~28 hours, full charge
Compatibility: PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Switch (wired)
Weight: 260g
The Inzone H5 wireless gaming headset is now available in the Philippines and is priced at P9,999 in some retail stores. The Inzone H5 was released in October 2023.
INZONE H5 Review
There’s a variety of options out there when it comes to gaming headphones, as Sony is bolstering the Inzone brand by delivering different versions at various price points both in order to be flexible, and to become a major player in the gaming headset conversation. Sony is covering all of their bases by providing a budget-friendly option with the H3, a high-end option in the H9, a wireless buds option in the Inzone Buds, and now an impressive middle ground with the H5, which enters the market at a price of P9,999 in the Philippines.
Yet another solid mid-range choice
Using the H5 daily made me appreciate its design. It’s identical to its Inzone brothers, as the headphones wrap nicely around my head and cover my ears, to the point where ear strain was thankfully not an issue. It felt lightly-snugged on each ear, something which I, as a daily wearer of glasses, am very grateful for. I didn’t experience any additional pressure on the sides of my head, and removing my glasses with the headset on didn’t require much effort. This tells me that the H5 doesn’t have a vice grip on your ears when worn, which is a typical complaint I have for some gaming headsets that are too tight and apply too much pressure on the area where my glasses rest on top of my ears.
Thankfully, the earcups' size is wide enough to deliver a similar comfort level for various ear shapes and sizes. It also had just the right amount of leather padding on top of the head, though in my experience, this section of the H5 will likely be the spot where you’ll first see wear and tear months after purchase. Adjusting settings with the H5’s buttons was smooth. Each button on the device felt reaffirming and had good travel. They were not cheap to the touch, and the placements of key buttons (volume, etc) were easily understandable and natural after a couple of days of constant use.
At 260 grams, the H5’s lightweight plastic frame is noticeable during longer sessions, as my time with the H5 made me realize how important weight can be when it comes to a person’s comfort levels. Despite some of its parts being plastic, the H5’s flexibility made it seem highly resistant to overstretching or twisting, giving me the impression that accidental snaps at the top are unlikely. The only noticeable downside to the design is that there are no adjustable bars or resistance to prevent your preferred band length from misaligning when being used. You can elongate or shorten the band with ease, making it just as easy for it to get misaligned (i.e. finding that one side is suddenly slightly longer than the other).
The built-in bidirectional boom microphone is a nice touch that makes a satisfying click sound when switched from raised (turned off) to placed down near your mouth (turned on). The mic syncs nicely with the PS5’s Dualsense, as raising the mic away from your mouth will also trigger the controller’s mic mute light indicator, confirming that your mic is not open for the world to hear. After further testing with a few friends, I can confirm the mic’s built-in AI noise-canceling feature does the job of making the output remain clear and consistent.
As impressive as the built-in microphone can be, don’t expect the H5’s microphone to be on par with mid- to high-end microphones one would use for streaming or content creation on the PC, but even so, it’s one of the most impressive stock boom mics found in a wireless headphone in recent years. The mic is suitable not just for gaming sessions, but even voice calls.
Spatial Audio doing the heavy lifting
When playing any games on either the PS5 or PC, the H5 impressed me with its ability to transmit high-quality audio from various titles, especially with its spatial audio feature kicking in. Games with a rich atmosphere, and games where audio direction is key to the experience sound amazing with the H5. I tried games like Cyberpunk 2077 to hear the bustling nightlife in Night City, Hunt: Showdown to further test the accuracy of the audio, and explored an open world in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. The H5’s audio quality was crisp and accurate with no issues experienced during my time with them.
With the spatial audio option turned on, the mix was especially impressive. Those who play shooters will definitely appreciate the feature, as audio cues from enemies are distinguishable and quite accurate in ways that positively affect gameplay. PS5 players can take advantage of the same feature through the 3D Tempest audio that's available on the console.
Either on PC or PS5, it’s without a doubt that the H5 sounds and feels great, though it’s sad that we can’t seamlessly transfer from one’s preferred PC settings over to the PS5, as it feels like you really get the most out of the H5’s features on PC through the Inzone app, where you can adjust EQ settings and turn on spatial audio. You’ll have to tinker with the settings for each platform separately to get the preferred setup, a slight hindrance to those that often switch from one platform to another.
The ideal PS5 headset
As for PS5 users, when comparing this with the console’s Pulse 3D headset, the H5 blows it out of the water in comfort alone. The Pulse 3D wireless headset, which is PlayStation’s official wireless headset, suddenly felt awkward and bulky after some time with the H5. The H5’s design alone is more impressive than PlayStation’s official headset, sporting black-and-white styling, as if Sony had the PS5 specifically in mind when working on the Inzone product line.
The comfort thankfully pairs nicely with the H5’s impressive battery life, which lasts roughly ~28 hours before you’re given an audio warning from the device that you’ll need to plug it in for a charge. In its price range, many would prefer a higher battery life, but It’s a reasonable length of time. You won’t find yourself pausing mid-session because you need to plug in your headphones, at least, anytime soon after purchase. It’s also worth noting that a full recharge only takes a couple of hours.
Standard Bluetooth support is a no-go
The H5 also comes with a 3.5mm audio jack included in the headset, a feature which I hope doesn’t go away, as this makes the device versatile as it can transform into a wired headset for various devices that support the same ports. The package comes with its headphone cable, so I was able to treat it as a pair of wired headphones, using the H5 with my Switch as well as my mobile phone, making it a simple plug-and-play option if needed. You can even use it wired by plugging the headphones directly into the DualSense controller for use on the PS5.
But it’s not completely versatile, as for some reason Sony refuses to provide basic Bluetooth connectivity features to be used wirelessly - this is likely to add more emphasis on the USB dongle that comes with the product, which is necessary to use the H5 wirelessly on either PC or PS5. This alone can turn off many who may prefer other products for this lacking feature.
The Inzone H5 wireless headset is a great mid-range product, perfect for long gaming sessions due to its lightweight frame and comfortable, unobtrusive design. The spatial audio is a clear winner, and its suitableness for long, painless sessions are two big selling factors that make the H5 distinct from the competition. The fact that it can be used as a wired headset on any device that supports a 3.5mm port is a great feature I hope we don’t see go away soon, as the versatility helps alleviate the lack of simple Bluetooth support.
Verdict: 4 / 5 (Fantastic)
PROS
Fantastic spatial audio feature, best felt in shooters and atmospheric games
One of the most comfortable mid-range wireless headsets out there
Respectable battery life
CONS
No basic Bluetooth support
Inability to secure/lock in preferred headset band height
This review is based on a review unit sent over to us by Sony to test and use for two weeks
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