Introduction
SONY INZONE’s first H9 headset was decently well-received by critics and fans, but most people noted that it could use some improvements. With this newest version, SONY INZONE has listened to what people had to say, and they’re taking another swing. This premium headset has pretty much all the features that you can think of, and in our full SONY INZONE H9 II review, we’ll tell you whether it’s worth your time and money.
At A Glance
SONY INZONE H9 II
The SONY INZONE H9 II is a great high-tier gaming headset for people who are looking for a ‘one device for everything’ type of product.
Pros
- Very lightweight and comfortable
- Great ANC performance
- Good microphone
- Good sound for gaming and music (after tweaking the EQ)
Cons
- Very expensive
- Battery life isn’t great
Specs
| Type | Closed-Back |
|---|
| Connection | Wireless |
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| Noise Cancelling | Yes |
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| Microphone | Detachable |
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| Weight | 260g |
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First Impressions
The first thing you notice is just how light this headset is. Usually, gaming headsets that pack this many features are heavier than single-purpose headphones, but that’s not really the case here. At a mere 260 grams, the SONY INZONE H9 II is an incredibly light gaming headset, which is an impressive engineering feat.
Something else that also catches the eye is the design. Rather than a full plastic/metal housing, the headband is a thin and decently flexible piece of what looks like a rope. It’s unique, recognizable, and feels just as sturdy as a regular headband design, so I think this is pretty cool.
All in all, I can say that the headset quite simply looks very stylish and modern. If you leave the detachable mic at home, no one will bat an eye if you wear this thing on your head or around your neck while making your way through a busy and trendy city.
Packaging
Inside the box of the SONY INZONE H9 II, you will find:
- The headset
- A detachable mic
- USB-C-to-USB-A charging cable
- The wireless 2.4GHz receiver
- User documentation
- SONY INZONE stickers
- An auxiliary cable
- A carrying bag
I want to give a quick shoutout to the carrying bag. This nicely finished bag with extra zipper storage for things like cables and the connector is a nice extra when you’re purchasing a headset that’s meant to be a ‘do it all’ kind of product.
Build and Comfort
With its lightweight design, you barely even notice that the INZONE H9 II is on your head at times. Once you’ve set the headband size to the correct one, it also stays locked in place, meaning that the fit is very consistent. The earcups can also be laid flat in both directions, which also helps with the overall comfort levels, especially if you decide to rest the headset around your neck for a while.
The ear cups themselves feel great. SONY INZONE uses a dense mesh material which, to me, feels like a mixture of (faux) leather and traditional, looser meshes in practice. You get the passive isolation and seal of leather with the breathability of mesh, so that’s a major win to me. The clamping force, once the headband is dialed in, also feels just right. This helps with the headset kind of ‘disappearing’ on your head.
One thing I will say is that the padding on the headband feels a bit thin for me. After a certain period of time (usually an hour or two) this led to me feeling a slight pressure on the top of my head. That’s easily fixed by moving the headset ever-so-slightly, but I personally would still like to see a thicker headband in future versions.
The build quality is also satisfying. A headset this light is obviously going to be made out of mostly plastic, but there’s no creaking here and everything is finished nicely. This is up there with the quality of SONY’s flagship ANC headphones if you ask me.
Sound and Mic
Microphone
The detachable mic comes with AI-driven noise cancellation and is supposed to make you sound good at all times. As far as I can test, this claim rings true. My voice remained clear and understandable even with regular household noises in the background. What I particularly loved was the consistency. A lot of (wireless) mics have varying degrees of volume swells or dips, or they have brief cutouts, and that’s limited to the absolute minimum here.
If I’m allowed to split hairs for a second, I would say that the mic sounds somewhat muffled, and that plosives come through a bit too harshly. But beyond that, this is a great headset mic, and I wouldn’t hesitate to use this for work meetings or other applications that go beyond simple in-game callouts.
Do note that there’s no way to tweak the mic sound itself, like there is with some other high-tier headsets. There’s no EQ or anything, so the sound out of the box is what you get.
Sound Quality
SONY uses the same drivers that they use in their WH-1000XM6 headphones. In case you’re not familiar with the audio world: those are SONY’s flagship ANC headphones, and they’re widely lauded as a fantastic-sounding product.
So naturally, I expected the INZONE H9 II to sound absolutely amazing when listening to music and watching shows, but that didn’t completely turn out as I expected. You see, the H9 II is a gaming headset. It was co-developed with Fnatic, a serious esports team with numerous S-tier titles under their belt. And competitive gamers expect different things from an audio product than music fans.
So, what you’re getting here out of the box is a sound profile where rumbling bass is de-emphasized and the highs are turned down a little bit. I’ll speak more about how that works out for gaming further down in the review, but for music listening it’s not so great.
Luckily, you can tweak the EQ in SONY’s INZONE Hub or their app. Doing that can drastically improve the headset’s sound quality for music listening, to the point where it sounds pretty darn good. The bass never gets overly present, but other than that it’s a pretty pleasant headset to listen to with the right EQ setup. If your main priority is listening to music and watching shows, though, this won’t be the product for you, as the focus is definitely on gaming with this headset.
ANC
ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) is still a rarity in gaming headsets, but to me it makes sense to include. When you’re playing in a noisy environment, it’s a bonus to be able to tune out (or drastically lower) distracting background noise. Especially in these premium, high-priced headsets that we’re seeing more and more of these days, I think including ANC is a great choice.
Being a SONY product, I expected the ANC to perform well, and it absolutely does. The room in which I work is right next to a busy street, so things can get quite noisy during office hours. The INZONE H9 II did a great job at filtering out those annoying car and construction sounds that bother me when I’m not wearing an ANC headset. It also allowed me to watch content in peace while my partner was near me playing games with speakers on.
I should say that I’m not an expert on ANC headphones (I have a couple of ANC products though) but for me the INZONE H9 II performs really well on this front.
Gaming Performance
The INZONE H9 II is, first and foremost, a gaming headset. So obviously, I went in with high expectations.
If you want to play competitive games, the default profile (or one of the other FPS presets in the INZONE Hub) is the one to go for. With that enabled, it’s quite easy to distinguish footsteps, reloads, and other crucial sounds, even when you’re being bombarded with grenades and enemy gunfire. The bass doesn’t blow you away (as it should with a competitive preset) and the highs don’t pierce your skull either.
The soundstage is also very decent. In CS2 and other tactical shooters, it’s pretty trivial to pinpoint where exactly that enemy in the distance is shooting from, for example. And in Overwatch 2, I canceled quite some flanking ults as Ana based on the sound of the enemy’s footsteps alone. The positional audio isn’t massively better than other top-tier options that are available in today’s market, but it does do a great job as a gaming headset if you ask me.
All in all, the INZONE H9 II is up to par with what you’d expect out of a top-tier gaming headset. If you’re coming from an older or outdated audio product, you will definitely notice yourself getting more kills based on audio cues alone. And that’s exactly why you’d buy a headset like this.
Features and Everyday Usage
Controls and Software
Aside from the power button, the SONY INZONE H9 II has an ANC toggle button (off/ambient/on), a Bluetooth connection button, a mic mute button, a volume wheel, and two game/chat mix buttons. All of these controls are far enough away from each other to avoid confusion. The volume wheel also has enough resistance to it to prevent those annoying moments where you grab the headset and you accidentally set the volume to max.
If you want to do any in-depth customization, you can either download SONY INZONE Hub on your PC or you can get the SONY Sound Connect app on your phone. Both have the same functions, so whichever you choose will mostly come down to personal preference. Do note that the app allows you to save EQs directly to the headset, whereas you need to have the Hub active if you want to use a custom EQ.
In terms of controls, the software is pretty basic. You can set different EQs and change (or disable) the sidetone level, but there aren’t any gaming-specific settings to play around with, nor is there a way to change the way the mic sounds.
Connectivity
The INZONE H9 II can connect via 2.4GHz wireless (which is what you want for gaming) or Bluetooth. This makes it a great headset for people who want a ‘do it all’ type of product. Once you’re done gaming and you’re going on the road, unplug the microphone, switch to Bluetooth, and you’re good to go. The headset also supports simultaneous connections, so if you get a call on your phone while gaming, you can take it if you want.
Battery Life
One aspect that kind of takes away from the ‘wear it everywhere’ aspect is the battery life. At 30 hours, the INZONE H9 II isn’t exactly a slouch (I don’t know anyone who would even want to wear a headset for more than 24 hours, so 30 hours is plenty) but it’s not playing in the big leagues, either.
During my testing, I did notice that I had to charge it more often than I’m used to from other high-tier gaming headsets. That’s not a huge problem (it’s more of a slight inconvenience) and some people will gladly make that tradeoff if it means having a lightweight headset like this one, but it’s good to know regardless, especially if you’re thinking of purchasing it as a headset that you’ll wear everywhere.
Wireless Range
When testing the wireless range of a headset, I always like to walk into different rooms. The bathroom (for a toilet break) and the kitchen (for a snack or a drink) are two popular destinations for gamers who want a wireless headset, and I managed to go to both without the headset cutting out. Whether you can do the same will obviously depend on the size of your home, but the range should not be a problem.
Conclusion
The SONY INZONE H9 II is a great high-tier gaming headset for people who are looking for a ‘one device for everything’ type of product. The only thing that’s kind of disappointing on that front is the battery life, but at 30 hours you can still go a full day without needing to charge it.
Provided that you make use of the INZONE Hub or the SONY Sound Connect app, you’ve got a headset that sounds good-to-great for both gaming and music listening. It also has a good mic, great ANC performance, and dual (Bluetooth + 2.4GHz) connectivity.
These days, there are other headsets that offer the abovementioned features, but what sets the INZONE H9 II apart for me is its design. It’s incredibly lightweight, and it also looks modern and stylish. If you’re someone who wants to take their headset on their commute or to work, these might be things you’re sensitive to, and the INZONE H9 II has pretty much all other gaming headsets beat on that front. This one doesn’t scream ‘gamer headset’; it’s a stylish and modern pair of headphones.
If this combination of features is exactly what you’re looking for, then the SONY INZONE H9 II is a fantastic purchase. However, if you’re not looking for a ‘do it all’ type of product and you want to focus more on one specific aspect (gaming performance, for example) there are more affordable options out there. With an MSRP of $349.99, the INZONE H9 II is definitely not a product for budget-minded folks.
In summary: this is an impressive, but rather niche product due to its price.
This product was received for free from the manufacturer and given to our reviewer to test and review. Brands and manufacturers have no editorial control over our reviews. For more information, check out our review FAQ.
Former semi-pro gamer turned writer, product reviewer, and community manager.
