Sony INZONE H5 review: Competent and versatile cross-platform gaming headset

It might not be the flashiest, most premium or sonically advanced set of gaming headphones, but in the Sony stable right now, it’s the most well-rounded. (Image: Moneycontrol/Karan Pradhan)

“How is this going to be fundamentally different from the H9,” I asked myself as I set about unboxing the Sony INZONE H5.

Having noted the Rs 6,000-odd difference (the H9 retails for Rs 21,999, while the H5 is available for Rs 15,990), I was particularly curious to see where corners had been cut, and how significant those cutbacks would be.

Out of the box though, the H5 comes with more accessories (a Bluetooth dongle, a 1.5-metre USB-C charging cable and a 3.5 mm cable) than its higher-end stablemate (the dongle and an extremely short USB-C charging cable) does.

The headset isn’t particularly flashy. It sports a matte black hardened plastic exterior with faux leather cushioning for the top of the head, and nylon-covered padding for the ear cups. It’s when you put it on that you see why it isn’t particularly flashy is quite irrelevant.

At 260 gm, it is quite light, anyway. But the snug fit achievable with the adjustable ear cups makes them seem even lighter, especially when you’ve got them sitting just right around your ears.

I’m pleased Sony decided to go with oval ear cups instead of the round ones favoured by the official PlayStation 5 headset — the Pulse 3D – because it means even those with larger ears can use the headset comfortably.

(Image: Moneycontrol/Karan Pradhan)

The purpose of a set of gaming headphones, in my view, is quite different from a regular set of headphones, since it has three key priority areas: providing you with a way to enjoy the audio elements of your game without disturbing anyone else, acquainting you with the sort of sounds you would have missed on TV speakers, and increasing your levels of immersion — thereby elevating your immersion.

Factor in the microphone and there’s a fourth priority area: allowing you to communicate conveniently and clearly with other gamers in an online game.

Alongside these, there are ergonomic factors like comfort, weight, ease-of-use and so on, which also we’ll be factoring in.

Based on my experience with its more expensive sibling, I knew that setting up the H5 with the PS5 would be an effortless process. And so it proved, requiring me to simply plug in the Bluetooth dongle and holding down the power button to get all paired and synced up.

Once you slip the cups over your ears, you’ll notice just how comfortable the padding and the fabric overlay truly are. As a lifelong sufferer of uncomfortable headphones (not earphones, mind you), this came as a very pleasant surprise. Additionally, the headband and cups are adjustable and movable respectively (unlike the one on the PS5 Pulse headset) to suit the unique structure of your skull.

This, to me, meant the difference between having to take a break after half an hour (until I regained sensation in the helix of my ear) and being able to play for hours without a care in the world. Additionally, the headset is incredibly light — that 260 gm feels a lot lighter — and leaves your neck free of any pain.

This level of comfort extends to the positioning of the buttons (power and game audio-chat rocker), the USB-C slot, 3.5 mm headphone jack and volume wheel, which are on the bottom of the cups allowing for easy access. After a few sessions, muscle memory kicks in and you’ll be able to increase/decrease volume without having to grope around for the wheel.

Having dealt with comfort/usability, our next stop on this sonic sojourn is compatibility and it’s here that the versatility part mentioned in the subhead comes to the party. The H5 is marketed as being a set of PS5 headphones, and so it’s quite unsurprising to find it works quite smoothly with the Sony flagship console.

All of the 3D audio options (made possible by the PS5’s Tempest audio engine) are available and, to an extent, customisable. The spatial audio truly comes alive in games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and the currently under-review The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and it certainly enhances the experience. If that wasn’t enough, I found that the H5 sits perfectly on the head even when you’re wearing the PSVR2 headset, without either the device rubbing against or tapping each other.

(Image: Moneycontrol/Karan Pradhan)

This is all very good, but expected. Let’s assume now that you also have a PC on which you enjoy playing games. What then? Luckily, the Bluetooth dongle has on it a tiny switch that can be flipped between PS5 and PC mode. Once it’s on PC mode, you can slot it into a USB drive on your computer and get started. Setup is as simple as it was on the PS5.

However, there is a greater level of audio customisability at your disposal. You will need to download the latest version of the INZONE Hub to get started, but that shouldn’t take too long.

Once you’ve got it up and running, you’ll see three distinct ways to fine-tune your experience. First, there’s the sound profile setting that lets you tune the sound your way with a set of equalisers. Second, there’s the spatial audio setting that lets you control how the sound hits your ear, once you’ve photographed your ear and uploaded the image. And third, there’s the setting that lets you adjust microphone volume and sidetone (basically, feedback from your own voice).

But wait, I hear you ask, what if you have an Xbox Series X|S or a Nintendo Switch? Well, I reply, you won’t get a customisable 3D audio experience. However, you can still use it with these consoles. It’s here that the 3.5 mm jack and cable come into play and replicate the sort of experience you can get by plugging any set of headphones/earphones into the Xbox controller or into the Switch (if you’re in handheld mode). Over the course of my experiments with the H5, I did try to plug the Bluetooth dongle into the Xbox Series X. Unfortunately, neither PC nor PS5 mode seemed to work. Oh well.

(Image: Moneycontrol/Karan Pradhan)

All that aforementioned comfort would be for naught if the H5 didn’t deliver at least adequately in the sound department. And it does, mostly. Packing 40 mm drivers, the H5 provides a rich and varied soundscape, particularly when playing a game with superior sound design. If you’ve got a copy of Returnal or Ghost of Tsushima knocking around somewhere (whether in digital or physical form), you’ll truly get your money’s worth with the H5. I have very few complaints with the largely high-quality sound until we get to the prickly issue of bass.

Depending on the game you’re playing, you can generally find a way (on PC or PS5) to squeeze out pretty decent levels on the higher end and in the mids. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case on the low end and I found the H5 to be extremely underwhelming in this regard. Explosions, growls and collisions lack that bit of oomph that a better handling of bass could’ve delivered.

Then there’s the issue of sound isolation. According to the promotional materials, the H5 features “AI-based noise reduction”. Aside from nearly everything these days being purportedly “powered by AI” or “AI-driven” (so much so that the term has lost all meaning), I didn’t really get a sense of this headset’s noise-reduction capabilities, AI-based or not.

And while the plastic exterior to which I had referred above does make the H5 incredibly light, it also means there is very little sound isolation. This isn’t a grave issue for most use cases; but if you happen to find yourself in Mumbai where you can’t toss a stone in any direction without hitting a construction site, it can be quite problematic. I found myself on at least one occasion swapping out the H5 for a much cheaper set of earphones that could block out the noise and retain the game audio with passive ANC.

While the lack of bass, noise reduction and sound isolation do blot the H5’s copybook somewhat, these factors pale in comparison to the headset’s biggest failing: The microphone. I attempted to use the H5 in a variety of situations — including during a two-player coop sessions of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, sessions of the multiplayer Among Us VR and WhatsApp calls on the PC, to name but a few. The one bit of feedback I consistently received on the quality of my audio input was that I sounded muffled or like I had a bag over my head (thanks, anonymous Among Us VR player).

(Image: Moneycontrol/Karan Pradhan)

Before I get to whether or not the INZONE H5 is worth your time and money, I should mention that Sony claims its headset offers up to 28 hours of battery life. I used the headphones for nearly a month and in that entire time, I’ve only had to recharge the H5 on two occasions.

In terms of what the H5 does provide — comfort, versatility, competent sound and great battery life -- it is good value for its Rs 15,990 price tag.

Just like the cost, the audio quality of the H5 sits somewhere between the richer-sounding (and with better bass) H9 and the just-about-average Pulse 3D. However, it’s the other non-audio aspects that elevate the overall experience. It might not be the flashiest, most premium or sonically advanced set of gaming headphones, but in the Sony stable right now, it’s the most well-rounded (all things considered) and balanced, easy-to-use and generally, just a solid buy.