Sony InZone E9 In-Ear Gaming Monitor Review – A Headset Replacement?

Sony's InZone E9's are not mundane headphones: arsenic with galore in-ear monitors (IEMs) you get nary mic, nary wireless connection, and nary sound cancelling. Instead they're specifically designed for intelligibly proceeding your opponents' footsteps and gunshots successful competitory shooters, and Sony says it has worked with Fnatic – which has pro teams for CounterStrike, Valorant, Apex Legends, and much – to tune the sound. So tin they truly springiness you a competitory edge, and is the dependable bully capable for you to ditch your regular gaming headset oregon gaming earbuds successful first-person shooters?

Sony InZone E9 In-Ear Gaming Monitor – Design

The InZone E9 buds aren't peculiarly pretty. The basal of the bud is chunky and the ridged, integrative cone that connects them to the cablegram looks, and feels, cheap. It spins independently of the earbuds, which makes it consciousness similar an other portion stuck on.

But, having said that, I rather similar the elemental aesthetic: it's each achromatic but achromatic logos, near and close is labelled clearly, and determination are nary obnoxious shiny surfaces. The receptor loops are likewise plain and functional. More importantly, the InZone E9s are comfortable. Surprisingly so, considering they're designed to beryllium jammed into your ear, afloat sealing disconnected extracurricular noise. I ne'er felt immoderate irritation oregon discomfort adjacent erstwhile I played five-hour sessions – that's earnestly impressive.

The flexible integrative loop that goes astir your receptor ne'er tugged connected maine and astir of the clip I couldn't consciousness it astatine all. It's fundamentally a guardrail to marque definite the lightweight buds don't shimmy sideways, alternatively than an integral portion of the fit.

This comfortableness is 1 of its large pluses implicit larger headsets. Some people's ears get sweaty with large receptor cups, and caput straps tin hitch against the apical of your head. You debar each of that here, and for that crushed I tin spot myself reaching for the InZone E9s successful aboriginal astatine slightest immoderate of the time.

You get a wide enactment of earbuds colour-coded by size, 4 standard, and 4 chunkier ones that blot retired much noise. Without sound cancelling tech the InZone E9's trust purely connected a carnal obstruction and portion I didn't announcement a immense quality betwixt the buds, they each kept maine focused connected my crippled – I failed to perceive idiosyncratic shouting my sanction respective times from a antithetic country astatine 1 point.

I applaud Sony for including a agelong 1.8-meter / 5.9-foot cable, which volition snake from your desktop to your ears adjacent if you're not sitting straight adjacent to it. That makes the InZone E9s viable for radical who person unconventional gaming setups.

The downside is simply a dangling cablegram erstwhile you're distant from your PC. When I connected the InZone E9s to my Dualshock controller it piled up connected the floor, and erstwhile I plugged them into my telephone via the USB-C dongle, the cablegram dangled astir my knees. You tin stitchery and clamp it with an included necktie but that's a batch of faff, particularly if you're often switching devices. It underlines the information that the InZone E9s are precise overmuch PC-first headphones, designed for competitory mouse-and-keyboard play.

You tin plug them successful straight to your headphone jack or, if you privation to usage Sony's software, via the compact USB-C dongle. Everything fits unneurotic successful a tidy included question case, which is bigger than an earbud bearer but truthful overmuch easier to transport than a elephantine headset. It's 1 of the large advantages of IEMs.

Just retrieve that the InZone E9's person nary built-in mic. That'll beryllium annoying for immoderate radical who are utilized to a headset-mic combo: either you'll request to bargain a abstracted mic or, if you person 1 already, usage an other slot to plug it in. It didn't fuss maine due to the fact that I already usage a standalone mic, but it's worthy keeping successful mind.

Sony InZone E9 In-Ear Gaming Monitor – Software

Sony's InZone Hub is Windows-only, truthful you won't beryllium capable to tune the audio if you're connected consoles. It is pleasingly elemental and casual to use, with each mounting connected a azygous screen. You tin rhythm done six EQ presets oregon customize your own. The euphony preset inactive sounded bad, but the 3 designed for FPSs were much useful: 1 that emphasises footsteps and gunshots, 1 for footsteps and dependable effects, and 1 that suppresses large dependable effects similar explosions. I'm somewhat skeptical that they bash precisely what they accidental – footsteps dependable antithetic successful each game, aft each – but I did consciousness similar I could perceive important sounds better.

The aforesaid goes for the dynamic scope control, which fundamentally reduces the measurement of the loudest noises and raises the measurement of the quietest. I felt similar it made a genuine quality erstwhile listening for footsteps successful Arc Raiders. And spatial sound, arsenic I mentioned successful the erstwhile section, helps you archer wherever each sound is coming from. I ne'er turned it disconnected due to the fact that I preferred the wide dependable of it, adjacent erstwhile I wasn't gaming. As good arsenic being casual to usage the bundle was reliable, instantly recognising erstwhile I connected my headphones each time, and it didn't clang once.

Sony Inzone E9 In-Ear Gaming Monitor – Sound Quality

The InZone E9s dependable beauteous lifeless. Bass doesn't punch, instruments dependable flat, and vocals deficiency warmth. It's not terrible, but it's each a small tinny. For listening to euphony oregon watching films, I overmuch similar the richer dependable of the OnePlus Buds 4, which I precocious reviewed, and the much immersive audio of my older, reliable HyperX headset.

I truthful wouldn't take the InZone E9 arsenic my mundane headphones, and I couldn't urge them arsenic your lone PC device, which limits their value. If you're playing an atmospheric crippled with euphony – say, Silent Hill f – you'll privation a headset that conveys the emotion better.

They are, however, designed for 1 job: competitory gaming, which is wherever their clarity and precision shines. You tin easy separate idiosyncratic sounds from 1 another, adjacent erstwhile there's tons happening. In Arc Raiders, I could prime retired respective antithetic sets of footsteps rattling against a metallic floor, adjacent with a inheritance of gunshots, explosions, and dependable comms.

Everything sounds elaborate and loud: to enactment with Arc Raiders, the buzz of a damaged shield was intelligibly antithetic to the whirr of a shield powering down erstwhile it was broken, which helped maine determine erstwhile to propulsion my enemy, and I could archer what benignant of instrumentality a adjacent hostile was opening conscionable from the sound it made.

Again, nary of it sounds amazing, but it does the occupation of telling you precisely what's happening successful your game, and due to the fact that the dependable is being pumped straight into your ear, it feels closer, much immediate. You tin besides easy archer which absorption sounds are coming from. In Battlefield 6, I knew the absorption of force footsteps approaching erstwhile I was defending a power point, allowing maine to pre-aim definite angles and rack up kills.

Toggling connected "spatial sound" successful the bundle (which we'll travel onto successful the adjacent section), made that directionality adjacent better. Each sound became adjacent much distinct, and if I closed my eyes I had a wide representation of what was astir me: a booming vessel to my right, a fume grenade landing and popping to my left, my teammates' boots moving up down me.

Just don't expect a large leap from your favourite headset: astir bully ones person wide dependable and consciousness of direction. There were a mates of times wherever I heard things with the InZone E9 that I wouldn't person different heard, and I was somewhat much alert of the absorption of noises compared to my regular headset, but the quality was marginal.