Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: The best open-back headphones for gaming and entertainment?

Nearly 20 years ago, I went out and purchased the Bose AE2 (Around-Ear) headphones. They were 3.5mm headphones and a one-stop solution to my music, movies, and gaming needs. Since then, I have shared a relationship with numerous headphones, both wired and wireless, but none of them struck the charm, charisma, and feel of using the AE2. There are a couple of reasons I loved those headphones: lightweight, easy to wear, breathable material for my ears, and comfortable to wear with glasses. They weren’t noise-cancelling, which I appreciated, as it meant that I could wear them for hours on end. Since then, I’ve used some amazing pairs of headphones, but the Bose AE2 felt like the long-lost love that wouldn’t return. I’m glad to say that all changes today.

I have with me the Sony InZone H6 Air Open-back headphones, built on the components that made the Sony MDR-MV1 a favourite for those who used it. They are wired, which means no Bluetooth or dongle support. They sound too good to be true and, apart from one minor gripe, are perfect for those like me looking for one pair of headphones for gaming as well as entertainment needs. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

Floating on Air: Build, Design, and That 199g Magic

Sony says that the InZone H6 Air is “Made with aluminium and a Graduated Hole Design, INZONE H6 Air is our lightest gaming headset yet, with an ultra-lightweight of only 199g without the detachable mic.” And boy oh boy, are they light. At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking the earcups are plastic, when they in fact aren’t.

The ear cushions are also very comfortable, and the clamp pressure from the headband is almost nonexistent, which is great for those of you who wear glasses. This means that there is no noise cancellation, and the open-back nature means there is a lot of sound leakage. But that’s okay, as these aren’t designed to be noise-cancelling. Considering the sweltering heat in Delhi, while my ears did get sweaty, I did not mind wearing these headphones, playing games, and consuming content for hours on end without feeling the nauseating vacuum that comes with using noise-cancelling headphones. Furthermore, the ear pads are replaceable, ensuring long-term longevity if the original cushions ever wear out.

The headband, too, has this braided, sturdy finish with thicker bead padding, adjustable for a comfortable fit. In black, these headphones not only look stealthy but are quite attractive as well, thanks to the “Graduated Hole Design.”

The mic is detachable, which is great, and if you leave the mic in, there is a physical mute button on the left earcup, the only physical button there is. Apart from that, you have a volume wheel, the port for the 3.5mm cable, and the mic port. That’s it.

It comes with a really long 6.6-foot cable with a simple tie in case you need to reduce the length, very thoughtful. However, it is worth noting that the cable can sometimes produce slight microphonics (cable noise) if it rubs aggressively against your clothing. There is also a 3.5mm to USB-C DAC in the box, which makes a difference when consuming content via a PC or smartphone.

Overall, the build of the headphones is near perfect. My only gripe is that it doesn’t come with a carrying case, which is a bit of a bummer.

Levelling Up the Immersion: Gaming and Mic Performance

Since these are gaming headphones, let’s start with their gaming performance.

I played games on my PS5 and Xbox Series X by connecting the 3.5mm cable to the respective controller, and via the PC using the included DAC. On the PS5, I played the following games: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, DiRT 5, Gran Turismo, Ratchet & Clank, and Resident Evil Requiem. On the Xbox, I played Doom: The Dark Ages, Gears 5, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps. On the PC, I was limited to Forza Horizon 6 and 007: First Light.

One tip before we get into the performance: keep the system volume (be it either of the consoles or the PC) at full volume and use the dial on the headphones to control it. It gave a much better experience that way.

In all the games, the sound output of the headphones was phenomenal. Because of the open-back design, the soundstage is remarkably wide, giving you a true sense of physical space and distance that closed-back headphones struggle to replicate. Before one of the big sequences in 007, when the signature 007 tune plays, all the brass instruments kick in with superb clarity, keeping a very good separation between the action, dialogue, and music. Phenomenal performance. It was the same in racing games like DiRT 5, Gran Turismo, and Forza, offering impressive grunt for the audio of the vehicles as well as channel separation that is very clear when cars are overtaking each other.

Even the background score in a game like Doom: The Dark Ages, which is challenging on most headphones, sounded sublime without feeling unbalanced on these headphones. And the emotional soundtrack of Ori is one to behold. Grace’s breath in my ears levelled up the fear of playing Resident Evil Requiem. I cannot emphasise how “neutral” and well-balanced these headphones sound when gaming! They also do a fantastic job of highlighting directional audio, making enemy footsteps and environmental cues incredibly accurate.

My only advice is don’t go into the InZone app to change the profile or enhance the bass, as that does more damage than good to the performance of the headphones. Leave them as they are out of the box. Pretend the app doesn’t exist. You’ll thank me for this one!

I am not big into multiplayer gaming, so the performance of the mic was serviceable for me. It did pick up my kids screaming, but to be fair, they were standing 6 inches away from my face. The audio is clear and clean from the mic, featuring a pickup pattern that attempts to isolate your voice, though it clearly has its limits in loud environments.

Beyond the Controller: Cinematic Music and Entertainment

I listened to the following tracks on my M1 MacBook Pro as well as my Pixel 10 smartphone via YouTube and Apple Music: “Dracula” (JENNIE Remix), “Bad Dreams” by Teddy Swims, a lot of Daft Punk, some Coke Studio, a bunch of classic Bollywood, and some of my favourite tracks from Dhurandhar Parts 1 and 2. For movies, there is the race at the 11-minute mark in Ready Player One, a lot of the dogfights from Top Gun 1 and 2, The Batman trilogy, and some Lord of the Rings as well. Most of the content was consumed via the Apple TV app on my Mac with the headphones connected via the USB-C DAC.

The channel separation, dialogue clarity, and well-balanced bass are all noteworthy. The drivers deliver a surprisingly punchy but controlled bass response, which is a rare treat for open-back headphones of this weight. The channel separation is especially noticeable when an inverted plane goes right-side up, and the entire left and right channel perspective changes in Top Gun. The same applies to the race in Ready Player One, where the channel separation and directional audio of the race, along with all the mayhem, completely surround you. I only wish I could connect these headphones to my Apple TV box to enjoy the movies on the big screen. The closest I came was connecting them to the 3.5mm port on the PS5 and using the Apple TV and Netflix apps to consume content on the big TV.

In the past, I’ve said that there are gaming headphones that sound good enough for music and movies, and multimedia headphones that sound good enough for gaming. But here I am saying that if you are okay with a wired solution, the H6 Air is a dream for those looking for one pair of headphones to do everything without having to rely on an “app” to tweak settings for different use cases.

The mic is serviceable for taking calls as well. I attended a few online meetings using this mic, and while I was told my audio sounded muffled at times, I would like to think there were network issues involved there as well. I went for a walk wearing these headphones, connected to my phone, and took a few calls. This is the only use case I wouldn’t recommend for these headphones: taking calls outdoors. Going for a walk and listening to music is enjoyable, but the absolute lack of passive noise isolation means traffic, wind, and ambient city noise will easily bleed into your audio experience – something I was OK with.

Verdict: Should You Buy the H6 Air?

Priced at about Rs 18,000 as of me writing this review, the headphones aren’t cheap. But whether they are value for money for you is something you will need to judge based on your use case. What the InZone H6 Air has going for it is very good sound output, a very lightweight and comfortable design, a long 3.5mm cable, and a DAC in the box. However, the open-back nature of the headphones means your colleague sitting next to you in the office can eavesdrop on what you are listening to, and I wish the headset came with a carrying case. But apart from these points, if a wired pair of headphones for gaming and entertainment is what you are looking for, you can’t go wrong with the H6 Air.

Editor’s Rating: 9 / 10

Pros

Cons

Home Reviews
Related Articles
© 91digital Web Private Limited. All Rights Reserved.