Do you want a headset that can connect to practically everything, is rocking wireless connectivity, and has a sleek design with plenty of features? Well, I think the EPOS H3 Hybrid might just do the trick – with limited niggles to boot.
At A Glance
The EPOS H3 Hybrid comes with a bunch of handy-dandy features. For the first-time headsetter, the EPOS H3 Hybrid handily rocks high-quality audio and a detachable microphone. If that is all you are after and want to know, then this is a solid piece of kit.
Everything from gaming to music sounds great, although it can be a tad bassy at times. The mic itself is perfectly functional, but, like the audio input, tends to add bass to your vocals in addition to a slight tinny tone. The mic is ideal for voice chat, but if you were planning to stream or create content, then having a standalone mic would be a better option.
Battery
The headset also has quite the battery length – although it does vary based on how you are using it. On a single charge, you are looking at 37 hours of Bluetooth connectivity, which is pretty damn good. If you hook it up via wire to a console (more on this later), then you should expect a significant decrease in life, at a still-respectable 24 hours.
If you are willing to sacrifice even more battery life and drop it to a ‘measly’ 19, then you can connect the EPOS H3 Hybrid via wire AND Bluetooth. This allows you to get game audio through to your eardrums via a cable connected to, say, a Dualsense, whilst also getting discord chat audio from your phone or PC. It’s pretty handy, and you can also do some audio mixing to ensure your discord/game audio isn’t overpowering the other.
Even More Options
If you hook it up to a PC via USB then you can unlock even more features for your headset, namely 7.1 surround sound and a host of audio and microphone preferences courtesy of the EPOS Gaming Suite. I was unable to get this thorough testing due to some hardware issues. These were unrelated to the EPOS H3 Hybrid, but from what I messed around with, it’s a pretty good suite that is easy to fiddle around with to nail the perfect preferred performance.
One of the cooler features is the lack of a mute button on the mic or wire. To mute the headset all you gotta do is lift the boom arm to a neutral position, and it turns off. It’s a pretty nice feature. Another fairly simple addition is your mic audio being played through your headphones. This was especially useful when I was streaming as it allowed me to hear myself speak, which was mostly impossible otherwise due to how good the pads were at canceling out background noise.
Comfort
I have fairly big ears that generally dislike being confined. This often has the drawback of headsets being pretty damn uncomfortable. The EPOS H3 Hybrid, whilst causing some pressure on my hefty lobes, did not cause any pain or discomfort, even after multiple hours of gaming back-to-back. The muffs are made from very nice clothy velour…stuff and have noticeably more padding than my previous ‘go to’ headset. The pads can also be replaced, which is a nice touch.
The headband can also be adjusted, which is to be expected and can accommodate even the meatiest of domes. Overall, the EPOS H3 Hybrid feels fantastic on the ol’ bonce.
Issues
As good as the headset is, I did bump into a couple of issues that may raise the odd eyebrow. Firstly, the volume controls on the kit itself felt almost broken. Dialing volume up or down came across as glitchy and way more effort was required than I was expecting to get my audio into the goldilocks zone. EPOS are planning to add more volume steps in a firmware update later on which should improve this.
Finally, connecting to a PS5. If you are buying the EPOS H3 Hybrid to connect wirelessly to the PS5 and nothing else, then give this a skip. This is an issue with Sony’s proprietary nonsense I imagine, but the PS5 does not support Bluetooth headsets that aren’t their own. If you try to connect this headset, you will get an error message every time. This forces you to connect via cable to your controller, and, well, this does defeat the point of having a wireless headset. For everyone else, this is not an issue. If you are planning on using the dual-audio functionality, this is not an issue either.
Verdict
Overall, the EPOS H3 Hybrid is a quality piece of kit. It’s stylish, sounds great, has plenty of features and options, and rocks a respectable battery length and a quick charge time. The only issues I have are a fiddly volume dial which is due to be improved and Sony having infuriatingly restrictive hardware. You are looking at a £149 asking price, which is about £50 more than its wired counterpart, but you get enough gubbins to justify that bump in price.
EPOS H3 HYBRID IS RECOMMENDED
Purchase: Argos (UK), EPOS Store
If you would like to see more hardware and accessories, you may be interested in our review of the EPOS B20 Streaming Microphone. Or if you’re looking for a budget headset, the Gioteck TX70 Wireless Headset may interest you.
Many thanks go to EPOS for a review unit.
Forged in the rainy wilds of northern England, I carved a path of mediocrity through generations and genres. My play style is often described as: “optimistically awful”.
