Chris InglisThe H3PRO Hybrid headset released by EPOS at the end of 2021, and I have been wearing it pretty much every day since. Over this time the sound and structural quality has not skipped a beat. The H3Pro Hybrid has both wired and wireless options, a detachable mic boom arm and super comfortable earpieces. The headset ships with all the cables you’ll need for all situations and can be connected between all of your gaming devices with ease.
It has Bluetooth 5.2 built-in so you can connect to Nintendo Switch and Android/iOS devices easily. Then there’s a low latency USB dongle that is pre-paired with the headphones, allowing you to plug this into your PlayStation 5 and PC. I use it with my PC and have the occasional connection issue to the USB dongle, but nothing a ‘turn it off and on again’ approach doesn’t fix it. To charge the device, there’s a USB-C cable and USB-A extension, and finally it has a long 3.5mm jack cable to plug directly into audio ports for the switch, your PC, or the Xbox/PlayStation controllers.
I used to have four headsets in the house – one each for my PC, Xbox Series X, PlayStation, and earbuds for the Switch, but I have got rid of them all and just use this H3PRO Hybrid set. These closed ear headphones do well to block out background noise. Coupled with active noise cancelling (ANC) and you’ll have near total immersion in the games you are playing. There is a switch for ANC on the right earpiece however I didn’t notice a difference with ANC on or off despite trying through various gaming and music scenarios. Also on this right earpiece is the volume wheel which you can turn easily. When using it on the PC, it didn’t always sync with Windows volume slider wirelessly and when it did, it jumped in volume increments. It’s not as precise volume control as I would like but it’s still a useable feature.
The left earpiece has the 3.5mm jack, detachable magnetic mic boom arm, a USB-C charging port, power button and power indicator light. The indicator light only shows if the headset needs charging, and blinks when pairing. One downside I found was there was no indicator of whether the headset is powered on or not when using it. I had to put the headphones on, turn it on and wait to hear “battery is above 80%” to be sure they were on. Similarly, holding the power button down when I was finished to hear it turn off. Otherwise, there’s no external indicator of whether it’s powered on or not.
In terms of battery life, EPOS states we should get up to 30 hours when paired with the wireless USB dongle. This usage drops to 19 hours with ANC enabled. If connected via Bluetooth, usage extends to up to 38 hours and 22 with ANC. Up to 29 hours with the 3.5 mm cable, 18.5 hours with ANC. Again, without a visual power indicator it was difficult to keep track, you just need to get into the habit of powering the device off while you’re still wearing it and wait for the audible indicator turning off before hanging it up for the night.
Initially the headset felt like it was clamping my head too tightly, but over time this eased as I got used to it and it was firm on my head, even when walking around. Now some 14 months later and it still fits firmly on my head. I get a bit of perspiration from the leather ear cups after a long gaming session in the warmer months, but that’s personal to me, otherwise the ear cups fit well. The headband is strong, adjustable, and comfortable with the whole unit weighing 308g. The detachable boom mic is easily moved up when not in use and is removed with a slight pull where the magnet gives way. Replacing this with the provided cap magnetically snaps into place easily. The magnet is strong enough that the microphone arm never feels flimsy. I prefer to use my AT2020+ microphone when at the PC but it’s good to have the microphone arm there for when I play the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 of Nintendo Switch.
The sound quality was really good out of the box despite it using 2.0 channels by default. Installing the EPOS Gaming Suite enables you to switch to virtual 7.1 surround sound on some presets but this relies on the source audio signal being 7.1 capable. You can then click the Bluetooth button on the right earpiece to cycle through the four sound presets available – flat, music, esport (treble) and movie. Flat and music presets utilise 2.0 channels while esport and movie uses 7.1. I found the movie preset to be the best one for games like Halo Infinite and The Witcher 3. When listening to music, there was a slight difference between flat and music, but for me there wasn’t much difference between all four presets, though I’m not much of a music aficionado anyway.
Overall, the H3PRO Hybrid is an excellent wireless headset for the gamer that wants one solution to connect all their gaming devices with ease. This headset hasn’t dropped in price from AUD$399 since release, which is a sign of its quality and while this can be considered on the expensive side for a gaming headset, it can be connected to all of your gaming consoles.
The H3PRO Hybrid closed-ear headset can be purchased from EPOS direct or JB Hi-Fi. Another great product from EPOS is the H6PRO & GSX 300 Bundle which I also highly recommend.
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