EPOS offers high-end gaming audio equipment, with its line of headsets looking to set the gold standard for what gamers should expect from their gear. One of the company’s newest products is the H3 Hybrid, which features both wired and wireless functionality, and is designed for use on PC and consoles. After some time with the H3 Hybrid, we can’t recommend it enough for your gaming setup.
Safe and sound
The EPOS H3 Hybrid features a soft adjustable headband that doesn’t cause discomfort during long periods of use, while still sitting firmly atop your head. I appreciated that there were numbered notches on either side of the headband, making it easier to make sure that I had them adjusted to the same level. The ear cups are made from a memory foam-like material and sit at an angle, making for a much more natural fit than a lot of headsets. The entire headset is pretty lightweight, which I enjoyed as somebody that wears their headset all day long.
Wearing my headset all day means that I need something with a fairly substantial battery life. The EPOS H3 Hybrid can last for 37 hours of wireless usage on a full charge. I typically charge my headset every night, but even when I forgot to do so, my H3 Hybrid got me through the next day without dying out on me. The headset’s battery life will range depending on what hardware you're using it with.
Though I overall really like the physical design of the H3 Hybrid, there was one part that kept bugging me. The audio dial on the side of the headset is a flat rotating circle, with no sort of indicators as to what your volume is in relation to the maximum and minimum. There’s also no fixed start and stop point, so you can just spin it around endlessly. It makes it unnecessarily difficult to adjust my volume on the fly, or know what my current setting is without just hearing it or seeing what Windows volume mixer is at.
A versatile headset
The EPOS H3 Hybrid can be used for both consoles and PC. The headset has multiple input options, making it easy to use across different devices. Getting the bluetooth setup and properly connected was pretty easy when playing on an Xbox Series X, and it was undoubtedly a much better sound quality than my previous Xbox gear.
Playing on PC, I was a bit bummed out that the headset didn’t come with its own USB bluetooth dongle, but I didn’t mind using a wired connection. That said, the headset has a closed back, and whenever something rubbed against the headset cable, the sound reverberated in my ears. It was a bit frustrating, and forced me to arrange my cord in such a way that would minimize these instances.
The microphone quality on the EPOS H3 Hybrid is pretty decent. Of course, it doesn’t stack up to a dedicated microphone, but it’s better than the average console mic and serviceable on PC. What I really loved about it is the fact that it’s detachable. The boom mic is magnetically attached to the side of the headset, so you can simply pull it off if you don’t want to use it. I prefer my desk mic on PC, so I liked the convenience of just taking the microphone off when I didn’t want to use it.
A helpful hybrid
The EPOS H3 Hybrid is an excellent high-end headset. The audio quality is crisp and clear, whether it be in-game footsteps and gunfire, or the voices of friends or colleagues in Discord and Zoom. Though I was annoyed by the volume dial design and had issues with sound reverberation caused by contact with the cord, the EPOS H3 Hybrid gets a recommendation if you’re looking for a nice headset upgrade.
This review is based on a physical product provided by the manufacturer. The EPOS H3 Hybrid is available now for $179 USD on the company's website.
EPOS H3 Hybrid
- Crisp sound quality
- Lightweight and comfortable feel
- Detachable microphone
- Works seamlessly on consoles and PC
- Poor volume dial design
- Sound reverberation when using wired connection
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