EPOS make very good gaming headsets, and traditionally they have a price tag to match.
In an effort to attract a more budget conscious gamer, however, the company has released a more affordable offering in the form of the EPOS H3 closed back acoustic gaming headset.
With an RRP of $179.95 these are a good mid-point between the entry-level headsets on the market and some of the premium offerings out there, including those from EPOS themselves.
Broadly the H3 shares some design similarities to the EPOS GSP 60x headsets, but without the premium finish. The headset (I reviewed a white one) is largely plastic, but features a metal reinforcing headband.
While the construction of the headset is good, it still feels a bit plasticky – not cheap, but also not made out of the same stuff as the GSP range either.
The earcups seemed smaller, too – my (on the large size) ears were a bit cramped in there and they started to get a bit warm as a result. The volume control on the right ear is a bit fiddly too, but once set it stayed put and wasn’t hard to adjust once I got used to it
The H3s connect via a 3.5mm jack to consoles, or an included splitter to 2x 3.5mm jacks (one for mic, one for sound) for PC use; I tested the H3s with an Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. The sound quality was better on the Xbox Series X, strangely, but still very good on the PS5 for the most part.
On the PlayStation 5, I tested the H3s with Returnal, Strange Brigade, and Ghost of Tsushima while on the Xbox Series X I used Strange Brigade, Yakuza: Like A Dragon and Watch Dogs: Legion.
Audio-wise, they followed the Sennheiser and EPOS tradition of being very good, although in this case I thought some of the lower-end sounds were a bit on the light side and in some cases (particularly on the PS5), the bass lacked as much ‘oomph’ as I’d like. It’s still acceptable, but a small tweak to enhance those elements just a bit would have enhanced the offering just enough to make the price tag an easier sell.
The H3s are stereo rather than 7.1, so you don’t get the 3D sound effect in games like Returnal, but you can still use audiolocation to work out where enemies are in that and other games – I could track the cadaverous creatures coming after me in Strange Brigade, and hear which way the wind was blowing in Ghost of Tsushima.
Overall, the EPOS H3s proved themselves to be a good upper-mid range headset (provided you don’t have large ears), being a noticeable improvement in audio quality over a budget pair and focussing on what matters to gamers looking for something respectable without investing hundreds of dollars on the top of the range.
