EPOS H3 Closed Acoustic Gaming Headset Review

The Epos H3, more than anything else, really surprises us with its comfort, quality, and price. To ascertain its score, we engage in an extensive testing regiment challenging the headset's comfort, sound quality, microphone performance, and ease of use. The results show an overall high performer, but with some kinks that may alienate some users looking for peak performance.

Performance Comparison

Comfort

Constituting 40% of each gaming headset's total score, our Comfort metric provides us with the most important data for ranking. The Epos H3 offers an incredibly comfortable experience, outperforming much of the competition. For this metric, we test how comfortable the headset feels after a prolonged period, its quality, and how well it fits.

Every single one of our comfort testers found the Epos H3 to be a comfortable headset. Clearing the ten hours of continuous wearing benchmark was a cinch, and the Epos H3 sat snug but comfortable on every head. Our testers did note that it can get a little warm in hot environments, though this is normal for over-ear headsets.

A headset's headband can easily make or break the comfort metric, but the Epos H3 does not disappoint. With smooth, but firm, leatherette padding, this headset sits comfortably and securely on your head. With a slight indent along the roof of the headband catering to the curvature of the skull, the Epos H3 feels form-fitting and designed to be worn comfortably. The Epos H3 continues to provide quality comfort with the right amount of room for your ears. We say the right amount, because while there is plenty of room for your ears to not feel squished, the suede padding snugly keeps your ears in place, meaning they won't be swimming around. However, you can still comfortably adjust the cups around your ear a little bit to get a better fit.

Audio

Second only to comfort, our audio metric constitutes 30% of our total score. Once again, the Epos H3 provides a strong showing and outperforms many of the other gaming headsets in our lineup. For this metric, we run a baseline audio test, test in-game sound positioning, and how well external ambient sound is filtered out.

Given that we are testing out the best gaming headsets, in-game positioning capabilities are a necessity. The Epos H3 is great at conveying positional information on nearly all fronts, with the only murkiness coming from directly behind. Locational identification, however, was always clear and evident, making the Epos H3 a strong performer. As most gamers who utilize headsets are likely to be listening to their friends also, we opened up our Discord to see how the Epos H3 broadcasts voices. Our testers liked the clear, full sound which this headset provides. One tester did note that it lacked an 'airy' sound, but this is a personal preference.

Our audio benchmark testing revealed interesting data about the Epos H3. Our bass testing found solid playback, accompanied by a slight parasitic buzz which may alienate audiophiles. Our binaural test also received excellent scores, although once again our testers noticed slight muffling on the right side. The driver test matching for the Epos H3, however, knocked it out of the park with excellently centered frequency. Overall, while an audiophile may have a complaint, this is a fantastically well-balanced headset.

This headset handles music well, although not exceptionally. The sound is good and crisp, yet neither the bass nor the treble offers up the high musical quality of other models. However, overall, the Epos H3 is still a solid model.

With a closed-back, the Epos H3 does a moderate job of blocking out external noise. Our testers found this headset to only block out about 20% of background music or television. However, when put up against dull droning sounds, such as an air-conditioner or fan, the Epos H3 eliminates almost 50% of the sound.

Microphone

20% of the Epos H3's score is accounted for by our microphone metric. The consensus amongst our testers is that this headset offers a good quality mic experience, although lacking the professional sound of better performers. Nonetheless, the mic quality was still crisp enough, with all of our phonemic and sibilant tests showcasing clear and distinct syllables without distortion.

Our testing of the Epos H3's mic's ability to filter out ambient sound produced good results. Keyboard sounds were only really noticeable when the mic was queuing up, but unless the testers were striking the keys, the sound was nonexistent. When muting, the most perceivable sound was a slight moving sound, and when our testers used the headset while their computer produced its own audio, the noise fluctuated between nonexistent and hardly noticeable over the mic, even at max volume. Ambient sounds such as chewing, fans, or loud talking infrequently burst through the mic, but that usually only occurred when the headset user was talking simultaneously. Otherwise, the sounds were filtered out adequately.

Ease of Use

The Epos H3 scores the most poorly under our ease of use metric, which constitutes only 10% of our final score. As a plug-and-play headset, there is a convenient lack of software with the inherent downside of less fine-tuning.

The Epos H3 comes equipped with onboard controls for muting and volume. Muting is incredibly simple, requiring only to lift the microphone on the left side (this headset is not equipped with an in-line mic). The mic is not furbished with sidetones, however, so we found ourselves yelling now and then. We also didn't like the lack of detachability for the mic, so if it breaks, you will need to buy a whole new headset. On the headset's right side, there is the volume dial, which works fine, although we found it being flush slightly inconvenient.

The headset cables included with the Epos H3 are very durably braided products, which we liked. However, the cord to plug into the PC is only 78 inches (6 feet, 6 inches) which may seem long conceptually, but depending on your rig's setup, this may pose some issues, as it did for us. Likewise, the 3.5-millimeter cord is 59 inches long (4 feet, 11 inches), a length that falls in the shorter end of the products. The saving grace, however, is that all of these cords are detachable from the headset at the earphone, meaning in the case of damages or the need for a longer cable, a replacement is quick and easy.

Value

The Epos H3 is a quality headset, and its value is high. One of the top gaming headsets we've ever tested, this model presents a better offering than some competitors, for half or even a third of the price. If you're looking for a premium offering, and the price is no object, then other headsets may be better. But, if you're looking for a great product that absolutely warrants its price, then the Epos H3 offers that, and even more.

Conclusion