EPOS H3 Wired Gaming Headset – The Affordable All-Rounder
Back in the 2014 era, I had gotten wrapped up in everyone’s favourite (at the time) looter shooter Destiny. Of all the games I’d had the chance to play with friends, this was the mother load – and thus the search for a good headset was on. At the time, I landed on Astro’s A50’s, a headset able to handle my needs while still being within my price range.
Fast forward to today, those A50’s mostly gather dust. I’ve used them a couple of times, but they are showing their age. Every time I put them on, I think to myself, “maybe it’s time to get a new pair”. From the perspective of someone who plays almost solely single-player games in a separate room of the house, however, there hasn’t really been a major need, and thus a headset has always been pretty low on the priority list of extravagant purchases.
Having had the opportunity to check out the recently released EPOS H3’s, I’m starting to think it might be time to change that.
The minute I opened the box and pulled these cans out, I was hit by the quality of the product I was holding. I thought my age-old pair had been a pretty good benchmark of quality, but the H3’s feel like they’re playing in a different league altogether.
They feel decently solid like they can take a bit of a beating yet present no problems the next time they don your noggin. The speakers themselves have just the right amount of give, allowing them to mould to the angles of your head nicely. The extenders on the headband snap with a good clack as they firmly lock into place, helping to ensure no movement once they are firmly in place on your skull. Finally, the mic is both thick and sturdy, but positions perfectly so as to not get in the way when either in front of your face or up and not in use.
Testing the audio quality across multiple devices, the sound quality was clear and concise. I’ll admit, I’m no audiophile, so I have a tough time getting into the nitty-gritty of sound quality, but I can wholeheartedly say that what I was hearing was solidly good.
One of the best sessions I sat down to run some tests on was a few hours with Just Cause 4 (A third person chaos game with plenty of explosions felt like the right environment). Spatial audio worked incredibly well, which is something I’ve not really ever experienced thanks to having a pretty simple front-facing speaker setup.
Between that, a few other tests with some games/music as well as spending over an hour chatting to a mate through discord, everything about the sound performance on these H3’s comfortably rests in the area of “above expectations” for this reviewer.
Being as solid as they are, I was a little concerned they’d feel heavy on the head after a not too long session – especially given I’m not overly used to wearing this type of setup. I’m happy to report that they kind of melted into the background during that hour-long conversion pretty quickly, barely even noticing they were there after a short while, with the impressive noise-cancelling features making it tough to even hear my own voice being the only indication that I was still wearing them.
Physically to look at, the headset is understated and elegant. The black and white without any gaudy tags or heavy branding make for a stylish headset.
There’s also a lot of small design elements that provide a real sense of experience and care behind the product. The wires connect in a well-protected location which should help avoid fraying or damage through constant movement. Said wires that come with the package – a separate regular 3.5mm jack accompanying the headphone/mic combo – are also well shielded and feel luxurious compared to regular old apple earphone cords for example.
It’s hard to fault the EPOS H3’s in all honesty. Their more simple and elegant design reflects a good quality product that is here to do one job and do it well. It might not be a flashy headset with dozens of special features, but it doesn’t need to be – it’s a well put together set of cans that will serve you well, whether laying on the couch with Switch in hand or down to the last two in an intense showdown during the battle royale of your choice.
