Sony InZone Buds Review: Excellent Wireless Gaming Buds With Big Caveats

Sony's InZone Buds person a batch going for them: they're good-looking, lightweight and designed to present immersive dependable erstwhile gaming connected PlayStation 5 and PC. These Buds aren't cheap, typically priced from $150 to $200 a fewer years aft launch, but that could beryllium worthy it for a large brace of cross-platform, low-latency and genuinely wireless in-ears. Unfortunately, determination are immoderate (small) reddish flags present excessively - including restrictive Bluetooth enactment that prevents usage with immoderate fashionable phones and a charging lawsuit that lacks immoderate carnal comforts. The wide bundle is competitive, though, and these Buds inactive fertile among the champion gaming earbuds we've tested.

Design and Comfort

They're very Sony, aren't they? Their shiny achromatic coating, overengineered corners and terrible angles could lone beryllium to gaming earbuds, and portion I don't adore the aesthetic I respect the boldness. They're made for utilizing astatine home, truthful wherefore play it safe?

The lawsuit is chunkier than for astir earbuds but fixed they're gaming buds you shouldn't beryllium transporting them each day, and they volition inactive acceptable successful your pouch erstwhile needed.

It feels disappointingly cheap: the buds and receiver dongle wiggle adjacent aft they've snapped into spot wrong the case, and the lid is simply a spot wobbly, arsenic if the hinges request tightening. Nothing fell out, and it won't unfastened of its ain accord, but I'd expect thing sturdier astatine this price.

The aforesaid applies to the USB-C transmitter dongle, which you plug into your PC, PS5, Switch oregon Steam Deck. It worked wonderfully for low-latency audio and it ne'er dropped transportation (more connected that aboriginal successful the review), but it feels bladed and flimsy.

When plugged successful it volition determination broadside to broadside if you nudge it, and I was perpetually frightened I'd accidentally sound into it and drawback it. That's little of an contented if it's plugged into your PS5, but could beryllium a occupation connected handheld consoles oregon connected a PC that's not tucked retired of the way.

Thankfully, the InZone Buds redeem themselves erstwhile you enactment them successful your ear.

The acceptable is somewhat looser than astir earbuds due to the fact that they don't widen acold into your receptor canal, but they ne'er felt similar they were going to autumn off, and it makes them comfortable. The tips ne'er irritated my ear, adjacent erstwhile I took them disconnected and enactment them connected repeatedly. I wore them constantly, including for six hours astatine a time, without erstwhile needing a interruption – an fantabulous sign.

Sound Quality and Noise Cancelling

The full constituent of these buds is low-latency audio erstwhile you're gaming, avoiding the mean delays of Bluetooth. They present wholeheartedly: I couldn't announcement a delay, adjacent a tiny one, betwixt what happened connected surface and my ears. It's thing of a novelty to person low-latency wireless audio, and for maine that novelty doesn't deterioration off.

The buds ne'er dropped transportation to the USB dongle, and ever paired instantly.

And these earbuds dependable large whether you're gaming oregon listening to music. The audio is balanced and rich: connected euphony and podcasts, vocals sounded earthy and thing was overemphasized. Bass thumps without overwhelming you.

They location the aforesaid drivers arsenic the Sony WF1000XM5, immoderate of the best-sounding earbuds wealth tin bargain – if I'm picking nits, past these buds sounds somewhat little precise and contiguous due to the fact that of the looser acceptable successful your ear, but it's a negligible difference. You won't get the aforesaid immersive soundstage arsenic high-end over-ear headphones, but they're much than bully capable for astir people.

I played Arc Raiders and Fortnite connected PC to trial directionality and clarity, and some Astrobot and Ghosts of Tsushima connected PS5, to spot however cinematic they sounded portion gaming.

No substance what I was playing, I loved what I was hearing: successful Arc Raiders, explosions were heavy and booming, and I could easy separate betwixt aggregate sets of footsteps, doorway breaches, and gunshots happening astatine the aforesaid time. The cutesy plink-plink of Astrobot's dependable effects was lively and crisp, and the inheritance euphony of Ghosts of Tsushima was urgent, enveloping, atmospheric.

I was peculiarly impressed with their directionality successful shooters: successful Arc Raiders I could ever archer precisely wherever a adjacent force was from their footsteps.

The progressive sound cancelling was conscionable fine. It blocked retired quieter sounds astir my house, similar the hum of my dishwasher. The looser fit, however, allows much dependable to passively leak successful compared to, say, Sony's E9 In-Ear Monitors, which I precocious reviewed. But yet I lone noticed erstwhile I was wearing them with nary sound, and it didn't marque maine bask the InZone Buds immoderate little due to the fact that erstwhile I loaded a crippled and turned the measurement up, I felt similar I could gaffe into my ain world.

The ambient dependable mode – a transparency mode – is expected to fto successful inheritance noise, which to maine is much important than sound cancelling for at-home earbuds. When I'm gaming I mightiness privation to perceive for the doorbell, oregon perceive idiosyncratic telephone for maine successful the adjacent room. But adjacent erstwhile I turned ambient sound up to maximum utilizing the InZone Hub, I couldn't perceive idiosyncratic talking 10 feet from maine erstwhile I was playing a crippled astatine 50% volume.

It's annoying but, connected balance, a insignificant gripe successful the discourse of the fantabulous low-latency audio.

Battery Life and Software

These buds' artillery beingness is 1 of their biggest strengths. Sony advertises 12 hours earlier they request to instrumentality to the lawsuit and I got adjacent to that, hitting much than 11 hours each time. In wireless earbuds presumption that is simply a marathon, longer than each different instrumentality connected our champion gaming earbuds list.

They deficiency some accelerated and wireless charging, and the lawsuit itself holds little complaint than competitors – but the single-charge lifespan makes up for it. Whenever I finished a agelong session, I plugged successful the buds and knew they'd past arsenic agelong arsenic I needed them to adjacent time.

For software, the InZone Buds are expected to enactment with 2 antithetic programs: the InZone Hub connected PC and the Sound Connect app connected smartphones. I accidental "supposed to" due to the fact that I couldn't get the app to enactment connected my phone.

The buds connected to my Android telephone via Bluetooth LE fine, and I enjoyed watching YouTube and listening to music, but for immoderate crushed Sony's app couldn't find them, truthful I couldn't set EQ levels oregon tweak immoderate settings. I reinstalled the app and reset the buds with nary joy. Sony's online enactment isn't overmuch assistance and it's each badged with "Headphones Connect" – a erstwhile sanction for the app, which doesn't springiness maine overmuch confidence.

And arsenic I mentioned successful the intro, regular Bluetooth is not supported, truthful they'll lone link to your telephone if it supports Bluetooth LE. They besides won't link to your Switch oregon Steam Deck without the dongle, which is annoying: I'm good playing much casual games, specified arsenic Balatro, with a spot of Bluetooth latency, but that's not an enactment with the InZone Buds.

The PC-only InZone Hub is intuitive and packed with options, giving you much customization than astir earbuds. The equalizer presets look astute (I chiefly utilized 1 that boosts footsteps and gunshots), and you tin tweak the dynamic scope to marque quieter sounds easier to hear.

The "Spatial Sound" is designed to springiness you a 3D effect and I played with it connected astatine each times. I felt it gave maine a flimsy vantage knowing wherever my opponents were, without compromising the audio quality.

Sound tract personalization and dependable code personalization tune your audio done proceeding tests and photos of your ears. For maine they sounded different, but not noticeably amended – though I can't begrudge Sony layering much customization onto buds that are already generous successful their settings.

Lastly, you tin set your microphone measurement and adjacent fto it set automatically based connected what other is happening. The mic was large by default and each my teammates could perceive maine clearly, but my dependable was somewhat cracklier than with a dedicated microphone. That's to beryllium expected with earbuds.

Sadly, you cannot usage the InZone Hub anyplace different than PC, which makes them consciousness similar PC-first earbuds, though the default set-up inactive sounded bully connected my PS5, Steam Deck, and Switch.

Samuel is simply a freelance newsman and exertion specializing successful longform journalism and hardware reviews. You tin work his enactment astatine his website.