Introduction
EPOS is paving the way in the market with the H3PRO Hybrid. How hybrid it is, you can read that here!
Specifications
Ear coupling: Around ear
Transducer principle: Dynamic, closed
Pure Variant Weight: 308 g / 288 g (without boom arm)
Cable length: GSA 31 USB Cable: 2 m / GSA 30 Console Cable: 1.5 m
Connector plugs: USB-A / 1 x 3.5 mm
Range (line of sight)
15 m.
Range (office use)
20 m.
Compatibility:
GSA H3PRO Dongle: PC, PS4TM, PS5TM
GSA 31 USB Cable: PC, PS4TM, PS5TM
Bluetooth®: Mobile devices
GSA 30 Console Cable: PC, Mac®, PS4TM, PS5TM, Xbox® One,
Xbox® Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™ and consoles with 3.5 mm jack input
Bluetooth® version 5.2
Battery time:
GSA H3RPO Dongle (ANC on): 19 h
GSA H3RPO Dongle (ANC off): 30 h
Bluetooth® (ANC on): 22 h
Bluetooth® (ANC off): 38 h
GSA 30 Console Cable (ANC on): 18.5 h
GSA 30 Console Cable (ANC off): 29 h
GSA H3PRO Dongle + Bluetooth® (ANC on): 19 h
GSA H3PRO Dongle + Bluetooth® (ANC off): 28 h
GSA 30 Console Cable + Bluetooth® (ANC on): 19 h
GSA 30 Console Cable + Bluetooth® (ANC off): 27 h
Charging time 2 h
Headphones
Frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz
Sensitivity: 116dBSPL / 0dBFS @ 1kHz
THD: <0.35% / 0dBFS @ 1kHz
Driver: size 40 mm
Microphone
Frequency response: 100-7,500 Hz
Pick-up pattern: Bidirectional
Sensitivity 1kHz (Boom arm): -20dBFS / Pa @ 1kHz
Sensitivity at 1kHz (Ear cup): -20dBFS / Pa @ 1kHz
Style: Detachable
What’s in the box
GSA H3PRO Dongle, GSA 25 Cover plate – Black, GSA 31 USB,
Cable, GSA 30 Console Cable, USB-A Extension Cable,
Safety Guide, Quick Start Guide
Unboxing
EPOS supplied me with 2 headsets, the H6PRO and the H3PRO Hybrid. The H6PRO will be dissected in a different review.
Just like the box of the H6PRO, the inside of the box has been constructed well, resulting in a pristine quality headset without any damage.
What can you expect in the box?
– GSA H3PRO Dongle
– GSA 25 Cover Plate
– GSA 31 USB Cable
– GSA 30 Console Cable
– USB-A Extension Cable
– Safety Guide
– Quick Start Guide
And now the H3PRO itself…A wireless headset that’s definitely hybrid.
On the right side of the headset you can find a huge volume button.
The ear cups, microphone, headband are equipped with a neat looking dark blue and black color palette. The whole headset looks neat. It doesn’t necessarily scream ‘I am a Gamer’. And that’s a good thing, either in meetings or walking with it on the street as a hybrid. Either through the 3.5mm jack or even bluetooth paired to your phone.
As a reviewer I want to test the product to the extreme. And I dare to make the statement that everyone should be able to fit this on their head. It’s not only very lightweight, but also very flexible.
A neat feature is the ability to take the microphone off. There’s even a cover cap provided for when you do. This makes travel a lot easier, including purely listening to stuff on the bus/train etc. without making it look like you’re in a call center.
Placing the microphone back is only possible in one specific way. The magnets in the H3PRO ensure that you can’t mess it up.
The H3PRO Hybrid without a microphone, looks like a standard headphone. A huge benefit of the H3PRO is that if the battery is empty, it can still be used through a 3.5 mm jack, provided your phone has enough charge of course.
The thin ear cushions of the H3PRO are replaceable and quite soft. The cushions fit like a glove around your ears, and passively cancel some outside noise. Combining it with active noise canceling, you’re even more isolated. Just don’t expect super high end ANC. It only provides some white noise.
Replacing is easy, taking it off and on is done in a matter of seconds. And that increases the durability by a mile.
The ear cups are slightly angled causing the H3PRO to blast the sound perfectly in your ears. 🙂
Only downside, the headband can’t be replaced…
The H3PRO’s right ear cup only has a button for bluetooth and an ANC switch.
On the left side are the other options, a small microphone for ANC, on/off button, LED displaying the status of the headphone, USB-C connection to charge the H3PRO and a 3.5mm jack to connect it to whatever you want.
The 2.5 meter ‘GSA 30 Console Cable’ that’s supplied in the package can be used on PC, Mac®, PS4TM, PS5TM, Xbox® One, Xbox® Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™ and any device with a 3.5 mm jack input.
Software
The EPOS H3PRO Hybrid utilizes EPOS Gaming Suite. And it has improved over the years, but there’s lots more to be desired.
An option to link certain presets to certain applications would’ve been a nice idea.
If I load up game A, I get preset A, load up game B, get preset B, sadly this isn’t present.
The Gaming Suite has 3 pages. A page to edit your EQ preset, an EQ page to make your own preset and a page for microphone/settings. All the way at the top, the battery life of the H3PRO is displayed.
The presets come in the following: Music, eSports, Movie & eSports. Of course, you could make your own preset and add it to the list. A thing that’s definitely neat is that it only takes 1 button press on the bluetooth button to switch presets!
Below the microphone page certain things can be adjusted such as gain, sidetone, noise gate and noise cancellation. For example the sidetone decides how much you can hear yourself as feedback, or none at all. Noise gate makes it so you can filter away low volume background noise. Like a voice activation level that only receives input when a certain volume passes through.
On the settings page, some info about the H3PRO Hybrid is displayed. For example, you can decide if you want the software to be active upon booting up Windows. You can also configure the use of the ‘smart button’, the bluetooth button on the HD3PRO. Or switching between 7.1 and 2.0, or preset (eSport, flat etc.).
Over the years, I’ve had a plethora of headphones, headsets and gaming headsets to review. In my review of the GSP 370 you may have seen me be harsh about the Sennheiser Gaming Suite, calling it the worst software for headsets. EPOS with the EPOS Gaming Suite has managed to add/improve a lot of things. But there’s more than enough room for improvement. The H3PRO Hybrid sounds amazing for a wireless headset, and has a lot of potential.
In use
The EPOS H3PRO Hybrid is a great headset, one of the reasons why is because the ear cushions are so soft, even after hours of use, there’s no pressing feeling on your head. The broad headband also ensures that the pressure is divided neatly on top of your head. Other headsets might cause pain after hours of use, this does not.
Whilst on holiday, I took the H3PRO Hybrid with me. Sitting near the pool with a Mojito and the H3 I got to truly rest. The ‘average’ ANC tried its best, but don’t expect too much from it. It is, and sounds like a gimmick. But that’s not that big of a problem, the H3PRO is good enough with its closed design to isolate you enough whilst listening to music.
When listening to music, the H3PRO sounds good. Don’t expect high-end quality like other headphones can offer. This headset was designed for gaming, audio wasn’t the primary idea, but it still does great!
For example, ‘Fly me to the moon’ – Frank Sinatra puts it to the test, you can truly experience all the backing instruments in the track. And for EDM and the ‘harder styles’ of music, the H3PRO dissects them with ease as well.
EPOS H3PRO is a great headset and a jack of all trades. I’ve even tried it on my PS5. When playing Horizon Zero Dawn which I’ve finished now, the H3 truly immerses you in the game. It’s a fantastic headset to play games with, and it being light, makes a gaming session that much better.
On my PC paired with the low-latency dongle there’s much more fun to be had. Playing games like The Division 2, Battlefield 4 and Forza Horizon 5 I can’t deny that it was amazing. The audio placement of ‘enemies’ is pretty good. The 2.0 option seems fine for this. Because the H3PRO also supports 7.1 it’s up to you if you want to go there.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the 7.1 because it’s only emulated by software, instead of actually having multiple speakers in the headset. With a complete 7.1 audio set I’d give it a try, but in this case I’ll pass. But all of that is personal preference.
Especially with Forza Horizon 5 it’s a godsend that wireless works well, considering that I love to hang back in my chair without being strangled by cables.
Battery life is also pretty neat. After a gaming session I hook it up to USB-C to charge. The dongle will last for around 30 hours, which is quite a while. Without perhaps a 24-hour livestream, you won’t get close during your gaming sessions to empty the battery…
The H3PRO being closed adds to immersion and creates a world on its own.
The microphone sounds good. People on Teamspeak and Discord remark that the audio quality isn’t far off my normal hardware, which is a massive compliment!
Conclusion
The Epos H3PRO Hybrid is a great headset and a market contender, bursting with options. With a stunning 30 hour battery life using the dongle, which should be more than enough.
The hybrid function of the H3PRO makes it so the microphone can be easily taken off. Which makes the headset adaptable for every situation. The microphone itself is attached through magnets, and for the quality itself, it’s pretty good. Voice Chat testing is unanimous, you will be heard clearly.
Due to the closed design of the H3PRO, the audio quality is quite good. Enemies in shooters can be heard well, and their location. The H3PRO has quite a lot of bass, especially for a wireless headset. Using the EPOS Gaming Suite, the preset/EQ can be configured to your liking. It would’ve been nice if presets could be linked to applications. This would’ve prevented me from having to press the Bluetooth button until the right preset was in use. The EPOS Gaming Suite has improved a lot over the years, but not enough for my liking.
Physically, the H3PRO is light, firm and flexible, which are all three important. The headset can take a slight rage quit here and there, and the light weight helps with longer gaming sessions.
Wireless, through bluetooth and the dongle work well. The dongle has a decent range. But don’t think you can take your friends on Voice Chat for a house tour.
EPOS offers replacements for all components on their website, and that is a major bonus. This makes the durability of your headset skyrocket. There’s lots to replace; cable, ear cushions etc. But sadly not the headband. And that’s a shame. Eventually, it will get dirty or break. Even with bog standard normal use that will take years, but still…
The EPOS H3PRO Hybrid is a good headset with ease of access and deserves 4 out of 5 stars.
