A Truly Attractive Gaming Headset
I am truly amazed by the level of progress displayed by EPOS in its line of gaming headsets. If you compare the EPOS GSP 300 to their latest headset, the EPOS H3, you’d know what I’m talking about. The designers replaced the big, bulky, boring and bland chassis with a streamlined, subtle and attractive body. EPOS started to exhibit this transformation in their GSP 601, but their H3 absolutely wins the game.
The H3 is nothing less than a beauty. The sample I received featured a black leather headband with a white plastic fork sticking out from both sides. The exterior of the earcups is also white, with a black volume wheel on the right earcup and a black cable port on the left cup. The left cup also features a tactile lift-to-mute boom mic which makes sure to let you know when it’s muted.
The headset is minimal, with just the logo stamped on each side and the brand name on its right. It is also considerably slimmer than its predecessors. The mic’s bulk has been significantly reduced and is now subtler and more minimal. The size of the headset is also small, with a total length of just 6.57 inches. The first thought I had when I held the H3 in my hands was about its weight. Weighing only 10 ounces, this is an incredibly lightweight headset.
Great Fit as Always
EPOS headsets have always provided a great fit, never moving on my head unnecessarily. They stay firmly affixed, hugging my ears tight. The H3 delivered the same level of comfort. Its headband provides an incredible amount of memory foam padding. The cushioning is slightly thicker on both sides than in the center of the headphones. Thanks to the negligible weight of the headset and the generous padding, I couldn’t feel a thing during my hours-long session of gaming. The earpads are stuffed with leather and have a velour plush coating on them, so you don’t have to worry about your ears getting sweaty. The cups are deep enough not to let the cartilage of my ears touch the interior, and are also hinged to fit any face size.
The built-in stainless-steel slider has length indicators stamped on it, and integrated click stops make an audible sound as you move it. The numerical steel band serves as a helpful feature for remembering your ideal adjustment preference.
Simple Pairing and Navigation
Being a wired headset, there isn’t much that could go wrong with the H3’s pairing. Two high-quality woven nylon cables accompany the cans: one for console and one for PC. The PC cable has two separate outputs for the mic and headphones.
Navigation-wise, you might think there isn’t a lot to mess up in a wired headset. However, some companies still run into the mistake of clustering all the controls unintuitively on the same earcup. The H3 has only a few controls divided between both cups. The volume wheel is big, tactile and easy to locate.
Sufficiently Good Gaming Experience
The only gripe I had with gaming on the H3 was that the bass wasn’t as great as advertised. Most of the marketing material of this headset reinforced bass as one of its most valuable features. While it wasn’t completely non-existent, it wasn’t one of its defining features. The bass didn’t come to me on its own, I had to look for it. I put on Dead Trigger, one of the best Android action games of all time. In a game where there’s nothing but the sound of gunshots, I was expecting a lot more bass. I expected my throat and neck to carry a constant thump but found the headphone’s actual performance underwhelming in this area. It wasn’t until I put on my ultimate bass test song, Low Life, that I felt some bass.
The audio highlighted in-game narration pretty well. Usually, narration during a game gets buried somewhere in the background music and game effects. But the H3 keeps narration on a separate layer. Treble comes through clearly as well. No matter how much I increased the volume, the treble retained its sharpness and clarity throughout.
Final Verdict
If you’re upgrading solely for bass, don’t buy the H3. If you’re looking for clear, loud, crisp audio with detail in it, the H3 is a great option. It is also very reasonably priced for such a high-quality headset.
Is It Hardcore?
Yes!
If EPOS hadn’t focused on bass as much as it did, I wouldn’t have had been disappointed by the lack of exceptionally good low-end thump from its H3 headset. Apart from that, the H3 is a brilliant headset with flashy aesthetics, a comfortable fit and focused audio.
