Sony made the surprise announcement of its Inzone series of monitors, headphones and a pair of TWS buds. The company is adding more products into the range, now including a keybaord, a mouse, two mousepads, and IEMs. Once again, it’s doing all of this without its PlayStation gaming sub-brand, which is understandable considering the PC peripherals. Instead though, the company claims that these new products were co-developed with the Fnatic esports team.
First in the list though, is a refresh of the top of the line H9 headphones, fittingly called the Sony Inzone H9 II. As before, it is claimed to be the gaming parallel of the WH-1000XM6 this time. Or, at least “built around the diver unit” of said flagship headphones. But the mic is now detachable rather than being swivelled up when not in use.
The Sony Inzone H8 II can support both Bluetooth and 2,.4GHz connections simultaneously, with the latter being done via a dongle. Battery life is rated at 30 hours, and you get a pouch to keep everything in one place when, say, the mic is not in use. According to The Verge, this also takes 3.5mm connection, which will override the other wireless options when plugged in. This is priced at US$349.99 (~RM1,480).
This next addition is a new one – the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear monitors (IEMs). Once again tuned with feedback from Fnatic, the company says it’s made to let you hear distant sounds. This includes footsteps to even reloads, though it remains to be seen what sort of effect it will have with general music consumption. Like most IEMs you get foam and silicone tip options. You can also use software wizardry to give it virtual 7.1 sound and 360 spatial audio. Though all that is only possible on PC as it requires the Inzone Hub software. This has an asking price of US$149.99 (~RM634).
Moving on, we have the Sony Inzone KBD-H75 keyboard. While the official announcement did not provide details as who what sort of switches it uses, The Verge claims that it uses Hall Effect magnetic switches. This means much longer lifespan and much faster actuation, though still slightly behind optical ones on the latter. On the flip side, you don’t need the PC software to adjust its actuation point – this can be done via an web app.
As the name suggests, this is a 75% keyboard. It also has an aluminium case and gasket mount to keep your typing and gaming more silent. It unfortunately doesn’t do wireless connectivity, but it does feature a 8,000 Hz polling rate. But this comes at a hefty price of US$299.99 (~RM!,268).
Next is the self explanatory Sony Inzone Mouse-A. Not so self-explanatory is its weight of 48.4g, possibly the lightest gaming mouse we’ve seen in awhile. Unlike the keyboard above, this one does do wireless connectivity, with a battery life of up to 90 hours. But it also has a polling rate that caps out at 8,000 Hz, and you won’t be getting that sort of battery life with this active. You also get up to 30K DPI and 750 IPS with its optical sensor. Despite the way it looks, this is made for right-handers and not ambidextrous people. This, too, is US$149.99 (~RM634).
To go with the mouse are the Sony Inzone Mat-F and Mat-D. The former is slightly thicker, at 6mm compared to the latter’s 4mm. But for the real difference between the two, the F model is made to give you a bit of friction while the latter is just pure buttery glide across its surface. Or, to use the Razer terminology, the F is a control mat while the D is a speed mat. And they are priced at US$59.99 (~RM254) and US$39.99 (~RM169) respectively. No word on local availability and pricing yet, at the time of writing.
