Sony InZone E9 review: these earphones earned a permanent place in my gaming go bag

Introduction

Wireless, over-ear gaming headsets are a dime a dozen in 2026, while true wireless earbuds aimed purely at players are a little less common. Which must make the Sony InZone E9 – a pair of wired in-ear monitors designed solely for shooters – a bit of a unicorn.

They’re designed with pro play in mind, being modelled on the IEMs esports teams already wear underneath their noise cancelling headphones when competing onstage. Gaming legends Fnatic even consulted on the sound profile, which magnifies opponents’ footsteps and gunshots without needing any software tweaking.

Regular players might think having to stay plugged in at all times feels archaic in the age of low latency Bluetooth, and ask why the InZone E9 is prices to compete with wireless gaming headsets – despite not even having a microphone. But as I found out through a few months of testing, there are other benefits to going back to cabled listening. Especially if you’re a Steam Deck or other gaming handheld owner…

Design & features: budding romance

Unzipping the handy carry case (which is wrapped in a hard-wearing material that feels like the stuff they make wetsuits out of) reveals the InZone E9 buds, hooked up to a usefully long 1.8m cable. Sony hasn’t tried to fix what wasn’t broken, sticking with the classic in-ear monitor design. Each bulbous driver housing dangles down from a flexible plastic hook, which wraps over each ear to stay comfortably but firmly in place.

The InZone branding is distinctive, whether you go for the black or white model, but I wouldn’t call it obviously gamer-chic. A few more logos on the cable and inside the case don’t distract from the otherwise simple appearance. Left and Right are clearly labelled, and the matte finish hides fingerprints very well indeed.

Find the right set of silicone ear tips (Sony bundles multiple sets, with some designed specifically for noise reduction) and these IEMs are properly comfortable. They’re light, don’t apply irritating amounts of pressure to your ear canals, and cut out an impressive amount of background noise even before you boot up a game. Cable microphonics are minimal, too.

I like that Sony has used a detachable cable, but because the E9 has a unique shape you won’t be able to just use any alternative with MMCX connectors. Still, it saves you having to throw the whole thing out if the cable ever got damaged, so long as the firm can supply a direct replacement.

What you won’t find here is an in-line microphone. If you’re coming from a headset/microphone combo you’ll need to also add the cost of an external mic into the purchase price if you want to keep chatting with your teammates.

Interface: there if you need it

Wondering how 3.5mm earphones can have any software? Sony’s InZone app only comes into play when plugging the bundled USB-C dongle into your gaming rig. It usually lives in the other half of the carry case, and draws power from your device once connected, so you don’t have to think about charging or battery life. That’s a real win for me, meaning the InZone E9 could live in my travel bag and always be good to go when I next needed it – never a given with the wireless earbuds I’d been using previously.

Though InZone has been in the wild for over a year now, Sony still only supports Windows, meaning Mac and Linux users (and Steam Deck owners) are out of luck. This is a PC-focused product, with no app for the PS5 either.

PC players get access to a handful of EQ presets, plus a 10-band custom equaliser for making their own, but the Music preset can’t fully address the treble-heavy, bass-light driver tuning. It works great for games, of course, though I think three separate settings for the FPS genre is over-egging the pudding a bit.

7.1 virtual spatial sound and dynamic range control are more useful. The former helps expand the soundstage and let me more easily place distant sounds within the game space, while the latter reduces the volume of the loudest sounds and raises the quietest ones. It’s nothing like what the game’s sound designers had in mind, but it absolutely gave me a leg up in online Battlefield 6 matches.

Sound quality: we came to play

If the first thing you play through the InZone E9’s 5mm dynamic drivers is music, you’ll be a little underwhelmed by their flat presentation. Bass just doesn’t have a lot of oomph and can come across as a little hollow, while the treble lacked a bit of bite. However, boot up a first person shooter and it all makes sense.

These IEMs give a fantastic sense of detail and clarity in games, with upper-mids that show a great amount of separation between individual sounds. Even during hectic gunfights directionality is top notch, well before you reach for the virtual surround upmixing.

The focus is entirely on the sounds of approaching footsteps, grenade pins being pulled, and weapons being reloaded out of your sight line. The InZone E9 is a fantastic pairing to Counter Strike 2, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given Fnatic’s involvement.

I wouldn’t pick these IEMs as a first choice for atmospheric survival horror games or epic single-player RPGs, but that’s not to say there’s no low-end at all, or that the high frequencies are uncomfortably shrill. More that there’s not quite as much energy across the entire tonal range as you’ll get from gaming headsets with a more multi-purpose tune. The custom EQ goes some way to countering it, but not totally – and only when you’re using the USB dongle.

As someone that largely plays shooters, though – on handhelds as well as PC – I really appreciated the sense of space and direction these IEMs delivered.

Sony InZone E9 verdict

No, they’re not cheap. You’ll need to supply your own microphone for in-game comms. And the FPS-focused tuning limits their everyday appeal. But the InZone E9 is expertly tuned for a particular kind of player. These earphones have an excellent sense of directional audio and amplify the frequencies that matter most during hectic multiplayer matches.

Crucially for regular travellers and gaming handheld owners, you never have to worry about them being out of battery the next time you go to play. They don’t take an age to pair, and they’re small enough for easy stowing. Sometimes the old ways really are the best.

Sony InZone E9 technical specifications