EPOS H6 Pro Open Back Gaming Headset Review: It's Incredible

Who Is The EPOS H6 Pro Open Back Gaming Headset For?

• The EPOS H6 Pro open back gaming headset is great for those who want top-quality audio for a competitive price
• The H6 Pro open back headset is wired, meaning it is compatible with every console and PC
• The microphone boom arm on the H6 Pro is removable for those who just want to listen to music

Gaming headphones are usually geared toward specific customers. Some headsets are made to only work with one console, some offer features that improve microphone performance, and some have spatial audio to help gamers get more immersed in whatever they are playing. However, the EPOS H6 Pro open back gaming headset has managed to thread as many needles as possible, making a single headset that is amazing for a huge audience.

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Works With Everything

The EPOS H6 Pro open back headset is ideal for the gamer who plays everywhere. Because the headset is wired with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, it is compatible with everything from PCs to PS4 to Xbox Series X to Switch. If it has a headphone jack, the H6 Pro is ready to go.

While I love a headset that is compatible with as many devices and platforms as possible, the H6 Pro goes even further than that. It looks goofy wearing a gaming headset on the go, especially one that has a built-in microphone. EPOS thought ahead on this, and has made the boom arm on the H6 Pro completely detachable. All a user has to do is give a light tug, and the boom arm pulls away from the magnets holding it in place with ease. EPOS also included extra caps to cover up where the microphone was, making the headset look great.

Nice Build With One Glaring Exception

The EPOS H6 Pro headset is a sturdy and stable offering with some nice touches. The headband is covered in a leatherette that is soft to the touch, and has enough padding to keep things comfortable for long gaming sessions. The ear cups are covered in more of a cloth-like fabric, and are also padded softly enough to keep things tight, but cozy.

Overall, the headset feels great in my hands and has a nice enough heft to feel significant without becoming too heavy. The microphone is on a boom arm attached to the left ear cup, and swivels up and down when wanted. There's a nice click to indicate when the microphone is fully up and muted. The only downside here is that the boom arm isn't all that flexible, but it is low enough that the microphone was never in my line of sight. There is also a spinnable dial on the right ear cup that adjusts audio volume.

While I generally think the H6 Pro is a quality headset from a physical standpoint, there is one small bummer and one annoyance. The small bummer is that the ear cups don't rotate to lay flat, which is nice when dropping a pair of headphones to hang around my neck. The ear cups have an oh-so-slight rotation to them, but that's about it. The bigger annoyance is that the end of the cable has a 90-degree bend at the jack. While that doesn't seem like a big deal, plugging the H6 Pro into my controllers kept sending the cable right into my fingers. If I pushed it down, it caused the cable to bend sharply. If I pushed it up, it made the cable shoot upwards into my face. If this plug were straight it would make playing with a controller a much nicer experience.

Great Microphone

Speaking of the EPOS H6 Pro's microphone, this one is great. The boom arm on the H6 Pro can be swiveled up and down, and when the microphone is in its down position, it is ready to go. The microphone itself is pretty small and streamlined, meaning there isn't a big, fuzzy ball of foam getting in my eyeline while playing.

As far as performance goes, the microphone works wonders. My teammates have told me I sound loud and very life-like when speaking through the H6 Pro microphone. There aren't any crackles or distortion warping my voice, and the open back nature of the headset itself doesn't cause any audio issues.

Open Back VS Closed Back

For those of you unfamiliar, let's give a quick lesson on what an open back headset is, and how it is different from a more traditional closed back headset. Closed back headsets are the predominant variety of headset, with the ear cup being like a bowl with only one open end (the part that goes against a wearer's head, where the ear goes). This forces all audio from the headset in one direction toward a wearer's ear.

Open back headsets, on the other hand, are exactly what they sound like. Instead of a bowl with only one open end, the ear cups on open back headsets have, well, small openings on the back. This gives audio more room to naturally project, allowing music and sounds from games to feel more natural and less like they're being played from a speaker. It's a subtle difference, but definitely helps audio feel more lifelike.

That said, while open back headphones offer more natural-sounding audio, they can suffer from outside noise. Because an open back headset is open, external noise will creep in. Closed back headsets block this external audio much more easily, and offer superior noise isolation compared to open back headsets. Those in noisy environments should stay away from open back headphones for that reason, otherwise whatever they are listening to could get overpowered.

Those who are more interested in a closed back option are in luck, as EPOS has also made a version of the H6 Pro with a closed back design. The closed back design offers all of the same features as the open back one, just with slightly different ear cups that reflect the closed back approach.

Audio Excellence

OK, so now that we have that out of the way, how does the EPOS H6 Pro open back headset actually sound? The short answer is that the H6 Pro sounds absolutely fantastic.

The open back design of the H6 Pro allows game audio to feel more natural and alive. This means when crawling through the jungle of Far Cry 6, it sounds like you truly are right in the middle of the action. Music comes through crystal clear, and strikes a near-perfect blend of lows, mids and highs.

What really impresses me with the H6 Pro is its bass response. Bass doesn't overwhelm the rest of the mix, but is still punchy enough to feel a little bit of rumbling. This means things like explosions and gunfire in games feel more dramatic and intense than they otherwise would. I think the open back design really helps here as it allows the bass to really expand while still sounding natural.

Final Thoughts

I have been very, very impressed with the EPOS H6 Pro open back headset. I like the look, I like the feel, and I love the performance. You know you have a great product when the biggest complaint I have is that the cable juts out a little awkwardly.

At around $180, the H6 Pro is a bit on the pricey side. However, I think you would be hard-pressed to find a better sounding headset for less. Those looking for more flashy features like wireless capabilities or game/chat audio mixers may not find much in the H6 Pro, but those looking for a great wired headset with fantastic audio should look no further.