How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-26 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
• EPOS PC 7's biggest strength: A true headset with a noise-cancelling boom mic, over-ear design and USB plug-and-play setup — it's built for two-way communication on a computer.
• EPOS PC 7's biggest trade-off: It's a wired USB-A device, so it's tethered to a laptop or dock and can't plug into a radio or a 3.5mm jack.
• HYS Surveillance Listen Only's biggest strength: A tiny, light in-ear earpiece with a transparent acoustic tube and a 3.5mm plug — you only listen, nothing more.
• HYS Surveillance Listen Only's biggest trade-off: It has no microphone at all, so you can't talk through it, and it needs a compatible 3.5mm jack to work.
• Who EPOS PC 7 is for: Anyone who spends the day on calls — support agents, remote workers, students, office staff.
• Who HYS Surveillance Listen Only is for: Security, event and field professionals who need to hear radio traffic without anyone noticing the earpiece.
The EPOS PC 7 is, first and foremost, a communication tool. It's a wired USB headset with a noise-cancelling boom microphone, wideband audio and a single on-ear earpiece design that leaves one ear open. That last detail matters more than it sounds. If you work in a shared office, a front desk or a call center, keeping one ear free means you can still hear a colleague walking up behind you or a phone ringing on another desk while you're mid-conversation.
The spec sheet tells you what kind of buyer this is aimed at. The 32-ohm impedance and 42 Hz – 17 kHz frequency response are tuned for speech, not for music production or gaming immersion — the top end rolls off well below the 20 kHz that full-range headphones reach. That's a deliberate choice for voice clarity. The included USB sound card means you plug the USB-A connector into a Windows PC, Mac or Chromebook and it just works, no drivers, no setup, no fiddling.
Who should buy it? If your day revolves around Skype, Zoom, Teams or any softphone platform, this is the sensible pick. The mono design, the boom mic and the simple USB connection all point to one job: making your voice sound clean on the other end of the line. It's also a reasonable choice for students on remote classes or anyone who takes a lot of calls from a fixed desk.
HYS Surveillance Listen Only: Who It's For
The HYS Surveillance Listen Only is a completely different animal, and that's the whole point. It's a single in-ear earpiece with a 3.5mm plug, a transparent acoustic tube and a balanced armature driver. It has no microphone. It is, as the name says, listen-only.
The design brief here is discretion and durability. The silicone ear tip and rounded tip shape sit inside the ear, and the transparent tube is deliberately low-profile so it disappears against the skin. If you're working security at an event, coordinating a fairground crew, or you're a firefighter, EMT or police officer monitoring a channel, you want to hear what's being said without broadcasting a big headset on your head. That's exactly what this does.
The audio side is more serious than the size suggests. A balanced armature driver paired with a 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz frequency range gives you a fuller range than the EPOS headset offers, with the listing describing solid deep bass and a clear midrange. Speaker sensitivity is rated at ≥105 dB/mW at 1 kHz with 32-ohm impedance, so it's efficient and should be easy to drive from a radio or speaker mic. The microphone sensitivity figure of -42 dB ±3 dB refers to the inline mic element on the accessory side, but note: this earpiece itself is receive-only.
The cabling is where the field-focused thinking shows. It's a PU cable with a Kevlar coating, described as soft, flexible and snag-free, with extended field life in mind and ROHS 2.0 compliance. For someone clipping an earpiece to a duty belt every shift, that matters more than any spec sheet number.
Who should buy it? Law enforcement, security, event staff, and any professional who listens to radio traffic and talks through a separate radio or shoulder mic. Who should skip it? Anyone who needs to be heard through the headset itself, anyone who wants stereo music listening, and anyone whose radio uses a two-pin connector — this is a single 3.5mm plug, and it only fits a 3.5mm jack. If your radio has a two-pin slot, this won't fit without the matching adapter.
• Best for voice calls and meetings → EPOS PC 7. It has the boom mic, the USB connection and the speech-tuned audio.
• Best for discreet radio monitoring → HYS Surveillance Listen Only. Tiny in-ear fit and a transparent acoustic tube.
• Best for durability in the field → HYS Surveillance Listen Only. Kevlar-reinforced PU cabling designed for extended field life.
• Best for plug-and-play simplicity → EPOS PC 7. USB-A, no drivers, works on Windows, macOS and Chromebook.
• Best for wide frequency coverage → HYS Surveillance Listen Only. 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz versus 42 Hz – 17 kHz.
• Best for keeping one ear open → EPOS PC 7. The mono, single-ear design is built for awareness.
• Best if you need a microphone in the headset → EPOS PC 7. The HYS unit is listen-only by design.
• Best if your radio uses a 3.5mm jack → HYS Surveillance Listen Only. Just confirm the connector type first.
If I had to pick one, I'd buy the EPOS PC 7 — but only because it does more jobs. In my opinion, a headset with a microphone, a wideband speech-tuned driver and USB plug-and-play is the more useful purchase for the average person doing calls, classes or remote work. The HYS Surveillance Listen Only is the better tool for one specific job — hearing radio traffic discreetly — and if that's your job, it's the right pick. They're not really rivals; they're built for different desks. Match the tool to your task and you'll be happy with either.
FAQ
how to connect wired headset on pc
how to wire headset
Most wired headsets are single-connector and need no wiring at all. The EPOS PC 7 is USB-A, so it's one plug. The HYS earpiece is a single 3.5mm plug, so check that your radio or speaker mic uses the same 3.5mm socket before buying.
how to connect wired headset xbox one
Neither headset here is designed for Xbox. The EPOS PC 7 is a USB-A computer headset, and the HYS unit is a single 3.5mm listen-only earpiece — it has no microphone, so it can't serve as a chat headset. For console voice chat you'd want a headset with a dedicated gaming connector.
how to connect wired headset xbox series x
Same answer as above: these two products are aimed at computers and radios, not consoles. If console chat is your goal, look for a headset built for that platform rather than adapting either of these.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
When you buy through links on this page, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon or its affiliates. This site is an independent third-party review and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon or the product brands mentioned.
See also: Krysenix Gaming Headset vs AOC Gaming Headset, TelPal Telephone Headset vs MKJ USB Headset: Call Center, ThinkWrite Technologies TWT Audio Ergo vs EPOS Impact 100, ZIPFORCE True vs Tulbeys Open Ear Headphones