JBL Quantum 100P review – SoundGuys

It appears a perennial fact that regardless of what number of gaming headsets we now have, a brand new 12 months at all times brings new platform-specific renditions of acquainted fashions and type elements. In that mild, the JBL Quantum 100P tells you numerous with simply its identify—it’s a P-for-PlayStation themed mannequin of 1 probably the most fundamental gaming headsets JBL sells in a now crowded Quantum line. Easy isn’t at all times a nasty factor—in truth, it’s typically preferable.

Let’s see if the Quantum 100P has what it takes to turn out to be a brand new finances basic.

Editor’s word: that is the primary model of the article. Updates will comply with because the market adjustments.

The JBL Quantum 100P is about as fundamental because it will get. It’s an all-plastic over-ear gaming headset, sporting a PlayStation 5-esque white and blue look. There’s no further buttons, LED lights, or frills of any form. It’s only a pair of headphones with a increase mic hooked up.

Whereas the plastic doesn’t really feel terribly sturdy, the Quantum 100P may be very comfy to put on. It’s light-weight, little doubt owing partially to the dearth of inner elements, like a battery. The ear cups are vast, and deep sufficient to permit for large ears, which suggests getting a seal round your ears is straightforward. The headset’s hinges have an honest capability to tilt and might rotate to put flat, which suggests you shouldn’t have a lot hassle discovering a cushty match, no matter your head form.

Truly utilizing this gaming headset is very simple. There’s no software program or machine drivers to put in. The Quantum 100P comes with a removable 3.5mm increase microphone, and incorporates a quantity dial and mic mute swap on the underside fringe of the left headphone. That’s just about all there may be to it.

This can be a wired gaming headset, and the one method to join it’s by plugging it right into a 3.5mm TRS headphone jack. There’s no USB dongles or Bluetooth performance to talk of. Which means the JBL Quantum 100P works on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Swap, Xbox Sequence X/S, PC, cell gadgets, and extra. Easy as could be.

The JBL Quantum 100P options good passive isolation efficiency, however nothing too outstanding. Attenuation like this can be greater than satisfactory for dealing with many of the environmental sounds you may hear whereas gaming at dwelling—roommates speaking, somebody washing dishes within the kitchen, a automotive horn out the window—however not a lot previous that. There’s no lively noise canceling, so low-end attenuation is just about nil.

The JBL Quantum 100P has an odd wanting frequency response for a headphone, however one which’s typical of many gaming headsets. Significantly odd is the large bump within the 70-400Hz bass vary. Sound like this could possibly be fairly disruptive relying on the type of music that you just take heed to—something that depends totally on the low and mid vary sound might come by way of sounding disproportionately loud. For sure, it lands fairly vast of our in-house goal curve for headphones.

Listening to a rock tune like Dracula’s Daughter by Seashore Day, the reverb on the distorted rhythm guitar steamrolls the remainder of the observe. The bass guitar comes by way of fairly clearly, however drums and vocals sound notably much less current. The guitar is meant to be very outstanding, however on this headset it appears to dominate the remainder of the instrumentation in a nasty manner.

This sort of sound profile works superb for enjoying most video games, although. The over-tuned bass makes the rumbles and large reverberant facets of environmental sounds really feel a bit too current in a single participant recreation like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on PlayStation 5, however multiplayer video games don’t have the identical points most of time. When there’s no backing observe or environment environmental sounds, it’s rather a lot much less distracting, so the silence punctuated by gunfire and explosions in video games like Apex Legends and Valuing doesn’t sound terribly out of whack.

The JBL Quantum 100P sounds loud, and it suffers a bit from a bent to blow out the bass in decrease voices. You possibly can mitigate this a bit by positioning the mic a bit farther out of your mouth—it’s on a versatile wire, so discovering the proper spot is straightforward. Voice and video calling apps like Google Meet or Discord may even do rather a lot to select up the slack, so others could not even discover a difficulty within the first place.

JBL Quantum 100P microphone demo (Splendid situations):

Should you’re on the hunt for a finances gaming headset you don’t must assume too laborious about, the JBL Quantum 100P is unquestionably price contemplating. It’s not a spectacular piece of {hardware}—the sound is fairly wonky, in any case—but it surely’s additionally below $40 USD. What you get for that cash is a light-weight, simple to make use of, no-nonsense machine. The microphone is okay, the design is comfy, and it really works in all places. That’s a reasonably compelling proposition.

Should you’re on the hunt for cut price gaming audio merchandise, there are tons of nice choices to select from. JBL’s personal Quantum 50 is a standard advice we regularly make for anybody open for a pair of earbuds as an alternative of over-ear headphones. It’s doubly price mentioning right here, given how significantly better it sounds than the Quantum 100P. It’s cheaper too ($34 at Amazon).

Nevertheless, for extra substantial choices, chances are you’ll must spend a bit extra. For $55 at Amazon, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1 brings comfy suspension type headband, and ear pads coated in gentle mesh cloth—excellent for lengthy gaming classes. The headset additionally sounds a bit extra affordable.