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Whether you’re looking for consumer or professional audio gear, JBL has a long legacy in the industry…but they haven’t done much in the gaming space until now. A few months ago, they went overboard and launched an astounding seven gaming headsets on the exact same day alongside one pair of desktop speakers. The “Quantum” range has a style for literally every budget between $40 and $300, covering the gamut of features from 3D surround sound to Bluetooth to 2.4 Ghz wireless to RGB lighting.
As you go cheaper, you lose features. The mid-range Quantum 300 offers just enough of what makes the series special that I decided it would be a good place to buy in, and although it can’t claim superiority over others on the market, it’s still an interesting headset with plenty of sound performance and comfort. And a disastrous implementation of microphone input.
Oh dear.
UPDATE (1/28/2021): Mic audio on the dongle was fixed in a patch! Disaster averted! The rest of the original text remains in this review for posterity.
OVERVIEW
The JBL Quantum 300 (official site) sells for $79 normally, and sometimes goes on sale. I bought mine for about $60 on Amazon. It’s a closed-back gaming headset that’s available only in black. It has a permanently attached cable and microphone. The cable is 1.2 meters long. In the box, you’ll receive a USB sound card dongle with its own 1.5-meter cable. Unlike some other USB sound dongles, the end that plugs into your computer is bulky and the other side is a simple headphone jack instead of a big control box, which is a nice design touch.
If you’re looking at the cheaper Quantum 200 and wondering what separates the 300, it’s the USB sound card. The two headsets are otherwise identical. So, if you don’t think you’ll need the sound card you might as well save the money. The dongle offers a great hardware surround implementation but fumbles its mic implementation so badly that you might want to skip it if you’ve…
