Before reviewing the JBL Quantum 100, you must know this! The issue with making a good budget gaming headphone with this price range is just there being too many areas needed to do good while also keeping the price in check. This is also the reason why most of the budget gaming headphones are subpar to the gaming experience. You will find an unforgiving level of compromise on the quality, features, or on other spectrums to meet the price.
However, JBL Quantum 100 here surely tries to defy all those boundaries. JBL has been making speakers and headphones for a long time but until now there are no gaming headphones. But now with the recent launch of Quantum series headphones, there are a total of seven JBL gaming headsets to opt from. JBL Quantum price goes up as you move upward with an increase in sound quality, features, and built-quality as well. But we talk only about first in this nerdy gaming headphones series from JBL. So, the entry-level gaming headphone in that series is JBL Quantum 100 challenging the stigma related to budget gaming headphones.
So, here we are going to review the JBL Quantum 100, the gaming headphones, and inspect it on its various aspects, and see where it stands. If you are looking forward to buying the JBL Quantum 100, here is whether it is worth it or not!
Design & Build
Since it is the cheapest option in the JBL Quantum gaming headset series, you cannot expect exceptional design and utmost built quality. Three different color variants are black, white, and blue. The earcups can swivel, so easy to carry as you can fold it and carry in your backpacks. However, it doesn’t swivel in all directions or freely as you see with other headphones.
You also get this detachable mic which you can remove if you do not intend to use it. On the back of the left headphone, you will find the mic mute button and volume wheel, so it will only control the sound of the output of the headphones, and not of the device you connect to it.
Overall built-quality is average as it is made of good-quality plastic but does gives the premium look while carrying. However, it does a giveaway to the built quality of the Bottomline products. But you can’t complain considering the price range from the brand such as JBL.
The braided cable has just the right thickness and doesn’t get tangled easily. Since this has a combined 3.5 mm headphone and microphone jack, so you can directly plug into your smartphones. But for it to use in PC, you will need an adapter that splits it to headphones and microphones.
Comfort & Fitting
Comfort and fitting are one of the most essential factors to look for in headphones. You don’t want to buy a headphone that you cannot wear for a long time with the utmost comfort. To start with, these headphones are comfortable to some extent. You get the memory foam ear cups and cushion padding on the headband to make it more comfortable.
The lightweight headband does make the headset lightweight and easy to bear the weight. But still, it can be a bit difficult to wear them for a long period as after a while it starts hurting the areas around the years. This can be not a problem for everyone who used to wear headphones for long durations. But for some of the users, they seem to clamp hard on the head even with adjustments. You can wear it longer but resting the ear cups near your ears but not as it was meant to wear. It actually depends on whether you are comfortable with over-the-ear headphones or not.
The overall comfort of this headphone is good but depends upon the user’s preference and tolerance level to over-the-ear bulky headphones. On the brighter side, this is indeed very lightweight and good fitting, so that can supplement additional advantage to even those who are not very great with such headphones. Fitting of the headphones is great as even you swing your head while playing headphones, it won’t fall. It sits on your ear very well.
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Features
JBL Quantum 100 comes with the JBL Quantum SOUND Signature that gives you loud immersive gaming sound experience, putting the users right in the middle of the action. The clarity of headphones is right on the point making it listening easy to your opponent or gaming partner.
This wired over-ear gaming headset is compatible with the Windows Sonic Spatial Sound. So with Windows 10 and Xbox ONE consoles, you will experience the surround-level sound with these headphones.
The memory foam ear cushions and the lightweight band makes it ideal for long gaming sessions. The length of the cable is 1.2 m where the frequency response of headphones is 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
The focus directionals boom mic connected to the detachable headphones enhances your voice recording. It also comes with the mute feature. It also has a removable windshield foam. The compatibility of the headphones is perfect as it goes well with any device such as PC, Xbox, Playstation, or Smartphone.
Sound Quality
It is first to consider that these headphones are ideally made for gaming and not for listening to music. So if music is your priority, your expectations for this product might be in the wrong direction.
The headphones are great with isolation as it does create such immersive sounding experience cutting you from the background and things happening around you.
The driver’s size of these headphones is 40 mm, so you don’t have to turn the volume all the way up as it already produces an ample amount of sound at its optimum level.
JBL Quantum 100 Wired Over-Ear Gaming Headset with Detachable Mic overall proudly features a good sound quality with the context of gaming, and that even with this budget. The high-end sound details make every sound very accurate in gaming. The bass in the headphones isn’t much impressive, however, it won’t bother you if you are solely buying it for gaming. You can say the sound quality is accustomed to the gamer’s experience. The detailing of the sound helps you to hear any sound in the game and be more attentive.
The sound quality is refined and mature with having a great sound signature of its own. What special about the sound quality is how the mid-frequencies and high-frequency sounds are separated at such a detailed level. For eg. the footsteps in the game you can hear them very easily as every step accounts for the succession at the level frequency giving it a surround sound effect.
But the bass is like that not because the driver cannot produce it. It is indeed manufactured in the way so the headphones can meet the high-end voices in detail but to miss out on the low-end bass quality. So this is true for most of the gaming headphones. So the best way can be to use an equalizer and tweak some sound settings to get a perfect balance.
So to wrap it up, the best part is you shouldn’t expect these headphones to be at least muddy, gloomy, or muffled. The mid and high-frequency of these headphones are just right off the bat. And as far as the bass is concerned, it doesn’t lack bass, just not exactly one of its strengths, especially if you are a bass head.
Microphone Testing
This is one of the best-wired gaming headsets where you see microphones at an optimum level in this budget. Microphones work really well with these headphones as they are uni-directional and focus to record the voice at the utmost clarity. These are created for the gaming purpose where various gamers can pass on instructions with maximum loudness and clarity. Microphone tests really well even with the noises around. This also makes it very viable for taking video conferencing or voice calls. When you will be playing the game with discord, there is some noise cancellation algorithm in play so that might alter the way it sounds to meet its optimum level.
Whether to Buy It For Music & Movies
Well, as said earlier, it is accustomed to meet the optimum level of gaming experience. However, it can be good for music and movies too. For music, you might have to use the equalizers to improve the sound or to customize it according to your preference. However, even without the equalizers, it works pretty well for the music. Surely, it cannot be your preference or the sole purpose to buy the headphones. In the case of movies, it is better as the low-end and high-end frequencies, sound detailing, and comfortable ear cups makes it good for binge-watching movies or series.
So if you are buying these headphones for gaming and then you want it to use for movies and music, with this budget, it is totally worth it. However, just buying these headphones for music and movie purposes, you have to give it a thought and might look for other alternatives from this brand or others.
JBL Quantum 100: Worth It?
With the pricing of the headphones, you cannot buy good wireless headphones in this range, and getting a gaming headphone in this pricing justifies the limitation of the device here. The overall sound quality is good for gaming but gets better with some EQ. Considering all the features and specifications in this price range, you get a good deal here, nothing to lose out. However, if you have a budget to go above this, you should definitely look for the JBL Quantum 300 which can be a great option here.
Buy Here : JBL Quantum 100
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Featured Image Source: TOI
