The JBL Quantum 910 Wireless Headset doesn’t do much to remedy the issues I had with its predecessors – the Quantum 810 and the Quantum ONE – in that while this is a fantastic headset for PC gamers, it isn’t great for consoles.
For a PC user, there’s a lot to like, the audio is very good, the ANC is effective, the microphone works well, the design is comfortable, and the in-game/party chat audio slider for Discord is brilliant. But most of these “advanced” features aren’t available for console users.
While this isn’t necessarily JBL’s fault – Microsoft has designed the Xbox so that it’s only compatible with wireless headsets that support Xbox Wireless – the Quantum 910 headset is advertised as being compatible with all consoles. And while technically this is true, not all of the features that make this a $549.95 headset are available on each platform.
There also isn’t much new here. The only notable new additions are the head tracking capabilities on PC, and the PS5 and PS4 are now compatible with surround sound and active noise cancellation (ANC). Besides that, JBL hasn’t introduced much to make this a must-have over the Quantum 810 Wireless Headset.
The benefits you’ll get out of the Quantum 910 headset depends on the platform you plan to use it with. If you’re looking for a headset for PC gaming, this is an excellent device, but if you’re looking for a headset for PlayStation or Xbox, there are better options out there.
Price
The Quantum 910 Wireless costs $549.95. This makes it an expensive gaming headset. The Corsair HS80 RGB wireless headset costs $245, and the Logitech PRO X Wireless LIGHTSPEED Gaming Headset costs $457.
Design
The 910 looks identical to its predecessor, the Quantum 810. There are no exciting changes or additions here.
It boasts the same cushioned oval-earcups, headband, foldable microphone arm, control array, and customisable RGB lighting as previous Quantum iterations.
This isn’t to say it’s a bad design. Much like the 810, the 910 is comfortable enough to wear all day; it’s durable and easy to use. I didn’t find myself wanting more from the design.
The left earcup houses the bulk of the controls. Here you can find a volume wheel, an ANC on/off switch, a mute microphone button and an in-game/party chat audio slider. The only difference here is the 910 has a button on the right earcup for turning head tracking on and off.
The microphone folds up and automatically mutes itself when folded. I much prefer this to a microphone you have to plug in. It tucks itself nicely out of the way, there’s a light that shows if it’s muted, and it works flawlessly.
Features
The Quantum 910 boasts a lot of advanced features. However, the only new feature that has been introduced is head tracking.
Head tracking allows for 3D positional monitoring based on your head movements. You set the location of the audio, and when you turn your head, the sound will move around based on your head position.
For example, I set my audio to come from my monitor in front of me. If I looked to the right, I could hear the audio in the left earcup. If I turned around, I could hear it behind me. It’s undoubtedly cool but feels gimmicky and out of place when gaming or watching TV. This is because when I’m doing these things, I look straight at the screen; I don’t turn my head. I quickly found I had no use for the head tracking feature, and I always had it turned off.
The 910 headset boasts decent active noise cancellation (ANC) capabilities; it’s compatible with surround sound via JBL’s QuantumSPATIAL technology or DTS Headphone X: v2.0, both of which sound great. And it has a talk-thru feature in which you can hear outside noise. It all works well.
The microphone comes with echo-cancelling technology, which avoids picking up background noise, and while it isn’t as good as a dedicated streaming microphone, it picked up my voice well enough to be easily heard on intense games like Hell Let Loose.
My favourite feature, the game audio-chat dial for Discord, is brilliant. The 910 has two separate sound cards meaning you can balance the audio between your game and Discord. If the game sounds too loud and you can’t hear your teammates, you can turn the volume down while turning Discord up and vice versa. It works flawlessly and is a feature I can’t live without on my gaming headset now.
Compatibility
JBL advertises the 910 as being compatible with consoles. However, that can be misleading, and it comes with some pretty significant caveats.
You can connect the headset via three methods, a 3.5mm jack, Bluetooth 5.2 or the 2.4GHz dongle in the box. This means, technically, you can connect the 910 headset to almost any source. But it’s important to know that if you’re using the 3.5mm jack or Bluetooth connections, you’ll miss out on nearly all the features that make this a $550 headset.
The Quantum 910 is at its best when used with a PC. On PC, you have access to the JBL QuantumENGINE software that allows you to turn on surround sound, customise the RGB lighting, equalise the audio and adjust the microphone settings. This requires the use of the 2.4GHz dongle, though. While you can use a 3.5mm audio jack or Bluetooth connection with a PC, you won’t have access to these features.
This leads to some pretty big drawbacks for Xbox users. Xbox doesn’t support the 2.4GHz dongle meaning you won’t get any of these “advanced” features. You don’t get ANC capabilities either because you’re required to plug the headset in via the included 3.5mm cable.
Similarly, if you’re connecting to a device via Bluetooth, you won’t get surround sound, or customisation options. This means Switch, Mac and Mobile users won’t be able to get full; use out of the Quantum 910.
PlayStation users fare a little better. Compatible with the 2.4GHz dongle, the PS5 and PS4 allow QuantumSPATIAL 360 surround sound audio. This is an improvement over the 810 headset, which wasn’t compatible with surround sound on PlayStation consoles. But even with the new headset, PlayStation users still don’t have access to QuantumENGINE to personalise and customise features.
Audio
Boasting 50mm Hi-Res neodymium drivers, the 910 delivers a crisp, clear and concise sound. The bass capabilities are very good, the audio is detailed and playing games with these headphones is a blast.
On PC, you can turn on 7.1 surround sound, which does a good job of delivering audio from all directions and is very good for games like Rust or Escape from Tarkov, where directional audio is essential.
But there’s minimal improvement in this area. The drivers are only slightly more sensitive than the Quantum 810 headset, and that’s about it.
Battery
The Quantum 910 boasts 39 hours of battery life. This is with ANC and the RGB lights turned off.
If you turn ANC on the battery will drop to around 25 hours, and if you have both ANC and the RGB lights on, it will drop to around 10 hours. This is still pretty decent and is long enough to last an extended gaming session.
Also, you can charge the headset while playing via the USB-C port, and the headset comes with a USB-C to USB-A adapter in the box.
Verdict
The benefits you’ll get out of JBL’s Quantum 910 Wireless headset is dependent on which platform you plan to use it with.
For a PC user, the Quantum 910 is a fantastic headset. Here you get access to all of the advanced features like ANC and talk-thru, and you’re able to customise the RGB lights, sound and microphone to your taste.
This can be said about the Quantum 810 Headset, though. Yes, head tracking has been introduced; however, I’m not convinced anyone uses this for gaming. And there isn’t enough here to warrant upgrading from the 810 to the 910.
While there have been some upgrades regarding compatibility with the PlayStation consoles – you can now turn surround sound on, and ANC is supported – there isn’t a lot of improvement here either. Similarly, Xbox and Switch users are restricted to Bluetooth 5.2 or 3.5mm jack inputs. Meaning you don’t get any of the advanced features, not even ANC, which is disappointing.
If you’re a PC user, the Quantum 910 headset provides crisp, directional sound, adequate ANC, a decent microphone and a comfortable design. It’s a very good headset for PC users.
For Xbox or Switch users, you’ll get more functionality out of a headset designed explicitly for those consoles, and even PlayStation players will get more out of a headset like the INZONE H9 Wireless Noise Cancelling Gaming Headset.
