Normally with headsets, I tend to check out the mid-priced devices. The slot where you get some premium features but don’t break the bank. Well, I got the chance to check out the $600 JBL Quantum 950 to see if that extra cash justifies itself or if the midrange devices are a better bang for your buck!
What does the Quantum 950 offer that other headsets don’t?
One of the coolest things the Quantum 950 offers is hot-swappable batteries. Rechargeable headsets are awesome, but when they run out of juice, you wind up having to cable yourself to your device to keep listening. Well, the Quantum 950 instead uses a battery, so you can pop the case off one of the ear cups, take the battery out, and slot the charged battery in to keep going.
The removal of the panel is fantastic, as it uses strong magnets that clip it on, making it easy to remove and add, but it won’t fall off. Then to charge your other battery, the headset comes with a base station, which helps with connectivity but also lets you slot the battery in for charging. So as soon as your headset gets low or dies, swap them over, keep the gaming going, and have your other battery start charging straight away.
The battery life per battery is around 25 hours, or less with all the cool features in use. Being able to switch the batteries over makes this super seamless and exceptional.
Connectivity and sounds
This headset has a bloody lot. There is the 2.4GHz, which uses that base station connected via USB for super low latency connectivity; Bluetooth; and wired, including a 3.5mm cable. The latter may be an old school way of connecting, but it means the headset can be used with whichever devices you need. If you have all the consoles and are spending this much money on a headset, you want it to work on everything, and it does.
When it comes to sound, it sounds fantastic. It has special sound and 3D head tracking, which are fun features. Importantly, it works so much better with the 950 than I have seen before. Listening to game audio where things drip behind you or hearing the sounds change as you turn your head is pretty damn incredible. Though, make sure you put the headset on the right way, as I kept putting it on backwards and getting thrown off as I turned my head and the sound got closer to my farther ear. Though JBL does have its usual big L and R on the inside of the cup, so that was much of a user issue.
The sound was fantastic; from music to games to movies, it sounded so excellent. It had a nice crisp quality when I had the volume low, and it didn’t crackle or distort when I turned it right up. Cranking the bass sounded fantastic as well, on high and low volumes.
Fortunately, you don’t have to turn the volume up too much, as the active noise canceling is the best I have used yet. It uses AI under the hood to make it way better, and it lives up to the hype. Once I cranked that on, it cut out an uncomfortably large amount of sound. Given I have kids yelling in my house, this is a proper test, and it worked!
The microphone sounds fantastic as well. I tried it for work meetings as well as gaming, and I had a lot of people impressed with it, no matter how I used it.
Style and Durability
You don’t want to drop this kind of coin on a headset if it won’t last. I was twisting it at all kinds of angles, and never at once did it feel like it was being overly strained, even when I twisted it at angles that even I thought were unreasonable. It isn’t the lightest headset, but that is because of the strong build quality, and so this made it feel even more sturdy.
Given the weight, I was nervous it wouldn’t be the most comfortable. Well, JBL proved me wrong here with insanely soft ear cups and the stretchy inner headband. This thing felt absolutely fantastic, even when I wore it for hours.
The headset has been given a more simple design, and in many ways I feel it feels way more premium. There aren’t any RGB lights on the headset, but the base station has some. This means that when you remove the mic, it looks a lot more like a slick pair of headphones than if it were flashing and looking like a gaming headset.
Should you get one?
If you are in the market for a premium headset and $600 isn’t too steep for you, then you will be delighted with what the JBL Quantum 950 has to offer. It looks great, sounds great, and the hot-swappable batteries are a real game changer.
