JBL Quantum 910P review - a must-have premium PS5 headset with a price tag to match
If you’re on the hunt for a high-end PlayStation 5-compatible headset, you’d do well to have the JBL Quantum 910P in your sights. Offering wireless connectivity for Sony’s PS5 and PS4 consoles (as well as PC), it’s a masterclass in almost every respect and has earned a place in our guide to the best PS5 headsets.
From its superb build quality - including the easily adjustable headband and luxurious leatherette ear cups - to all-round phenomenal sound, spatial audio, and active noise canceling, the JBL Quantum 910P is easy to recommend. That is, of course, provided you can afford its high price tag of $299.99 / £218.99.
Design and features
The JBL Quantum 910P certainly looks the part of a premium gaming headset. Its sleek white chassis is complemented nicely by customizable lighting that illuminates the circumference of the ear cups and the JBL logo found on each. There’s some lovely texture work on the ear cups and headband too, showing that a good deal of thought has gone into the headset’s aesthetics.
It also helps that this is an exceptionally comfortable headset that’s well-suited to long sessions of play. The inner headband and ear cups feature thick leatherette padding that snugly secures the headset in place. The adjustable headband ensures the JBL Quantum 910P is suitable for a wide range of head sizes.
There’s a selection of on-headset buttons and dials for various functions. At first, these can appear quite busy, but thankfully their layout is intuitive. The right ear cup houses the on/off switch (which also allows for the switching from 2.4GHz to Bluetooth wireless connectivity) and a button that enables spatial audio and head tracking. The left ear cup features dials for volume and game/chat audio balance. There’s also a noise-canceling toggle button, a mic mute button, and a 3.5mm port for multiplatform wired connectivity (you can use the headset with Xbox and Nintendo Switch this way).
While the microphone isn’t detachable, it swivels into its on or off positions with ease and a subtle click lets the user know when it’s been adjusted as such. It’s also somewhat flexible, allowing you to slightly bend it towards or away from your head depending on your preferences.
Performance and battery life
The JBL Quantum 910P has the audio chops to back up its near-immaculate design. It’s absolutely remarkable for gaming, and right from the get-go, JBL’s proprietary QuantumSphere 360 surround sound excelled with some of the best PS5 games.
The headset is a superb fit for recently-released titles like Dragon’s Dogma 2. The bustling cities of Vernworth and Bakbattahl really come alive with the 910P’s spatial sound, especially when set to a wide dynamic range in the game’s audio settings. Directional audio here has pinpoint accuracy, able to register both close and distant noises without sounding overly muddy. It’s worth noting that the spatial audio does give spoken voices a bit of an echoey property, though I found this easy to get used to overall.
Naturally, the headset’s directional audio is a wonderful fit for online multiplayer games. In Gran Turismo 7, I was impressed with its accuracy in picking up cars approaching my flank. This made it much easier to give way, avoid collisions, and prepare for overtakes more efficiently. You’ll get similar performance in shooters like PUBG: Battlegrounds; the headset is able to pick up on footsteps, bullet whizzes, and approaching vehicles, allowing you to respond in a much more advanced manner.
The JBL Quantum 910P is excellent for music, too. By default, the headset provides a balanced, full-bodied soundscape that complements all genres. The thunderous power metal ballads of Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising and the more atmospheric, period-appropriate score found in Rise of the Ronin both shone here. Furthermore, robust EQ settings found in the PC app features presets for bass boost and cutting, a high-end focus, and more. You can also fully customize the equalizer to your liking should you prefer, and the settings carry over when you move from PC to PS5.
The microphone is similarly excellent, providing crystal clear and responsive voice chat for friends in your party. I did encounter an infrequent issue where the mic failed to turn on, though this was quickly remedied by simply turning the headset off and on again. Plus, this was only an issue on PC.
Lastly, another area where the JBL Quantum 910P impresses is its battery life. You’ll get roughly 40 hours of playtime (or 45 hours via Bluetooth) before needing to recharge. Be aware that the use of the headset’s lighting or spatial audio features will affect battery life, too, but I was still able to use it for an impressively long time with all these ancillary features enabled; around 25-30 hours give or take.
Should I buy the JBL Quantum 910P?
If your budget can stretch to it, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better PS5 headset than the JBL Quantum 910P. Its high-quality feature set, sublime design, and near-immaculate audio quality mean it rivals some of the best PS5 headsets around, including the SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ and the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro.
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How we tested the JBL Quantum 910P
A sample was provided to TechRadar Gaming by JBL for review. I tested the headset over the course of two weeks across a variety of PS5 and PC games, ensuring that I put it through its paces with titles featuring excellent sound design such as Gran Turismo 7, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Rise of the Ronin.
I also aimed to test the headset’s various customization features, setting custom EQ and lighting profiles for various titles to ensure I was always getting the most fitting audio possible for a given game. In doing this, I found the JBL Quantum 910P to be an impressively robust headset that’s well-suited to a diverse range of games.
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