JBL Quantum ONE Headphones Review

The JBL Quantum ONE look like gaming headphones. They’re a bit larger than the similarly-styled JBL Quantum 800, with bulkier ear cups and a wider, better-padded headband. Their ear cups are made of a less glossy plastic than the 800, which means that fingerprints will show a little less. They also feature an RGB lighting scheme focused around the ear cups and chrome-finish logo that can be customized in their dedicated companion software. All told, they'll stand out in any casual setting.

The JBL Quantum ONE are decently comfortable gaming headphones. They clamp your head more tightly than the similar JBL Quantum 800 Wireless, but they shouldn’t pinch your ears thanks to a wider, more generously padded headband.

The JBL Quantum ONE’s control scheme is reasonably easy to use. Volume control relies on an infinite scroll wheel, which isn’t ideal in terms of physical feedback, although they provide an audible beep to indicate the minimum and maximum volume. That's adjacent to a dedicated button for re-centering the head-tracking feature. The boom microphone is flip-to-mute, which is also quite handy. You can easily swap audio channels when using the USB cable using an in-line dock. Unfortunately, other major functions are less intuitive. A secondary mute input and RGB lighting activation rely on the same button, just like ANC and talk-through. It should also be noted that our test unit has a reversed control scheme for enabling talk-though and ANC, with 1 click of the button turning on ANC and a 2-second press enabling talk-through. This is the opposite of what's outlined in their instruction manual.

The JBL Quantum 1 aren’t very portable, which isn’t surprising considering their billing as dedicated gaming headphones. While their ear cups do swivel flat, they’re bulky and lack a carrying case, so you’re risking a little bit of damage if you decide to just throw them into your bag. That said, their boom microphone is detachable, so it shouldn’t snag on anything if you do take them on the go.

The JBL Quantum ONE don’t have a carrying case.

The build quality of the JBL Quantum ONE is decent. Their plastic construction is pretty dense and feels like it’ll take a couple of drops and bumps without any serious damage. The ear cup hinges are much less squeaky than the JBL Quantum 800 Wireless and feel a good bit sturdier, while their faux leather padding is decently soft.

The JBL Quantum ONE should do a fair job of staying on your head, especially if you don’t intend to exceed their brief as gaming headphones. Low-intensity head-bobbing shouldn’t cause them to slip around. All told, they offer a more secure fit than the JBL Quantum 800 Wireless thanks to their tighter fit.

• JBL Quantum ONE headphones
• Calibration microphone
• 1/8” TRRS cable
• USB-A to USB-C cable with channel mixing dock
• Manuals

These headphones deliver a well-balanced listening experience overall, with even, accurate bass and mids, so no part of what you’re listening to will be overwhelmed by one part of the mix. That said, if you prefer a little more punch in your listening experience, the JBL Quantum Engine companion software does have a graphic EQ and presets to customize their sound profile.

The JBL Quantum ONE have poor frequency response consistency. Aside from the middle of the mid-range, your listening experience will vary significantly across the audible spectrum, with headphone fit and positioning having a severe impact on how bass and treble are heard.

The bass accuracy of these headphones is excellent. Bass sounds deep, punchy, and full-bodied without any boominess or muddiness. Video game sound effects should be heard with an appropriate but not overwhelming level of thump and kick. However, bass is heavily reliant on these headphones positioning and fit, so your own listening experience might vary significantly.

The JBL Quantum ONE provide outstanding mid accuracy. Vocals, lead instruments, and dialogue sound clear, well-balanced, and present.

These headphones have good treble accuracy. They do a decent job of following our target curve, but a slight bump in the low treble range might cause higher-pitched vocals and instruments to sound a little piercing and overly bright. That said, treble accuracy can vary significantly between listening sessions due to their poor frequency response consistency.

The JBL Quantum ONE’s peaks and dips performance is decent. A dip in the high-mid range, followed immediately by a spike in the low-treble range, might cause some finer details to sound alternatively veiled and piercing.

These headphones have alright stereo imaging. The weighted group delay has a slight bump in the low-bass and early mid-bass range, but nothing other than that exceeds the audibility threshold, which should ensure a tight bass and transparent treble. The L/R drivers are mostly well-matched in terms of frequency and amplitude response as well, with a low phase mismatch. This allows for a more immersive listening experience, as they do a decent job of localizing objects. That said, the results we obtained are only valid for our test unit, and your device may perform differently.

The JBL Quantum ONE’s passive soundstage is poor, which is pretty normal for closed-back gaming headphones. While sound may seem natural, it won’t be perceived as being especially spacious, so you’ll hear incoming audio as coming from the inside of your head rather than the space in front of you.

These headphones feature DTS X 2.0 as well as JBL’s proprietary QuantumSphere 360 virtual surround feature, which is calibrated using an included mic and inputting your some physical traits in the companion Quantum Engine app. It's a unique addition, but not quite as effective as the head-tracking feature on the Audeze Mobius. That said, we do not test these features, and our score is only based on whether or not the headphones have them.

These headphones have good weighted harmonic distribution performance. A slight bump in the low to mid-treble range is present, but shouldn't be noticeable by most listeners, and most audio should sound clean and pure.

This is the configuration we used to test these headphones. Our results are valid only when using these settings.

These headphones have decent noise isolation overall. Their ANC system does a poor job of blocking out sounds in the low-bass range, which mostly encompasses noises like bus and plane engines. If you’re looking for an isolating listening experience when you’re on the go, these might not be the best choice. They do a better job of blocking out background chatter and high-pitched noises, which is handy if you plan on using them in a noisy environment.

The leakage performance of the JBL Quantum 1 is good, especially for gaming headphones. Any noise that leaks out should be lost below the noise floor of a normal office.

The JBL Quantum ONE have a removable boom microphone that we tested while using the USB-A to USB-C audio cable.

The recording quality of the JBL Quantum ONE’s boom microphone is excellent. Voices sound full-bodied, detailed, and clear, so you should be easily understood by your teammates on the other end.

Update 12/09/2021: These headphones have been updated to test bench 1.5. In this update, we changed the way we test noise handling. We now use a subjective evaluation of our audio clips. This new method has resulted in different results than what we had reported in our previous test bench. As a result, the scoring of this box has changed, and we have updated our results.

The noise handling performance of the JBL Quantum ONE’s boom microphone is decent. It can separate your voice from both background chatter and loud ambient noise, which is helpful if you intend to use these headphones in a crowded location. However, the noise around you is still loud and present as you speak.

The JBL Quantum ONE don't use a battery.

The JBL Quantum ONE are compatible with JBL’s Quantum Engine companion software, which offers a pretty comprehensive suite of options. It allows users to customize their listening experience with a graphic EQ as well as audio presets. Dedicated gamers will be pleased with the inclusion of options for channel mixing, RGB lighting, microphone volume adjustment, and sidetone microphone monitoring. The app also provides support for the headset’s QuantumSphere 360 virtual surround sound feature.

The JBL Quantum ONE aren't Bluetooth-compatible.

The JBL Quantum ONE can't be used wirelessly. If you're looking for a similar option that can be used without an audio cable, consider the JBL Quantum 800 Wireless.

Update 06/11/2021: We have changed USB Audio to 'USB Type A' to reflect the source port instead of the headphones' port. When using their USB cable, the USB-A connector can be connected to any device with a USB-A port. We have also changed the Connection to '1/8" TRRS' in order to prioritize the analog connection instead of USB. The scoring of this box hasn't changed.

The JBL Quantum ONE come with a 1/8" TRRS cable as well as a 9 ft USB-A to USB-C cable with an in-line channel mixing remote, which might be a hassle to get to if you sit a long way from your PC or PS4 console. Their USB audio latency is quite low, so even competitive gamers shouldn't notice a delay.

The JBL Quantum ONE offers full audio and microphone compatibility with Xbox One consoles when you plug the 1/8" TRRS cable into the controller. Unfortunately, you won't be able to use their USB cable with the Xbox One.

The JBL Quantum ONE have a wired USB-A to USB-C dock with an in-line channel mixer.