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JBL Quantum 810 Wireless Gaming Headset Review

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The JBL Quantum 810 represents the latest in the LA-based electronic manufacturer’s premium wireless gaming headset line. Still, if it looks strangely familiar to you, that would be because the 810 is the direct follow-up to the JBL Quantum 800 that we featured back in July of 2021. As the name suggests, the Quantum 810 is more of an update than a completely brand-new edition, with the most notable difference from last year’s model being a dramatic improvement in battery life (up to a whopping 43 hours from 14).

Let’s first address the elephant in the room. Like the 800 models before it, the Quantum 810 is optimized for PC gaming and utilizes the JBL QuantumENGINE app to access the headset’s advanced features and settings. An apparent consequence of this is that the headset’s built-in JBL QuantumSURROUND and DTS Headphone X: v2.0 spatial sound modes are limited to PC only.

Other compatible platforms (PlayStation 4|5, Nintendo Switch and Mobile) are forced to make do with 2.0 Stereo, regardless of whether users are connecting to it via the included 2.4GHz wireless dongle, 3.5mm cable, or Bluetooth. Meanwhile, the Xbox platform is traditionally weird with standard USB dongles, so there’s no wireless support for Microsoft’s consoles whatsoever.

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JBL Quantum 810

In the box, users will find the JBL Quantum 810 headset, a 1.5m JBL Orange braided USB charging cable, a 1.3m, 3.5mm audio cable of the same build with a line-in remote, a 2.4GHz Type A USB dongle, a Quick Start Guide, and a somewhat tacky, JBL-branded dustcover bag (sorry, no hard case folks).

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Weighing in at 418 grams (14.7 ounces) and measuring approximately 20cm (8 inches) across without one’s head resting in between the earcups, the JBL Quantum 810 is a seriously large and weighty pair of cans that are fully intended to get the wearer noticed.

The reflective, faux-chrome finish surrounding the earcups, the shiny metallic finish of the generously thick headband and the large JBL logos emblazoned in both areas are all accents that are impossible for onlookers to miss, and that’s before engaging the built-in RGB lighting system. I already have an awkwardly large dome, so putting on the JBL Quantum 810 for the first time made me feel rather silly at first. But after allowing a minute or two of adjustment, I gradually convinced myself that I could rock the look.

Then as per the instructions, I downloaded and installed the JBL QuantumENGINE app on my PC, updated both the software and headset firmware to the latest versions and fired up the headset’s RGBs. It was at this point the real show began. I kid you not, the instant that the JBL logos and ring lights ignited on the sides of my ears in a variety of pulsing, flickering patterns, I simultaneously felt like a walking advertisement for the brand as well as the third, unknown member of Daft Punk.

For a few moments, I felt completely ridiculous. Still, once I imagined the right outfit and the appropriate scenario to go along with it (for example, livestreaming and content creation), I could at least see how useful and cool RGB lighting in a gaming headset could be.

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JBL Quantum 810

QuantumENGINE software users can pick one of five different RGB pattern presets and run with them as-is, or alternatively, they can dive into an “Advanced Mode” where they can individually tweak the colour, length, tempo and desired special effect of each “beat” within that pattern, making a seemingly infinite number of lighting combinations possible.

This level of granularity seems perfect for streamers and content creators who want to match the lighting of their existing setup. Of course, users can alternatively choose to disable the RGB feature entirely when desired to conserve battery life. As mentioned earlier, the 810 can last up to 43 hours on a single, 3.5-hour charge, and it literally took me about three weeks of on-and-off casual use to fully drain it.

During those three weeks, however, I had no complaints about comfort or ergonomics of the JBL JBL Quantum 810. The plush leather memory foam of the earcups is both spacious and gentle on the ears but snug enough to create an effective seal for the headset’s Active Noise Cancelling and TalkThru features.

Similarly, the headband cushion provides plenty of clamping force on the head without getting uncomfortable, with the slight drawback that a significant amount of violent head-shaking will certainly dislodge it. So the 810 might not be the ideal headset for those that tend to throw temper tantrums. PC Gamers looking for an extremely comfortable headset that can be worn for hours at a time however need look no further, however, as the JBL Quantum 810 is easily the “cushiest” headset I’ve had the pleasure of wearing.

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JBL Quantum 810

Most importantly, as a wireless surround sound gaming headset primarily targeting PC gamers, the JBL Quantum 810 solidly delivers on the essentials. I found both QuantumSURROUND and DTS Headphone:X 2.0 modes to be quite immersive when playing games or watching movies. If asked which virtualized surround solution is better, I would have to give the edge to Heaphone:X. It just sounds a tad richer and appears to take superior advantage of the 810’s Hi-Res 50mm drivers in providing positional information for immersive play. Both modes are quite good for enjoying reproductions of live musical performances as well.

As one would expect from a JBL product, the Quantum 810 is no slouch when it comes to traditional stereo, either. I spent an extensive amount of time listening to high-quality Spotify tracks on my PC and smartphone phone and was always impressed by both the sound clarity and powerful bass response, regardless of the connection method (2.5GHz, Bluetooth, or wired).

Having said all that, I think it’s criminal that the JBL Quantum 810’s Flip-to-Mute boom microphone can’t be detached and that a second, built-in internal mic wasn’t added as a backup. The aforementioned RGB lighting options of the headset are clearly meant and deserve to be seen out in the urban wild. Still, the 810’s big, plasticky mic runs completely counter to this argument in both fashion and function. It has no flexibility at all, and it can’t be discreetly tucked away. It just seems like such a waste of a $300 CAD headset not to be able to show off its dazzling RGBs on the go without the eyesore that is the boom mic.

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JBL Quantum 810

If you read my recent review of the JBL Quantum TWS earbuds, you’ll recall that I wasn’t quite sold on their Active Noise Cancelling, but there’s no questioning the feature’s effectiveness here. A more apt description of the mode would be “Active Noise Distancing,” as when the feature is active it doesn’t really eliminate background noise but instead tends to “push” noise from the surrounding environment further into the distance where it’s less distracting. I found this extremely helpful for working on writing articles at one end of the apartment while my wife watched her TV dramas at the other end.

JBL’s TalkThru feature on the other hand, behaves just as it did with the Quantum TWS, essentially muting your music, phone call or other incoming signal and allowing more sound from the environment into the headset so that you can hear and carry on conversations with those around you. I’m much less enthused by this mode though, considering the same effect can be achieved simply by pausing your game and taking the headset off for a moment.

“I’m a fan of the JBL Quantum 810, though there are some puzzling missed opportunities that I just can’t comprehend.”

Overall, I’m a fan of the JBL Quantum 810, though there are some puzzling missed opportunities that I just can’t comprehend. The biggest fumble by far has to be the Quantum 810’s complete lack of compatibility with JBL’s Headphone App for mobile, which could have allowed for more in-depth EQ tweaking or on-the-go RGB lighting options, not to mention a secondary, more visual way to enable or disable the headset’s ANC and TalkThru modes. It just seems odd that JBL chose not to leverage the versatility of its mobile app with this product as they did with the Quantum TWS.

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JBL Quantum 810

Another pet peeve is the absence of any in-line Bluetooth controls on the provided 3.5mm wire’s remote, or any intermediate-level controls for Bluetooth on the headset proper. Considering that the headset’s Power On, Bluetooth ON, and Bluetooth Pairing function all share the same slider button, going an extra step by providing a full-featured multifunctional button or joystick nub that could have offered playback controls doesn’t seem like it would have been too much of an ask. You can’t even pause your music or pick up a call without using the controls on your connected device. Madness!

I also spent some time using the JBL Quantum 810 on PS4, revisiting games like Uncharted 4 and Until Dawn, and while the audio experience via the wireless dongle was nice to have, without spatial sound it’s a markedly stripped-down experience from what JBLQuantumSURROUND offers on PC. If gaming on PlayStation, Xbox or Switch in surround sound is your aim, there are several alternative, less expensive headset options out there with equivalent feature sets to the 810 that can also deliver superior virtualized surround on consoles.

In my view, the JBL Quantum 810 is a product that speaks to a specific segment of gamers. Namely, streamers or content creators looking for a headset that won’t just enhance the immersion of their PC gaming and audio listening experiences but also provide them with yet another visual canvas through which they can literally express their colourful personalities in their setups. A number of head-scratching decisions in hardware and software design cause a few of the headset’s strengths to wither when taken beyond the studio environment. Even these flaws don’t detract from the JBL Quantum 810’s exceptional sound quality or comfort.

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Ask Andy: How can you tell whether a startup is a good place to work? When is it safe to disclose a mental-health challenge to coworkers?

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As a software developer who would like to work for a startup, what should I look for in a company so that I know it’s legit? If I am putting a lot of work into a product, I want to know that at minimum it’s for a legitimate company and founder—not just another person with an overdone app idea that knows nothing about the tech world. Sarah C.

If you’re learning the startup game, the best bet here is to go later-stage. Focus on a pre-IPO company that is growing quickly, has raised money from blue-chip investors, and is getting positive buzz in the market that it will go public within the next two years.

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Then, don’t believe any of it.

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Network your way into three of the company’s team members on LinkedIn or through your network. Have three virtual or IRL coffees. Have them tell you about the culture: If they’re learning; if the company’s really growing; and most importantly, whether or not they respect and, ideally, admire the leadership.

Keep looking until you find this vetted opportunity.

That’s a systematic, rational approach. But that’s not the only way to go. You could throw it all out the window.

Find a company where you believe in the mission. One where you fall in love with the product or service. You might already be a high LTV customer or a power user. Check your credit card statement and your app home screen to source ideas. Your passion for the mission will make it work for you for some time, even if the company doesn’t work in the long run.

However you get there, once you’re inside for a year or two, you’ll be learning.

You may have to switch horses. That’s okay.

When you do, you’ll know more people, you’ll have more insight, and the path on what to pick next will be clearer. Heck, you might even notice an inflection point and meet a cofounder that leads to you starting a company yourself.

It’s like dating.

You probably won’t marry your first love—but you might. If you don’t, your judgment will iteratively improve. And the good news is unlike a marriage, you can change out your partner every few years. (What I’ve found, though, is that the most successful people professionally, and those who generate the most wealth, have more like 5- to 10-year runs.)

Trust your intuition. Follow your heart on the mission or product. Then, don’t trust yourself.  Study the market. Use the product.  And do at least three off-list references outside of who you interview with. Read every single Glassdoor entry.

And then jump!

You’ll be fine.

Do you think you could have shared your mental health conditions publicly BEFORE you were professionally successful, and still have been successful? Or was the fact that you had already achieved professional success what allowed you to be open? Zack

No, I don’t think I could have shared before we succeeded. I wouldn’t have had the courage to, and I feared it might be career-limiting.

Then again, it was almost seven years ago that I had my I-can’t-deny-this-any-longer moment with my Bonobos colleagues and investors. As of today, I think it’s becoming more possible to be candid about mental health. I hope we can move to a world where I could have been more open, sooner, at least selectively with my leadership team and board.

Some entrepreneurs ask me when to tell their VCs about the mental-health challenge or mental-health diagnosis they wrestle with. I always say the same thing: at a breakfast meeting, four months after you’ve closed the round and hit your numbers. Nobody cares about your neurodivergence if you’re performing—and most VCs actually know enough to know that most founders have more going on than meets the eye.

With your team, I think it’s doable, even now. Perhaps especially now. The truth is, they know. They know you deal with stuff because they’re around you. And the vulnerability you share in disclosing will multiply their respect for you. More importantly, it’ll give those team members the space to reciprocally share their stuff with their colleagues, and potentially you as well, and bring their full selves to work.

Wouldn’t that be cool?

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Take-Two Buys Gearbox And Its New ‘Borderlands’ Game From Embracer

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If you’re a game developer owned by Embracer Group at this point, you are nervous about layoffs, shutdowns or game cancellations after the last few years. But now, there is a somewhat happy ending for one of them, Gearbox.

It’s just been announced that Take-Two, which owns GTA developer Rockstar, will purchase Gearbox for $460 million. This also includes the properties Gearbox owns, the Borderlands and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands franchises, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms and Duke Nukem. The report says Gearbox has six games in development, five sequels, including a new Borderlands game, the not-announced-but-definitely-happening Borderlands 4. Here’s Strauss Zelnick:

“Our acquisition of Gearbox is an exciting moment for Take-Two and will strengthen our industry-leading creative talent and portfolio of owned intellectual property, including the iconic Borderlands franchise,” said Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. “This combination enhances the financial profile of our existing projects with Gearbox and unlocks the opportunity for us to drive increased long-term growth by leveraging the full resources of Take-Two across all of Gearbox’s exciting initiatives.”

Gearbox has been working with 2K and Take-Two for decades, so it was a logical place for them to land. This is, of course, not a great look for Embracer, who only purchased Gearbox three years ago. The price tag back then was “worth up to $1.3 billion” but there were a lot of strings attached to that where it’s not necessarily the case that selling for $$460 million netted them a ~$900 million loss.

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As for what this means for gamers, it would seem something like the Borderlands franchise is now on more stable ground, as it was hard to believe any project at Embracer is fully safe these days. Last year, Embracer quietly cancelled 29 different unannounced games and shut down seven studios in a six month period including Volition and Free Radical Design. That came with around 1,400 layoffs. More recently, Embracer laid off 97 people at Eidos in Janaury and cancelled a Deus Ex game.

Sufficed to say, those at Gearbox probably feel pretty good about this. And as for Take-Two, Borderlands is still a valuable IP, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderland was a surprise hit. There’s a new Homeworld game coming as well. In an era for multi-billion dollar acquisition, Gearbox for $460 million doesn’t seem that bad. That’s probably a third of what GTA 6 will sell on day one next year.

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What's Brewing in the iPhone 16 Rumor Mill? AI, Action Buttons and More – CNET

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As the iPhone 15 settles into the market, the tech community is buzzing with anticipation for Apple’s next-generation handset, which is expected to be named “iPhone 16.” 

We’ve heard whispers about the iPhone 16’s features, which are said to span from a new power-efficient display to larger screens, better zoom lenses, an action button and, perhaps not surprisingly, a suite of new gen-AI powered features.

Read more: Best iPhone of 2024

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However, the iPhone 16 is still presumably six months away and nothing will be confirmed until Apple’s iPhone event in the fall. Still, these rumors could give us an idea of what to expect from the next iPhone.

Here are the most credible rumors for the iPhone 16.

Will the iPhone 16 fold?

Probably not. The newest rumors suggest Apple has been working on iPhone Flip models in two different sizes, though there have been difficulties in making the devices to Apple’s standards. The company may also be working on a folding tablet with a screen around the size of an iPad Mini. Even though virtually every major phone-maker — from Google to Oppo to OnePlus and Samsung — have launched their own bendable handsets, Apple has been characteristically quiet about whether there will ever be an iPhone Flip or an iPhone Fold.

Prior rumors said Apple may not launch its own flexible screen device until 2025. Samsung hasn’t let phone fans forget it — by releasing an app that will let Apple phone owners experience a Z Fold-esque experience by placing two iPhones side-by-side.

iPhone 16 Pro models to get bigger screens?

Apple has maintained the two screen sizes for iPhone Pro models since 2020 when it launched the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. However, that’s rumored to change with the iPhone 16 Pro models, which might get bigger screens.

Display analyst Ross Young suggested earlier this year that the iPhone 16 Pro models will have larger screens, putting the sizes at 6.3 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. That rumor was later corroborated by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who said the iPhone 16 Pro models could grow by “a couple tenths of an inch diagonally.”

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models are believed to be sticking with the current 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes. If the size increase is accurate, it would be yet another move from Apple to distinguish its Pro iPhone models from its regular ones.

iPhone 15 screen sizes

  • iPhone 15: 6.1 inches.
  • iPhone 15 Plus: 6.7 inches.
  • iPhone 15 Pro: 6.1 inches.
  • iPhone 15 Pro Max: 6.7 inches.

Rumored iPhone 16 screen sizes

  • iPhone 16: 6.1 inches.
  • iPhone 16 Plus: 6.7 inches.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: 6.3 inches.
  • iPhone 16 Pro Max: 6.9 inches.

iPhone 16 gets more AI tricks

One of the most salient selling points of Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series and Google’s Pixel 8 lineup were each of their souped-up AI tips and tricks, and it wouldn’t be a major shock if Apple went in the same direction. Apple CEO Tim Cook has gone on the record this year confirming Apple sees “a huge opportunity for Apple with gen AI and AI.”

According to Gurman’s Power On newsletter, iOS 18 will feature generative AI technology that “should improve how both Siri and the Messages app can field questions and auto-complete sentences.”

A September report from the Information says Apple plans to use large language models, a crucial part of generative AI, to make Siri smarter. The report said this feature is expected to be released with an iPhone software update next year. 

Read More: iPhone iOS 18: A Possible Big Leap In AI

iPhone 16 design: New action button?

In March, AppleInsider published a collection of photographs purportedly displaying 3D-printed dummy models of the rumored iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. The images revealed that the iPhone 16 may have a vertical camera stack as opposed to a diagonal one and an action button, similar the one on last year’s iPhone 15 Pro.

iPhone 16 gets more power-efficient display?

Another change that could make its way to iPhone 16 displays is greater power efficiency. Samsung Display is apparently developing a new material set, dubbed M14, specifically for Apple, according to a TheElec report, which says the new technology should arrive on iPhones launching next year. M14 will replace the blue fluorescent technology that’s used now with blue phosphorescence technology, creating an even more power-efficient screen than the current LTPO ones used on Pro models, the report says.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

iPhone 16 gets better zoom?

Both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max could both have 5x telephoto lenses next year. According to Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo, a tetraprism lens will make its way to both Pro models next year, as opposed to just the Pro Max model. Apple equipped the iPhone 15 Pro with a 12-megapixel 3x optical zoom, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 12-megapixel 5x optical zoom camera, which is the equivalent of 120mm lens on a full-frame camera.

If this rumor is true, it could mark a breakthrough in design. When Apple launched the 15 Pro Max with its 5x telephoto lens, it cited the phone’s bigger body as to why the Pro Max had it, but the Pro didn’t.

iPhone 16 processors: A18 chip for all models?

In a break with the past two years, all four iPhone 16 models will apparently get a next-generation Apple chipset, which will all receive A18 branding. According to a MacRumors report citing Jeff Pu, an executive analyst for Haitong International Securities, all four models will have an A18 series chip with Pro iPhone models getting an A18 Bionic Pro and base models getting a regular A18.

The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus currently have an A16 Bionic, which debuted on the 2022 iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, while the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max run on the A17 Pro processor. Pu says the A18 chip will be manufactured with TSMC’s cutting-edge 3 nanometer process.

Read more: Apple iPhone SE 4 Rumors: iPhone 14 Design, Face ID and More



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