JBL x 100 Thieves Headset review: A worthy offering with some minor shortcomings

100 Thieves recently revealed a collaboration with audio designers JBL for their JBL x 100 Thieves Headset. The limited-edition design comes with the 100 Thieves logo and geo print on top of the headset and serves up high-quality sound for gamers, whether on PC or console.

The headset was incredibly popular, selling out in 12 minutes. The Quantum One version is still on sale, it's only the JBL x 100 Thieves edition that is sold out. The headset does have some shortcomings for its price point but is still an incredible headset when it comes to delivering surround sound.

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The JBL x 100 Thieves Headset is comfortable but requires some setup

I would say that the JBL x 100 Thieves Headset is one of the most comfortable headsets I’ve worn. It sat decently on my head, but it started to feel heavy after a few hours. As someone who deals with chronic migraines, this is incredibly important.

This review came out a little late because I was having some serious technical difficulties that I was not sure came due to the headset or not. After some testing and changes on my desktop, I determined that it had nothing to do with the headset being incompatible and returned to my testing.

To get the most out of this headset, users need to do an HRTF calibration, which involves removing the microphone and plugging in a special calibration mic. It registers a few things about the person’s body to make sure head tracking works perfectly.

The headset uses a proprietary “Quantum Sphere 360” technology to create a surround sound effect for gamers. The calibration was easy enough, but I had to do it a few times, which became a little frustrating. Thankfully, there’s a re-centering button right on the headset.

What is the sound like on the headset when gaming?

Despite being hard of hearing, having good audio equipment is still incredibly important. While playing more recent titles such as Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Warzone, the JBL x 100 Thieves Headset truly shined. I could hear footsteps from enemy combatants clearly, as well as being able to tell where gunshots were coming from.

The positional audio from this headset was excellent, but it wasn’t something that I would get a great deal of use out of in my personal downtime. As someone who plays a lot of retro games, that didn’t help me much. But I appreciate the work put into it and was glad to see it for when I do play shooters on my PC or PlayStation 5.

The JBL x 100 Thieves Headset is comfortable and delivers satisfying audio to gamers (Image via Sportskeeda)

The sound quality was excellent, but having to turn on the ANC (Active Noise Canceling) on the JBL Quantum app was a bit of a letdown. I’m used to having Noise Canceling be a feature that’s on at all times. It’s certainly something worth knowing.

The app is fantastic, with tons of ways to customize the audio and microphone sound for the headset itself. Users can turn the Head Tracking technology on and off for gamers that aren’t especially interested in that part of the headset.

I also appreciate the ability to use a dial to lower the game volume/increase the Discord chat volume, or vice versa via a dial. I found that to be super helpful in a few games.

Whether I listened to music, watched a movie, or shot enemies in whatever game I was playing at the time, the audio was genuinely fantastic. But what about the microphone?

The microphone of the JBL x 100 Thieves Headset is decent

I have quite a few microphones, from headsets to physical microphones, and the JBL x 100 Thieves Headset is okay. When I used it on a livestream or two, the viewers said it was okay, but it wasn’t as good as the headset I usually use.

This was when I realized it wasn’t doing any noise-cancelling and had to open up the app and activate it. When I did, viewers said it was significantly better but wasn’t quite as good as what they were used to.

It was clear, but it wasn’t quite as high-quality, which is not what I was looking for. People could understand me well enough, but I was admittedly expecting a little bit more for the price tag of this headset.

I use this headset on my consoles more than on a PC. Thanks to it being usable on all consoles, whether it's my Switch or my PlayStation 5, it’s effortless to set up. It’s undoubtedly a decent microphone, but it’s not the same quality as the microphone I have on a headset that retails for less.

In Conclusion

A good headset despite a few flaws, the JBL x 100 Thieves Headset delivers when it comes to excellent in-game audio (Image via JBL)

I like this headset quite a lot, but it still let me down in a few ways. The microphone is good, but it doesn't quite work for my setup. The noise-cancelling is decent, but it would somehow pick up anytime I had to move my hair when leaning back in my chair.

The audio for the headset is incredible, though, and I loved listening to my games and my various Spotify playlists on it, but at the end of the day, it did have some minor shortcomings. It's certainly not the best gaming headset I've used, but it's still a solid offering from JBL.