JLab - Play Gaming Wireless Headset - Black/Blue

The Play Gaming Wireless Headset” from JLAB is an interesting if contradictory set of headphones. They are not terribly big. In fact, these may be the smallest over the ears headphones I have owned in a good long while. They advertise themselves as being wireless, but they are only wireless when you can pair them with a Bluetooth device. If you intend to use them with a gaming console such as the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, or PS4, you will need to use the included auxiliary cable i.e. a wire. The headphones are only wireless when you pair them with a phone, a tablet, or a Bluetooth enabled PC. But the Bluetooth 5 works well. and produces the best audio in my opinion. JLAB markets the headphones as wireless gaming headphones, but they’re really more of a “do everything” set of headphones. The wireless audio quality is particularly good, and as a “do everything” set of headphones, they check all the boxes. I feel like I have to preface every discussion about this headset with "but for the price". I have better gaming headphones. I have better music headphones. They may not be the best at any one thing, but "for the price" I don’t have headphones that do everything as easily or as conveniently as these headphones do. At this price point, these headphones are easy to recommend. The sound is good. The functionality is good. And if they break down the line, it won't cost a fortune to replace them. Audio Quality: The driver / speaker size for these headphones isn’t terribly big. Many gaming headsets come with a 50mm driver. I believe the Play Wireless headset utilizes a 40MM driver. The diameter of each speaker is about 2.5 inches. As a result, the audio quality when I hook these headphones up to my Xbox or Nintendo switch isn’t the greatest. If you're an audiophile, I can't say these headphones sound the best. Sounds are a bit muffled and the details aren’t as rich as I would like. But the audio quality improves quite a bit when paired with a Bluetooth device. I never noticed wireless distortion or static. I didn't notice a delay when gaming or watching Netflix. The Bluetooth 5 connectivity works quite well. You have two equalizer settings to choose from in Bluetooth mode: gaming and music. There are not any advanced surround modes or other mixing options. The retractable boom mic works well. In my experience, individuals on the other end of the line said I sounded clear. In phone calls and online game sessions, I had no problems being heard. Wireless Performance: Battery life has been good. JLAB advertises a 22-hour+ battery life on the box. In my experience, I could use these headphones for 6 to 8 hours and only have used around 25 to 30 percent of the battery. That’s pretty good for wireless headphones and makes these headphones great for travel, work from home, or long online gaming sessions. Wireless pairing took me a second or two to figure out. The pairing button is the power button. If you want to pair these headphones, you must make sure that the headphones are off before beginning to pair. If you try to pair them while the headphones are on, the headphones will just turn off. So, with the headphones off, you hold down the power / pairing button for 8 seconds until the power light flashes between blue and red. At that point, your headphones are ready to pair. Functionality: Because of the limited space on each speaker, JLAB has many of the buttons serving multiple functions. For example, the power button is also the pause button, the hang-up button, and the pairing button. Getting these buttons to work as intended means that you have to know the difference between a press and a hold. If you hold down on the volume up button, you will tell the headphones you want to select the next audio track. If you want to turn the volume up, you must tap the volume controls. It’s not entirely intuitive, but it works and eventually I got used to it. The physical mute button on the earpiece is easy to use. Comfort: In my opinion, over the ear headphones are more comfortable than buds that fit in the ear. These headphones fit well enough and do a good job of muffling out outside sounds when in use. Probably because of their size, I never felt like the headphones got terribly hot. But I’d be lying if I said they were the most comfortable pair of headphones I had worn, either. The cushion around the speaker doesn't breathe particularly well. The headphones tend to rest on rather than sealing around the ear. I can't say my ears ever got that hot, but I never forgot that I was wearing a headset, either. Conclusion: The Play Gaming Wireless Headset is an interesting pair of headphones. As a strictly gaming headset, there are better options. As strictly music headphones, there are better options. But as an everyday headset that works with gaming consoles and Bluetooth enabled phones, tablets, and computers, these headphones are quite good. Their size and portability make them a good set of travel headphones. The retractable mic and excellent battery life make them good headphones for the individual working and telecommuting from home. I wish the audio quality and comfort was a bit better. But if you’re looking for all-in-one wireless headphones on a budget, I find these headphones easy to recommend. 4/5

JLab Play wired stereo headset Here we have the JLab Play Wireless Gaming Headset, boasting an incredible 22-hours of battery life, decent enough sound quality, and incredibly lightweight, preventing the ear sweat many similar headsets succumb to. The battery life is likely accomplished by the sheer efficiency of the cans, requiring far less energy to reproduce bass frequencies that larger 50-mm drivers require. For gaming, which is the target audience, it’s hard to knock this JLab set. They offer 60 ms response time to greatly minimize lag. Opponents and campaign teammates could hear my clearly over the boom mic. Fortunately an AUX cable is provided in the box to connect to PS4 DualShock controller. It proved a rather enjoyable experience. Beyond my expectations. Initial impressions : My nit picks center largely around the cheap feeling upon unboxing. I thought for a second I received the JLab ear buds instead, not this small-med sized over the ear headset. Plastic buttons have a bit of give to them, and the baby blue / black color scheme seemed toyish in my humble opinion. I really didn’t expect to like these things, so light they can’t be any good right? I honestly figured I’d let the kids use them on their bedroom gaming console, expecting them to be destroyed in a short timeframe. The more I used these, even testing music on iPad (after setting EQ to music by holding both +/- volume buttons for 2 seconds to switch) the more these grew on me. I tested the integrated pull out Boom Microphone by placing and receiving iPhone phone calls with a simple tap on the power button, or double-tap to activate Siri to adjust audio volume. My wife said she couldn’t tell I wasn’t speaking into iPhone. Looked at it to verify, nope, all JLab. CONTROLS ——————- Power Button *hold 8 seconds - activate Bluetooth pairing * hold 2 seconds - On / Off *tap once - pause, play, answer, hang up calls *hold 1 second - reject calls *press twice - activate Siri (or “OK Google”) Volume + and - multipurpose rocker switch *tap once - volume up / down *press hold 2 seconds - track advance / rewind *hold both for 2 seconds - EQ alternate between Game (1 beep) and Music (2 beeps) Right ear cup Microphone mute button PROS ——— + 22-hour battery, great for extended FortNite sessions + works with PS4, Xbox, PC, iPad, iPhone, Mac + super light weight and surprisingly comfortable + 2- band EQ, weighted for gaming vs music, really works + voiced towards treble end of the audio spectrum + AUX cable included, with built-in volume control CONS ———— -build quality slightly suspect, feels like generic overseas Alibaba set -seems flimsy compared to a dozen plus headphones I’ve tested -retractable mic is too short to read bigger heads -ear cups also too small for pumpkin noggins like mine -baby blue / black color scheme seems a tad toyish -full MSRP price could be a deterrent for target audience CONCLUSION ———————— It’s rather unfair for me to bring high pro-level audio expectations into this review, and then complain about mediocre sound quality, particularly compared to far pricier musically-focused and studio quality cans. This product is not intended as such. It’s focused on gaming, plain and simple, and that it does really, really well. Recommend

Our grandson uses this and he loves it!! It works as it should !!

I was a little skeptical of this headset when taking it out of the box, but I was pleasantly surprised overall. Although the build quality of the earcups feels a bit on the "cheaper" side, the sound quality is decent. Bass isn't head pounding, but its good enough for most audio. The experience varies by device though. My nintendo switch sounds pretty low when connected with the included auxiliary cable. When the headset is paired to my iPhone or MacBook with bluetooth they get louder. When gaming, the sound quality is fine for casual gaming. I wouldn't depend on it if you want it for competitive gaming. The retractable microphone is a nice touch and is hardly noticeable when pushed into the stow position. Microphone works pretty good, my friends said i came through nice and clear when connected to party chat on my playstation 4. The headband feels sturdy and strong enough to survive a minor beating. Although comfortable my only complaint is that the ear cups are small. If you prefer headsets that completely cover your whole ear then I would not recommend these to you. I think this headset would be great for a family with children who would like a headset they can use for music listening and some casual gaming and or chatting with friends online / face timing.

For a headset that doesn't have Dolby Surround, the audio directions are very pronounced. I will be honest when I first opened the package, I thought "this is too small to actually benefit my games", but I am glad to say that my first thought was wrong.  This tiny headset really packs a punch! The audio is rich, with clear and precise sounds, the bass is even good enough that explosions and music carry the depth you would expect from a larger headset.  For the price and portability, these little babies have not let me down! They are wireless, which means that they can sync up to any open Bluetooth devices, like your phone( Android, Apple, or other ), stereo, or computers (Windows,Apple, Chromebooks, and others). The only thing they can NOT sync up to wirelessly is video game consoles. I know, some of you are thinking, well how can this be? " they are made for gaming, and advertise wireless". Well, here is the kicker, any veteran video gamer will know that the last generation of video game consoles (ie., Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch ) do use Bluetooth technology, but have locked out any type of third party devices from accessing it. Which means if you are gaming on a console and want actual wireless benefits, you have to use their brand of available devices, or you get a third party device that has its own USB transmitter/receiver that you would have to plug into an open USB port on your system. ( This is currently the only work around to using wireless 3rd party devices.)With all that said, this headset does not come with an USB adapter. Which is OK in my book, because most consoles only have 2 USB ports, and I am usually using both of them for charging controllers and utilizing external hard drives.Jlabs included a 3.5mm auxiliary cable in the box that will directly connect you to your console's controller. So you will have wireless freedom from the console itself, but a wired connection to your controller.  You are still free to move about the room, or wherever you want to, as long as you still have the controller with you. The aux cable has a built it volume control, which overrides the volume buttons on the earphone. However to mute yourself, you still need to use the big button on the outside of the earphone.  When using the Bluetooth feature, the battery can last up to 22 hours. After my first hour of use, the headset still said the battery was at 100 percent. If you do manage to deplete the battery, the headset does have a rapid charge feature. Ten minutes of charge will get you an hour of play.The volume and power buttons on the headset also double to answer calls, skip and pause music, however these button features are not available when using the aux cable, only in active bluetooth mode. Probably because connecting the aux cable turns off the battery features, and just utilizes the speaker and mic. Enabling you to be able to game or listen to music through the aux cable indefinitely.  The headset has 2 EQ presets "1" for gaming and "2" for music, however this option is only available in Bluetooth mode, otherwise the EQ is defaulted for gaming. When using the wireless feature for gaming the latency is 60ms, and has no latency through the wired connection. Latency is the delay between devices. Most wireless audio devices are somewhere around 100ms in latency. Even at 100ms, most people can not notice the delay, I mean we are talking about milliseconds here anyway, not actual seconds. In latency the smaller number is better, and the Jlabs Play is almost half of what most devices offer. (pretty impressive) The mic works well for calls, and in-game chat. While the mic can still pick up audio in it's stowed position, you really need to extend it for people to hear you well. The mute button is large enough to find in a hurry and easy to press. The button actually stays depressed in, when the mute is active, so it's easy to feel whether you have the mute on or off. There are only 2 things I can say this headset is lacking. The 1st is a charging block/plug, the device comes with a charging cable but not a power plug, so you will have to use your spare phone charging USB port. This does not bother me too much, because I have tons of spare chargers, and they all use the same 5 watt outputs, just like the USB ports on your computer. The only difference between USB chargers is the amperage. Chargers with higher amperes will charge devices faster. Second is there is no game vs chat slider or toggle. This feature is usually only available on more expensive models, so I wasn't really expecting it to be included at this price point. A game vs chat mixer/slider/toggle makes it possible to adjust the volume of the chat at a different level than the game (which helps out, if you have a buddy that either talks too quiet or screams too much) .However most consoles, systems and games, actually include this feature into their settings. So it's still possible to do it, just not directly on the headset. This little headset offers so much, it's silly to dwell on things it can't do, because of console manufacturers or higher expenses.  For the price and portability this headset is top notch. I have used a lot of other inexpensive headsets, and none of them offer the spatial awareness and sound impact that this headset does. Plus this offers a 2 year warranty!