We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-19 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want feather-light on-ear headphones you can forget you're wearing for casual listening on a phone or player, choose Audio Technica ATH-EQ300M; if you need a full wireless gaming headset with a boom mic, virtual surround and multi-device connectivity, choose ATTACK SHARK L30.
• Audio Technica ATH-EQ300M — biggest strength: an ultra-thin housing that weighs just 0.7 oz (20 g), so the fit stays light and easy on the ears over long listening sessions.
• Audio Technica ATH-EQ300M — biggest trade-off: it's a wired 3.5 mm headphone with no noise control, no battery and no microphone, so it's strictly a listening tool for one device at a time.
• ATTACK SHARK L30 — biggest strength: tri-mode connectivity (2.4G, Bluetooth, 3.5 mm AUX), a detachable noise-canceling boom mic and a large battery make it a do-everything headset for gaming and calls.
• ATTACK SHARK L30 — biggest trade-off: it's a bulkier over-ear headset with software, RGB lighting and a battery to manage, which is far more kit than someone who just wants to plug in and listen needs.
• Who each pick is for: the Audio Technica is for the minimalist wired listener; the ATTACK SHARK is for the gamer, streamer or work-from-home caller who wants one headset to cover everything.
The ATH-EQ300M is built around one idea: keep it light. The housing is ultra-thin and the whole headphone comes in at 20 g, which is the kind of number that matters when you're wearing something for hours on a commute, at a desk, or while walking. Because the earpieces are rounded tips rather than deep in-ear plugs, they sit against the ear instead of sealing inside it — and Audio-Technica's own framing of the design is about "clear playback sound with less strain on the ears." That's a real, specific promise: this is a headphone you forget about rather than one that isolates you from the world.
On the technical side, you get a dynamic driver with a 16 Hz – 24,000 Hz frequency range and a 20 ohm impedance. A 20 ohm load is easy to drive, so a phone, a laptop, a portable player or even a cheap dongle will push it without trouble. The cord is a 1.2 m wired connection terminating in a 3.5 mm jack, which is enough slack for a pocket or a desk setup but not so much that it tangles into a mess. It also comes in six colors, so if you want your headphones to match a bag or a jacket rather than announce themselves in black, there's a version for that.
Who should buy it? Someone who wants a simple, light, wire-only headphone for music, podcasts, audiobooks and video on a single device. Who should skip it? Anyone who needs a microphone for calls or gaming chat, anyone who wants wireless freedom, and anyone who wants active noise cancellation — because the ATH-EQ300M has none of those. It's a deliberately simple product, and that's the point.
The L30 is the opposite philosophy: pack in everything. It's an over-ear headset with 50 mm biological diaphragm dynamic drivers covering 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz, and it leans on 7.1 virtual surround sound to place footsteps, gunfire and environmental audio directionally around your head. If you play anything where hearing where something is coming from matters, that's the feature doing the work, and it's the kind of thing the EQ300M simply isn't designed to attempt.
Connectivity is where the L30 really separates itself. You get three routes: a 2.4G wireless dongle with a quoted 20 ms latency, Bluetooth with a stated range up to 30 meters, and a plain 3.5 mm AUX cable. That means the same headset can serve a PC, a console, a phone and a handheld, and you can fall back to wired when you don't want to think about charging. Speaking of charging, the 1100 mAh battery is rated for up to 100 hours of playtime, with an auto-shutdown after five minutes of inactivity in 2.4G mode and over-voltage protection so you can charge and play at the same time.
The microphone is detachable and uses a 360° AI noise-canceling setup to isolate your voice, which is the difference between sounding clear on a call and sounding like you're in a wind tunnel. Comfort-wise, you get protein leather earcups, memory foam, and an aluminum alloy frame that keeps the weight reasonable for marathon sessions — and the passive noise isolation from an over-ear seal means less of the room leaks in. RGB lighting (steady or gradient) is there for atmosphere, and companion software lets you build and save EQ profiles and fine-tune the 7.1 channels.
Who should buy it? Gamers, streamers, and anyone who lives on voice calls and wants one headset for PC, console and mobile. Who should skip it? Someone who only ever listens to music solo on a phone and doesn't want to manage a battery, a dongle, software and lighting — for them it's complexity they'll never use.
• Best for pure lightweight comfort → Audio Technica ATH-EQ300M. At 20 g with an ultra-thin housing, it's built to disappear on your head.
• Best for gaming audio and positional awareness → ATTACK SHARK L30. 7.1 virtual surround and 50 mm drivers are aimed squarely at in-game detail.
• Best for microphone and voice chat → ATTACK SHARK L30. The detachable 360° AI noise-canceling mic has no equivalent on the Audio Technica.
• Best for wireless freedom and battery life → ATTACK SHARK L30. Tri-mode connectivity plus up to 100 hours of rated playtime versus a fixed 1.2 m cable.
• Best for plug-and-play simplicity → Audio Technica ATH-EQ300M. Wired 3.5 mm, no charging, no software, no setup.
• Best for multi-device switching (PC, console, phone) → ATTACK SHARK L30. 2.4G, Bluetooth and AUX cover nearly every source.
• Best for casual music and podcasts on one device → Audio Technica ATH-EQ300M. A 20 ohm, easy-to-drive load that runs off anything with a headphone jack.
• Best for long-session over-ear isolation → ATTACK SHARK L30. Protein leather and memory foam with passive noise cancellation versus an open, on-ear fit.
If I had to pick one for myself, I'd take the ATTACK SHARK L30, because I want a single headset that handles gaming, voice chat and music across a PC and a console — and its tri-mode connectivity, detachable mic and long battery life cover all of that without a second purchase. The Audio Technica ATH-EQ300M is genuinely excellent at what it does, and if your only goal is light, wired, no-fuss listening, it's the smarter, simpler buy. But as an all-rounder for someone who talks to people online and plays games, the L30 does more jobs. In my opinion, match the tool to the job: pick the Audio Technica for solo listening, the ATTACK SHARK for everything else.
FAQ
No. Its control set is media control with no noise control and no mic, so it's a listening-only headphone. If you need voice chat or calls, the ATTACK SHARK L30's detachable mic is the one to look at.
They're comfortable in different ways. The ATH-EQ300M is extremely light at 20 g with an on-ear fit that reduces strain, while the L30 uses protein leather earcups, memory foam and an aluminum alloy frame for an over-ear seal. Light-and-open versus sealed-and-cushioned.
No — it works over 2.4G, Bluetooth or AUX without it. The companion software is optional and unlocks custom EQ profiles and 7.1 channel tuning. The Audio Technica needs no software at all.
I can't quote figures here, and both products change over time. Check the current price on Amazon for each before deciding — then weigh it against what you actually need: light wired listening, or a wireless gaming headset with a mic.
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