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If you want a wired on-ear headphone built for everyday music, calls and long sessions on your PS5, choose JLab Studio on-Ear Headphones; if you need a tiny, featherweight retro-style wired headphone for casual listening or costume and photo work, choose SECFOU Retro. That is the honest split. One is a real audio product with 40mm drivers and a braided cable; the other is a compact novelty-leaning piece of retro gear. Let me walk you through why that difference matters — especially if you've been hunting for sleep headphones for PS5 or the best Bluetooth headphones for PS5 and keep landing on wired options instead.
• JLab Studio's biggest strength: a genuine audio build — 40mm neodymium dynamic drivers, a 20Hz–20kHz frequency range, on-ear faux leather and cloud foam cushions, and a tangle-free braided nylon cord with an in-line mic.
• JLab Studio's biggest trade-off: it's wired, not wireless. There's no Bluetooth here, so if you were hoping for a cable-free setup you'll need to look elsewhere — and the spec sheet lists no active noise cancellation, only sound isolation.
• SECFOU Retro's biggest strength: it is astonishingly light at roughly 27 grams and genuinely compact at about 15 × 11 × 4 cm, with a PVC sponge build and a snug adjustable fit designed to reduce ear pressure.
• SECFOU Retro's biggest trade-off: the spec sheet is thin on audio engineering. There's no driver size, no frequency range, and the connectivity is listed only as "hybrid" — so treat it as a casual, retro-styled wired headphone rather than a critical-listening tool.
• Pick JLab Studio if you want one wired headphone that handles music, calls and gaming audio on a PS5 controller and folds into a bag.
• Pick SECFOU Retro if you want something ultra-light and pocketable for retro aesthetics, light listening, or as a prop.
The JLab Studio is the more serious piece of audio gear in this comparison, and the specs back that up. The 40mm neodymium drivers paired with a 20Hz–20kHz frequency range put it in proper full-range headphone territory — that's the range where you actually hear bass, mids and treble as separate things rather than one mushy blob. JLab markets this tuning as C3 Sound, and the design intent is clearly "detailed and rich" rather than "loud and cheap."
Comfort is where the Studio earns its name. The on-ear cushions use faux leather over cloud foam, so they conform to your ears instead of pressing flat against them, and the build is light — about 150 grams. The circular cups rotate roughly 80 degrees and the earcups fold up, which means they collapse to about palm size for a backpack. For a student, commuter or desk worker, that's the difference between headphones you carry and headphones you leave at home.
Controls live on the side of the earcup, and the braided nylon cord includes an in-line mic for calls and track control. The 3.5mm jack is angled at 90 degrees, which is a small but real detail — it survives being jammed into a phone case or a PS5 controller without bending the connector. The spec sheet lists a 30-hour average battery life figure alongside the wired design, and JLab backs the product with a 2-year warranty, which is a meaningful signal of expected longevity.
Who should buy it? Anyone who wants one dependable wired headphone for music, voice calls and gaming audio, and who values comfort and portability over wireless freedom. If you're specifically wiring into a PS5 controller for late-night sessions, this is the natural pick of the two. Who should skip it? If you refuse to deal with a cable, or if you need true active noise cancellation for a noisy commute, this isn't the product for you — it isolates sound passively, nothing more.
The SECFOU Retro is a very different animal, and I want to be fair to it rather than dismissive. What it does well is portability and light weight. At roughly 27 grams — a fraction of the JLab's 150 grams — you barely feel it. The folded size is around 15 × 11 × 4 cm, so it slips into a jacket pocket in a way almost no on-ear headphone can. The PVC sponge build and the snug, adjustable fit are explicitly designed around reduced ear pressure, which matters if you find most headphones clamp too hard after an hour.
The marketing leans into retro and vintage styling, and the description repeatedly frames it for recording, studio sessions, photography, costumes and decorative use. That's an honest tell: this is a headphone bought as much for how it looks as for how it sounds. The listed features claim clear vocals and detailed reproduction of voices and instruments, and I have no reason to doubt it handles casual listening fine — but there's no driver size, no frequency response and no impedance figure in the spec sheet, so there's nothing concrete to hold the audio claims up against.
Who should buy it? Someone who wants an ultra-light, ultra-compact wired headphone for casual music moments, retro aesthetic appeal, or as a photographic or costume prop. If you're putting together a vintage look for a shoot or an event, the SECFOU is the obvious choice — the JLab looks like modern audio gear and always will. Who should skip it? Anyone treating this as their main headphone for gaming, monitoring or serious listening. With no published driver spec and no folding mechanism beyond the in-ear classification listed, it's a light-duty accessory, not a daily driver.
• Best for PS5 gaming audio → JLab Studio on-Ear Headphones. Plug the 3.5mm jack straight into the controller and you're done; the angled connector and in-line mic make it the more practical fit.
• Best for long listening sessions → JLab Studio on-Ear Headphones. Faux leather and cloud foam cushions plus a 150g build are built for hours, not minutes.
• Best for ultra-light portability → SECFOU Retro. At about 27g and 15 × 11 × 4 cm, it disappears into a pocket.
• Best for music detail → JLab Studio on-Ear Headphones. A published 40mm driver and a 20Hz–20kHz range give you something real to trust.
• Best for retro looks and photo or costume work → SECFOU Retro. That's the whole point of the design.
• Best for calls → JLab Studio on-Ear Headphones. The braided cord includes an in-line mic and on-earcup volume control.
• Best for reduced ear pressure → SECFOU Retro. The snug adjustable fit is designed around exactly that.
• Best for durability confidence → JLab Studio on-Ear Headphones. A 2-year warranty is a stated commitment the SECFOU listing doesn't offer.
In my opinion, the JLab Studio on-Ear Headphones is the smarter buy for almost everyone reading this. It gives you a real driver spec, real comfort materials, a foldable travel design, an in-line mic and a 2-year warranty — and it's the one I'd wire into a PS5 controller without a second thought. I'd only steer you to the SECFOU Retro if weight, size and vintage looks matter more to you than documented audio hardware. That's a legitimate reason to buy it. Just go in knowing which one you're actually getting.
Yes — it's wired with a 3.5mm jack and a 90-degree angled connector, so it plugs directly into a DualSense controller. The in-line mic also handles party chat. Just note it's not wireless, so it won't work over Bluetooth.
If you want wireless, yes — but neither of these two is a Bluetooth headphone. The JLab Studio is wired, and the SECFOU Retro is listed with hybrid connectivity, not Bluetooth audio. If wireless is a must, look at dedicated Bluetooth models; if you're fine with a cable, the JLab is the better-specified option.
They can be, if you want something that disappears in your ears. But for on-ear comfort over long sessions, the JLab's cloud foam cushions give it an edge, and the SECFOU's 27g build is the lightest-feeling option of the three approaches.
Value depends on what you need. Dollar for dollar, the JLab Studio delivers more documented hardware — a 40mm driver, a full frequency range, a mic and a warranty. The SECFOU Retro delivers less audio spec but far more portability and retro character. Check the current price on Amazon for both before deciding, since that's the one variable I can't compare here.
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