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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a lightweight, travel-friendly everyday headphone with long battery life and a foldable design, choose Skullcandy Hesh ANC; if you need a gaming-first headset with head-tracked spatial audio, low-latency wireless and a boom mic, choose Amazon Renewed JBL Quantum 910.
• Skullcandy Hesh ANC — biggest strength: 4-mic active noise cancelling in a 228 g over-ear frame that flat-folds, plus Tile finding tech so a misplaced pair is easier to track down.
• Skullcandy Hesh ANC — biggest trade-off: 22 hours of playtime is modest next to the JBL, and it's a music-and-calls headphone, not a gaming rig.
• Amazon Renewed JBL Quantum 910 — biggest strength: Head-tracking spatial audio (QuantumSPHERE 360 on PC, QuantumSPATIAL 360 on console), 50 mm Hi-Res drivers and a 2.4 GHz low-latency connection built for competitive play.
• Amazon Renewed JBL Quantum 910 — biggest trade-off: It's a renewed unit with a 90-day limited warranty instead of a full new-product term, and it's a heavier, gaming-shaped headset.
• Who each pick is for: Hesh ANC for commuters, students and casual listeners who want simple controls and portability; JBL Quantum 910 for PC and console gamers who want positional audio and a mic in one package.
The Hesh ANC is built around one clear idea: give you quiet and portability without a lot of fuss. Four microphones handle the active noise cancelling, so the pitch is losing yourself in music, movies or podcasts rather than hearing the room around you. The 40 mm dynamic drivers cover a 20 Hz–20 kHz range at 32 ohm impedance and roughly 99.6 dB sensitivity, which is a normal, easy-to-drive profile — the kind of tuning that plays fine straight off a phone.
What stands out for daily life is the practical stuff. There are physical button controls for volume, track skipping and answering or rejecting calls, which I actually prefer over touch panels when I'm wearing gloves or walking. Battery is rated up to 22 hours, and Rapid Charge gives you 3 hours of listening from a 10-minute top-up — genuinely useful when you realize your headphones are dead on the way out the door. The set flat-folds and collapses, weighs 228 g, and Skullcandy includes an extra 1.6 ft USB-C to USB-C cable in the box alongside the standard charging cable. There's also Tile finding technology, so if you register the product in the Tile app you can locate the headphones when they go missing. A 3.5 mm jack means you can go wired when the battery runs out.
Who should buy it: commuters, students, office workers and anyone who wants one pair for music, podcasts and phone calls, values folding portability, and doesn't want to think hard about settings. The 1-year USA limited warranty is a real plus for peace of mind.
Who should skip it: if your main use is competitive gaming, this isn't the tool. There's no boom microphone, no low-latency dongle and no spatial audio processing. And if you regularly do 10-hour listening sessions, 22 hours per charge means you'll be reaching for the cable more often than you'd like.
This is a different animal entirely. The JBL Quantum 910 Wireless is a gaming headset first, and the specs read like it. On PC, JBL QuantumSPHERE 360 uses the USB-C dongle plus JBL QuantumENGINE software and an integrated head-tracking sensor, calibrated with a by-pack microphone, to lock a fixed, independent soundscape around your head — the idea being that turning your head doesn't drag the audio with it, which helps you place sounds accurately. On consoles, QuantumSPATIAL 360 does a similar head-tracked job through the dongle without needing the PC software.
The audio hardware backs that up: Hi-Res certified 50 mm neodymium dynamic drivers, 20 Hz–20 kHz, 111 dB sensitivity. JBL describes the tuning as done by its own audiologists specifically for gaming, from footsteps to explosions. The 2.4 GHz wireless connection is pitched as zero-lag, which matters more in a firefight than it does on a commute. Active noise cancelling is tuned for gaming environments rather than airplane cabins, and the box includes a calibration mic, a windshield foam for the boom mic, a 3.5 mm cable, a USB charging cable, the wireless dongle and a USB-C to USB-A converter.
The renewed angle is worth being straight about. This is a pre-owned or refurbished unit that was inspected and tested by Amazon-qualified suppliers to work and look like new, and it's covered by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee, which allows for replacement or refund if you're not satisfied. The warranty listed here is 90 days limited, which is shorter than what you'd get on a brand-new unit — that's the trade-off you accept for buying renewed. Battery is rated at 39 hours with a 2-hour charge time, which is genuinely long for a wireless gaming headset.
Who should buy it: PC and console gamers who want head-tracked positional audio, a built-in boom mic and low-latency wireless in one headset, and who are comfortable buying renewed with a shorter warranty. Who should skip it: anyone who wants a discreet, foldable pair for the train, or who isn't comfortable with a 90-day warranty window.
• Best for gaming and positional audio → JBL Quantum 910. Head-tracked QuantumSPHERE 360 on PC and QuantumSPATIAL 360 on console are features the Hesh ANC simply doesn't have.
• Best for battery life → JBL Quantum 910. 39 hours rated versus 22 hours on the Hesh ANC, and it charges in about 2 hours.
• Best for portability and travel → Skullcandy Hesh ANC. At 228 g with a flat-folding, collapsible design, it's the one that disappears into a bag.
• Best for quick top-ups → Skullcandy Hesh ANC. Rapid Charge gives 3 hours of playback from a 10-minute charge.
• Best for voice chat and streaming → JBL Quantum 910. It ships with a boom mic and a windshield foam; the Hesh ANC relies on its built-in mic array for calls only.
• Best for losing-your-headphones insurance → Skullcandy Hesh ANC. Built-in Tile finding technology is a feature with no equivalent on the JBL.
• Best for warranty confidence → Skullcandy Hesh ANC. A 1-year limited warranty versus 90 days on the renewed JBL.
• Best for wired fallback on either → both. Each includes a 3.5 mm jack and cable, so you're not stranded when the battery dies.
• Best for a mixed music-and-calls life → Skullcandy Hesh ANC. Button controls for volume, tracks and calls make it the simpler daily driver.
In my opinion, most people asking this question should buy the Skullcandy Hesh ANC. It's lighter, it folds, it has a 1-year warranty, it includes Tile finding tech and an extra USB-C cable, and its button controls are the kind of thing you never have to think about. It's the better single pair of headphones for commuting, study, work and calls.
I'd only steer you to the Amazon Renewed JBL Quantum 910 if gaming is the job. If you play competitively on PC or console and want head-tracked spatial audio, a boom mic and a low-latency 2.4 GHz link, nothing on the Hesh ANC side competes with that — just go in knowing you're buying renewed with a 90-day warranty. Check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since both listings move around.
The JBL Quantum 910, clearly. It has head-tracked spatial audio, a 2.4 GHz low-latency connection, 50 mm Hi-Res drivers and a boom microphone. The Hesh ANC is a music and calls headphone with no gaming-specific audio processing.
The Hesh ANC is rated up to 22 hours, with Rapid Charge adding 3 hours from a 10-minute charge. The JBL Quantum 910 is rated up to 39 hours and takes about 2 hours to charge fully.
It means the headset was pre-owned or refurbished, then inspected and tested by Amazon-qualified suppliers to work and look like new. It's covered by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee for replacement or refund, and the listed warranty is 90 days limited.
The Skullcandy Hesh ANC. It weighs 228 g and has a flat-folding, collapsible design, while the JBL Quantum 910 is a full-size gaming headset with a boom mic and dongle to keep track of.
Yes. Both list a 3.5 mm jack and include a 3.5 mm audio cable, so you can keep listening wired when the charge runs out.
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