JBL Quantum 360X Drops $50 to $99.95 at Amazon in a Four-Headset Price Cut

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JBL Quantum 360X Drops $50 to $99.95 at Amazon in a Four-Headset Price Cut

The JBL Quantum 360X is $99.95 at Amazon, $50 below its $149.95 list price, and JBL's own store shows the identical $99.95 against the identical crossed-out figure. The 33% is JBL's own promotion that Amazon is matching to the cent, not a retailer-only cut.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X headset in black with boom mic extended and a USB-C dongle beside it
The Arctis Nova 3X ships with the USB-C dongle that carries its 30-hour rating. Image: SteelSeries

Three more wireless headsets moved with it, from $89.99 to $184.62. Each one is sold on a battery figure, and only JBL's belongs to the connection that carries game audio.

What the four headsets cost, and what their makers charge

Amazon is the seller and shipper on all four listings. The battery column below gives each maker's own rating with the connection it was measured on.

HeadsetAmazonListMaker's own priceRated battery, by mode
JBL Quantum 360X$99.95$149.95$99.9522 hours on 2.4GHz, 26 on Bluetooth
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X$89.99$109.99$94.9930 hours on 2.4GHz, 40 on Bluetooth
Logitech G522 Lightspeed$129.99$159.99$129.9935 hours with the lights on, 80 with them off
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2$184.62$199.99$199.9954 hours on 2.4GHz, 38 with both radios live
Logitech G522 Lightspeed headset with a blue suspension band and purple side lighting
The G522's side lighting is the feature that costs it half its battery rating. Image: Logitech G

JBL prints the lower of its two battery figures

HARMAN's spec sheet for the Quantum 360X lists up to 22 hours of play time over 2.4GHz wireless and up to 26 hours over Bluetooth. The headline on the listing is the 22.

That is the dongle figure, and the dongle is what carries game audio. JBL says five minutes of charging returns an extra hour, and a full charge takes two.

The limit worth knowing is reach, not runtime. HARMAN states the 2.4GHz connection works with PC, Xbox, Mac and a docked Nintendo Switch, so a PlayStation needs the USB audio adapter in the box.

JBL also restricts its software. QuantumSURROUND, RGB, EQ and the microphone settings run only on PC, the same split that kept hi-res audio off consoles on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni.

The Arctis Nova 3X advertises its Bluetooth hours

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X is $89.99, down from $109.99, and its listing says a full charge lasts up to 40 hours. SteelSeries' own spec table reads "Up to 30 hours 2.4GHz Wireless or 40 hours on Bluetooth".

So the 40 is the Bluetooth number and the dongle is rated a quarter lower. It is the same trick SteelSeries played on the Arctis Nova 5P, only wider here.

SteelSeries lists the two radios as quick-switch rather than simultaneous, so the figures cannot be added. It charges $94.99 itself, which leaves Amazon $5 cheaper.

Its own 30-day price record is less flattering. SteelSeries sold the 3X at $89.99 on three separate days this month, and at $79.99 from October 5 to October 7.

Logitech's own pages disagree about the G522

The Logitech G522 Lightspeed is $129.99, down from a $159.99 price Logitech confirms as the MSRP in its own announcement. Logitech's store charges $129.99 too, so this is a price match rather than a discount.

The listing claims up to 60 hours with lighting off. Logitech's support specification page says up to 35 hours with the default LEDs and up to 80 without them.

Both are Logitech sources and neither says 60. The 35 is the one that matters, because the headset is sold on side lighting in 16.8 million colors.

The price has not moved in six weeks either. Digital Citizen recorded the same $129.99 on September 19, when it covered the Logitech G Astro A50 deal, and again on October 18.

The Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 is the one to skip

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless Gen 2 is $184.62 against a $199.99 list, an 8% cut and the smallest of the four. SteelSeries charged $159.99 for it on seven days in October, by its own published record.

That is $24.63 below the Amazon price. SteelSeries has since walked its own price back up to $199.99, while Amazon's has fallen 37 cents since October 21.

This is also the one model where the big battery number is honest. SteelSeries rates it at 54 hours on 2.4GHz, above the 50 it advertises, but at 38 hours with both radios running.

Mixing game and mobile audio is the feature it is sold on, so 38 is the number to plan around. Its microphone bandwidth is 16KHz/8Bit, against 32KHz/16Bit on the $89.99 Nova 3X.

Xbox owners have a cleaner choice. SteelSeries lists Xbox for the 3X but not for the Nova 7 Gen 2, and Digital Citizen has also covered a cheaper Xbox wireless headset with a charging dock.

None of the four makers publishes an end date, and SteelSeries' current price windows are open-ended in its own data. Logitech does not publish a Bluetooth version for the G522, and it is the only one of the four to say whether its battery can be replaced, which it cannot. Prices were checked at the time of writing and can change.

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