The latest creation from audio brand Skullcandy is the Skullcandy Hesh ANC and this there latest budget pair of overhead wireless headphones coming in at £119.99 from Amazon. Which is a little cheaper then the Skullcandy Crusher Evo I have reviewed back in October which costs £149.
The key features of these headphones are:
- Impressive ANC
- 22hrs battery life with ANC ON or 30hrs with ANC OFF
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Heavy Bass
- Tile Support
- Rapid Charge
- Smart Assistant
- Memory Foam earcups
Unboxing
Inside the box, you get the headphones along with a travel bag which is made of fabric and not like the lovely hardshell case you get with the Skullcandy Venue I reviewed some time ago. It’s still nice to have something to keep these headphones safe. Also in the box is a USB-C charging cable and a 3.5mm AUX cable.
Design
The Skullcandy Hesh ANC has an impressive build quality yes its made of plastic but you really do have that premium feel due to the different texture points for example soft-touch earcup and glossy arms on the headphones. The headphones only come in black to UK customers but this may change in the future.
Skullcandy has really considered the comfort factor of these headphones and they have not disappointed. Testing these they are really comfortable and ideal for long periods of use. They do this nice padding on the headband which even after long periods of use I got no hotspot on the band. The earcups offer plenty of padding on the earcup in fact they come with memory foam.
Skullcandy Hesh ANC offer memory foam
The Skullcandy Hesh ANC offers a collapsible design and they fold inwards which makes them easy to fold away when travelling while not using them or putting them in the carry case.
Skullcandy Hesh ANC foldable design
Moving to the controls of the Hesh ANC all of the controls are on the right earcup from the bottom-up 3.5mm audio jack, USB-C charge port. Then you have Minus and Plus buttons which allowed you to change tracks or volume. In the middle of these buttons, you have a small raised button that was your play/pause button and also allows you to use your smart assistant such as Google Assistant, Alexa or Seri and that works very well. Finally above that, you have the ambient & ANC button.
3.5 mm AUX Port & USB-C charge port.
Controls for Play/Pause, Volume and track control, Smart Assistant and ANC and Ambient mode.
The controls are in a good position when wearing the headphones and allowing you to change the volume or tracks or switch ANC on. So overall these headphones are designed really well and they are also lightweight coming in at 225g. My only small negative about the design is the size of the cups they are perfect for someone with small ears but users whose ears are a little larger might feel a little uncomfortable for long periods of use.
Features
The main feature of the Hesh ANC as the name suggests is ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) but they also come with an ambient mode which I will discuss later. The ANC mode is not the best in the market but still very impressive compared to many in the market. Considering the price point the ANC was towards the best available. The ANC did a very good job blocking out most unwanted noise however I did hear some level of human voices when I went down to my local high street. I would have normally tested these at a busy station but the current lockdown prevented that.
The ambient mode on the Hesh ANC I thought worked quite well when looking to bring in surrounding sound and it worked very well especially if you want to hear what is going around you at the same time as enjoying your music.
These headphones are connected by Bluetooth 5.0 and offer a range of 10m as mentioned we are currently in lockdown so it made testing difficult. What we did find was when moving from room to room or even in the garden they stayed connected which was welcoming. These headphones also offer AAC & SBC codecs which work very well on Apple users but Andriod users do better with aptX which unfortunately is missing. Also missing on these headphones is the lack of IP rating which in this UK weather might put a few off. I did use these in light rain and they worked fine due to the impressive build.
A big disappointment from these headphones is the lack of the Skullcandy app as you are unable to adjust the EQ or change the sound profile its a shame as Skullcandy has a really good app for that so this feels like a missed trick for no real reason.
Finishing on a positive note Skullcandy partnership with Tile finding technology continues so if you misplace your headphones you can ring them via the Tile app which is great if you missed placed them in your house or office. It will ring the headphones and you will hear an alarm getting louder the longer you look for the headphones. This only works within a 46-meter range any further then that the Tile community kicks in. So if they pass where your headphones are you get a location alert. This is not a bad feature but let’s face it if you leave these on a park bench the tile app will not get them back but its a nice feature if you misplace them in your home.
Audio Quality/Performance
The Skullcandy Hesh ANC is just pure audio joy for those who love the bass however the overall sound quality is actually better when ANC is off. The Hesh ANC come with 40mm drivers and offer a bass-heavy sound signature. This is glorious when listening to some bass-heavy tracks such as Give It Away from Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
As mentioned the sound profile is better when ANC is off when that is the case. The sound is more open the bass is heavier you have strong mids and the highs are pronounced. The Hesh ANC also did not bottom out which is really good for headphones like these.
When the ANC is switched on the bass is effected the punchiness of the bass and drops a little but this actually improves the mids and vocals when listening to songs with a little lighter bass. Overall, these headphones when using the ANC actually tamed the bass.
When listening to tracks with an instrumental the Hesh ANC placed very accurately and sound distinct from one another. Overall the Hesh ANC did sound very good considering the price range. You are also able to make calls on these headphones and the 4 built-in mics provided a decent quality when making calls but you did notice a little outside noise but not enough to affect my call.
Battery Life
The Skullcandy Hesh ANC offer 22 hours of battery life with ANC on and a moderate sound level when you switch ANC off this increases to up to 30 hours. When testing these the battery performed very well. Obviously, if you enjoy music loud you will find a reduction in the hours of playback but this is completely expected.
When its time to charge these Skullcandy headphones you get a rapid charge feature that for 10 minutes of charge you get 3 hours of playback which is very impressive. Meaning they are ideal when you back to the busy lifestyles we lived pre-lockdown. You can also use the 3.5mm AUX cable if you want that wired connection if your battery was to die. If you need to change these from zero to 100% it will take 2 hours which is not to bad and I would do this at night time while asleep.
Verdict
What you have with the Skullcandy Hesh ANC is a solidly built pair of headphones that offer an impressive ANC & Ambient mode. The battery life is fantastic and the rapid charge feature is also a great feature to have for those who are always on the move.
You do get a good sound quality I was a little puzzled why turning ANC on actually dropped the bass I would have liked ANC to improve the sound. However, the everyday user will not notice this slight drop in sound.
ANC off and the bass really shines and you will enjoy the punch with a pair of bass-heavy headphone like these. My main disappointment with the lack of Skullcandy app meaning you cant change the EQ as I would have liked to have dropped the highs just a little.
Aside from these points, the Skullcandy Hesh ANC come with a fun bass and great sound signature. The build quality was very impressive that gave that premium feel with the cups being able to move 180 degrees and the headphones offering 40mm drivers all come together to produce a great option for these looking for a pair of ANC Headphones under £150.
Product Rating:
Design: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Features: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Audio Quality: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Battery Life: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars -4.5 Stars
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