Skullcandy has been pretty busy this second half of 2018… they released their first
ANC headphones the Skullcandy venue, they released their Skullcandy Crusher 360… currently
my favorite Bass Head Headphones…
And now they’ve released their Skullcandy Push… their first truly wireless ear buds.
And considering their price point… theyre not half bad.
I think they’re a good option for an android or iPhone user looking to go truly wireless
without having to spend the big bucks but they do bring some compromises.
But first a word from one of partners
The new skull candy Push truly wireless ear buds have a retail price of $130… but on
launch day they’re already on sale for $100.
So take that as you will.
Personally I do hope the Skullcandy Push continue to go for $100 cause there are lot of other
companies starting to put out more truly wireless earbud at sub hundred price points.
Namely Jam, J-Lab, and Anker.
And for comparison’s sake, the apple AirPods have a retail price of $160.
But if you want to pick these ear buds I’ll have links in the description below and if
you use the links in really helps out the channel.
Now like I just mentioned, there are a lot of other sub hundred dollar truly wireless
ear buds out there… but I feel the Skullcandy Push warrants their slightly higher price
tag cause they have a slightly better build and a slightly better user experience over
their more afforable competitors.
Even though it might not seem like a big deal to so some, the Push’s charging case is
using USB-C. And seeing USB-C on a pair of budget friendly wireless ear buds is great
cause if your phone charges with a USB C port, you can charge your phone and ear buds with
the same cable.
This is one of the biggest reasons why people love their AirPods so much, even me.
Now the earbuds them selves have an advertised battery life of 6 hours, and the case can
supply an additional 6 hours of battery giving these earbuds a combined battery life of 12
hours of playback time.
Now a combined battery life of 12 hours isn’t amazing compared to other truly wireless earbuds…
But these earbuds’s continuous 6 hours of playback time is.
Cause AirPods top out at 5 hours and most other bargin brands top out at around 3 hours
of playback time.
And I’ve noticed that I can go 2 days in between charges with these earbuds.
But for comparison when my AirPods were new I could go about 4 to 5 days in between charges.
But now since the batteries on my 2 year old AirPods have degraded so severally I can only
go about 2 days in between charges with them now.
Battery degradation is normal for all electronics… but what I do want to point out about these
truly wireless ear buds is that they don’t have fast charging.
And not a lot of other truly wireless earbuds besides AirPods have meaning full fast charging.
And having fast charging is very important for wireless earbuds if you plan on going
on long commutes with them on a regular basis.
So just keep that in mind if you plan on picking up a pair of truly wireless earbuds in general.
Now when it comes to the over all build quality of the case… its decent for a pair of $130
wireless earbuds.
Now the only thing im worried about concerning this case is accidentally snapping off the
lid.
But other than that I think this carrying case is on par of that the Sony WF-SP700N,
and jaybird run.
Especially since the case magnetically attaches to the earbuds.
Something that Sony’s and Jaybird’s cases don’t do and its one of those small important
details you miss when you don’t have it anymore.
But definitely one of the biggest drawbacks of this carrying case is its sheer size, its
huge compared to the Airpod’s case… and given its size I do wish it held more than
just 6 additional hours of playback time.
But now lets get to the earbuds themselves, when I first took them out I was reminded
of the Sony WH-SP700N.
Their build quality is decent and I really like how low profile they are compared to
a lot of the wireless earbuds I’ve mentioned so far.
Now these are in ear ear buds and they come with an additional 2 pairs of silicon ear
tips.
But interestingly enough, you don’t get additional ear fins and the ear fins on the
bud themselves aren’t removable.
And personally, I wish we could at least remove these ear fins…
I just feel it could get in the way for some people.
But regardless, when it comes to fit these earbuds stay in place very well and they produce
a very good seal.
And since they’re so light and low profile they never wiggle out.
But the most important thing the Skullcandy push get right is their bluetooth connectivity.
They’re rocking bluetooth 4.2, but more importantly their connection stability is
much better than other truly wireless earbuds I’ve tested in the past cause you never
hear any stuttering or crackling if you move your head or if your phone is in your pocket.
Now you’ll might get a connection drop if theres a wall between the earbuds and your
phone and if you move your head at just the right angle but their connection is still
very good.
And they also have very little latency when watching videos on your iphone.
Is still there but its much less than most other truly wireless earbuds that aren’t
AirPods.
But unfortunately the Skullcandy push don’t have APTX support which only matters for android
users cause iPhones insist on still using the AAC codec.
But I also noticed the Skullcandy Push did have a considerable amount of latency when
watching videos on my pixel 3… so android users just be warned.
But when it comes to sound quality… just be warned these earbuds have A LOT of bass.
I think I can confidently say these are some of the bass heaviest wireless earbuds I’ve
ever tested.
The AirPods also have a lot of bass but no where near as much as the push.
And some people might like that and others wont.
Even though the bass is fun at times, it does tend to over power the mids a lot.
But more importantly the highs on these earbuds never crash or get tinny which is good and
typically does tend to happen on cheaper earbuds.
Now, one of the things that always drew me away from truly wireless earbuds was the lack
of physical media controls.
You always ended up only having partial media controls and had to relay on your voice assistant
to do the rest.
Which isn’t always the most efficient.
But Skullcandy tried their best to give you full media controls with their new earbuds
by having a multipurpose button on each earbud.
First I want to say they nailed the actuation pressure on these buttons.
You don’t have to press to hard on these button to get them to work which means they
don’t dig into your ear canal like the Jaybird Run do which is good.
Now you can play or pause your music my pressing once on either ear bud and you can adjust
the volume up by double pressing on the right ear bud.
And if you want to lower the volume you can double press the left ear bud.
Now this isn’t as efficient as id like it to be and I’ve found its still easier to
just adjust your volume directly from your phone.
But if you want to skip a track you can press and hold on the right ear bud for 3 second
and if you want to restart a track you can press and hold the left ear bud for 3 seconds.
And if you want to summon your voice assistant you can triple press on either ear bud.
Even though Skullcandy tried their best to bring you physical media controls on their
truly wireless earbuds.
I still think its clunky.
I think it would better if pressing on either ear bud once played or paused your music,
double pressing on the right ear bud skipped a track, double pressing the left ear bud
went back a track, doing a press press and hold on the right ear bud raised the volume
until you released it, doing a press press and hold on the left ear bud lowered the volume
until you released it, and triple pressing on either ear bud summoned your voice assistant.
But when it comes to phone calls I think the audio quality is pretty good.
Its not as good as AirPods but it is a lot better than even some headphones Ive reviewed
recently.
But just like most other truly wireless earbuds, phone calls are only coming through the master
ear bud, in this case the left ear bud.
But over all, if Skullcandy decides to keep selling their truly wireless ear buds for
$100…
I think they’re a decent buy at that price.
Like I’ve said in the past, I’ve always shied away from truly wireless ear buds especially
for the gym cause their battery life wasn’t always great, their cases were typically pretty
clunky, connection stability was always an issue, you had to give up your inline controller,
but most importantly they were pretty expensive.
Wireless earbuds from big name companies typically retail for $150 and up.
Thats why I still prefer to just use wired bluetooth ear buds at the gym… they typically
cost less than truly wireless earbuds, they have better connection stability, they have
longer battery lives with fast charging, and they have that all important inline controller
which I think is essential for when you’re working out.
But I do like to use truly wireless earbuds for casual use like AirPods so I can listen
to podcasts when im running errands, take phone calls, or watch videos with.
And I think Skullcandy is targeting the casual use market with their wireless earbuds.
The Skullcandy Push aren’t water or sweat resistant and they aren’t meant to be used
at the gym.
Again reenforcing that casual use market.
And I think the Skullcandy push are better suited for casual use cause unlike the Bose
Sound Sport Free, the Jaybird run, and Sony WF-SP700N which are very clunky and cost more…
the push don’t look out of place when you’re wearing them in the checkout line at the grocery
store.
They also have a very long continuous playback time of 6 hours which should easily last most
people’s typical use session.
The Skullcandy Push also have a very above average microphone on them making them decent
for phone calls and since their bluetooth connectivity is very stable and have very
little latency they’re decent for watching videos on an iPhone.
And again remember, these are one of the few truly wireless earbuds that charge via a USB
C port… which just compliments your new android device beautifully.