Ever since the Apple AirPods first came out, a new segment of truly wireless headsets was created. While initially, this segment found itself difficult to compete with high-end manufacturers, premium audio manufacturers like Sennheiser and Bose were quick to step in with their offerings. We’ve seen truly wireless earphones from Nokia, Samsung, Sennheiser and several other brands like Boult Audio. Skullcandy had recently unveiled their modern and stylish Push truly wireless earphones at Rs 9,999. These earphones offer strong competition to the Samsung Galaxy Buds and the Nokia True Wireless Earbuds.
In terms of the design, Skullcandy Push consists of two earbuds and a charging case to store and charge the wireless earbuds. The earbuds themselves come in a pill-shaped design and sticks to the generic Skullcandy aesthetic. The earbuds are pretty large but the plastic casing on them makes the pretty light, the wings on the earbuds make them sit comfortably and securely in the ears. Each of the two earbuds come with a button on the panel and an LED indicator at the bottom, while the earbuds themselves don’t feel as premium as the Samsung Galaxy Buds they look good and fit quite comfortably. The earbuds don’t stick out of the ears and look discreet, the earbuds offer good comfort in the ears.
The earphones are claimed to offer resistance to sweat but don’t have an IP rating mentioned on the packaging or the website, the Bluetooth version is 4.2 and only supports SBS codec leaving the higher quality AAC and aptX codecs out. The button on the Skullcandy Push serves as the power button and can also be used for pairing the device, adjusting volume and controlling the playback. A single press on the button is used for play or pause, a double press controls the volume and a long press is used for skipping the track.
There is no automatic pause function in the earbuds when you remove them from the ear, however, the earbuds do turn off automatically when placed in the case and turn on automatically when undocked from the case. The charging case on the Skullcandy Push is very average, the case is large and feels cheap the LED indicators stay on all the time while charging the earbuds in them which is a major distraction and waste of battery. The Charging Case comes with a USB Type-C port to charge which is the best thing about it.
The Earbuds themselves fit in the position well but the fit is not very snug and we can feel the movement of the buds in the case and hear the rattle. The worst was when the earbuds accidentally turned on and even connected to the smartphone while still being inside the case. The charging case itself doesn’t hold too much power and can only charge the earbuds up completely once. However, the earbuds themselves hold the charge for about 5 to 6 hours meaning a totally average of about 11 hours with the charging case.
While the Skullcandy did miss out on the design in the Push wireless earbuds when compared to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Buds, the earphones do sound pretty good. Most Skullcandy earphones have a consumer-centric signature and favor bass, the Push sticks to this sound signature. The earphones clearly have a better low end and we were able to feel a good punch in the bass while there was a little aggression on the mid-bass frequencies.
Listening to bass heavy songs such as Hotline Bling by Drake had its ups and downs, the track started well but the bass was disturbingly heavy and became the most prominent part of the song. The bass was punchy and overpowered the mids and the highs leading to a dismal vocal separation. Moving to lighter songs, the Skullcandy Push handled it well and although the bass was still prominent, the rest of the track was clear as well and we could clearly hear the mid-range and the highs.
The call function on the earbuds was difficult as the output was only on one ear, this was very distracting and we found it difficult to focus on the audio while taking the calls. We were not very impressed with the sound quality on the voice calls and the people on the other side often complained of lack of clarity. There was too much background noise and the overall experience was dismal. Also, the Skullcandy Push was a tough fit in the ear and kept falling off while working out. The earbuds performed badly when it comes to sport and we found ourselves adjusting the fit very often.
Going back to the music, the low end of the earphones helps make genres such as EDM, rock and pop sound amazing with a generous low-end thump and powerful bass. However, in some cases, it does take over the sound stage and openness of the earbuds. The other major downside is the lack of support of high-quality Bluetooth codecs but the Skullcandy did a good job overall with the headset.
Final Verdict
The Skullcandy Push performs pretty good in the sound department and does have an overpowering bass, however, in most common songs the earbuds perform good and offer a pleasant experience. The call quality is below average and the quality of the charging case was a major let down. While the battery life on the earbuds itself is very good, the charging case only offers one additional recharge. The lack of support for codecs like the aptX makes for the lack of openness and depth in the sound. The Skullcandy Push is a great choice if you are looking for a bass-heavy listening experience.
