If you asked me to buy Skullcandy headphones, I would most likely say ‘No thanks’. This is because, I knew them as a company that made headphones as an accessory piece, not worth my money as a proper sound device. I spend a lot of time editing and listening to videos and need good quality sound, which isn’t something Skullcandy are known for. But I was gifted their new Hesh® ANC Noise Canceling Wireless Headphones, and with good conscience, I had to give them another go before I decide to throw it into the trash. And I’m damn glad I did try them, because they now live with me as one of my favourite headphones to travel with (though still not to edit with). Let me explain why.

As a film director, I spend quite a lot of my time travelling to and from different locations. When I got these headphones, I already had flights booked for Vietnam to film a documentary. So this was a good opportunity to test these headphones. Reluctantly, I also packed a reliable set of headphones as backup.

A 9-hour flight with babies onboard is everyone’s nightmare. Not mine! I can’t fault the Active Noise Cancellation on these headphones. I even used them ON without playing music just to use the Active Noise Cancellation to sleep easier (not that sleeping on a plane is that easy anyway…). The headphones also come with an AUX jack that I can plug onto the plane and listen to the entertainment.

The 22 hour battery is great. Plenty of battery life for almost any occasion. Even if I ended up draining them, I’d plug them into my battery back for 10 minutes, giving me a rapid charge of up to 3 hours of use. Brilliant.

Usually, I can’t wear headphones for more than a couple of hours at a time. They squeeze my precious skull too much and give me headaches. But I don’t know what they did with this design because I almost forgot they were even on me! The ear cups are super soft and fit really nicely around my ear. With the crown sponge also having a soft rubber that gently sits on my head, avoiding a bad hair day.

So far, these headphones sound amazing! But, there are some issues I have found, well, issues for me, maybe not really for you. I found the bluetooth connection between devices really fiddly. Maybe I’m just used to the lightning-fast Apple bluetooth pairing between devices, but in order to connect from one device to another, you have to firstly deactivate one, then re-activate the other, find it, accept the invite then it’s connected. I feel like bluetooth technology is beyond this fiddly connection at this point. But it really only takes an extra 30 seconds than the Apple bluetooth connection, but since I connect to a few devices a day, it does get a little annoying.

The headphones comes with a carry case, well, it’s more of a pouch. Great to protect it from scratches, but the cables that sit inside it, I lost them, simply because it’s a pouch that doesn’t close tight. Get another bag for it.

But, all this wouldn’t matter if the sound quality sounded like a tin can and… it didn’t! I listen to a variety of genre, from RNB, Jazz, EDM and Classical music. The vocals are clear whilst the bass is punchy, I got really immersed into the music all thanks to the headphones. I wouldn’t use these to edit videos or music unfortunately, that’s because I need clean (no extra bass) added to the headphones. These are amazing to listen to music, but not for those who make music. 

Overall, the Hesh® ANC Noise Canceling Wireless Headphones truly changed my perception on Skullcandy and I can recommend these headphones to those who need them for either travel or listening to music with comfort. Just keep it to one device for less hassle with the bluetooth connection and don’t keep your cables in the pouch or you’ll lose them like I did.