Skullcandy, a well-known audio manufacturer, has added a new hands-free feature to their Push Active sports headphones. The Push Ultra earphones from Skullcandy were released in late May, and its value to students is obvious on paper: for $99, you get sweat- and water-proof earbuds with long battery life, adjustable ear hooks for individual comfort, and built-in Tile tracking.
The Skullcandy Push Active is a turning point in the American audio company’s 18-year history. They’re the first headphones in the UK to utilize Skull-iQ, its new innovative platform that allows for hands-free voice control and various other capabilities.
Today we are comparing Skullcandy Push Active vs Skullcandy Push Ultra. Check out and get inspired!
Table of Contents
Pros and Cons
| Skullcandy Push Active | Skullcandy Push Ultra |
|---|---|
| IP55 rated | IP67 rated |
| Affordable price | Affordable price |
| Great battery life | Great battery life |
| Tile App compatibility | Tile App compatibility |
| No ANC | No ANC |
Specification
| Skullcandy Push Active | Skullcandy Push Ultra | |
| $ | CHECK PRICE | CHECK PRICE |
| Brand | Skullcandy | Skullcandy |
| Released | July 17, 2021 | Sep 2, 2020 |
| Model | Push Active | Push Ultra |
| Weight | 3.35 ounces | 1.76 ounces |
| Dimension | 7.17 x 4.21 x 1.61 inches | 7.28 x 5.39 x 1.97 inches |
| Type | In-Ear | In-Ear |
| Colors | Dark Blue/Green, Light Grey/Blue, True Black/Orange | True Black, True Yellow |
| Driver | 6mm | 6mm |
| ANC | No | No |
| Foldable Design | No | No |
| Microphone | Yes | Yes |
| Water resistance | IP55 | IP67 |
| Music Controls | Hands-Free Voice Control | Yes |
| Impedance | 22 Ohms | 32 ohms |
| Bluetooth | 5.2 | 5.0 |
| Frequency | 20Hz – 20KHz | 20 Hz – 20 kHz |
| Charging Time | – | – |
| Battery capacity | – | – |
| Battery Life | Up to 44 Hours | Up to 40 Hours |
| Connector Type | USB-C and QI wireless charging | USB-C and QI wireless charging |
| Compatibility | IOS, Android | IOS, Android |
Design
Let’s get straight to the point: the Skullcandy Push Active aren’t the most attractive fully wireless earphones you’ll find. They are large, checkered, and it is practically impossible to hide them while wearing them subtly.
The housing of the earbuds themselves is already quite bulky, and then there are the accompanying hooks to keep them well behind your ears. This quickly makes them stand out and look uncomfortable. Compared to other earbuds Huawei Freebuds 4i, it seems as if you are walking around with a refrigerator in your ears. Fortunately, they only come in inconspicuous matte colors, which makes them less noticeable.
The good news is that it was not the intention of Skullcandy to deliver inconspicuous earbuds. Thanks to their raw and semi-brutalist design, they are more intended for people who want to play sports or go out into the world with them. The company adheres to the motto ‘form follows function. The oversized design of the housing ensures that there is enough space for the sturdy battery.
The ears always stay in place, and even during exercise, you don’t have to worry about them just shaking out of your ear. Thanks to the ear hooks, they always stay in the right place, even when you go for a walk. In the box, you can also find some additional silicone tips to have the right size for your ears.
The charging case of the Skullcandy Push Active also has the same construction as the earbuds themselves, namely elongated and rounded and with a matte finish. The large case provides enough space to store the earbuds, and it also uses this large construction to provide a sturdy battery that keeps your earbuds charged at all times.
The case itself is not heavy at 95 grams, but because of its size, you can’t just comfortably stash it away in your pocket. There is a USB-C charging port at the back. The case comes without support for wireless charging, which may seem like a missed opportunity for this size. With the limited price in mind, can quickly put it into perspective.
Due to their striking presence, push buttons are easy to find during exercise. So you will always be able to work with the correct number during your activities. We always got hold of them during our testing from the first time, and they responded well to the input we asked for. You can also set the functionalities per button yourself, with which you can adjust them entirely to your liking. In addition, the Skullcandy Push Active earbuds also come with an IP55 certification, making them sufficiently waterproof to survive your sweating spells during exercise.
The design element of the Skullcandy Push Ultra headphones is sobriety. Although consistent in size, they do not want an extravagant color (in our black version, knowing that a yellow is available and a blue is coming) or a particular shape.
The headphones are extra-auricular, that is to say, that no seal is located between the headphones and the wall of the ears. This usually cuts out some of the outside noise and better conveys the sound without losing part of the audio spectrum – as on the Jabra Elite 65t.
The first part is part of the speaker, which slides between the ear canal and the pinna. It is extruded from the body of the auricle, it of another shape: a rather well-rounded rectangular parallelepiped. This main part houses the battery, the Bluetooth controller, and the connectors to the case. We find on edge two buttons, “+” and “-” to control the volume and a power button located on the face under the skull, which serves as the logo for the Skullcandy brand.
Pressing the “+” button for two seconds will advance one music, and pressing the “-” button will rewind the audio track. To answer a call, press the skull. Pressing the skull for two seconds will change the equalizer mode, and pressing three times will launch the voice assistant. To turn off the headphones without putting them back in their case, you will have to press the skull for four seconds. Pressing six seconds on it will activate Bluetooth pairing mode, and pressing for 10 seconds will reset them.
Otherwise, a hoop (or hook) comes out of each ear cup to be placed above the ear to keep the headphones in place, such as practicing a sporting activity that moves the head. This hoop can be adjusted to form it to everyone’s ears.
Of course, wireless headphones must be recharged because their energy simply does not come from the heavens. The case of an unknown battery size can charge the pair of headphones six times. It can either be recharged using a USB-C charger or even Qi-standard wireless charging. The design of the case of these headphones remains unique. At the same time, we live in a super design case, like the AirPods, Galaxy Buds or Pixels Buds. SkullCandy plays the adventurer with a sturdy plastic and nylon case.
Everything remains very massive and bulky because of the large battery it carries. The USB-C connection is hidden behind a piece of coiled nylon, allowing the case to be hung on a carabiner. It closes with a zipper that almost seals the box to protect the headphones best. The top is domed to encompass the headphones’ extraordinary shape properly, and the bottom is flat to sit on a table or wireless charger.
The Skullcandy Push Ultra earphones have IP67 water and dust resistance. Be careful; this does not mean that using them for swimming is a good idea. The IP67 standard does not respond to profound and prolonged immersion but rather resistance to sweat.
Connectivity
One of the significant assets of the Skullcandy Push Active is the Skull-iQ voice control. This is an entirely in-house developed platform from Skullcandy that you can use to operate the earphones. It is an excellent addition but still needs some finishing. For example, wherewith the Google Assistant you have to call on ‘Hey Google’ to use your commands, that is now ‘Hey Skullcandy’ with the Push Active. That is a bit more difficult to pronounce and is therefore not comfortable to use during your activities.
After you say the command, you have the option to pass additional commands, such as pausing songs, adjusting the volume, or calling up your voice assistant. These are only available in English, and you can only use them if you have the Skullcandy app open. The Skull-iQ voice control functioned properly during our testing and picked up our voice accurately every time. Everything was well recorded during sports. The question is whether it is worth keeping the app open for this. It’s a welcome addition, but it’s not quite there yet.
One of the big problems with fully wireless earphones is that they sometimes tend to lie around and disappear somewhere in your house. Skullcandy has also added a handy function for that. You can pair the earphones with the Tile app. If you lose them for a while, you can just let them play a sound to find them again.
Skullcandy offers an eponymous application on the Play Store and the App Store.
Audio Quality
Skullcandy Push Active- When using the earbuds for the first time, you will notice that the audio quality may be a bit below par. However, that’s primarily due to the audio not being fully tuned yet. You can quickly solve that by downloading the Skullcandy app and connecting your earbuds to it. Here, you can then make all the necessary adjustments with the equalizer to make the sound fuller or emphasize the bass. In short, shape the sound the way you want.
The earbuds come with a wide sound image, so they can handle a little more than you would first suspect when you see the ears. The sound is provided by the 6-millimeter drivers of the Push Active. These give an acceptable sound image with well-tuned middle and high tones. We did notice that the bass tones didn’t quite come into their own. It is enough to make your music acceptable, but intense enjoyment is not in it.
They don’t excel at anything, so you can’t expect top-end audio quality here. For mid-range fully wireless earphones intended for sports activities, it would seem crazy to us if this would have been the focus of Skullcandy. They do what they have to do, and they do it well. Even during telephone conversations, you always hear everything clearly and clearly.
Add to that the Stay Aware mode. This ensures an immediate sound environment gets a slight boost to know what is going on around you.
A slight lack here, however, is an active noise reduction. This would be useful to completely isolate yourself from the rest of the noise at the gym, for example, but here too, we encounter the limitations that the price tag entails. The silicone tips partially prevent sound from entering your ears, providing only a small amount of passive noise cancellation.
Skullcandy Push Ultra- We recognize in the Skullcandy Push Ultra certain practicality to their exotic design, but we will not say the same sound quality: things are going badly. The equalization seems to us poorly adjusted for extra auriculars.
To summarize roughly, the musical experience of Push Ultra is like listening to music from perfect phone speakers by bringing them closer to the ears. The experience improves by keeping the headphones in the ears to make the joint that intra-staff would make.
So, we find ourselves at a concert: a powerful sound with a lot of bass and treble – mids more than absent. However, the sound remains drinkable, although it would not appeal to audiophiles. It is also more than sufficient for listening to the podcast. Knowing that the pair is oriented sport and adventurer, such uses do not require audio quality.
Battery
Skullcandy states that the Push Active will come with a battery life of 10 hours on a single charge. The earbuds have a battery life that is slightly higher than with most other fully wireless earphones. The charging case then adds another 34 hours, bringing the total to 44 hours.
With moderate use, the earbuds and case lasted a week on a single full charge. Therefore, the Skullcandy Push Active forms an exciting set of earbuds for people who like to walk around with their ears for more extended periods.
Thanks to the case’s Rapid Charge function, you can get up to two hours of listening pleasure in 10 minutes of charging. In addition, the case contains 4 LED lights at the front from which you can read the remaining amount of battery juice in the case.
The Skullcandy Push Ultra relies a lot on the battery. Unfortunately, the capacity of the accumulators is not disclosed by the brand. It simply let’s understand that the headphones have 6 hours of autonomy and that the case can inject them with 34 for a total of 40 hours of battery life, namely that Apple promises 24 hours with its AirPods. Afterward, they are not the only ones to stand out in the field of autonomy: the Oppo Enco Free also has this ability.
Conclusion!
The Skullcandy Push Active are interesting fully wireless earbuds that can assist you during your sporting activities with their impressive battery life. Moreover, they come with enough features to fulfill everyday tasks as well. They are not the most beautiful earbuds you can find, and the lack of ANC functionalities is also a shame. Fortunately, the low price tag manages to put this all into perspective.
The Skullcandy Push Ultra does not stand out from the fierce competition of wireless headphones with incredible sound quality. However, they do not budge and offer good battery life (almost double the Apple AirPods) with a hoop around the ears and resistance to sweat. Thus, they become perfect companions for a sporting activity outdoors or indoors.
