Skullcandy Push Active True Wireless Headphones Review

The Skullcandy Push Active have a two-tone color scheme with looped ear hooks, which is reminiscent of the Skullcandy Push Ultra Truly Wireless. There's also the manufacturer's logo on each bud. They come in three two-tone color variants: 'Black/Orange', 'Dark Blue/Green', and 'Light Grey/Blue'. If you're looking for something more colorful, they also come in a limited edition colorway that's a collaboration with Pit Viper, a company that mainly produces sunglasses and goggles. This model is called the 'Pit Viper XTREME' and is purple with pink and blue detailing.

The Skullcandy Push Active have a comfortable fit. Unlike the JBL Endurance Peak 3 True Wireless, their ear hooks don't put too much pressure on your ears and are malleable to help better contour to your ear. However, the buds themselves have a somewhat deep in-ear fit, which can cause a plunger-like feeling.

These headphones have satisfactory controls. There's a physical button on each bud, but they aren't very easy to press, and the controls aren't intuitive. There are also beeps for each press, although some users may find this annoying over time, as well as voice prompts for pairing, cycling through EQ modes, and toggling the voice controls on and off. In addition to physical controls, these headphones also support Skull-iQ via their companion app. It's a smart feature that allows you to make voice commands, which are responsive and easy to use. That said, you can remap these controls using the companion app if you prefer a different layout. By default, you also don't have voice assistant support or talk-through, but you can remap these controls without losing any features.

Βutton controls

On the left earbud:

• Double-press: Lowers the volume.
• Press and hold for one second: Launches and plays Spotify.
• Press and hold for one second: Join Audio with another pair of Skull-iQ headphones.

On the right earbud:

• Double-press: Raises the volume.
• Press and hold for one second: By default, there isn't a command. However, you can remap this control without losing any other command.
• Press and hold three seconds: Share Audio with another pair of Skull-iQ headphones.

On either earbud:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio as well as answers and ends call.
• Press and hold for one second: Enters manual pairing mode.

Voice controls

You need to say 'Hey, Skullcandy' before each command.

• 'Play': Plays audio.
• 'Pause': Pauses audio.
• 'Next': Skips to the next track.
• 'Previous': Skips to the previous track.
• 'Volume up': Raises the volume.
• 'Volume down': Lowers the volume.
• 'Stay-Aware on': Turns on Stay-Aware mode.
• 'Stay-Aware off': Turns off Stay-Aware mode.
• 'Assistant': Activates voice assistant.
• 'Accept': Accepts a call.
• 'Reject': Rejects a call.

These earbuds are very portable, thanks to their truly wireless design. They don't take up too much room and can easily fit into most pockets or bags, even when they're inside their carrying case.

The Skullcandy Push Active have a good carrying case. It's mostly made of hard plastic, which makes it feel sturdy. It also has four LED lights to indicate its battery life, as well as a charging port with a silicone cover to help protect it.

The Skullcandy Push Active have good build quality. They're mostly made of plastic and have malleable silicone ear hooks. They're also rated IP55 for dust and water resistance and feel durable overall, making them well-suited for sports and physical activity. That said, while ear hooks have some mobility, the part where they connect to the buds feels like it could rip over time.

The Skullcandy Push Active have great stability. Although high-intensity movements may cause the bud tips to pop out of your ears, they shouldn't fall out of your ears as the ear hooks hold them in place well.

• Skullcandy Push Active True Wireless earbuds
• 3x sets of ear tips
• Carrying case
• Reversible USB-A to USB-C charging cable

Using the 'Music' EQ, which is their flattest EQ, the Skullcandy Push Active have a slightly bass-rich sound profile that delivers extra thump, rumble, and boom to mixes. That said, their sound profile is still neutral enough to be suitable for a variety of audio content. These headphones also have a graphic EQ and presets in their companion app to help you adjust their sound to your liking. You can also see a comparison of all the EQ presets here. Note that the custom EQ settings, when all set to flat, have the same response as the 'Music' EQ.

The Skullcandy Push Active True Wireless Earbuds have outstanding frequency response consistency. As long as you get a good fit using their included sets of ear tips, you should experience a consistent sound each time you use them.

The bass accuracy is great. It's slightly overemphasized across the range, resulting in extra thump, punch, and boom. However, some users may find they sound a little muddy.

The Skullcandy Push Active True Wireless have excellent mid accuracy. There's some overemphasis coming from the bass range into the low-mids, which can clutter your mixes, but it's minor. A dip in the mid-mid nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. That said, the high-mid is very flat, so these same sounds are clear.

The treble accuracy is excellent. The response is slightly underemphasized across the range, but it's very minor. As a result, vocals and lead instruments are detailed, while sibilants like cymbals are bright.

The Skullcandy Push Active's peaks and dips performance is great. A peak in the high-bass to low-mid adds boom to mixes, which may sound a bit cluttered. A dip in the mid-mid nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix, while a small peak in the low-treble brings out their detail. Another peak in the high-mid makes sibilants like cymbals piercing.

The Skullcandy Push Active's imaging performance is outstanding. The weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in phase, amplitude, and frequency response. The peak in the phase response's mid-mid is also hard to spot with regular content. As a result, objects like footsteps and voices should be accurately placed in the stereo image. That said, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

The Skullcandy Push Active have a bad passive soundstage, which is to be expected for in-ear headphones. By design, they bypass your outer ear, which needs to be activated with sound resonances to create a more immersive sound. As a result, their passive soundstage seems small and as if coming from inside your head, rather than from speakers placed in the room around you. Their soundstage also doesn't seem as open or spacious as that created by open-back headphones.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is great. All frequencies fall within good levels, resulting in clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Skullcandy Push Active. Our results are only valid when using these settings.

The Skullcandy Push Active have mediocre noise isolation. They struggle to block out the low rumble of bus and plane engines. That said, they do a better job of cutting down office chatter around you as well as the high-pitched hum of AC units.

The Skullcandy Push Active's leakage performance is outstanding. Their leakage is low, so even if you're listening to audio at high volumes, it shouldn't bother those around you.

The integrated microphone's recording quality is mediocre. Your voice sounds natural but thin and lacking brightness. That said, your voice is still understandable.

The integrated mic's noise handling performance is sub-par. It has a hard time separating your voice from moderate ambient noise around you. If you need to take an important call, it's best to do so from a quiet environment.

The Skullcandy Push Active True Wireless Earbuds have a satisfactory battery performance. They're advertised to last 10 hours continuously, and we measured nearly that amount. That said, battery performance can vary depending on usage, so your real-life experience may differ. The carrying case supplies roughly 3.4 additional charges, and you can use one bud while the other one charges.

The Skullcandy Push Active have great app support. Once you connect the headphones to your phone, your phone will ask you if you want to install the Skullcandy app. The app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you tweak their sound to your liking. You can also access the buds' user guide, see the battery levels and volume, as well as customize controls to register voice prompts. With this Skull-iQ feature, you can also turn on smart commands like taking a photo remotely by taking out an earbud, sharing audio with other Skull-iQ-supported headphones, and launching the Spotify app with a voice command. The app also lets you find your headphones with Tile. However, you also need the Tile app to use this feature.

The Skullcandy Push Active have fair Bluetooth connectivity. While they support Bluetooth 5.2, they don't support multi-device or NFC pairing. They also have high latency on PCs as well as iOS and Android devices. That said, some apps and devices compensate for latency, so your real-life experience may differ.

These headphones come with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable. However, you can't use these headphones wired.

These headphones can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs with full compatibility. However, you can't connect them to your PC in any other way.

The Skullcandy Push Active True Wireless Earbuds come with a carrying case that has a USB-C port to charge it up. The case holds roughly 3.4 additional charges, handy in a pinch.