Skullcandy Hesh Evo Wireless  Headphones Review

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo are fairly conservative-looking headphones. They're styled very similarly to the Skullcandy Hesh 3 Wireless and Skullcandy Hesh ANC Wireless with a sleek satin finish and nondescript ear cups. If you prefer a pop of color, they also come in a blue variant with white padding.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo are decently comfortable headphones. They have faux leather padding on the ear cups and headband, which feels good on the skin. They're also lightweight and don't clamp too tightly on the head. However, the headband's padding feels a bit thin.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo have alright controls. All the buttons are found on the bottom of the right ear cup. There are dedicated buttons for raising and lowering the volume. If you hold the '+' button, you can skip the track forward, while holding the '-' button allows you to skip the track backward. You can also press the middle button to play or pause your music as well as answer and end calls. If you press it twice, you can also activate voice assistant. Holding the circle button activates Bluetooth pairing. There are beeps at the minimum and maximum volume as well as audible feedback when you're connected to a device.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo are fairly breathable headphones. They have a closed-back and over-ear design which doesn't really allow for a lot of airflow. They trap in less heat than the Skullcandy Crusher 360 Wireless, though. That said, if you wear them during moderate physical exercise, you may notice a difference in temperature and sweat.

These headphones aren't very portable. While their ear cups can swivel to lay flat, they don't fold into a more compact format to make it easier to fit them into your bag.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo come with a disappointing pouch. It looks and feels silky, which should help keep dust off of your headphones. However, they don't protect from any physical damage. Unlike the Skullcandy Hesh ANC Wireless, it also lacks interior pockets to store your cables.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo have a just adequate build quality. They have an overall plasticky design with a metal frame running through the headband. There's faux leather padding on the ear cups as well as along the headband. However, they don't feel very dense or durable, so they may be susceptible to damage if they're dropped. They also don't have an advertised IP rating for water resistance, although we don't currently test for this.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo are stable headphones. They shouldn't come off of your head if you're working at your desk or walking around. However, they could move or even fall off your head if you're wearing them during more intense physical exercise. On the upside, their wireless design makes it harder for something to snag them off your head.

• Skullcandy Hesh Evo headphones
• 1/8" TRRS cable
• USB-C to USB-A cable
• Pouch
• Manuals

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo have a very excited v-shaped sound profile. They deliver intense thump and boom, while vocals and lead instruments are bright and sparkling. However, some users may find that they sound overwhelmingly bass-heavy and piercing. They also lack an EQ, so you won't be able to tweak their sound.

These headphones have an alright frequency response consistency. There are some inconsistencies in the bass range, and users with thick hair or glasses may especially notice a drop in bass if there's a break in the seal. Treble delivery can also vary due to the positioning and fit of the headphones on your head.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo have poor bass accuracy. It's very overemphasized across the range, resulting in intense thump, punch, and boom. While some users may prefer this sound, others may find it a bit muddy and overwhelming. However, bass delivery can vary across users, so your experience may vary.

The mid accuracy is excellent. There's some overemphasis coming from the bass range, which can make your mixes sound a bit muddy and cluttered. The rest of the range is fairly flat though, resulting in clear, present, and detailed vocals and lead instruments.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo's treble accuracy is poor. It's overemphasized across the range, so vocals and lead instruments sound harsh and painful. Sibilants like cymbals are also piercing. Note that treble delivery can vary across users, so your experience may vary.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo's peaks and dips performance is okay. There's a peak in the high-bass, which adds boom while the dip in the low-mids thins out vocals and lead instruments. Another dip in the high-mids further weakens vocals and lead instruments while a peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants like cymbals piercing.

The imaging performance is very good. There are a couple of minor peaks in the group delay's bass-range, but this can be difficult to hear. That said, the rest of the response falls below the audibility threshold, so the bass still sounds fairly tight while the treble is transparent. The drivers are also well-matched in amplitude and phase response, which are important for maintaining a stable and balanced stereo image. It's also important for accurate localization and placement of objects (voice, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo image. While there is some mismatch in frequency response, it's somewhat minor. These results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo have a mediocre passive soundstage. While the soundstage sounds large and natural, it's perceived as coming from inside your head, rather than from out in front of you. They also have a closed-back design, so their soundstage doesn't sound as spacious as that of over-ear open-back headphones like the Philips Fidelio X3.

These headphones don't have any virtual soundstage features.

The weighted harmonics distortion performance is decent. All frequencies fall within good limits, resulting in fairly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings we used to test the Skullcandy Hesh Evo. Our results are only valid when using these settings.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo have poor noise isolation. They don't really block out bass-range noise like bus or plane engines and struggle to cut down mid-range noise like ambient chatter. However, they can help reduce high-pitched noise like the hum of an AC unit. If you're looking for a similar pair of headphones with an ANC feature to help cut down ambient noise around you, try the Skullcandy Hesh ANC Wireless.

The leakage performance is sub-par. A large part of their leakage falls between the mid to treble range, so it sounds a bit thin. That said, if you're listening to your audio at a high volume, people around you can hear it, even in a moderately noisy environment like an office.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo have an integrated microphone.

The mic's recording quality is decent. Your voice sounds thin but neutral and easy to understand.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo's noise handling is alright. Although it somewhat struggles to separate your voice from moderately loud background noise, it's best suited for less noisy spaces like at home.

The battery performance is very good. Although they're advertised to have 36 hours of continuous playback time, we measured around 44 hours. However, battery life can vary according to your usage, so your experience may be different. They're also advertised to have a 10-minute quick charge feature, which is supposed to give you three hours of playback time, but we don't currently test this feature. While they don't have a power-saving feature and can't be used while charging, they support passive playback, so you can listen to audio and use their mic while connected via their TRRS cable.

These headphones don't have a companion app.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo have decent Bluetooth connectivity. While they support Bluetooth 5.0, you can't pair them with multiple devices at the same time or quickly pair your device to these headphones via NFC pairing. They also have slightly high latency on PC. However, their audio latency on iOS and Android is a lot lower, which makes them suitable for streaming video. That said, some apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary.

These headphones don't support any non-Bluetooth wireless connections.

These headphones come with a 1/8" TRRS cable so you can use them passively. They also come with a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging the headphones.

The Skullcandy Hesh Evo are fully compatible with the Xbox One and Xbox Series X when you plug their 1/8" TRRS cable into your controller.

These headphones don't have a base or dock.