SkullCandy Sesh ANC has crisp sound

A few weeks ago I was able to test a pair of Skullcandy Sesh ANC earbuds thanks to Try It Sampling.

This was my first pair of Bluetooth-enabled earbuds.

The product

Skullcandy Sesh ANC earbuds are pretty straightforward. The box is easy to open and gives you a lot of info about the product.

These earbuds are black as is the case and the charging cable.

The earbuds offer the following specs:

4-mic digital active noise canceling
32 hours of use with ANC on
IP 55 sweat and water resistant
use either bud alone
Bluetooth (v 5.2)
Tile compatible
Stay-aware mode
auto on/connect

The box contains everything you need. The earbuds and case, earbud covers (small, medium, and large), user guide, and charging cable. The charging cable has a flat-style USB connector. It works well on your laptop or a wall adapter.

How to set up the earbuds

Once you open the earbud case you will be met by the earbuds. They are a decent size and easy to remove from the case.

The earbuds come partially charged. So when you remove them from the case they don’t have any indicator lights. But you will see a tape over the charging connectors or dots.

The earbuds come with one set of earbud covers or gels applied to them. This I assume is the small gel. They also included medium and large gels. You can change them by gently pulling off the ear gel and applying the new one. I found that both the small and medium gels worked well for me.

The earbuds also have a right and left letter on each one too.

How long do they take to charge?

Since the earbuds were half-charged when they arrived I plugged them into a wall adapter and let them charge. I would say it took about an hour or so for a full charge.

The case has an indicator charging light. It’s a row of four white lights.

When you open the case the earbuds have red indicator lights.

Pairing the earbuds

Being that these are Bluetooth enabled you can pair them to your device or use the Skullcandy App (I’ll get more to that later)

If you are pairing these with a computer or tablet you may have to first pair the earbuds together.

To synch the earbuds you need to do the following:

• Turn Bluetooth off on your device
• remove the earbuds from the case
• press both earbuds 3 times. They will flash red/blue as they re-synch. if successful the earbuds will flash blue 4 times.
• Turn the device’s Bluetooth back on and try pairing. Tap Sesh ANC to pair (if not automatically connected)
• You should hear a connection announcement as well as the earbuds will flash blue once.

You can read more about this at Skullcandy.

Let’s talk about the app for a second

So Skullcandy has an app you can download. It’s available for IOS and Android.

It can be used with a variety of Skullcandy products. I used it once and downloaded it to see what it was all about.

You can connect your earbuds and keep track of things you’d like such as controlling the volume, adjusting music settings, seeing how much battery life each earbud has, and a few other things. You can also contact Skullcandy via the app as well.

The biggest thing con I found with the app for Android is that if you connect the earbuds to another device they won’t connect to the app again. So you have to unpair them from a computer for instance to repair them with the app.

I hope the user experience is better for Apple users. I’m not sure how useful it will be for me but I’ll try it again when I think I need to.

My user experience

So I’ve been using the earbuds for a few weeks now. Being that it took me a little bit to get used to them. These were my first pair and I don’t always use headphones or earbuds. But as a whole, they are comfortable to wear. I haven’t had one fall out when I tilt my head or talk.

The ear gels are easy to clean and fit well in my ear they don’t cause any issues.

I like that they offer a connection announcement stating Connected. If you have the noise canceling feature on it will also say “Noise Cancelling on.” When the earbuds are connecting to your device they also chime.

As for me, I like that they are easy to wear. The earbuds let you stop/pause music as well as skip a track or go back to a track.

If you aren’t using the app you will have to control the volume on your device to raise or lower it.

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Sound quality

When listening to music

Let’s talk about sound for a minute. I found that the earbuds are clear and give you good sound. Depending on your music listening style you may not hear the beats as clearly or bass if it’s a heavier beat.

For me, it works well. I liked that the vocals are crisp and clear. Also, they offer a stereo effect depending on the song or artist.

Videos or calls

So I’ve used these to watch videos on Youtube and have had the same great clear sound quality. I’ve also used them for video calls and have had good results. I haven’t tried them during a regular cellphone call yet but I assume the quality will be the same.

Noise Cancelling feature

These earbuds have noise canceling. They also have a Stay Aware feature. You can also turn the noise canceling off.

I can see if you will be outdoors and in a high-traffic or noisy area to use noise canceling. I use it when typing or to block out the noise of my neighbor’s gardener.

Does it really work?

I think it does to a point. I can still hear myself typing and the neighbor’s leaf blower. This may be because I’m using the medium ear gel or maybe I don’t have the earbuds properly placed in my ears.

But it does block out some noise. Again these issues I have maybe my own user error.

They have voice assist

You can use the app to activate voice assistance. I tried this but for me, it isn’t working. But according to the user guide, you should be able to say “Hey Skullcandy” followed by your request to answer or reject calls, raise or lower volume, and open apps. This has to be done when using the app.

How long you can use them

Usage time may vary depending on if you have the Noise canceling feature on or off. According to the box you can use them for 6 hours with noise canceling on before charging them again. The case holds up to 32 hours of charge so it can charge them about 4 times before having to plug it back into full charge the case.

When not using noise canceling you can get 9 hours of use. The case can hold up to 37 hours of charge time.

I will note when your earbuds are running low on battery you have an indicator tone.

A few cons I found

Overall the earbuds are great. But I did feel that they had a few cons.

One big one is the color. I don’t mind that they are black but it would have been nice if the Skullcandy logo would light up or something. The Bluetooth indicator lights are on the back side of the earbuds. I think it should have had two one on each side.

Since Skullcandy is so keen on us using the app it would have been nice to find your earbuds using the app. I dropped one on the floor one day and it took me about 20 minutes to find it. I found it under my bed. Again the color sort of makes them camouflage if they fall under a desk or furniture.

I guess that’s why they are compatible to use with a Tile.

The other con I have is that pairing the earbuds to more than one device can be hard. I noticed this if I pair it with my laptop I can’t connect them to the app on my phone. So I will have to repair them with my phone. Which in turn disconnects them from my laptop. The Bluetooth connectivity is a bit selective. So basically it can only be used with one device at a time. Or maybe it’s my old laptop but either way, you see my point.

Final thoughts and where to buy

Final thoughts

As a whole, for being my first pair of earbuds I was happy with them in terms of sound quality. They are easy to use and easy to charge.

Aside from that, I think these might be a good set of earbuds for someone who doesn’t need a lot of frills or extras.

As far as the app goes it’s okay but needs some work for Andriod. I would have liked if the voice assistant option worked.

The earbuds worked well for my needs and connected to my phone and computer with no major issues.

For me, the earbuds fit my needs and did their job. I like that they can charge in the case a few times before having to plug the case in to recharge everything. The fact that the earbuds offer connection sounds such as a tone and audio connection confirmation is good. The Bluetooth lights are bright and easy to see.

I just wish they had an indicator light on the front of the earbud as well. The ear gels are comfortable and didn’t cause me any problems. They are easy to remove and replace.

Where to buy

Currently, it seems that the Skullcandy Sesh ANC is out of stock via Skullcandy. But you can sign up to find out when they are back in stock.

You can also find out more about pricing and product support.

https://www.skullcandy.com/sesh-anc-wireless-earbuds/

From Skullcandy, the earbuds are priced at $99.99 USD.

I found them sold at Target for a bit cheaper under $80 USD (Price will vary).