The Skullcandy Icon ANC headphones bring back the company’s Icon branding and add active noise cancellation to the feature list. We appreciate their reasonable $99.99 price and 50-hour battery life, but they don’t make up for the poor sound quality, ineffective noise cancellation, and an uncomfortable fit. For the same price, Anker’s Soundcore Space One headphones deliver better noise cancellation and sound quality, so they remain our Editors’ Choice winners for affordable headphones.
Design: Attractive and Functional, But Uncomfortable
The Icon ANC headphones modernize Skullcandy’s on-ear design, offering a fold-up build with a subtle, colorful flare between the body of the earcups and the earpads. Coiled wires connect the earcups to the headband, which has soft padding. The headphones come in two colors: black with green highlights or white with orange highlights. I tested the black model.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)
The earcup padding is comfortable, but the headband is tight and clamps too firmly. While the pressure ensures the headphones stay in place, they become uncomfortable after wearing them for just a little while. They have an IPX4 rating for water resistance, so you can use them in light rain or during sweaty workouts.
The right earcup houses the USB-C charging port, a 3.5mm port for wired listening, and all of the physical controls, which include a power button and a multi-directional joystick. Moving the joystick up or down adjusts the volume, moving it forward or backward skips forward or back a track, and pushing the joystick plays or pauses audio. A long press of the power button turns the power on or off, while pressing it twice cycles through noise modes. You can customize what a double, triple, or long joystick press does, such as activating the digital assistant or Spotify Tap.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)
The headphones have 40mm drivers that deliver frequencies between 20Hz and 20kHz. They support Google Fast Pair, connect through Bluetooth 5.3 LE, and support Bluetooth multipoint. However, they only support the basic SBC codec, so don’t expect high-res audio.
Battery life is the biggest selling point. With ANC on, Skullcandy says the headphones will run for up to 50 hours. With noise cancellation off, they run for up to 60 hours. That’s impressive for any pair of headphones and beats most competitors. Moreover, they support rapid charging. Plugging in for 10 minutes gives you four hours of listening time.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)
Skullcandy supplies an audio cable for wired listening, a USB-A-to-USB-C cable for charging, and a thin fabric carrying bag.
App: Useful Features
The Skullcandy app (available for Android and iOS) is brightly colored and easy to use. You can customize the headphone controls and set up Bluetooth multipoint and Spotify Tap interactions. You can also create a personalized audio profile with the Personal Sound feature, which walks you through a hearing test, select the noise cancellation modes, and use a slider to set your preferred level of noise cancellation.
(Credit: Skullcandy/PCMag)
The app includes an EQ with three presets (Music, Podcast, and Bass Boost) and a custom curve. We’re grateful for the custom EQ, which includes five bands between 60Hz and 12kHz and has a palatable impact on the audio.
Noise Cancellation: Ineffective
The headphones simply let in too much ambient sound and struggle to combat both low and high frequencies from environmental noise. They are so ineffective that I had to double-check to be sure the noise cancellation was actually turned on.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)
In testing, the headphones cut some of the lower frequencies of a plane engine but missed most of the mid and high-frequency sounds. Similarly, they cut some of the low hum from a bus engine but almost none of the sound from the doors opening and closing. In a busy cafe, I could still hear the voices of the people around me. The Anker Soundcore Space One headphones offer vastly superior noise cancellation in similar settings.
The transparency mode is called Stay Aware and it’s also disappointing. In this mode, I can hear the person to whom I’m speaking, but the reproduction of their voice is unnatural and includes a distracting background hiss. Once again, the Soundcore Space One headphones shine in comparison.
Sound: Needs Better Tuning
With noise cancellation off and the default EQ setting (Music) turned on, the Skullcandy Icon ANC headphones deliver a flat and uninspiring listening experience. High frequencies are muddy, and the bass borders on lifeless.
On The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the headphones offer some roundness to the bass synth and kick drum but accent some of the low frequencies in a way that clouds the overall impact. The percussion is too quiet in the mix, and the soundstage is limited, which makes things feel cluttered.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)
Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty” sounds similar. This track is more forgiving, but the headphones deliver a dull performance. The exaggerated bass overpowers everything else in the track. Even though the song demonstrates that the headphones are capable of producing some deep bass, it’s completely overdone here.
On Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” his vocals are overly boomy, the cymbals lack clarity, and the guitar sounds hollow.
With an orchestral track like the opening scene to John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the lower strings sound too thick and loud, overpowering other aspects of the mix. The brass loses brightness, and the vocals become lost.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)
There is some good news. You can use the EQ to create a more pleasant listening experience. However, even if you do, you’ll find the results vary from track to track, depending on what you’re listening to. And this assumes you bother to download the app in the first place.
The built-in microphone is fine. It picked up my voice well when recording on an iPhone, and the recording was clear and audible.
Verdict: Tough to Recommend
The Skullcandy Icon ANC headphones look cool and have outstanding battery life, but they aren’t comfortable to wear, their noise cancellation is disappointing, and their sound quality is uninspiring. You’ll be better served by the Anker Soundcore Space One headphones, which fit better, deliver superior noise cancellation, and sound better for the same price, which is why they are our Editors’ Choice winners.
Pros
The Bottom Line
The Skullcandy Icon ANC headphones look good and have a long battery life, but are otherwise unimpressive.
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About Christian de Looper
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