4 Affordable Skullcandy Headphones You Should Try

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Shopping for a budget-friendly pair of headphones can be a bit of a challenge. There are numerous audio manufacturers that offer great prices, but often at the cost of sound quality, comfort, battery life, or all of the above. One affordable brand that cares just as much about performance as they do the figure on the peg hook is Skullcandy, which has been around since 2003.

Best known for its wireless headphones and earbuds, Skullcandy offers multiple over-ear, on-ear, and in-ear products in its lineup in a given year. This can make it a bit difficult to hone in on the best Skullcandy product for you, but that's where we can help. We took a hard look at Skullcandy's entire headphone lineup and hand-picked the four pairs we thought checked the most boxes for a majority of headphone-wearers.

We also didn't want to include products that cost more than $100. Headphones can get super pricey, especially when you start factoring in active noise-canceling and other premium features. Fortunately, Skullcandy manages to strike a balance between nailing the basics and giving the consumer a little more than they paid for — at least in our view. There's a lot to get into.

If you're looking to invest in a solid pair of over-ear headphones that won't break the bank, you might consider the $100 Skullcandy Hesh 360. Available in multiple colors, these are the cans you want to get if you're an avid prog-rock fan. On a full charge, you'll get up to 100 hours of playback (almost enough battery for a full Dream Theater album), and just 10 minutes of charging nets you an extra 8 hours of tunes. While this isn't the Hesh ANC model, the large, cushioned cups deliver a decent amount of passive isolation.

Weighing around 240 grams, the Hesh 360 features a foldaway design that makes it easy to pack away in a backpack or luggage. You'll also have a small selection of physical controls to work with, on top of a 3.5mm auxiliary port for wired listening. The cans are also compatible with the Skullcandy app, which includes a multi-band equalizer and several other audio and settings customizations.

Consumer Reports praised the Hesh 360 for its well-balanced sound, but also felt that the noise-cancelling step-up is a better choice for louder environments. On Amazon, the Hesh 360 scored 4.2 out of 5 stars, based on over 550 user reviews. As of this writing, 71% of the feedback was at the 5-star level, but some folks complained about overall durability. One customer reported a broken headband after only three months of use.

If you're looking to spend less than $100 on a pair of Skullcandy headphones, the $50 Skullcandy Icon 180 is a top contender. For half the price of the Hesh 360, these cans also deliver about half the runtime. Still, that's 50 hours on a full charge, which is impressive for the sticker amount. As far as sound quality goes, the Icon 180s have a lighter fit and smaller drivers than the Hesh 360, but that doesn't make them any less capable.

Fans of hip-hop, EDM, and rock will appreciate the Icon 180's bass-boosted, out-of-the-box sound profile, but you can also customize the audio even more in the Skullcandy app. Additionally, the Icon 180 is able to pair to two devices simultaneously and includes a 3.5mm auxiliary port for wired playback (aux cable included). The Icon 180 also uses the same microphone as the Hesh 360, which optimizes call quality based on your listening environment.

Color options include True Black, Bone, Cement, and a few other nifty names and patterns. On Amazon, the Icon 180 scored 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on over 500 user reviews. Most folks appreciate the headphones' solid sound quality, price, and simple setup; others were less than thrilled at the ear cup size (these are on-ear headphones, not over-ear) and less-than-tactile buttons — particularly the all-in-one joystick that some say make it difficult to turn the headphones off.

A little extra bass never hurt anyone, and Skullcandy built that ideology into a pair of headphones: the $100 Skullcandy Crusher Wireless. Dedicated bass drivers provide a huge low-end boost, and one of the ear cups has a slider to increase or decrease the thump. That's on top of the headphones' traditional 40mm drivers that are tuned to deliver full-bodied sound. They're not your typical over-ears — at least as far as bass goes — and they're also not equipped for active noise-cancelling (ANC).

Fortunately, the ear cups are large enough that most wearers should experience some level of passive isolation. And because there's no ANC system to power, the Crusher is able to last for longer on a full charge; Skullcandy claims you can expect up to 50 hours of playback. You can also quick-charge the cans for 10 minutes to gain three extra hours. There's even an integrated mic for taking calls, and a 3.5mm auxiliary port for wired listening.

Amazon shoppers gave this version of the Crusher a 4.6-out-of-5-star rating, based on over 16,400 reviews. One thing to keep in mind: this Crusher model (K591) doesn't support the Skullcandy app. It's also been on the market for nearly a decade, which is probably why it uses Micro USB instead of USB-C.

If you prefer a pair of wireless earbuds over the closed-back feel of traditional headphones, the product we recommend is the $54 Skullcandy Sesh ANC. The in-ear design lets you choose between multiple ear tip sizes for the best fit, and the buds are ANC-equipped, too. You'll be able to attenuate a ton of unwanted noise, or switch to the Stay-Aware Mode to let ambient sound filter in. It's not perfect noise reduction, but it's certainly effective.

On the good word of Skullcandy, you should get up to six hours of playback on a full charge, and a fully-charged case provides an extra 26 hours. These buds also boast the first official IP rating on this list: IP55, which means the Sesh ANC is moderately dust- and water-resistant. And unlike the Crusher Wireless discussed above, the Sesh is fully compatible with the Skullcandy app. Use it to choose new audio presets, customize controls, check battery life, and more.

We're looking at 4.2 out of 5 stars on Amazon for the Sesh ANC, based on over 900 user reviews. For less than $100, it's tough to find affordable ANC earbuds that sound this good; and while some folks may prefer otherwise, we think the bass-first sound profile is a major selling point that plenty of music fans will appreciate.

The leading criterion for this roundup was finding Skullcandy headphones and earbuds that cost less than $100. The Hesh 360 and Sesh ANC — the first and last picks we featured — come in right at $100, but we felt they both deserved a spot on our list.

When possible, we referenced professional, hands-on reviews to help us hone in on specific pros and cons. We also leaned on Amazon user reviews for additional context, and didn't select any products that scored less than 4 stars.