NOT being the most in-depth expert on all things earbuds (I have a small phobia of things being stuck in my ears after years at a call centre) I was actually a bit scared to review the latest earbuds – Sesh ANC released by the Skullcandy team.
From an everyday consumer of all things tech, this won’t be the most in-depth review for these earbuds, but more of a ‘How they fit into my practical life’ review.
The product itself offers up to forty-six hours of charge via the case for six hours of earpiece charge, with a rapid charge of ten minutes of charging offering two hours of playtime, noise cancelling and water/sweat/dust resistance.
This all sounds great for wanting to go on my walks to the shops and not have to worry about any rain in Melbourne, as random as it is, to listen to my favorite music or podcasts.
It also has a built-in mic to assist with active noise cancellation (ANC) but also allows a clear voice mic to be able to take a hands free phone call on the go.
This was easy to connect to my iPhone once I had downloaded the SkullCandy app from the store. The music sounded fantastic for all the different styles I listen to, ranging from the bass of rap and R&B to all of today’s latest pop hits than to 80’s rock and roll.
The Skullcandy Sesh ANC earbuds fit really well in my ears with the standard earpieces out of the box, but it also offers up an additional two sizes if the standard is too big or small.
The app provided for the SkullCandy Sesh ANC’s has many options provided inside, such as your basic equaliser offering up Music, Podcast, Movie or custom, along with the hearing modes for the noise cancellation feature. You can select ANC (active noise cancellation) off or stay aware.
The last option was the one I was most curious about because it would be where I was intending to use these earpieces with, and it is ‘Gaming Mode’ which you can select to reduce the delay between the audio and video of the console. Now while you can’t set these up with your Xbox or PlayStation consoles, they work a treat with the Nintendo Switch.
I received these the same day as Alan Wake was released on the Nintendo Switch and knew right away from the atmosphere of this game that I needed to try it out with the new earbuds. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint.
Everything from the wind, to the voices coming from the dark, they were all crystal clear and easily able to identify where they were coming from with a feeling of distance. Even the articulate voiceovers of the game’s narration when finding a lost page or describing the scene were absolutely fantastic and if I’m being honest, sounded on par, if not better then my Sony M4s that I use on my usual commute to visit a friend on the train.
These little Skullcandy Sesh ANC earbuds really surprised me on the game audio side of things. The only part of these earbuds that I would mark down is their inability to connect to multiple devices at once. So once they were connected to my iPhone, I needed to disconnect the Bluetooth connection to be able to connect to my Nintendo. But I see this as a small sacrifice to pay for their asking price of AUD$149.95.
I would also mention that the noise cancellation is not effective as over the ear headphones – as of writing this review and having them connected to my Switch, I’m still able to hear the fan of my laptop running. But this is not a be all and all as the sounds are still clear and crisp.
So if you’re looking to use these for one device, these should be considered against most of the gaming headsets out there based on their versatility if you don’t mind having to reconnect to the phone and gaming console of your choice.
