Skullcandy Hesh 2 Wireless

The Skullcandy Hesh 2 Wireless enters a crowded field of affordable-but-not-cheap Bluetooth headphones. Priced at $99.99, the over-the-ear Hesh 2 deliver a quality listening experience in a cool design, and an included, removable cable allows you to use the headphones passively—adding value to the price and saving battery life when you don't need a wireless stream. There's a rich low-end response and decent clarity in the highs, but the sound signature is not for audiophiles (there's far too much sculpting in the high-mids and highs), or bass fiends looking for a massively boosted experience.

Design
Available in black, blue, gray/yellow, or camouflage models, the Hesh 2 Wireless is a bulky but lightweight circumaural (over-ear) headphone pair. The earpads are well-cushioned, but during longer listening periods, they can become a little uncomfortable. Volume controls (which work together with, not independently of, your mobile device's volume) and an LED status indicator/multi-function button (which controls Power, Playback, and Call Management) are located on the right earcup. The volume controls also handle track navigation depending on how long you press them, and since the buttons are raised and shaped like + and - symbols, there's rarely much confusion despite not being able to see them. The pinhole mic is also located here.

The micro USB connection for the charging cable is located at the top of the left earcup—it's in an awkward spot, so that the earcup must be in a certain position to reveal it, which can make plugging in the cable an annoyance.

The Hesh 2 Wireless can also be used in passive, wired mode—a cloth-bound cable is included. Even better, the cable has an inline mic and remote so you can still field calls and control your device without having to reach in your pocket. Connecting the cable automatically powers the headphones down and kills the Bluetooth pairing—upon powering back up, the headphones will re-pair with your device when the cable is disconnected and your mobile device is in pairing mode. The headphones also ship with the aforementioned USB charging cable and a drawstring protective pouch.

Skullcandy estimates the Hesh 2 Wireless has a 15-hour battery life—your results will vary depending on how loudly you play your music, and your mix of wired versus wireless usage.

Performance
On tracks with powerful sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Hesh 2 Wireless does a laudable job of delivering deep lows without distorting. Bass fiends might find the sound signature a little meager, but the headphones deliver a clear bass response that sounds neither thin nor overly boosted. There's certainly some depth here, it's simply not over the top.

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Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with less in the way of booming bass, sounds full and crisp through the Hesh 2 Wireless. The drums on this track are graced with some added low frequency presence—nothing too intense, but they definitely get a little extra heft. Callahan's baritone vocals are delivered with plenty of rich low-mid presence and, luckily, enough high-mid treble edge to keep things clear and articulate. The mix never sounds muddy, but this track can feel a bit too boosted in the low-mids, and the presence in the high-mids and highs sounds very sculpted. In other words, while it doesn't sound bad in the slightest, this is not the type of flat response sound signature most audiophiles are seeking.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop's attack seems to confirm what we hear in the previous track—the low-mids give the loop a thumping sustain, but the attack sounds a bit dulled, as if the high-mids have been scooped out in this range, and in other, higher frequencies, things have been boosted. Again, it's not a bad sound, but it is a very sculpted sound. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the loop don't quite pack the punch that headphones with heavily boosted bass do, so we can surmise that most of the boosting with the Hesh 2 Wireless is in the low-mids and lows, and less so in the sub bass realm. 

If you like the idea of a boosted bass in Bluetooth headphones, but want more high-mid/treble presence to balance things out, the Jabra Move Wireless, the Sennheiser MM 100, and the Sony MDR-ZX770BT all offer solid audio with varying levels of bass/treble balance. If you simply want to spend less money, the Creative Sound Blaster Jam is a good Bluetooth headphone pair with quality audio performance for the price. For $100, the stylish Hesh 2 Wireless gets plenty right—the detachable cable with inline remote adds serious value, and the overall design is simple and easy to operate. Audio performance is neither fit for purists nor bass fiends, but for the price, the headphones deliver respecatable low-end and clear, if sculpted, highs.