Skullcandy is a brand that is as much about style as it is
about performance... or so we thought. Although you might expect to see a pair
of Skullcandy headphones dangling around the neck of a "young person"
on a "skating board", as we recently discovered, anyone can feel
pretty satisfied with a set of these wrapped around their skull. We tested the
Skullcandy Grind On-ear Headphones.
Coming in a tidy package with four different designs to choose from (two of which feature transparent cans) the Grind headphones look like they would set you back far more cash they actually do. Skullcandy (currently) have them on their site for £39.99, which was the first thing to catch our eye - certainly they don't feel like sub-£50 'phones.
The band is metal, topped with a leather(ish) cushioning, which
can be easily adjusted. We were sent the white pair to test, and we loved how
it was possible to see the band slide into the cans when fitting onto your
head. The cans themselves feature a luxurious padding which, once again, betrayed
the headphones' low price. All in all, the Grind are comfortable and fit snugly
to all head sizes.
Included is a simple phono cable which plugs directly into
the left can, where you'll also find a universal control button, or the TapTech.
With this you can pause your music, answer calls, or skip through tracks. Again,
thanks to our pair's transparent sides, you can actually see the workings of
the button which we rather liked.
Now for the second, and arguably most important, factor
about the Skullcandy Grand Headphones that caught our eye - and ears: they
sound amazing. Certainly these are not the greatest pair of 'phones we've ever
tested, but for less than forty quid they are superb. While listening to
several genres of music (and way too many late night episodes of Rick and Morty
online) we had to keep reminding ourselves that these were relatively cheap
headphones. The sound was crisp and smooth, and the bass sounded deep and
confident.
For everyday, casual music and podcasting listening these
are great, and the choice of four styles actually sets each one apart from the
rest. They don't fold up but seem rugged and tough enough to survive a few
bumps in your bag, so great for commuters wanting a little more musical
immersion that their phone's standard earbud headphones could offer.
But just so we're clear, we didn't try them while on one of
those skating contraptions.
£39.99
Visit uk.skullcandy.com
