With the Hesh 3 Bluetooth headphones, the typically excessive Skullcandy seems to be refining both its design and its sound signature. The $129.99 headphones have almost no design flourishes—they look blank. That in and of itself is a statement, but the other notable aspect is a balanced, crisp sound. There's a strong bass presence here, but it's never over the top, and the high-mids and highs arguably command more of the spotlight. It's a good new look (and sound) for the company, and a solid option in this price range.

Design

The circumaural (over-ear) Hesh 3 headphones are available in black, blue, gray, or red, all with a matte finish. There initially appears to be no markings of any kind, but if you squint closely you'll see the Skullcandy logo. There is something undeniably cool about this look—it says nothing and it reflects nothing, so it's whatever you project upon it. It's also pretty comfortable—the memory foam earpads are plush, and the underside of the headband is well-cushioned. Inside each earcup, 40mm drivers deliver the audio.

The right earcup houses onboard controls in the form of a three-button remote. The central button controls playback, call management, and summons voice controls, while the plus and minus buttons handle volume and track navigation. The earpads themselves block out a substantial amount of ambient noise passively. Many headphones make this claim, but it's immediately noticeable when you put the Hesh 3 on.

Skullcandy is light on accessories here. There's a micro USB charging cable and a 3.5mm audio cable, both of which connect to the right earcup. Though there's no included tote or case, the earcups do swivel and fold down into a compact size for easy stowing.

Connecting the included audio cable immediately powers the headphones down. It's great that you can use the Hesh 3 in passive mode when you're trying to save battery life (or when the battery is kicked), however, the cable lacks an inline remote, so you can't field phone calls or control your music in wired mode.

The headphones get a respectable 22 hours of estimated battery life, but the real selling point is that a mere 10 minutes of charging should net four hours of playback. Your results will, of course, vary with your volume levels.

The mic offers solid intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we could understand every word we recorded, although the audio was laced with typical artifacts, making it fuzzy in spots. This is pretty much par for the course with Bluetooth headphone mics, and the Hesh 3 has better intelligibility than plenty of models we test.

Performance

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the headphones delivers strong deep lows. At moderate volumes, the low frequencies sound full and well-defined; at higher volumes, things sound even more more powerful; but even at top, unwise listening levels, the drivers never distort. Despite the powerful bass response, the sound is bright and clear, even on this track—there's plenty of high frequency presence to balance things out.

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Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the overall sound signature. The drums on this track receive a solid bass presence without ever sounding too boosted or thunderous. Callahan's baritone vocals also receive a pleasant low-mid richness, but the real story here is the high-mids and highs. The vocals get a crisp treble edge, and the guitar strums and percussive attacks get some bright, well-defined presence as well. Even the tape hiss on this track seems elevated a bit. It's not that the headphones are thin, brittle, or overly bright sounding—they deliver excellent high frequency clarity and don't overdo the low frequency boosting and sculpting.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop's attack gets some added high-mid presence, helping it retain its sharp edge and slice through the layers of the mix. But we also hear more of the higher frequency vinyl crackle that is usually relegated to the background. The vocals on this track are delivered with solid clarity, though at times they can sound just a tad more sibilant than usual, while the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with strong presence, but nothing over the top.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, receive the ideal amount of low frequency boosting—not much, just a tad, elevating the status of the lower register instrumentation ever so subtly. The spotlight still belongs to the higher register brass, strings, and vocals, which are delivered with ideal brightness and clarity.

Conclusions

Those looking for booming low frequency response are looking in the wrong place. Skullcandy's Hesh 3 headphones are certainly capable of delivering deep lows, but only when the mix calls for it. If anything, the drivers seem to favor the high-mids and highs, but generally speaking, this is a balanced, clear sound signature across genres. Throw in the comfortable design and cool visuals, and you've got a very appealing option in the wireless sub-$150 realm. If you're looking for more bass, check out the Marshall Mid Bluetooth, the JBL E55BT, and the Sony MDR-XB650BT.

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