Price: $125
Ratings: 3.5/5
First impressions
The sibling to Skullcandy's Aviator series
are here - lovingly christened as Navigator. They draw inspiration from the
Aviator's but do have a personality of their own. Right from the impressive
looking packaging to the overall quality of sound you can expect. I have
personally not been too big on Skullcandy headphones in the past, but this
product might just change all that.
Skullcandy's
Navigator Headphones
Review
On-ear headphones don't usually impress
with their noise cancellation levels, but the Navigator from Skullcandy is made
up of impressive quality materials and the overall design is really good too.
The metal and foam is premium quality and feels good over your ear. Like many
headphones today, the Navigator folds down for compact storage. A black
drawstring protective pouch is included, but the inside of it isn't ideal. The
soft black felt material lining sheds just enough that if you move your hand
around inside it for a few seconds, it comes out coated in black lint—the
same is true for your headphones. This may change over time, but it was a
turn-off that made the bag less useful at the outset. The audio performance of
the Navigator is impressive for this price range. The overall balance is
definitely focused on the lows and low-mid frequencies, but it delivers everything
clearly and cleanly. Even at maximum volume (an unsafe listening level, by the
way) on the Knife's "Silent Shout," a track with challenging low
frequencies that often distorts on 5000 rupee-range headphones, the Navigator
did not distort at all, nor did it become a muddy mess. The synth kick drum
hits are powerful, and at high volumes, noticeably vibrate the headphones, but
the audio was unaffected. At more moderate levels, the low end is still
delivered with intensity, and the overall mix is still articulate, though it
seems to lack a lot of punch in the high-mids and highs. The overall feel was a
bit over-bearing.
On-ear
headphones don't usually impress with their noise cancellation levels, but the
Navigator from Skullcandy is made up of impressive quality materials and the
overall design is really good too.
Features
There is an in-line mic with the headphone,
that worked rather well on the iPhone that we tested it on. Since the
headphones aren't made for Android smartphones, our tests were limited to the
high-end iPhone and the mic performed fairly well.
Verdict
For about 7K, these headphones do have a
few drawbacks that it could've done without. The premium quality of the built
and design makes it an impressive looking pair, but the performance is slightly
lacking. Don't get me wrong - it still performs better than most headphones,
but at this price point I was expecting more from the Skullcandy Navigators.
Still, quite good for its worth - the best? Perhaps not.
Specifications
·
Supra-Aural (on-ear) Headphones Stereo 3.5mm
connector
·
104dB Sound Pressure Level
·
Nylon braided cable type
·
200 gms net weight
In the same league
Shure SRH440 Headphones
Shure
SRH440 Headphones
·
Price: $102
·
Over-the-ear Headphones
·
Circumaural Headphones
·
Over-the-head Design
Koss PRO DJ100 Headphones
Koss
PRO DJ100 Headphones
·
Price: $130
·
Over-the-ear Headphones
·
Circumaural Headphones
·
Over-the-head Design
