Design and features:These headphones non-isolating design doesn't muffle outside sounds so you'll be able to hear that door bell ring, train announcement, or car horn when you are wearing these earphones. The Push Ultra has a volume control plus an integrated microphone and player function controls and integrated call connect/disconnect controls. Additional features include EQ mode that can be switched between three different tonal presets. Charging/carrying case has built-in rechargeable battery that the manufacturer claims can be used to recharge the earphone batteries a bit less than 6 times (to add an additional 34 hrs. for a total of 40 hrs. of playtime) between its own charges. Manufacturer claims water and dust resistance (IP67). Has power on/off, low power, and Bluetooth pairing voice announcements. Either earpiece can be used alone for one ear monitoring of Bluetooth streamed audio and telephone communications. Supports undisclosed digital voice assistants when used with devices/products that have those features. Bluetooth connected Apple mobile devices using iOS Version 5 and above will show the battery level. Has a quick-charge feature: 10 minutes of charging will provide 2 hours of audio playback. The Skullcandy app download for Apple and Android mobile devices shows earphone battery level, allows users to see which EQ mode the earbuds are in, and provides user guides for the earphones. Has built in Tile tracker feature; once they are registered with Tile if the earpieces are lost they can be located via the free Tile app download for Apple and Android mobile devices. This model comes with USB-A to USB-C charging cable, charging cradle/recharger battery/carrying case. Free Skullcandy app download for Apple and Android mobile devices.
Sound quality: We found the Push Ultra delivers sound quality that falls in the good range - it reproduces music and voice reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound. We found the sound quality highly variable and is very dependent on how these earphones sit in the user's ears. With the EQ set to Music mode and when positioned for its best sound quality the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes fairly deep, but is a bit prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even, but is a bit grainy and congested (think sonic traffic jam), and somewhat hazy. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended but is somewhat smeared and dry. While the sound has a good sense of liveliness, it is somewhat closed (sound-wise it's fairly obvious you have something plugging your ears) and does a decent job of recovering room ambience (the sense of the acoustic space in which the audio program that's being listened to was recorded). Mixed character - warmish bass and midrange with coolish treble. The overall sound can be summerized as hazy and a bit bassy. The various EQ settings do have a noticable effect on the sound of these earphones. At its best this model scores in the Good range. At its worst depending on how it fit it overall scored in the Fair range.
Comfort: We found that these earphones does not produce pressure in the ear canal. Because of the ear hooks it may take some fumbling to get the earpieces in place, and the design of the earphone makes it hard for users in general to fit the earphones for optimum sound quality. Users with small ear bowls might find that in addition to the issues noted above the earphone body feels a bit bulky in their earbowl and while this model stays in place for casual use and feels secure it sticks out a bit and feels like it might get levered out of place. As such, the ear hooks only provide securement at the bottom of the ears but not at the top. Users with medium and larger sized ear bowls will probably find that subject to the issues noted before, this model otherwise stays in place for casual use and are fairly stable during vigorous head movement. Some users might find pushing the main control button drives the earphones farther into the ear bowl and may cause ear discomfort.
