The Skullcandy Venue are decent mixed usage wireless over-ear headphones. They have an exciting sound with a V-shaped or “smiley face” signature, which is great for bass-heavy genres but may not be ideal for more vocal-centric music. They are fairly comfortable headphones for long listening sessions and have great battery life. They are also noise canceling and do a decent job at isolating you in noisy conditions. Unfortunately, there’s a small and somewhat annoying hissing sound that can be heard when no audio is playing, and some may find the headphones to be too tight on the head. They also don’t have a companion app with additional customization options, which is slightly disappointing when compared to other headphones in their price range. On the upside, they are easy to use headphones with a stylish design, and decent performance that should please most listeners especially if you like a little extra bass.
Pros
+Great battery life and wireless range
+Easy to use controls
+Decent noise isolation
Cons
-A bit tight on some heads
-Very bass-heavy sound might not be for everyone
-Poor performance mic for voice calls
DESIGN
Type: Over-ears
Enclosure: Closed-Back
The Skullcandy Venue are decently well-built headphones with a good and easy to use control scheme. They have well-padded cups that should fit well around most ears. They’re also very lightweight for over-ears and come with a nice hard case to protect them when you’re on the move. Unfortunately, they aren’t the most portable headphones as they don’t fold into a more compact format, but the cups swivel to lay flat, making it easier to slide them in a bag or the included case. Also, they come with an audio cable, so you can use them wired as well, even when the battery is dead, which can be useful.
SOUND
The Skullcandy Venue are good sounding closed-back over-ear headphones but may not be for everyone. They have an exciting V-shaped sound profile with powerful and overemphasized bass and recessed mid-range, that pushes the vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix in favor of a deep bass and a slightly sharp and sparkly treble range. They are better suited for bass-heavy genres and won’t be ideal for more vocal-centric music although they do sound good enough to satisfy most listeners. Unfortunately, they don’t have a companion app to customize your sound with an EQ. They also have quite a bit of self-noise/ background hissing when you’re not listening to anything and just have the ANC on, but it isn’t as audible when you have some music playing. On the upside, they use their noise canceling system as a feedback tool to deliver a consistent bass range, even across multiple users.
ISOLATION
Noise canceling: Yes
The Skullcandy Venue isolation performance is average. The noise canceling feature is decent, but their high self-noise creates an annoying hissing sound when no audio content is being played. They achieve a decent amount of isolation in the bass range, where engines rumbles sit, making them an above-average choice for commuting. They can also be used in an office space to cancel out ambient chatter to a good degree. They also have average leakage performance, but this shouldn’t be an issue if you don’t blast your music through the headphones at very high listening volumes. You should be able to use them in an office without disturbing your colleagues.
MICROPHONE
Type:
The integrated microphone of the Venue is sub-par and should not be your first option to make calls. In quiet environments, the speech recorded or transmitted sounds thin, muffled and lacks detail. This is expected from most Bluetooth headphones microphones. It will also struggle to separate speech from background noise, in moderately loud conditions, like a busy street. Speech should still be understandable in quiet environments, but sound quality won’t be the best. If you’re looking for headphones with a good microphone for conference calls, we suggest taking a look at headsets with boom mics.
ACTIVE FEATURES
Battery Life: 24 Hrs
Charge time: 1.8 Hrs
App support: No
Passive Playback: Yes
The Skullcandy have great battery life, but unfortunately, they don’t have a companion app with customization options. You’ll get about 24 hours of continuous playback with the Venue, and they only take under 2 hours to fully charge. They also have an amazing quick charge feature that can give you about 5 hours of battery life for only 10 minutes of charging. They can extend their battery life thanks to a good power saving standby mode. If the battery is dead, you can use the included audio cable to use them passively, but without the ANC feature. Also, you can pair them with the Tile app which will let you track your headphones easily if you lose them.
CONNECTIVITY
Bluetooth: Yes
Wired: Yes
Wireless range: 69 ft
Latency: 232 ms
The Venue are wireless Bluetooth over-ears, but can also be used passively with the included audio cable. They have amazing wireless range, and since they support Bluetooth version 5.0, you might even get better results than what we measured if you have a 5.0 source as well. However, like most Bluetooth headphones, they have too much latency for watching video content or gaming. You can use them wired to get rid of latency issues, but you’ll be limited by the range of the cable’s length. On the upside, when used wired, you can still use the ANC feature, unless the headphones’ battery is dead. You can also connect them to 2 devices simultaneously, which is useful if you often switch between your computer and phone.
WHO SHOULD BUY THEM?
If you’re a fan of bass and are looking for over-ear headphones that aren’t as expensive as some other premium noise cancelling headsets, get the Skullcandy Venue. These Bluetooth ANC headphones have an exciting sound, great for bass-heavy genres. They are also fairly comfortable and lightweight but might feel a bit tight on larger heads. Unfortunately, they won’t be an ideal choice for making a lot of calls due to their sub-par microphone, and their ANC feature is not as good as when compared to other high-end noise cancelling headsets, mostly due to the high self-noise. On the other hand, they’ll still be a decent pick for a variety of use cases, and they have a great 24-hour battery life which can last you a few days without having to charge them. They have a great wireless range and can also be used wired, even if the battery is dead, which is convenient. Their quick charge feature is also a nice addition as you get hours of listening for just 10 minutes of charging. Overall, the Venue are decent mixed usage closed-back over-ears that most bass fans should like. However, if you do not need the noise cancellation then consider the cheaper and similarly designed Skullcandy Hesh 3 instead.
To see all our measurements and our test results of the Skullcandy Venue, please go here.
