Recently, Skullcandy has introduced their highest end headphones to date in the form of the Aviator 900 ANC. This collaboration product from Skullcandy and THX features THX Spatial Audio with Head Tracking, adaptive 6-mic active noise cancellation, and Personal Sound by Mimi. Housing customizable controls, a battery life of up to 60 hours and a Clear Voice Smart Mic, the Aviator 900 ANC looks to produce impressive audio, both inbound and outbound.
What exactly does this $299 headphone bring to the table? Let’s dive deeper into the Skullcandy Aviator 900 ANC to find out.
Skullcandy Aviator 900 ANC Base Specs
| Headphone Type: | Wireless Over-ear |
| Connection Type: | Bluetooth® v5.3, 3.5mm |
| Aux Impedance: | 36Ω |
| Driver Diameter: | 40mm |
| THD: | <1% at 1KHz |
| Sound Pressure Level: | 119.4±3 dB at 1000Hz@ 0.190V/1mW |
| Frequency Response: | 20Hz – 20KHz |
| Weight: | 332g |
| Battery: | 60 Hours (ANC On) / 50 Hours (ANC On) |
Specs taken from product page.
The purchase of the Skullcandy Aviator 900 ANC headphones comes with a removable AUX cable, a USB-C charging cable, and a crossbody travel bag.
Build and Comfort
The Aviator 900 ANC sports a flat folding and collapsible design while protecting itself with sweat and water-resistant nano-coating. Each earcup employs a transparent design, showing some of the inner workings of the headset, while the Skullcandy logo displays on the connecting hinges. You then have leatherette cushioning for the earcups and headband, while on the top of the headband features a suede finish.
One of the premier features of the Aviator 900 ANC is the THX Spatial Audio with Head Tracking. This THX technology produces immersive surround sound by automatically adapting to your head movements to emulate a realistic spatial sound experience. This experience is then reinforced by a 6-mic adaptive ANC system to keep you focused on the sound presentation. Built to last for long listening sessions, these headphones sport a maximum battery life of 50-hours of playtime with ANC active. If you are ever in a pinch, you can get up to four hours of playtime from just a 10-minute charge.
The controls on the Aviator 900 ANC are pretty unique. On the left earcup, you have a customizable button that you can control through the app, a knurled thumbwheel for toggling listening modes, and a jack for connecting the included AUX cable. On the right, you have a multifunction LCD display, a power button, a media-controlling joystick and a USB-C charging port.
In terms of overall build, the Aviator 900 ANC comes out sleek and clean from right out of the box. The headset is stylish with its black transparent earcups and suede finish atop the headband. The headset also does not disappoint in the comfort department with its leatherette cushioning and overal light weight. It maintains the right amount of tension, remaining secure on your head while not feeling tight at all. The earcups form a solid acoustic seal which only helps the overall sound presentation once ANC kicks in.
The unique default controls of the Aviator 900 ANC are also a strong point for these headphones. The joystick control is easy to grasp as a media controller. Press to play and pause, left and right trigger previous and next track respectively, and up and down control the volume as you would expect. I especially like how the knurled thumbwheel is used here. Scrolling up to the highest point activates ANC On, down to the midpoint is ANC off, then down at the lowest point activates Stay Aware. The wheel has a physical hard stop at its highest and lowest points, so it is easy to get a handle for how to manage this control.
Overall, the appearance, build and comfort of the Skullcandy Aviator 900 ANC is very solid.
Features and Performance
The full feature set of the Aviator 900 ANC can be accessed via the free Skullcandy mobile app. With the app, you can toggle listening modes and EQ’s, create your own custom EQ, customize the Custom button and set up the Personal Sound by Mimi feature. Going further, you can also adjust the intensity of the ANC, Stay Aware, and Spatial Audio modes. With a very straight-forward interface, the Skullcandy app gives you the right amount of control over these headphones without overwhelming you.
Starting off with my immediate take-away from this feature set, the options available for the Custom button were a bit underwhelming. The Custom button functions can only be assigned to cycle EQ Modes, toggle Head Tracking, toggle Spatial Audio, Take Photo, activate Spotify Tap, or none (disabled). Not only would I have liked to have seen more options here, but even repeating some of the default controls here would have been welcomed.
Nevertheless, I was pleased with the general sound presentation from the Aviator 900 ANC, where bass presentation was a clear strength.
Starting with the Music EQ, you get crisp and clean highs, a solid mid presentation and a very noticeable presence from the lows. The Bass Boost EQ enhances that already quite present bass but does so in a satisfying way. The treble and mids are just slightly suppressed, but not so much that this EQ feels like a compromise. The Movie EQ did not do as much for me in terms of show or movie enjoyment as the Music EQ did. When compared to the Music EQ, I felt as if the Movie EQ took away some of the bass. As such, I continued to use the Music EQ for the bulk of my media consumption. Lastly, the Podcast EQ worked well in its purpose, suppressing all of the other sound ranges effectively to allow for a clear presentation of spoken word.
The Personal Sound feature did a nice job adding a subtle but welcomed enhancement to the overall presentation. The feature helps you configure it by taking you through a sound test lasting around two minutes. After the feature is configured, you can choose whether or not you want it active, as well as how potent you want the enhancement to feel. For me, it appeared to add on a little more treble, which allowed me to enjoy percussion sounds even more in my music.
Having tried spatial audio applications in other headsets, I usually viewed this feature as just another add-on. It would add some oomph to action movies or shows, but would not do much for me with music or other media. Surprisingly enough, I found myself especially enjoying THX’s Spatial Audio implementation in the Aviator 900 ANC. The feature provided that reverberation sensation without making the sound presentation feel as if you are hearing it from the inside of a tin can.
Using Spatial Audio with music, I did feel as if the lows and bass-rich sounds had more presence while vocals were noticeably suppressed. However, the overall experience still felt more enjoyable with this feature active than not.
Being able to adjust the speaker distance using the app is a nice touch with a feature like this. It was quite noticeable that the farther the speaker was set, the more accurate the head tracking feature felt. That makes sense since turning your head when standing directly next to a live band would not feel as different as it would if you were doing the same from a considerable distance. So, in that regard, the Head Tracking feature was quite effective. However, having sound feel louder in one ear rather than the other because I turned my head did not really enhance the listening experience for me here.
Although, I could totally see Head Tracking being very applicable in a gaming headset. Skullcandy thought so as well, seeing how THX Spatial Audio with Head Tracking is also present in their recently released Crusher PLYR 720 gaming headset. However, when it came to everyday music, video or movie watching, I was more than satisfied with THX’s Spatial Audio without Head Tracking active.
Moving onto the ANC of the Aviator 900 ANC, active noise cancelation is pretty solid with these headphones. Enjoying my favorite content in a busy and vibrant bar was a breeze with the ANC setting set to its highest. When active and with media playing, only the loudest of patrons could be picked up through the headset. Even then, those louder sounds were so adequately surpressed that I was still able to enjoy my entertainment.
The Stay Aware feature is also pretty solid on this headset. At its highest setting, ambient sound comes through so clearly that I was able to effortlessly have a conversation without having to remove the headset.
Also impressive was the call quality on the Aviator 900 ANC. The headphone’s noise surpression was effective during my calls. Call participants on the other side would hear total silence when I was not talking. When I did speak, my voice projected clearly, with even the loudest of ambient sounds coming in as a non-distracting dull roar. The Side Tone feature further compliments the call handling experience by allowing you to hear yourself as you speak on calls. This self-awareness lets you speak naturally, making handling calls on this headset a satisfying experience.
Final Thoughts
In the end, the Skullcandy Aviator 900 ANC is a very nice and well-performing pair of wireless headphones. You get a solid base sound presentation that is effectively enhanced by THX’s Spatial Audio. You then have an impressive ANC implementation that performs well and further enhances the overall listening experience. Throw in a comfortable and attractive build that gives you up to 50 hours of playtime with ANC active, and you have yourself a quality headset that validates its price point.
If you want to check out the Skullcandy Aviator 900 ANC headphones for yourself, you can do so by clicking here.
† We were provided with a pair of Skullcandy Aviator 900 ANC headphones for review purposes and were not compensated for this review.
