Skullcandy has earned a reputation as a brand that excels in providing quality products at a reasonable price. Although it’s most likely well-known for its small colorful earbuds, Skullcandy has turned it into some genuinely excellent audio products worth a look that brings us back to Skullcandy Indy True Wireless earbuds. How have they held up over time?
Sensation
Before we go on to the earbuds, we should consider the charging case included. The Skullcandy Indy comes with a round case that is superior to the case included with the Push. It’s also much simpler to slip into my purse. At less than half the cost, it will give AirPods (3rd generation) AirPods (3rd generation) a run for its price when it comes to portability.
The case opens and reveals a cutout that can accommodate earbuds. Three small LEDs on top of the cases show approximately how much battery remains. It’s more difficult closing the box than to open it. If the ears aren’t aligned, the case will not close correctly.
When it comes to ear tips, There are two types of ear tips: ear and wing tips. The wing tip is a sleeve to secure the earbuds to the external ear. The combination of both makes it one of the most fitting wireless earbuds I’ve ever tried (save for the Powerbeats Pro, which features the above-ear hook).
The earbuds ‘ plastic feels cheap, and the touch-sensitive panels may not always detect commands on the first attempt. Although the touchpads may not be perfect, the actual controls are thought-out.
Controlling Skullcandy Indy
Contrary to most wireless headphones with touch controls available, this Skullcandy Indy uses a single tapping on one earbud to alter the volume instead of a skip or back to a previous track. The stakes are lower if the ears detect accidentally tapping.
To pause the music, you must tap your fingers twice on the right earbud; that is the main. Moving across tracks can be the most straightforward control requiring you to place your finger on either left or right earbuds to skip forward, back, or backward.
Connection ReliabilityÂ
Just like Skullcandy crusher 2014, it is rocking Bluetooth 5.0 and also supports both the SBC as well as AAC Bluetooth codecs. For the Google Pixel 3, I experience some swerves while carrying my smartphone in my pocket or performing some short exercises, but nothing distracting. The phone is suffering from laggy effects; our tests reveal that the phone has a time delay of 425ms. Therefore, the Indy might not be the ideal option for streaming videos.
Battery Timing
Regarding battery life, we managed to squeeze out 4 hours and 23 minutes of time of play when we put the buds to continuous music playback that reached 75dB(SPL). Skullcandy states that its charging case can extend this to around 16 hours. This means it is possible to charge the buds around three times before needing to charge the case. The charging case still uses micro USB, which is quite challenging to use considering that most smartphones now use USB-C and Lightning, and you’ll be required to carry an additional cable.
EffectivenessÂ
There’s no new-fangled active noise cancellation (ANC) in Skullcandy’s Indy True Wireless; thus, all noise cancellation comes from passive isolation. It all comes down to finding the correct fitting in the first place, so if your included ear tips don’t fit well, you might need an aftermarket pair.
Skullcandy Indy Quality
Quality of sound isn’t always Skullcandy’s forte. The earphones may not sound awful, but they rarely sound outstanding also. It is present in this model, the Skullcandy Indy (cyan), that has the appearance of a frequency response like someone didn’t add bass. The highs and mids somewhat follow the curve of our consumers (pink); however, the sub-bass mids and the sub-bass are so weak that it’s impossible to suggest this Indy for anything other than podcasts and Zoom calls.
Skullcandy Indy Tones
The highs and mids match our house curves and produce clear vocals on songs and podcasts. An excellent example can be seen in the track Girls Like You by Toro y Moi, which has many mid-heavy synths throughout the track. However, the vocals are still clear and loud. Bass is afflicted by the old-fashioned practice of increasing the volume to hear the song better (don’t simply adjust instead) and hearing all the rest.
Of course, indeed, the Skullcandy Indy isn’t going to sound as clear as the preferred pair of over-ears; however, if you do not care about anything lower than 100Hz (where the volume of reproduction dramatically decreases), like, for instance, phones or podcasts may be fine.
The microphone is adequate, but it creates a sound that makes most people sound a little muffled. But, when you consider how difficult it is to fit the best microphone into wireless earbuds, in addition to the necessity of Bluetooth to transfer the voice signal to your mobile, it’s somewhat of a wonder that genuine wireless earbuds come with microphones that function even.
The Bottom Line
Today, technology has improved to the point where you can expect almost everything from wireless headphones. When the Indy was first released, it came with various features for a small, to begin with, and was still compared to AirPods. Since Apple AirPods is not the most popular choice for connectivity or usability, particularly for Android users, we’re sure there is a better alternative. Truthfully, better products are available at similar prices.
The most effective use of Skullcandy Indy is for those who work in the background while watching podcasts due to the IP55 rating implying that the earbuds are safe. The frequency response makes sure you can hear what you hear. Being an IP55 design will give the Indy that sweatproof seal of approval, something that other wireless earbuds do not possess. It’s an excellent option for AirPods, even though it’s not an exact competitor.
