I’m pretty new to the earless earbud life, having used another leading brand’s earbuds for the first time only two months ago, and then losing in East London randomly last week *wails*. I’ve made it my mission to try out and review as many wireless earphones as possible, as I just can’t get with the wired life anymore. First up is the Skullcandy Indy True Wireless Earpods I was kindly sent to have a chinwag about, so let’s get into it!

Who and What?

Skullcandy is a global brand who are known for creating affordable high fidelity sound for people on the go – such as DJ’s, athletes and avid travellers. They aim to create products that can be used through multiple climates and temperatures, without compromising on sound quality and style.

What I have here are the Skullcandy Indy Earpods which are available in four different colours: black, mint (shown here), deep red and indigo. They retail at £69.99 online and in-store.

The Tech Basics

• Up to 16 hours of battery life
• Bluetooth wireless technology
• Removable stability ear gels
• Sweat, water and dust repellant
• Noise reduction for calls
• Touch controls

Design

Like quite a few of the wireless earpods on the market, these do kinda, sorta resemble the Apple airpods slightly, but just a little bit chunkier. The pods have a really cute, sleek design, with a downwards pointing stalk that acts as a microphone for voice calls, as well as housing the batteries. The actual ‘pod’ is quite large and I was wary at first that it may be too big for my ears, but the product comes with three differently sized gel inner ear pods that you can swap and change, depending on the size of your ear holes. As I generally have small ears (thanks Mum…), I use the smallest gel pods and I find that it has a generally good fit – not as snug as I would normally like, but it stays put.

The earpods have an in-ear design which is great for sound, however, it means that the pods need to form a seal around your ears in order to keep out outside noise and retain superior music quality. It was at this point that I completely removed the stability ear gels from the outside of the pods as they were way too big for my ears and made the device uncomfortable to wear. I also find that whenever I chew or yawn, the earpods dislodge slightly, due to the long stalk resting against my jaw.

Performance

So let’s get into it! I’m by no means a music or tech snob, but I am really picky about the kind of earphones I get, as sound quality is incredibly important to me. I listen to a lot of hip hop/trap/70s and 80s stuff so a device that can cope with a GOOD BASE is incredibly important. Luckily, the indy earbuds handle heavy basslines incredibly well. INCREDIBLY well. I can feel the base in the depths of my soul-good. If you’re someone who’s also into hard baselines or you listen to a lot of Drum and Base etc, you’ll love these.

After a while though, it can become a *bit* tiresome. As it amplifies the base on all songs, it can sometimes disrupt the flow of certain songs if you’re looking for a particular mood. If you’re at home or in the office working and want to use these, meh. If you’re travelling on public transport, having a walk, working out or doing something that requires you to be active, then these are perfect.

If you’re listening to music that features a lot of ‘high’ sounds (808 beats, hi-hat etc), the earbuds cope with this well. The sounds are vibrant without being too thin or hindering the detail. The only thing about the sound I’ve noticed, however, is that the sound isn’t surround. It feels as if it’s tunnelling itself directly into your brain as opposed to feeling like you’re at a concert. As someone who always has the volume up on high, it can be a bit headache-inducing at time.

The charging case is sleek and rounded, making it easy on pockets. It’s bigger and a bit bulkier than I’m previously used to, but it’s still manageable. There are also three small lights on the outside of the case which lets you know how much battery is still left which is awesome. I roughly get about four hours out of this, before having to recharge it again.

Speaking of charging. You can only charge this using a USB connected to a computer or USB fitted plug. Quite annoying if you’re on the go and you run out of battery and you don’t have a handy laptop about. It would have been great if these came with a plug so you could charge them anywhere, but alas. Unlike the Apple Airpods that give a short warning sound when you’re running out of battery, these just cut off suddenly in the middle of the song, which is a bit annoying.

Connection

I’ll be honest, I found connecting the earbuds to my phone troublesome at best. They do not connect together in your ear. They connect to the bluetooth one ear at a time, so it took about 5 tries before I could get them to connect to my phone in unison. The touch controls on the pods are EXTREMELY sensitive too, so one accidental knock against the pods will cause them to disconnect, skip a song, or pause. This has happened a few times when I’ve been trying to properly secure the pods in my ear.

Songs that sound AMAZING with the Indy earpods:

• Jaden Smith – ICON
• Megan Thee Stallion – Cash Shit
• Cardi B – Money
• Solange – Binz
• Beyonce – Already
• Stormzy – Vossi Bop

Pros and cons:

Pros:

• Wonderful noise isolation!
• Great, punchy bass
• Sweat and dust resistant
• IP55 Certification
• Price point
• Sleek design
• Choice of ear fitting pods available
• Microphone to answer calls at the same time

Cons:

• I found it difficult to pair the buds with my phone
• Super sensitive touch controls
• Can only be charged via USB connection
• Super long stalk
• Average battery life
• Plastic could have been better quality

Overall, I’m happy with the buds and think they are wonderful if you’re on the go and need something that can get you in that active mood. Also if you have bit ear holes, you’ll love this. My holes are quite small, so the fitting is still a bit uncomfortable and loose for me (even on the smallest gel bud). The price and performance do make it a great value item, however.

Buy your Skullcandy Indy earphones here

 

*This product was gifted to me for review purposes. All thoughts and reviews are my own, as always!*