I haven’t been a massive user of Bluetooth earbuds. This was until my most recent phone finally nixed the 3.5mm headphone jack. I have tried lots of different sets with varying results. So when the Skullcandy Indy Fuel earbuds landed on the review pile I had to give them a go.
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Initial thoughts were quite mixed. Upon opening the retail packaging as the case is quite low quality plastic. I assume this has something to do with the wireless charging. Thankfully the low quality is only on the case, with the actual earbuds feeling very sturdy and reassuring in the hand. Pairing was a breeze, my Android device picked them up instantly.
The Skull Candy Indy Fuel come with 3 interchangeable tips. Featuring small, medium and large, also coming with 2 rubber stability tips. These ensure that they feel comfortable and secure in your ears, whether you are gardening or running. The great thing is that you aren’t forced to use the stability tips and can use them without, if that is best for you.
The Skull Candy Indy Fuel earbuds are so comfortable, that after a while I forgot I had them on at all. My wife and daughter both tried them and we all managed to find a comfortable fit using the supplied attachments. The buds do not have active noise cancellation, but the fit is so snug that the level of exterior noise is very limited.
They do feature a setting called “ambient mode” which uses the microphones to allow some exterior noise in. This is great if you are wanting to hear a train announcement, or the street noise around you when on a jog. The only slight drawback is that the ambient mode doesn’t seem to work whilst making calls.
Sound quality on the Skull Candy’s is great, Bass is deep and pronounced. The earbuds provide great clarity even at the low end aided by the great snug fit of the tips. The treble is clear and smooth not becoming pitchy at the top of the earbuds reach. The earbuds do have a companion app, but it does not feature anything particularly worthwhile which is a real shame. I would have loved to have seen the ability to change the EQ on earbuds. The app displays EQ information on the screen, yet changing needs to be done by using the touch controls.
The earbuds feature three pre sets – Music, Movie or Podcast. A customisable slider would have been a fantastic addition and would have allowed the user to make the experience perfect for them. The only feature the app allows is to turn on or off the ambient mode. Most users I am sure will uninstall it after installation as you do not need the app to use the earbuds in any way.
On the subject of touch controls, the Skullcandy Indy Fuel earbuds offer all the usual controls. Pause/play, skip tracks and volume levels and also support for your chosen voice assistant. As already discussed they allow for flipping between the EQ presets and also turning ambient mode on or off without the app. The touch controls are great and I didn’t find any difficulty making the earbuds do what I wanted.
Another great feature is the inclusion of Tile functionality. For those who don’t know, you can buy a tile, attach it to your keys or various items and then an app can help you locate your missing items. The Skullcandy Indy Fuel earbuds have a Tile built into them.
This means that should you lose the earbuds down the back of the sofa or in the car/gym you can use the app to locate them. The Tile app shows their last location and features a proximity sensor showing a green circle helping you to locate the earbuds. You can also make the earbuds omit a high pitch noise making them easier to locate. In honesty I would always pop mine back into the charge case, but for some people I can see this being a great addition. Speaking of charging, the case features a USB C port and a small cable allowing you to charge from your laptop or car etc.
These Skullcandy’s feature wireless QI charging on the reverse of the device. If you are lucky enough to have reverse wireless charging on your smartphone you can give them earbuds a quick blast to get you through the day. The case when full supplies 24 hours of charge to the earbuds, and the earbuds hold around 6 hours of charge. Combined that’s a whopping 30 hours of music at your fingertips. But if you do forget to charge them up a 10 minute charge will give you around 2 hours of playback in a pinch.
Overall the Skullcandy Indy Fuel headphones offer a hell of a lot for the price point, great sound, great fit, touch controls and wireless charging. It is a shame they didn’t put as much effort into the app or the charging case. For the price point they are a fantastic deal and if your in the market for some bluetooth earbuds they would be very hard to ignore. Buy them online here: www.skullcandy.co.uk
