Skullcandy Indy ANC: Is it Worth the Cost?
Things went simpler with the arrival of earbuds; isn’t it? No more those wired earphones that got tangled and needed so much attention upfront and no more those bulky headphones that were not so easy to carry.
Earbuds have made lives really simple and as of now, there are so many of these available in the market. Well, among the forerunners, we know that Apple designed the first of such products and we also know that SkullCandy has a fair bit of popularity in the audio market.
Especially talking about headphones and earphones, SkullCandy has made a lot of progress in a very short period of time. And recently, it came up with the new Skullcandy Indy ANC which is quite a unique product in the market.
These earbuds occur at a fairly low cost of just $129.99 and at this, the Skullcandy Indy ANC earphones are somewhat extravagant among the company’s generally budget-friendly lineup. However, these are surely a bargain for true wireless in-ears with noise cancellation.
In terms of audio, they deliver a mega bass sound signature, while on the active noise cancellation (ANC) front, they eliminate lows quite well and do an okay job with the rest of the frequency range.
But I am sure you would not be too satisfied with just this information and here are some more details about Skullcandy Indy ANC earphones that you must know:
Structure and Design:
Skullcandy Indy ANC earphones are available in a single black color outer design and have a supportive charging case. An included USB-C-to-USB-A charging cable connects to the USB-C port on the bottom of the case.
The earpieces fit securely into your ears, all because of the included ear tips (there are three pairs in S, M, and L) and sleeves (two pairs are included) that add stability. Each earpiece contains a 12mm driver delivering a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz.
Performance:
When talking about performance, it is important to mention the chipset that makes it such a powerful performer. Well, this Skullcandy earphone set is powered by MediaTek Airoha and this is again an innovation in earphone products.
Let me tell you a bit more about it.
Skullcandy has collaborated with Mediatek to use the MediaTek Airoha chip. If you look at the features of this chipset, it combines a powerful Arm Cortex-M4 application processor, with a dedicated audio DSP that supports streaming HD sound quality.
It also has integrated power management hardware and Bluetooth 5 with LE connectivity to ensure the smallest package with the best possible power efficiency. With the help of Mediatek Airoha’s TWS MCSync technology and TWC Hybrid ANC technologies, the brands get a foundation to build in premium audio experiences whether voice, video, or music.
It also has a Digital Active Noise Cancellation feature with up to 32 hours of battery life and a wireless charging case with rapid charging that gives 2 hours of play from just a 10-minute charge.
As for the audio performance, it is a mixed bag of hits and misses. In default settings, the earbuds sound muffled but maintain a clear distinction between lows, mids, and highs. The audio can be tweaked through the earbuds supplementary smartphone app named Skullcandy app.
The app has preset audio profiles for music, podcast, movies, etc. Each profile changes the audio output but does not improve the performance much. The earbuds support only the SBC audio codec, and the support for AAC or AptX may have improved the audio quality. Nevertheless, the earbuds are powered by Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
Overall, the features of the device seem to be really good for the users and Skullcandy has brought something really innovative in association with Mediatek.
