Don’t Buy AirPods Pro — Get These $130 Earbuds Instead

Don’t Buy AirPods Pro — Get These $130 Earbuds Instead

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The Skullcandy Indy ANC deliver great sound, noise cancellation, and longer battery life than the AirPods Pro (and more) for $120 less.

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Don’t Buy AirPods Pro — Get These $130 Earbuds Instead

Apple’s AirPods Pro have held a stronghold in the wireless earbud space since their debut in October 2019, but just because the earbuds are popular doesn’t mean they’re the absolute best deal or value. AirPods do get a lot of things right, especially for people that live in the Apple ecosystem. They’re incredibly easy to pair with other Apple devices, offer unique features like spatial audio, and have the benefit of Apple’s unmatched marketing/brand awareness. For people willing to look a little bit beyond the walled garden, however, there’s an expansive world of other wireless earbuds waiting to meet them with open arms.

There are countless brands trying to make a name for themselves with wireless earbuds — including big players like Samsung and Sony, mid-tier companies such as Anker and Aukey, and even smaller entries like TOZO, Mpow, and countless others. Among all of those is Skullcandy. Skullcandy has been kicking out audio gadgets since 2003 and, like most other audio brands, it’s been making a huge push towards true wireless earbuds. Some of its attempts have been good and others have missed the mark, but now one of the company’s most recent releases aims to challenge AirPods Pro head-on with nearly identical features but at a considerably lower price.

Announced in December 2020, the Skullcandy Indy ANC sound too good to be true. Skullcandy promises excellent audio quality, active noise cancellation, 32-hour battery life, and a host of other premium earbud features — all for just $130 ($120 less than the price of AirPods Pro). The Indy ANC aren’t perfect but, as a pair of earbuds that deliver a high-end listening experience at a competitive price, Skullcandy has proven that they are worth people’s attention.

Skullcandy Indy ANC Deliver A Robust Listening Experience

Don’t Buy AirPods Pro — Get These $130 Earbuds Instead

There are a lot of different factors that go into crafting a pair of wireless earbuds, but at the heart of every single one is audio quality. A pair of earbuds can last forever on a charge, come with a companion app, and so on, but if the buds aren’t enjoyable to listen to, all of that is for naught. Thankfully, the Skullcandy Indy ANC have no trouble in this area at all. There are more expensive earbuds that deliver more complete and accurate listening experiences, but the Indy ANC excel at making music sound good and fun to listen to.

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A big part of this has to do with Skullcandy’s ‘Personal Sound’ feature. This plays a series of beeps at a range of different frequencies to gauge the user’s hearing, and once the test is complete, Skullcandy creates an audio profile designed specifically for that person. The results of this will vary from person to person but, in real-world use, it’s delivered increased volume and more sound detail in just about every track — making the standard listening mode sound flat and muffled by comparison. Songs are brought to life with every little sound coming through nice and clearly, a good amount of bass when it’s needed, and a solid experience overall. Some users may be annoyed at the lack of custom EQ settings, but after completing the Personal Sound test and keeping the feature enabled, there’s not really any need to adjust anything else. That said, Skullcandy does offer a few pre-made listening modes depending on what’s being played, including Music, Podcast, and Movie Modes.

Also, as the name of the Indy ANC suggests, active noise canceling is present to block out ambient sounds so users can focus on what matters — their music. Noise-canceling on the Indy ANC is best for blocking out low-frequency sounds, such as a dishwasher, the rumble of a drying machine, or the roar of an airplane engine. There is a noticeable hiss that can be heard whenever ANC is turned on, but once a song or podcast starts playing, it fades into the background without much trouble.

IP55, Tile Tracking, Wireless Charging, & More

Don’t Buy AirPods Pro — Get These $130 Earbuds Instead

While audio quality is the main focal point for earbuds, the rest of the feature-set helps take the Indy ANC from being good to great. All of the expected perks for premium earbuds are here, including USB-C and Qi wireless charging for the case, an IP55 rating for dust/water resistance, and touch controls on the Indy ANC for controlling music playback (which have proven to work quite well). The skull logo on the case and earbuds is a tad gaudy, but considering everything that’s offered with the rest of the Indy ANC’s hardware, it’s pretty easy to overlook.

All of the above features are great to have in a pair of daily earbuds, but where Skullcandy goes a step further is with its built-in Tile feature. The Skullcandy Indy ANC come with Tile’s tracking technology built directly into the left and right earbuds. Just download the Tile app, follow the app’s prompts for adding a pair of Skullcandy earbuds, and the Indy ANC show up in the Tile app just like any other tracker from the company. This can be used for instantly finding lost earbuds, seeing a location history for them, and even things like smart alerts and full item reimbursements (for people that pay for Tile Premium). While a lot of premium earbuds do come with some sort of location tracking feature, having it integrated with Tile’s system makes it feel that much more complete.

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Battery life is another strong suit for the Indy ANC — in fact, the overall battery package is markedly better than what’s offered by AirPods Pro. The Skullcandy Indy ANC provide 5 hours of continuous playback time with ANC enabled and a total of 19 hours when the charging case is factored in. When ANC is turned off, those numbers go up to 9 hours and 32 hours, respectively. By comparison, Apple promises up to 4.5 hours of continuous listening time for AirPods Pro and up to 24 hours of total battery life with the charging case. A couple of extra hours here and there can make the difference during a long workout session or road trip, and considering the substantially lower price of the Indy ANC, that’s quite the achievement.

Indy ANC Cost Over 50 Percent Less Than AirPods Pro

None of this is to say that the Skullcandy Indy ANC are flawless (no product is!) The logo placement mentioned above can be an eyesore, the constant hiss of the noise cancellation feature isn’t ideal, and the lack of a manual EQ mode likely won’t sit right with some users. However, when considering the Indy ANC’s upsides and extremely competitive price, there’s more here to like than dislike.

Skullcandy’s earbuds have been thoroughly enjoyable to listen to all types of music on, USB-C and Qi charging options are incredibly convenient, battery life is great, and the built-in Tile support is something that needs to make its way to all true wireless earbuds. A lot of those features go hand-in-hand with the experience provided by AirPods Pro, and considering that Skullcandy sells the Indy ANC for $120 less than the price of AirPods Pro, it’s easy to make an argument for why Android and iPhone users alike may want to consider these for their next pair of go-to earbuds.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/skullcandy-indy-anc-better-than-airpods-pro/

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