Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless [Review]

The Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless is a pair of simple truly wireless headphones from Skullcandy. They have a solid feel to them, are quite portable, stay in your ears well, and offer a very thorough control scheme. Unfortunately, their built-in microphone has trouble distinguishing speech from ambient noise. They also have short battery life and a sound profile that is devoid of treble, which may irritate certain listeners. They’re still a fine option if you’re looking for a pair of basic truly wireless headphones that can handle everyday commuting and the occasional workout session.

Skullcandy Indy Fuel True Wireless In-Ear Earbud - True Black

$99.99
$67.97  in stock

15 new from $64.88
1 used from $43.25

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as of November 21, 2024 10:25 pm ⓘ

Features

• 30 Hours Total Battery + Rapid Charge + Wireless Charging Case
• Full Media Controls on Each Bud, Use Either Bud Solo
• 3 EQ Modes (Music, Movie, Podcast)
• IP55 Sweat, Water and Dust Resistant
• Built-In Tile Technology

Style

The Anker SoundCore Liberty Air 2 Truly Wireless and the Skullcandy Indy Fuel feature stalk designs that are comparable. They have a matte plastic build that shouldn’t show fingerprints too much. Overall, they’re fairly slim and don’t protrude too much from the ears. They’re only available in black or grey, so if you want anything more colorful, you’ll have to seek elsewhere.

Comfort

These headphones are a good deal of fun to wear. They’re light, don’t put too much pressure on the inside of the ear, and come with a variety of ear-tip sizes and stability sleeves, so finding the right fit isn’t difficult. However, longer listening periods may cause tiredness due to their significantly larger outer buds.

Controls

The controls on the Skullcandy Indy Fuel are adequate. The touch-sensitive control method is difficult to get used to at first, but it offers a lot of functionality. Single tapping of the left or right buds can change the volume of the media. Holding the right and left buds for two seconds skips music forward and back, accordingly. All other features are accessible via either bud, with a rapid double-tap pausing and playing music, as well as answering calls, possible. Ambient sound mode, which filters in more background noise if you want to keep aware of your surroundings, can be toggled on/off with a tap followed by a two-second push. A short double-tap followed by a prolonged two-second hold will switch between the ‘Music,’ ‘Movie,’ and ‘Podcast’ audio settings. This control system gives no auditory feedback other from spoken prompts for Bluetooth pairing, power on/off, and EQ preset changing.

Portability

These in-ears, like other truly wireless headphones, are extremely portable. They fit conveniently into a backpack or pocket and include a little charging case that doesn’t take up a lot of room.

Case

The charging case for the Skullcandy Indy Fuel is excellent. It’s comprised of a dense matte plastic that should keep the headphones safe from shocks, scratches, falls, and light water contact. It also has wireless charging capabilities, which is useful if you don’t want to plug the case in. If the buds aren’t perfectly set in their cradles, the case’s lid may not close.

Build Quality

The Skullcandy Indy Fuel are solidly constructed. Drops or falls should not cause too much harm to the buds or casing, which are composed of solid plastic. Although we don’t test for this, the buds are rated IP55 for dust and sweat resistance.

Stability

The Skullcandy Indy Fuel are in-ear headphones that are stable. They remain in your ear extremely well thanks to the supplied stability sleeves, especially once you’ve discovered the correct mix of sleeve and ear tip sizes. You won’t have to worry about an audio cable snagging on something when you’re out and about thanks to their totally wireless design.

Battery

The battery life of these headphones is dismal. Despite the fact that they offer a continuous runtime of six hours, our test unit only lasted three hours on a full charge. Thankfully, their case has four further full charges, which should be sufficient for a day at work and the return trip home. The buds also charge quickly, with our test unit providing three hours of playing after only 15 minutes of charging. They don’t include any power-saving features, such as a standby mode, to save battery life when not in use.

Bluetooth

The Bluetooth connectivity of the Skullcandy Indy Fuel is adequate. They support Bluetooth 5.0 but not NFC or multi-device pairing, so you won’t be able to listen to music from your phone while connected to your PC. On a PC, their latency is too high to allow them to play video games or stream movies. However, their latency on mobile iOS and Android devices is really minimal, so watching YouTube videos on your phone shouldn’t be a problem. It’s worth noting that different apps and devices compensate for audio latency in different ways, so your actual experience may differ.

Pros and Cons

Verdict

The Skullcandy Indy Fuel are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. They have a low-profile, compact design that fits comfortably in the ear and is stable. They do a good job of blocking out background noise and charge rapidly, which is convenient if you need to leave soon. Unfortunately, their battery life is low, and their inbuilt microphone has a hard time distinguishing speech from background noise.