When true wireless earbuds first appeared, one didn’t imagine that the market would be quite so suffused with them in such a short span of time. The first one I heard of was by a company named Bragi — almost a proof-of-concept product that might or might not make it to market depending on how people took to the concept on Kickstarter. But then came Apple with their AirPods and after that everyone began to churn them out. They are by no means born equal however, so let’s see what these do.

The Indys are not Skullcandy’s only true wireless earbuds. They have the Push (remember psychotropic teal) and these are available on Amazon for ₹9,999 and actually sound better than the Indy. The Indys are however in a different design. Take one look and, if you’ve seen Apple’s AirPods, that’s what you’ll think of immediately. They’re in black (other colours rumoured to be coming) and have the same stem sticking out towards the bottom. It’s interesting that before the second gen AirPods were launched, fans were hoping there would be a black option. That didn’t happen.

The Indy earbuds come with a case, extra ear-tips and stabilising silicone gel pieces, and an extremely flimsy short charging cable — unfortunately still in the regular Micro USB format. The entire ensemble is in the same kind of hard plastic we’ve seen on recent Skullcandy products. They should last long enough, but can’t manage to look particularly elegant.

You’ll need to experiment with fit, as is the case with most wireless earbuds. You may need a larger ear-tip to get a better seal and hear bass more prominently as well as isolate the outside noise. Or, if the fit is precariously loose, you may need to step down to the smallest ear-tip. Unless you get that seal though, you definitely won’t get the full music experience.

The sound quality on these earphones is nothing remarkable at all. It seems clear enough but the bass isn’t adequate and the entire sound is not holistic and balanced. There were even times when I found the sound a little too painfully sharp and kept adjusting the earbuds to see if I’d not fitted them fully. There isn’t a companion app, at least not from Skullcandy, to adjust bass or treble or anything.

The earbuds fit into the case to charge, giving you about 16 hours of playtime if you include what’s in the case. Note that if the silicone wing is not properly fitted, the case won’t close properly and the earbuds can easily fall out. They don’t fall out of your ears if fitted well and you can easily use them to workout as they’re IPX4 rated and are sweat and splash proof, though not submerge-proof.

The controls are on each earbud with a quick guide given in the box. The number of presses and taps will get you volume changes, track navigation, play-pause, and calls.

Price: ₹7,499

Pros: Fairly comfortable to wear, good battery life

Cons: Sound quality not great, still uses micro-USB, cable very short and thin, buds are an awkward fit in the case if silicone wing shifts, cheap-looking plastic

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