The Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless are simple, truly wireless headphones. They feel sturdy, are very portable, do a good job of staying in your ears and have a fairly comprehensive control scheme. Unfortunately, their integrated microphone struggles to separate audio from background noise. It also has a short battery life and its sound profile is light on mid and high frequencies, which may be annoying to some listeners. The Skullcandy Indie Fewer earphones are ideal for sports and fitness. They are ruggedly built and are IP55 dustproof and waterproof. The touch-sensitive controls are not intuitive, but many functions are placed within easy reach, so you won’t lose your rhythm while on the move.
When the case is opened, there is a cut-out for fitting the earphones. Three small LEDs on the front of the case light up to give you a rough indication of how much battery power is left. Closing the case is harder than opening it. If the ear tips are at an angle, the case cannot be closed properly. The plastic of the earpiece is cheap and the touch-sensitive panel does not always recognise commands in one shot.
The touchpad is not the best, but the actual touch controls are well thought out. Unlike the touch controls on many wireless earphones, the Skullcandy Indy allows you to adjust the volume with a single tap on either earpiece, but not to skip back and forth between songs. If an accidental tap is made, the earphones are recognised at a lower rate.
The Skullcandy Indy Fuel also has touch controls, but the actual operating surface is relatively small and it may take a minute or two to master the touch controls. Once learned, you can play music, volume, EQ mode, answer calls, activate the voice assistant, etc., without having to operate the phone. Neat – if the Skullcandy Indy Fuel doesn’t sound good, all these great features don’t mean a thing. Fortunately, it works great, especially considering the small form factor.
Where does the Skullcandy Indy True Wireless rank on our list of the best wireless earphones? Since its launch, it has fallen from above average to below average when it comes to ease of use, due to a complicated re-pairing process and touchpad sensitivity. These days, technology has become more sophisticated and we can demand quite a lot from our wireless earphones. When the Indy was launched, it offered many features without much of a scratch, all of which were compared to the AirPods.
Like the Indy, the Indy Fuel’s driver is 6 mm in diameter; the impedance has gone from 16 Ω to 32 Ω and the sound pressure level has increased from 95 to 99 to 105 dB. The frequency response remains unchanged from 20 Hz to 20 kHz; the Indy Fuel also carries over the IP55 certification from its predecessor. This guarantees protection against sweat, rain and dust, while the Skullcandy Indy Fuel is not waterproof.