Skullcandy Indy Evo review: affordable true wireless earbuds

This Skullcandy Indy Evo review is aimed at anyone who wants true wireless earbuds on a budget. Not only are they some of the best Skullcandy headphones you can buy, but they are also some of the best cheap headphones for workouts because they're water-resistant and fit securely in your ear. 

You might look at the Skullcandy Indy Evo and think ‘they still cost more than I want to spend.’ In which case, take a look at T3’s guide to the best budget wireless earbuds for a range of earphones that cost less than $60 / £60 / AU$60.

If you want to guarantee that the headphones you buy won’t budge at all, then the JAM Audio TWS Athlete might be better for you because they come with ear hooks that ensure they stay put. 

Skullcandy Indy Evo review: price and availability 

The Skullcandy Indy Evo are available to buy now directly from Skullcandy. They’ll set you back around $70 in the US, £70 in the UK and AU$130 in Australia. For more retailers and up to date pricing, take a look at the widgets on this page.  

Skullcandy Indy Evo review: design and fit 

In the Skullcandy Indy Evo box, you get the two wireless earbuds with three sizes of silicone ear tips, two sizes of stability ear gels, the charging case and a USB-A to USB-C cable. 

Each earbud is made from plastic, with a dangling stem and the Skullcandy logo on the outside with an LED light one each one. The matching charging case keeps things just as simple, with a matte design and the logo on the outside, with four LED lights indicating battery life. 

The case doesn’t snap shut with magnets, it's weighted instead which meant that it could just open and close when nudged, although the buds slot in with the help of magnets. I did find that the stability gels sometimes blocked it from fully shutting, though. Neither the buds nor the case look or feel premium, but I get the impression they'd be able to handle being knocked around in your bag or coat pocket every day. 

Stability ear gels cover the buds. They act in a similar way to ear wings, giving the buds a more secure, snug fit than they would have otherwise - especially during exercise. It seemed to work as I had no problems with them moving or falling out while I was at the gym or out on a run. The Skullcandy Indy Evo are IP55 rated as well which means they’re sweat, water and dust resistant.  

One of the big draws of Skullcandy headphones is that you can choose a colour that really suits who you are. These are no different, you can buy the Skullcandy Indy Evo in loads of different colours including black, grey, red, blue and mint.

To control the music, there are touch controls on the outside of each bud. They let you pause or play the music, skip through tracks and adjust the volume. You’ll even be able to activate your smartphone’s voice assistant, turn on the Ambient sound mode and switch between EQ modes. It’s great to have this level of control, but admittedly the controls are very finicky and don’t always work the first time, especially when it comes to the commands that need you to tap and then hold.

Each bud will last 6 hours from a single charge, while the case provides an extra 24 hours - so you’ll get 30 hours of music in total from them. Considering the fact that these are cheap headphones, that’s impressive. 

When you don’t have to charge headphones very often, it’s easy to forget when you do need to, but that’s not a problem here either as the Skullcandy Indy Evo have rapid charging. You’ll get 2 hours of battery life from a quick 10-minute charge. There’s no wireless charging here.

Skullcandy Indy Evo review: performance 

The Skullcandy Indy Evo sound surprisingly good, they won't win any awards for outstanding quality but for day-to-day use they'll be perfectly fine. The sound is quite rich and full, with clear vocals and punchy bass. 

The Ambient Mode will block out some noise from your environment, but not all of it. It’s not as effective at keeping you focused on the music as active noise-cancelling would be. In fact, it doesn't make huge amounts of difference to your experience but something is better than nothing I suppose. You can switch to the Ambient Mode through the Skullcandy app, or through the touch controls. 

There are three preset equaliser settings to choose between: music, movies and podcasts. As you can probably tell when to use each mode is very self-explanatory. You can only switch between them using the Tap, Tap, Tap, Hold touch control which is quite unreliable. 

If you’re prone to losing your headphones around your home, one of the features you’ll appreciate is that the Skullcandy Indy Evo have Tile built-in. As long as they are within Bluetooth range you can ring the buds through the Tile app. They’ll then play the Tile Tune out loud to help you locate them. If you’re outside of Bluetooth range, you can also see on a map where your phone was last connected to them. 

Skullcandy Indy Evo review: verdict 

The Skullcandy Indy Evo are a decent pair of true wireless earbuds. They’re comfortable and secure, which alongside the sweat resistance, makes them a good choice to use for exercise, whether that’s gym sessions or running. 

You can’t expect top-tier sound quality and there’s no noise cancelling, but you do get pretty good quality and the snug fit means they block out a fair amount of sound. There's also the Ambient Mode to help keep you focused on your music. Another plus point is that you’re unlikely to lose them at home thanks to the built-in Tile technology. 

If you need some affordable buds for workouts, or if you’re looking to buy some headphones as a gift, the Skullcandy Indy Evo are worth considering. 

Skullcandy Indy Evo review: also consider  

The best cheap true wireless earbuds you can buy are the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus, they might be pricier than these but spending the extra cash will make the world of difference when it comes to sound quality. They’re not quite as secure as the Skullcandy Indy Evo, but you’re still getting a lot for your money. 

If you want the best true wireless earbuds for as little money as possible then take a look at the Nokia BH-205 Lite Earbuds - they might be basic but the sound quality is impressive, they’re completely waterproof and you get loads of battery life. That’s all for a fraction of the price of the Skullcandy Indy Evo.  

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