Skullcandy’s $100 Earbuds Offer Comfort and Customizable Audio Quality

Skullcandy, recognized for its affordable wireless earphones such as the Smokin’ Buds priced at $20, is expanding its product range with a new line called Rail. The line includes both ANC and non-ANC versions, which are priced below $100 and come with features commonly found on pricier wireless earbuds.

The first model is the Rail ANC, with adjustable 4-microphone active noise cancellation and “Stay-Aware” mode when you’re outdoors. It also has a “Smart Mic” option that reduces background noise so others can hear you better. You get up to 10 hours of battery life or seven hours with ANC on and 25/20 extra hours (ANC off/on) when you use the charging case. It’s sweat, water, and dust resistant, though the company didn’t provide a specific IPX rating.

Rail ANC is packed with other smart features, some more useful than others. These include the ability to issue simple hands-free voice commands (via your device assistant) to turn on and adjust Stay-Aware mode, activate your device assistant, launch Spotify Tap, and more. It’s supposed to get smarter over time thanks to new features released in the Skull-iQ app. Bluetooth 5.2 comes with multipoint pairing, which allows you to pair two devices at once, regardless of platform or manufacturer.

You can tune the sound to your own hearing ability “by taking a real-time sound test to create a personalized sound profile,” the company said. On top of that, it has custom EQ modes, and you can also customize the buttons via the Skull-iQ app. One nice feature is support for Tile’s Finding technology, so if you lose your headset, you can “call” it using the Tile app.

The Rail doesn’t have ANC, but the battery life is slightly longer, eight hours in the headphones and 34 hours in the charging case. When it comes to download speeds, a 10-minute charge equals two hours of playback time. Otherwise, the feature set is the same, and they also look identical. With both models, the company promises an “overall ergonomic fit” thanks to the use of VR and other “state-of-the-art” design tools. However, the company didn’t talk much about sound quality in PR.

The Rail (in True Black and Bone) and Rail ANC (in True Black) are available now exclusively on Skullcandy’s website for $80 and $100 respectively.