The competition for Xiaomi and Realme Buds Q was turned up a few notches when Skullcandy Spoke entered the market with their in-ear headphones. Spoke is the perfect combination of high technology and ease of use. You get the freedom of wireless and all the features you need that offers an affordable true wireless experience. Typically, true wireless in-ear headphones/earbuds are more expensive than simple wireless
over-ear headphones. Spoke offers this technology at a price that is
affordable for almost anyone.
1. Overview | 2. Quick Review of Skullcandy Spoke | 3. Package | 4. Design & Ergonomy | 5. Bluetooth & Technology | 6. Sound Quality | 7. Conclusion
Skullcandy Spoke True Wireless Headphones Review
Type: Over-ear Noise Cancelling Headphones | Bluetooth: 4.0 | Battery: 30 Hours | Charging: 4 Hours | Drivers: Dynamic | Drivers-Size: 45 mm | Weight: 385g
Pros
Cons
To be completed
4/5
★★★★★ 4/5
When you order the Skullcandy Spoke, you get a bunch of items in the received package. There are ear tips in three sizes (small, medium, and large); a plastic case in matte black is the housing facility for the truly wireless in-ear headphones, where you can charge them as well. Magnets have been used in the casing to hold the Spokes in place and also for the opening of the case, which makes it quite tough. The box size is not much that will cause trouble as it is only 7 by 3 by 3.3 cm in size.
4/5
★★★★★ 4/5
Ergonomically speaking, the design of the Skullcandy Spoke is quite generic. With a rectangular shaped body with curved edges, the Skullcandy Spokes can only be differentiated by their logo placed on the gadget. Other than that, there is a normal button and a light for indication, which is routine stuff.
When it comes to comfort, there is no flaw in the gadget. They are very light and come with three sizes of tips, which means you won’t probably feel them in your ears. The Spoke has a certification of IPX4, which means water or rain or sweat won’t matter – which ultimately means that you can use them as your jogging partners or even if you are just a fan of a walk in the rain. However, be careful not to get them soaking wet.
The headphones will connect automatically to a paired device once taken out of the case. Here is something good about the Skullcandy Spokes! Each earbud can be used separately to connect to your audio device; the headphones also use Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity.
The buttons on each gadget give you a helping hand to perform basic actions like controlling the music players, volume control, and even interacting with your phone’s voice assistant. Now, this may seem like a very good feature, which it really is – there is a catch. The button needs quite a lot of pressure to work, and if you want to make it work properly, you might be forced to hold the gadget in two fingers and use the 3rd one to push the button.
4/5
★★★★★ 4/5
The gadget can work for 4 to 5 consecutive music hours, and if you count the case, then the total working hours are 14 to 15. If you charge your headphones in the case for 10 minutes, you get one hour of music played via Bluetooth. This means that the headphones can be charged from 0 to 100 percent in 40 to 50 minutes, and the case itself can complete a charging cycle in 1.5 hours. The case charges through a micro-USB port, but hey, given the price, it is totally understandable why they didn’t put a newer charging method.
4/5
★★★★★ 4/5
The observations for the sound tests of the Skullcandy Spokes are a bit of a mix. Here’s why. If you want to listen to music at a high volume, you might need to get your audio tracks in high quality that is 320 kbps for MP3 and 256 kbps for AAC (minimum). The spokes have a decent bass – but that is only most of the time. The lack of power results in a lack of precision when it comes to voice clarity.
On the bright side, the Skullcandy Spoke has a very cool feature of getting to the equalizer mode if you press any button consecutively 4 times. You will then be able to select from three presets of bass, standard, and vocal. For the offered price, this is a pretty good gadget. If they came with a mobile application, things would have been very different, and most of the flaws could be ignored right away, just like in the Jabra Elite 65t.
Keep in mind that ANC or active noise cancelation is absent in the Skullcandy Spoke model by the price tag it carries. However, iPhone and iTunes users can easily rely on the Spokes because passive noise reduction is available, and it works pretty well with various codecs and even AAC and SBC.
Achieving perfection is a task that can be listed on the Skullcandy Spoke’s to-do list cuz they don’t tend to do well when used for a conversation over the phone. With good call performance in silence only, the in-ear phones can work on this feature despite having microphones on both pieces.
There is nothing revolutionary or even new in the Skullcandy Spoke. But! The price tag is surely the biggest attraction when it comes to value for money. On the official website, the headphones sell for $49.99. With that amount out of your pocket, you get a neat and decent set of chargeable headphones with a chargeable case that doesn’t take up much space in your pocket or bag. If you are someone who uses the headphones for calls and music in their office or car, these bad boys are just the right treat for you.
