Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds are eco-friendly, easier to handle, and deliver great sound

When you look at a pair of Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds, it’s difficult to imagine a time when we wore bulky headphones connected to clunky Walkmans just to hear our favourite tunes coming of scratched CDs or warped cassettes. My goodness, how far we’ve come in terms of music technology!

Of course, a certain version of these buds have been around since 2012 but things just keep getting better with the newer model perfect for the modern age.

They’re fully wireless compared to when the small buds used to be connected to your playing device. They boast 20 hours of battery life – much more than their former version, and the battery gets charged rapidly.

For those who like to hear music while exercise, the Smokin’ Buds are sweat- and water-resistant, making them suitable for long summer walks. And here’s a very happy bit – they’ve been made using 50% recycled plastics so you can listen guilt-free!

The stalk-style of earbud are smart because they anchor the earbud into the ear, making them less likely to fall out on a decent jog or run. As for the truly important factor – the audio quality – while they don’t offer the deepest of bass frequencies the bass, mid-tones and treble are generally very good. And that’s across all genres, from dance (beats) music to softer classical styles. Listening to something like Peter Gabriel’s Panapticom, for example, the Smokin’ Buds pick up and deliver intricacies such as symphonic strings as well as they pick up brooding basslines.

With a matt black finish, Skullcandy’s Smokin’ Earbuds have good texture for better handling.

The charging case is nice and compact, but charging cable is a little short for my liking – at under 16cm in length – and I occasionally need to hang it off my wall when charging (ie: if all the USB ports are used up on my PC). But then again, I can always buy a longer cable if I really need it.

Speaking of which, the price of these beauties is probably they’re greatest selling point, available at only a fraction of the cost of your more pretentious brands. They’re available for $69.95 a pair from trusty places like JB Hi-Fi or available direct from skullcandy.com.au.

Straight out of the box, you simply ensure the earbuds are charged, press lightly on the Skullcandy logo of either of the buds to switch them on, pop them in your ear – et voila! – your in aural heaven.

Antonino Tati

www.thepopshop.shop