I have a secret. I have never owned wireless earbuds. I know, I know, how can you work in the gaming industry and not upgrade your tech with the times? Well, to be honest, I’m very old school, I like my wired earbuds and thought of the youth as little elitists with their wireless counterparts that Mummy and Daddy probably spent a fortune on. I had an eyebrow arched when MKAU bosses pushed a pair of Skullcandy’s Jib True Wireless earbuds across the table for review. Can this old dog learn to use new tricks of the trade?

Firstly, the Skullcandy Jib true wireless earbuds come in two snazzy colours; true black and 92 blue. A glaringly obvious retro blue pair arrive across my desk and I was instantly taken aback by their vibrant blue and yellow casing. This solid charging case is small, light, and compact but sturdy enough to be just picked up and thrown in my bag for on the go. It also comes with a micro USB charging cable, which I was surprised to see was so short in length as that really limits my charging locations with such an already busy workspace.

The earpieces themself have bright red inner earlets that come with extras in different sizes. This is a godsend as I actually find it quite hard to find buds that will stay in my oddly shaped tiny ears. Once wearing them, I did find them particularly comfortable compared to appearances with the gel inserts quite soft. As a newbie to earless buds, I was quite conscious of how far they stuck out though, but that feeling quickly subsided with some solid tunes.

Pairing them was as simple as turning them on as they instantly sent out a Bluetooth signal and remembered the last device each time I turned them on. I like quick and efficient as I generally have no time to dawdle around. The earbuds have single button controls meaning the left tracks songs back and can decrease the volume while the right bud does the opposite. Also, at the tap of either, you can answer phone calls via Bluetooth or activate the assistant mode. Interesting to watch an uncoordinated person like myself to try master, but I’m sure most people will find it easy to remember.

Working with both Apple and Android products, the options are but an ear hole away with exclusivity to one particular brand not in the picture. Boasting 6 hrs of charge, I found that mine generally honoured this with them being returned many times to the charge box before that too had to be recharged.

The sound quality was nothing super impressive, but it definitely wasn’t awful. These earbuds pack a punch volume-wise but I found the sound quite bass-heavy and light on the treble. This lead to voices in phone calls seeming quite muffled and without clarity or depth. Listening to music was a pleasant experience enough though and I easily kicked back to my favourite playlists. The built-in microphone, I found picked up everything, both good and bad, as often background noise would drown my own voice out resulting in friends asking me to repeat myself.

For about $AU79.95 on the Skullcandy Australia website, I can definitely say I can not falter the quality and audio of this set of wireless earbuds. While I technically have nothing to compare with, for the price they deliver satisfactory sound, convenience, and style at a very reasonable price. This old dog might still be a bit skeptical about wireless earbuds, but boy were they comfier than she expected.

Written by: Stacey