Skullcandy Grind Fuel: Review
On paper, Skullcandy’s Grind Fuel truly wireless earphones look good, with a price tag of $99.99, a long battery life, and EQ and voice controls that can be changed with an app. But the only thing that makes these headphones stand out is that they have a bass-heavy sound profile. Anker’s Soundcore Life P3 earphones are our Editors’ Choice because they have great sound quality and good noise cancellation for the price. However, Skullcandy’s Push Active in-ears offer the same features in a more workout-friendly design for $20 less.
Skullcandy Grind Fuel Specifications
| Type | In Canal |
| Wireless | Yes |
| True Wireless | Yes |
| Connection Type | Bluetooth |
| Active Noise Cancellation | No |
| Water/Sweat-Resistant | Yes |
| Weight | 76g (case and earbuds) |
| Price | $99.99 USD |
PROS
- The bass in the in-app EQ is very good
- The shapes can be set by the user.
- Long-lasting batteries
CONS
- There is also not a lot of support for Bluetooth codecs
- The sound quality isn’t very good.
Review
The IP55 dust and water resistance of the earphones is a clear plus, so I have no problem putting my Grind Fuel in my gym bag or wearing them while walking in the rain. If your ears or pockets aren’t very big, you might want to look elsewhere, since both the charging case and the earbuds are quite big. Skullcandy includes three different sizes of ear tips in the box to make sure the headphones fit snugly and comfortably, and the first pairing is easy and quick.
When you open the case on an iPhone, you’ll be asked to download the Skullcandy app. The best thing about the Grind Fuel is that it can be controlled by voice with Skull-iQ. However, you can’t use it unless you accept the connection. Grind Fuel users can control playing by saying “Hey Skullcandy,” just like Apple AirPods users can say “Hey Siri.”
You can accept or turn down a call by saying “accept” or “reject.” The voice control on Skullcandy headphones can turn on Siri or Google Assistant, giving you access to all of your phone’s features, like the ability to send texts, make calls, set timers, and more.
Strong Cell
The only colour the Grind Fuel headphones come in is black, and they are made of strong plastic. There are three different sizes of plastic ear tips, and the earpieces are pretty thick, which helps keep them in place. The range of frequencies is from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and 12 mm dynamic drivers are used to make that happen. The Skullcandy app lets you handle the earbuds with both buttons and voice commands (we’ll talk more about voice commands below).
You can change the volume (down on the left ear and up on the right) by pressing twice, and you can open Spotify by pressing and holding. When you press and hold your Skullcandy Skull-iQ headphones for a long time in the app, you can set them up to instantly share audio.
Voice Functions in the App
The Skullcandy app, which works with both Android and iOS, has EQ tuning, custom settings for the earbuds (like one-touch access to Spotify and remote control for your phone’s camera), and a “Find My Earbuds” feature that works with Tile. In the Stay Aware mode, you can listen to what’s going on around you. Voice instructions could be a good way to get people to buy the app.
If you say, “Hey Skullcandy, Spotify,” you can tell the music streaming service what to do. Even if Spotify isn’t the usual music player on your device, you can still use voice commands to play and pause songs. But the fact that you have to use the Skullcandy app makes this less than ideal.
Microphone
The mics on the Skullcandy Grind Fuel earbuds are nothing special. They don’t have microphones that are as clear as the ones on the Apple AirPods Pro. When you’re out and about, people you’re calling may have trouble hearing you because the microphones can’t always get rid of background noise.
How do you feel?
Even though the Skullcandy Grind Fuel headphones have a long battery life and decent sound quality (even though they only support the SBC Bluetooth code), this isn’t enough to make them stand out. Both the Anker Soundcore Life P3 and the Jabra Elite 3, which can be bought for less than $100, are the ones we like best.
The Skullcandy Push Active in-ear headphones are a less expensive option. If you can spend a little more, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro earbuds, which cost $129.99, block outside sounds the best of any headphones that cost less than $150.
Should I download Skullcandy App?
The Skullcandy app lets you use Grind Fuel’s paid software features. This lets you track your tiles and share your music for free with other Skull-iQ headphones. The headphones show how much battery life is left, and firmware updates can be used to get the latest security changes and features.
