The Skullcandy Indy Evo Truly Wireless are okay headphones that perform similarly to the Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless. They’re very portable, decently sturdy, and feature a control scheme that packs a lot of functionality into a small surface area. That said, they last just under three hours on a single charge, which may be frustrating for people with long commutes, while their sound profile is lacking in versatility due to their heavily underemphasized treble response. Ultimately, if you’re looking for a pair of truly wireless headphones that feel well-built, these are a solid choice.
Our Verdict
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are fair for neutral sound. They have a very dark sound profile, in no small part due to their poor treble accuracy, which flattens the details on finer-edged vocals and instrumentals and makes everything sound dull. A dip in the mid-range also pushes vocals and lead instruments slightly to the back of the mix. That said, bass is remarkably well-reproduced, and they should deliver a consistent listening experience on separate occasions.
- Sturdy build quality.
- Poor treble accuracy.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are a decent choice for commuters and travelers. They’re easy to toss into a pocket or a bag, feel sturdy enough to endure a couple of minor drops and bumps, and have a control scheme that places plenty of functionality within easy reach. That said, they don’t block much bass range noise, meaning you may hear the rumble of a bus engine on your way home. Their battery doesn’t last that long on a single charge, so you may be out of luck if you forget to charge their case before going out the door.
- Stable, secure fit.
- Sturdy build quality.
- Struggles to block out bass-range noise.
- Low continuous battery life.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are a great pick for sports and fitness. They’re sturdy enough to cope with a couple of drops and bumps and do a good job of staying in your ears, even during moderately intense workouts. While their touch-sensitive control scheme takes some getting used to, it allows you to make a wide range of adjustments without having to pull your phone out and disrupt your rhythm.
- Stable, secure fit.
- Sturdy build quality.
- Low continuous battery life.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are adequate for office use. They’re decently comfortable and leak next to no audio, so you can listen to your music at high volumes without disturbing nearby coworkers. Also, they block out background chatter quite effectively, so you shouldn’t be annoyed by talkative colleagues. However, they require frequent stints in their case to recharge due to their short battery life and don’t support multi-device pairing, which is annoying if you swap between listening to content on your phone and work computer.
- Leak very little audio.
- Low continuous battery life.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo aren't suitable for wireless gaming, as their reliance on Bluetooth makes them incompatible with PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Their wireless latency on PC, meanwhile, is likely too high for them to be suitable for gaming.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are Bluetooth-only, and you can't use them wired.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are unremarkable for phone calls. Your voice should sound clear and reasonably natural in a quiet setting, but people on the other end of the line may have a hard time understanding you in a loud or crowded environment. On the upside, these earbuds do a fair job of passively blocking out background sounds like ambient chatter, which is handy if you're taking calls at the office.
- Sturdy build quality.
- Sub-par microphone noise handling.
Changelog
- Updated Oct 15, 2021: Updated review for accuracy and clarity.
- Updated Oct 14, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Aug 12, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Aug 06, 2020: Early access published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Skullcandy Indy Evo come in several color variations: 'Chill Grey - POW', 'Deep Red', 'Pure Mint', 'Chill Grey', and '92 Blue'. We tested the 'Pure Mint' variant and you can see our model's label here. If you come across another variant of these headphones, please let us know in the discussion section below and we'll update our review.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are okay truly wireless headphones. They’re very portable, decently sturdy, and charge quite quickly. They provide very similar performance to the Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless, with the biggest difference between the two being the Fuel’s wireless charging-compatible case. Unfortunately, their continuous battery life of under three hours is disappointing and lags some way behind competitors like the Anker SoundCore Life P2 Truly Wireless.
If you’re looking for similar options, take a look at our list of recommendations of the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds, the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds under $100, and the best wireless earbuds for running and working out.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless and the Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless are almost identical truly wireless in-ears. The primary difference between the Fuel and the Evo is the former’s wireless charging-compatible case. However, there are some other small differences. The Evo offer a more consistent listening experience due to their fractionally larger ear tips, while their integrated microphone does a slightly better job of isolating speech from background noise.
The Skullcandy Indy ANC True Wireless are similar headphones to the Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless, but they have a few extra features. The Indy ANC have an ANC feature that does a better job isolating against background noise. Their continuous battery life is longer, and their app comes with EQ presets. However, the Indy Evo have a more neutral sound profile out of the box, which some listeners may prefer.
The Skullcandy Dime True Wireless and the Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless are somewhat similar headphones, but the Dime are slightly better. The Dime have a more neutral sound profile out of the box, which some users may prefer, and a better battery performance. However, the Indy Evo are more comfortable and rated IP55 for dust and water resistance.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless and Skullcandy Indy Truly Wireless perform very similarly, which is unsurprising given their similar design. However, some slight differences are present. The Indy have a more bass-heavy sound profile, a more accurate treble response, and a substantially longer battery life. Conversely, the Evo charge faster and have substantially lower audio latency on mobile devices.
The Skullcandy Sesh Truly Wireless and the Skullcandy Indy Evo Truly Wireless are broadly similar in performance, though, they each have slightly different advantages and disadvantages. The Evo charge much faster and have a better microphone and a marginally more comprehensive control scheme. That said, the Sesh last longer on a single charge.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless and the Skullcandy Sesh Evo True Wireless perform quite similarly despite their differing designs. The Indy Evo have a talk-through feature, provide a more neutral bass response, and have a superior integrated microphone. The Sesh Evo offer much better battery performance, block out more ambient noise, leak less audio, and have a better-balanced treble response.
The Skullcandy Dime 2 True Wireless are slightly more versatile in-ears than the Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless. The Dime 2 have a more neutral sound profile and better overall battery performance. However, the Indy Evo are more comfortable and have three EQ presets built-in.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless and Apple AirPods (2nd generation) have different advantages. The Apple are better built and preferable if you want a more spacious, opening listening experience, courtesy of their open-back design. However, that also means they barely block out any background noise. The Skullcandy provide a more consistent listening experience and have a far more intuitive control scheme but don't last nearly as long on a single charge.
The Anker SoundCore Life P2 Truly Wireless are better for mixed usage than the Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless. The Anker have a better-balanced sound profile, a much longer continuous battery life, and a case that holds five additional charges. They’re also aptX-compatible. Conversely, the Skullcandy have a far more comprehensive control scheme, not to mention a substantially shorter charging time, which is useful when you need to get out the door in a hurry.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless are better headphones than the OnePlus Buds. The Skullcandy have a more stable fit and do a better job isolating against background noises. They also leak less sound. However, the OnePlus have a longer continuous battery life.
The Skullcandy Jib True Wireless are better mixed-usage in-ears than the Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless. The Jib True have a much less uneven treble response, block out more ambient noise, leak less audio, have a better integrated mic, and have much longer overall battery life. Meanwhile, the Indy Evo have lower wireless latency on mobile devices, a more stable fit, and three switchable EQ modes.
We've upgraded our Headphones Test Bench to 2.0! This update brings several key changes to our tests and usages, making it easier than ever to interpret our sound results based on your personal preferences. You'll also find a brand-new interactive graph tool featuring multiple targets (including our own!) for you to explore and compare.
For a full breakdown, check out our changelog, which includes detailed commentary from our test designer explaining the rationale behind our update.
We'd also love to hear your thoughts: your feedback helps us keep improving, so join us in the comments!
Test Results
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are aesthetically similar to the Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless. They’re conventional-looking truly wireless earbuds with a stalk design that doesn’t poke too far out of your ears. They’re made of dense, matte plastic available in a fairly wide range of colors ranging from subtle to eye-catching, like mint green. If you aren't a fan of their stem-like design, you could also consider the Skullcandy Sesh Evo True Wireless, which have a more traditional in-ear appearance.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are decently comfortable truly wireless earbuds. While their outer buds are a little large and can cause a little bit of soreness during extended periods of use, they’re very lightweight and shouldn’t exert too much pressure on the inside of your ear canal. They also come with a couple of differently-sized ear tips and stability sleeves to help you find a tight, secure fit.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo have an adequate control scheme. It’s identical to that of the very similar Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless, with a touch-sensitive surface that isn't especially intuitive but does provide a fair bit of functionality. Voice prompts are provided for Bluetooth pairing, power on/off, and EQ mode cycling.
On the left earbud:
- One tap: Lowers the volume.
- Touch and hold for two seconds: Skips to the previous track.
On the right earbud:
- One tap: Raises the volume.
- Touch and hold for two seconds: Skips to the next track.
On either earbud:
- Double tap: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends calls.
- Triple tap: Activates voice assistant.
- Tap once and hold for two seconds: Activates ambient mode, which allows you to better hear your surroundings without turning off your audio.
- Tap twice and hold for two seconds: Cycles through the following EQ presets: 'Music', which is the default mode, 'Movie', and 'Podcast'.
- Touch and hold for four seconds: Turns the buds on.
- Touch and hold for six seconds: Turns the buds off.
- Touch and hold for 10 seconds when off: Resets the buds.
These headphones have fantastic breathability. Thanks to their in-ear design, they don't trap in much heat. You shouldn't notice a difference in temperature or sweat more than normal, even if you're wearing them during an intense workout.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are exceptionally portable. Just like the Skullcandy Dime True Wireless, they’re small enough to put into your pocket without much of a hassle, while their charging case can easily be thrown into a bag.
These truly wireless in-ears have a good case. It features a dense plastic construction that should prevent the headphones from being damaged by drops and minor water exposure.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo have good build quality. They employ a dense matte plastic construction that shouldn’t attract fingerprints or be damaged by small bumps. They're also rated IP55 for dust and water resistance. The case feels similarly sturdy, though the lid doesn't shut if the buds aren't precisely positioned in their charging cradles.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are stable. As long as you find the correctly-sized ear tips and stability sleeves, they form a pretty tight seal that shouldn’t fall out of ears, even during moderately intense exercise.
- Skullcandy Indy Evo truly wireless headphones
- Charging case
- 3x ear tips
- 2x stability sleeves
- USB-A to USB-C charging cable
- Manuals
When using the default and most neutral EQ 'Music' mode, the Skullcandy Indy Evo's sound profile is somewhat dark. They have an accurate bass response, but fans of EDM and hip-hop might want a little more thump and rumble. Unfortunately, their heavily underemphasized treble mutes a lot of finer detail and makes them ill-suited for more delicate genres like jazz or classical. They have three built-in EQ modes to better suit different content, though: 'Music', which is the default mode, 'Movie', and 'Podcast'.
Note: There is some mismatch in the left and right drivers, which may be noticeable with some audio content. However, this issue may be limited to our unit. If you experience similar issues, please let us know in the discussion section below.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo deliver superb frequency response consistency. Once you find the right-sized ear tips and stability sleeves, sound reproduction should be consistent across separate reseats and listening sessions.
These headphones have fantastic bass accuracy. It’s flat across the range and very well-reproduced, meaning that music should have plenty of punch and body without overwhelming delicate vocals or instrumentals.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo provide impressively accurate mids. Vocals and lead instruments should be mostly absent from clutter. That said, an extended dip across the mid-mid and high-mid ranges nudges them toward the back of the mix and slightly dulls their finer edges.
The treble accuracy of these in-ears is poor. It's very underemphasized, meaning that vocals and lead instruments are veiled, which hurts their comprehensibility. Sibilants like cymbals are also dull and lispy.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo's peaks and dips performance is great. However, the left and right drivers are mismatched in a few places. A bump in the right driver adds extra boom to your mixes, which can also clutter vocals and lead instruments, while a dip in the left driver in the mid-mid nudges these sounds to the back of your mix. Another peak in the right driver's high-mid can make the upper harmonics of these sounds harsh while a dip in the low-treble veils them. Both drivers have an uneven mid-treble, though, so sibilants like S and T sounds are alternatingly dull and piercing.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo provide a great stereo imaging performance. Their weighted group delay falls entirely beneath the audibility threshold, ensuring tight bass and transparent treble. There's some minor amplitude mismatch present in the L/R drivers, and a peak in the phase response's high-mid may be noticeable in specific content like vocals. This can result in the right driver sounding louder than the left. The L/R drivers are well-matched in regards to frequency and phase response, so they should be able to accurately localize objects like voices and footsteps in the stereo image. That said, these results are only valid for our test unit, and yours may perform differently.
Unsurprisingly for a pair of in-ear headphones, the Skullcandy Indy Evo’s passive soundstage is awful. Since they don’t interact with the outer ear and employ a closed-back design, music sounds like it’s coming from the inside of your head rather than from speakers placed around you. The soundstage also seems more closed-off than headphones with an open-back design.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo's weighted harmonic distribution performance is good. Aside from some spikes in the low and high-treble ranges, the rest of the frequency range falls within good limits, ensuring a fairly clean and pure listening experience.
These are the settings we used to test the Skullcandy Indy Evo, with the EQ in its default ‘Music’ mode and the small ear tips fitted. Our results are only valid when using this configuration.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo’s passive noise isolation performance is alright. While they struggle to reduce ambient noise in the bass range, like bus or plane engines, they’re substantially more effective at blocking out sound in the mid-range, so you shouldn’t hear much in the way of background chatter. They also do an excellent job of blocking out higher-pitched noises, like the hum of an AC unit.
The audio leakage performance is superb. You can listen to your music at very high volumes without worrying about disrupting people nearby, even if you’re in a very quiet environment.
The integrated mic has satisfactory recording quality. People on the other end of the line shouldn’t have trouble understanding you, but your voice may sound somewhat thin and muffled.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo’s integrated microphone has inadequate noise handling capabilities. Your voice may be drowned out by background noise in loud or crowded areas, so they’re not the best option if you frequently make calls in those sorts of environments.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo have poor battery life. The battery lasts under three hours of continuous use, less than half the six hours Skullcandy advertises. That said, the case does yield an additional four charges, which should be enough to get you through the daily grind. They also have a 15-minute charge that's advertised to provide roughly 2.5 hours of playback. You can listen to one bud while the other recharges in the case too. However, battery life can vary depending on usage, so your real-life experience may vary. If their short battery life is a deal-breaker, take a look at the Skullcandy Jib True Wireless or the OnePlus Buds Truly Wireless.
Like many other truly wireless headphones in Skullcandy’s lineup, these in-ears have a poor companion app. The Skullcandy app isn’t especially helpful, as it only offers an ambient mode toggle switch and an option to update the headphones’ firmware. It also features a user guide as well as a display of their current EQ mode, though it doesn’t allow you to change it. If you want similar headphones with EQ presets in their app so you can customize their sound, check out the Skullcandy Indy ANC True Wireless.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo have adequate Bluetooth connectivity. They’re Bluetooth 5.0-compatible but don’t support multi-device or NFC pairing. Their audio latency is too high on PC to make them suitable for gaming or watching movies, but it’s much lower on iOS and Android devices, so you can watch YouTube videos on your phone without experiencing too much audio lag. That said, apps compensate for this latency differently, so your experience may vary.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo are Bluetooth-only, and you can't use them with a wired connection. They come with a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging their case.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs with full audio and mic compatibility. However, you can't connect them in any other way.
The Skullcandy Indy Evo come with a case that provides four additional charges. Unlike the similar Skullcandy Indy Fuel Truly Wireless’ case, it can’t be recharged wirelessly. It has a USB-C port so that you can recharge it using the included cable.