Skullcandy 50/50 2.0 review

Skullcandy have a reputation for producing earphones and headphones that ooze street style and claim to be ‘equipped with supreme sound’. Find out what we think of these earphones Skullcandy 50/50 2.0 review.

Skullcandy are big on marketing & can regularly be spotted in the press with various cool celebs rocking their products. With this type of coverage comes a risk of style over substance. The 50/50 design has been around for a while – here we’re looking at the revised 2.0 version.
It is also worth pointing out that although the RRP is £44.99, depending on your colour preference – you can find them around the £20 mark on Amazon!

Urban Appeal & Street Style

One area that Skullcandy always seem to succeed in is their overall styling and packaging design. While the box design is a simple affair, the graphic design is perfectly in line with their brand. The wide choice of colours available means that there will be a style to suit everyone.

Inside the box you’ll find the earphones, 3 sets of silicone eartips (complete with Skullcandy logos) and an embossed storage tin.

The earphones are made from plastic – which for us at this price is a bit of a surprise as we normally expect wood or metal at this level. The Finish is very good and the shape certainly has a very nice unique look to it.
The cable is of the flat silicone type which seems to successfully remain tangle free both during use and in storage. The molded straight jack plug has a small amount of flex towards the cable end to help with knocks and bumps during use. Overall the design is very good as is the finish – but there is a slight feel of cheapness about the complete set, mostly due to the use of plastic. Some of the other colour choices do include some aluminium banding which may help alleviate this – but we’re basing this on our experience with the grey/hot lime set shown below.

On the left fork of the cable, you’ll find a microphone and 3 button unit. The microphone and call button (+ play/pause) will work on all devices, but the volume controls will only work with Apple products.

In use, the earphones are very comfortable and feel incredibly light. The silicone tips provide a good even fit which does provide some noise isolation, but not a huge amount. The hole diameter in the eartips is quite large which really helps give them a more natural sound response. The depth of fit is also quite important with these as it effects the bass response significantly.

The included storage tin makes a welcome change to the normal pouch, but it does have quite a major flaw. The lid really doesn’t want to stay on. If the cable isn’t wound perfectly neatly inside the tin – the lid will come off. If you drop the tin or put it in your bag, the lid will come off. The unfortunate answer to this is either not to use it, or to use an elastic band to keep the lid on which is a bit of a disappointment given the level of design involved throughout the rest of this product.

Equipped With Supreme Sound

Any manufacturer that claims ‘equipped with supreme sound’ on the box could be setting themselves up for a big fall…but they may have just got away with it.

Before we go any further, we’ll just point out that the fit is critical with these as it effects the way they sound quite dramatically. You need a good seal and they need to insert into your ear a reasonable distance otherwise you will lose bass.

The bass is low,  warm and really deep but still manages to remain tight, precise and punchy – which makes the Skullcandy 50/50 2.0 earbuds great for electronica/dance. The mid range is scooped which gives them a more hi-fi or DJ sound character rather than studio reference. Even though the mids are scooped, there is still a good amount of punch and snap in there. The treble is slightly accentuated, but still gives plenty of detail and air.

Overall they sound very, very nice. The overall level of detail is impressive and has an open natural quality to it – partly thanks to the large diameter eartips. Its also worth pointing out that they don’t sound like they’re made of plastic – but, they do perhaps miss a little bit of that something special because of this.

Impressed – yes, they certainly deliver more than a lot of earphones in the sub £30 market…but perhaps lack a little given the full RRP.

Skullcandy 50/50 2.0 Review Conclusion

Skullcandy have certainly delivered on looks and sound quality – but, the storage tin is flawed and the full £44.99 RRP maybe a tad higher than it should be. Overall though, we have been suitably impressed with the Skullcandy 50/50 2.0 and feel that anyone looking for a set of really good sounding earphones, particularly with Apple volume controls, should give these a look. Be sure to check out the prices on Amazon as they really do vary a lot depending on the colour selection!