Skullcandy Indy Fuel S2IFW-N740

The Skullcandy Indy Fuel is a budget true wireless earbud built for workouts, with an IP55 rating, wireless charging case, and 6 hour battery life. Sound quality is muddy and call quality is poor, but the durability features are legit. Buy it for the gym, not for music.

Battery life is the Indy Fuel's strongest practical feature. You get up to 6 hours from the earbuds and another 24 from the case, which puts it at the 72nd percentile in our database. That's solid, not spectacular. The quick charge feature is nice too, 10 minutes gets you about 2 hours of playback. For a gym session or a commute, that's plenty. The wireless charging case is a legit bonus at this price point. Most budget earbuds make you hunt for a cable.

Sound quality is where the Indy Fuel falls apart. It ranks at the 29th percentile, which puts it in disappointing territory compared to other earbuds we've tested. The single dynamic driver doesn't do much to impress. Bass is present but muddy, mids get lost, and highs can get harsh at volume. The three EQ modes help a little, the podcast mode actually does a decent job of boosting vocal clarity, but music mode doesn't fix the fundamental driver limitations. The mic is even worse at the 40th percentile, and calls score just 29.4 out of 100. If you take a lot of phone calls, this is not your earbud. Connectivity sits at the 55th percentile, which is about average for Bluetooth 5.0. You'll get the occasional drop, but nothing catastrophic.

Against the Sony WF-C700N, the Indy Fuel gets embarrassed on sound quality. Sony's tuning is cleaner, more detailed, and just more pleasant to listen to. The WF-C700N also has actual noise cancellation, which the Indy Fuel lacks entirely. But the Skullcandy fights back with the IP55 rating and wireless charging case, two things Sony skips at this price. If you're a gym person, the Indy Fuel makes a case for itself. If you're a music person, Sony wins.

The Soundcore P31i is another tough competitor. It's often cheaper than the Indy Fuel and sounds noticeably better, with a more balanced signature and better bass control. The P31i also has a more reliable connection in our testing. What the P31i doesn't have is the wireless charging case or the same level of water resistance. The Nothing Buds 2 and Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro are in a different league entirely, but they also cost significantly more. The Apple AirPods Pro 3rd Generation is the obvious premium pick if you're in the Apple ecosystem, but comparing a $99 earbud to a $249 one isn't really fair.

At $99 USD or £75 GBP, the Indy Fuel is priced like a budget earbud, and it mostly delivers budget performance. The wireless charging case and IP55 rating are features you don't always see at this price, so there's some real value there. But the sound quality drags the whole package down. If you're in Canada, prices vary from CAD 116 to CAD 136 across two listings, so it's worth shopping around. The lower end of that range is the better deal, but even then, you're paying for durability features rather than audio quality. The Sony WF-C700N and Soundcore P31i both offer better sound for similar money, though you'll lose the wireless charging case.

The Skullcandy Indy Fuel sits in the budget true wireless earbud bracket, usually landing around $99 USD or £75 GBP depending on where you shop. It's a dual ear true wireless design with a single dynamic driver, Bluetooth 5.0, and an IP55 rating for sweat, water, and dust resistance. Skullcandy is pitching this one at gym rats and commuters who want something they can toss in a bag and not stress about. The headline features are the 6 hour earbud battery, the wireless charging case that adds 24 more hours, and the three EQ modes for music, movies, and podcasts.

If you're searching for budget wireless earbuds for working out, the Indy Fuel checks a lot of boxes on paper. The IP55 rating means it'll survive a sweaty session or a light drizzle, and the case supports both USB-C and Qi wireless charging, which is genuinely rare at this price. But the overall score of 42.1 out of 100 tells you this isn't a slam dunk. The fitness score of 50.6 is the best of the bunch, while travel and calls lag behind at 41.2 and 29.4 respectively.

So is the Skullcandy Indy Fuel good for everyday listening? Sort of. It's a workout-first earbud that happens to work for casual listening. The build quality is a genuine standout, but the sound quality is where things get rough. We'll dig into that below.

Skip the Indy Fuel if you care about sound quality or take frequent phone calls. The muddy audio and weak mic make it a poor choice for music lovers or anyone who uses earbuds for work calls. If you want better sound for the same money, grab the Sony WF-C700N or Soundcore P31i instead. Commuters who want noise cancellation should also look elsewhere, since the Indy Fuel has no ANC. And if you're deep in the Apple ecosystem, the AirPods Pro 3rd Generation is worth the extra cash for the seamless integration alone.

Should you buy the Skullcandy Indy Fuel? If you want a cheap, durable pair of earbuds for the gym and you don't care much about sound quality, sure. The IP55 rating, wireless charging case, and decent battery life make it a practical workout companion. The podcast EQ mode is genuinely useful if you listen to a lot of spoken word content.

But if you care about how your music sounds, look elsewhere. The 29th percentile sound ranking is hard to ignore. You can get better audio for the same money from Sony or Soundcore. The Indy Fuel is a niche product, great for sweaty workouts, mediocre for everything else.