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Skullcandy INK'D Earbuds
by charby
If I remember rightly, I bought these earphones in an airport after realising that I had left my existing earphones at home. I was mainly keen to get a pair so that I could listen to music on the plane and so I wasn't particularly concerned about brand or quality and so just went for the cheapest ones they had available. ...
==Skullcandy INK'D==
These are fairly simple earphones - they have no interesting features to speak of other than the option to pause the song you're listening to by pressing a button on one of the wires leading to your ears. Considering that the earphones I got with my iPhone had a similar control that allowed you to not only pause songs but also skip them and change the volume, this single-feature button wasn't particularly attractive. The wires were black and the buds pink and black, although other colours are available.
==What I Thought==
I bought these as a simple replacement for the earphones that I left at home at wasn't expecting wonders from them. I was therefore not disappointed but nor was I particularly impressed. The sound quality is acceptable but not exceptional, but then these were earphones chosen for their cheapness and so that is not particularly surprising. I also miss the ability to change the volume without having to take my phone out of my pocket. This isn't a massive problem but it is irritating, especially if a particularly loud track comes on and you want to be able to change it quickly. Also, despite only having had these earphones for a few months and not using them on a daily basis, this button broke last week. They still work as earphones but I don't have much hope for their longevity considering the button broke so easily.
Aesthetically they are acceptable - simple black wires and so they look fine but not massively impressive or eye-catching. I have to say I prefer how my Apple ones used to look - the white ones are a lot more interesting. They are also easy to carry around as they are very small, so have a benefit over large headphones in this respect.
==Conclusion==
While these earphones are nice enough and do their job fine, I wouldn't re-buy them should they break completely (which is potentially very soon given the button having already given up). Costing between £10 and £20, they're relatively cheap but considering that they're not amazing quality, I'd recommed getting a different cheap pair or spending a bit more to get something a bit better.
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Groov-e GV897
by k444tmc
In April last year, I bought my little munchkin her own iPod Touch to play her music on, watch videos, play games and message her friends. Sadly, those who have purchased Apple products will know that the ear buds they supply free with their products are quite poor in quality, have awful sound... and do not fit properly in the ears of ... adults - never mind 6 year old children! So my poor Chloe, the last few months has been having to hold these buds into her ears whilst trying to quietly do something on her iPod. Come Christmas 2012, although she hadn't requested headphones from Santa I knew I had to get her some to make her iPod experiance more enjoyable (without having to hold the buds in her ear!)
I came across the Groov-E headphones on Amazon in November - and was amazed by the massive selection of styles (volume control / no volume control) and many different colours to choose from. Purposely I picked these pink ones as they match the silicone baby pink Hello Kitty skin she is currently using on the iPod. Another plus for me was the low price, how much positive reviews these headphones were recieving and the difference in ages between the users - to me, on first glance these look like childrens headphones but it appears lots of adults are buying these as a cheap, great looking alternative to Beats headphones - which can be a few hundred pounds more expensive!
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On Amazon I almost always order with free super saver delivery - unless its a very rare time where I need something as a matter of urgency - and as usual the headphones arrived a lot sooner than the expected delivery date of up to 5 days. The headphones come sent in a hard, protective plastic molding around the product which is transparent so you can see the headphones in all their glory before opening the plastic is opened - which to me is ideal in the case of giving it away as a present so you can see upclose what they actually look like in person and check for damage. Im my opinion they are very well protected in this product shaped bubble and there was no damage at all during delivery. The plastic mould has a square shape on the bottom which gives more product description and inside this is where the 1.2 meter long cable is folded up, stored and not put on show like the headphones.
To say my daughter was chuffed to bits on Christmas morning is an absolute understatement - she was over the moon with her "big girl" headphones and mainly due to the attractive girly colour. Once she opened it, I could then get a really good look at this myself.
One thing I was sure I would see would be an ugly black wire leading from the headphones but was pleasantly surprised to see that the wire is the same matching pink colour - so I can imagine the other colours in the range will be the same.
One thing I expected was how light they were to carry - which is one thing I wanted if my daughter was going to be carrying these around on her head. They really are the most lightweight set of headphones I have ever tried out and with this in mind they are really the best ones for children. Bare in mind, when somethings lightweight it can often mean they are more fragile. As well built as these headphones are the plastic to me isn't the strongest (and like a lot of other more expensive headphones this section is not well padded its just plastic) and I believe would snap and have wires destroyed if stepped on. However if these are taken care of as they should be they have the ability to last a long time. As I have previously mentioned all ages of people seem to be buying them - this was a little surprising to me as they seem to nearly fit my daughters head leaving just an inch between the top of the headphones and the top of her head. You would expect this would cause them to fall off her face but in fact they mould and spring against the shape of her head perfectly and the earphones cover her ears very well and she tells me they are very comfortable. I can, myself, confirm this as I have used them a few times since on my laptop when I am trying to keep the house quiet! So in actual fact, yes I can believe people of all ages are buying these and they work for all these people. One of the only issues I have with the headphones is you cannot adjust the part that moulds around your head like other big name brands. However as they sit comfortably anyway this isn't a huge issue for us.
In terms of sound - you can't fault them. Music is played crystal clear with no interferance or crackling that you can normally experiance from cheap headphones. The only issue I have with the sound is that if turned up to the max on the volume control slider - it can be too loud! Deafening in fact... however if you like your music loud this may not be a bad thing! One feature which I love about this particular set is the volume slider half way down the wire - many sets of cheap headphones do not come with this and you need to rely on your music device to adjust the sound which can be a bit annoying - this works well but as my daughter discovered on Christmas morning it slides maybe a little too well making her jump if the sound goes up too much!
For those interested in the technical specs they are the following:
Impedance: 32ohms
Sensitivity: 108dB +/- 3dB
Ideal for iPod/MP3 or any device with 3.5mm plug
Stylish & Lightweight
Driver unit : 40mm dia. Dome
Frequency response: 15Hz to 20KHz
... Other than the plug size the above information means nothing to me, however throughout this review I really can't fault these headphones - yes they are very cheap and usually you get what you pay for, but on experiance from these, so far so good. We know the appearance looks fab when she wears them but while she has been using them at her friends houses and out in the street we have actually had people coming up commenting on them and asking where they are from! I love them... So much, I will be looking at buying myself a pair in the near future (to stop myself stealing my daughters!) - Can't comment too much on how they last in the long term as they have only been in use less than a month, but at the price you really can't complain!
Highly recommended!
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At present you can buy these pink headphones from Amazon for £11.82 with free super saver delivery.
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Skullcandy INK'D Earbuds
by sarahann245
I bought the Paul Frank version of these earphones from sports direct for £13.99. I've always liked skullcandy headphones, so I thought I'd try the earphones.
To start with, they're very nice looking which I like in a set of earphones. The wire is made to look like a thin rope, it's blue and black and looks really ... smart.
They're also very comfortable to wear and come with a pair of different sized buds so you have a choice. If you chose the wrong size you may find that they fall out of your ears quite a lot which can be a little annoying.
The sound quality from these earphones is almost pristine and very loud which to me is a bonus.
Overall, although they may seem a bit pricey to somebody who isn't fussy about earphones and just likes to have a pair just in case, they are absolutely fantastic and definitely worth the money. However, some retailers do over price them a bit.
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