Skullcandy Ink'd 2 review: Eye-catching design, subpar sound quality

 

One look at the range of in-ear earphones available under Rs. 2,000 and it becomes evident that manufacturers are targeting the 'cool' crowd. A stray model in this price range might be available in a subtle black or white, but most of them are flashy and come in a variety of colours. We feel this barrage of options is great for users who want to stand out from the crowd, and for them, Skullcandy is definitely the best bet.
There are multiple manufacturers apart from Skullcandy like Sony, Philips, Soundmagic, Cowon, JBL, JVC, Creative and many more, that populate this price range. Quite a few have some swanky designs which are rather understated. Each one's sound definition varies and we are finding it increasingly difficult to recommend the appropriate one considering that listening styles also vary from person to person.
Fortunately, there is a selection for all types of listeners.
We have the Football Club (FC) Barcelona edition of the Skullcandy Ink'd 2 with us. Just like the Hesh 2 we reviewed some time ago, we want to reiterate that cosmetic embellishments notwithstanding, the performance of this model will not change across the multiple different colours and special editions. Let's find out how they perform and if the price is justified.

Features and design

Skullcandy actively advertises 11mm drivers for better bass output in the Ink'd 2, which are incidentally the same as the first-generation Ink'd. Now, we know that some headphones/earphones with larger drivers can sound horrible, and so we refrain from commenting on it until we get to the sound quality. They have a dynamic sound range of 20Hz to 20KHz which is almost the norm. We couldn't find any information about the impedance which is disappointing since we would rather know how well they will work with different devices. Fortunately, in our testing they worked with most of the devices we tried.
We are glad that the revised edition of the Ink'd has a flat cable. It is extremely thin but sturdy and we expect it not to snap in regular usage. But since it is thin, tangling cannot be avoided which is the USP of flat cables. Being the FC Barcelona edition, the Ink'd 2 is predominantly blue with a streak of yellow running around the edge of the flat cable. The earplugs have a circular strip with red accents. A logo of Barcelona decorates the back of the earplugs. We like the design and fans of the club are bound to love it.