Skullcandy has been a major name in the portable audio industry, the brand is pretty famous for the wired and wireless headset offerings. The headphone brand is a popular choice for users looking for an affordable headset with decent audio quality. We’ve seen the Skullcandy JIB Wireless earbuds before, the brand has now updated this model with the JIB+ Wireless.
The Skullcandy JIB+ Wireless comes at a very affordable price point, while it doesn’t come with any unique features or USP, the headset serves the purpose of a basic Bluetooth headset and offers decent audio quality. Given the price point, the brand didn’t have to struggle a lot in terms of the design, the JIB+ Wireless comes with a basic plastic build and has a super light design. The JIB+ does get an upgrade over the predecessor in terms of the cable connecting the earbuds, the new JIB+ uses a thicker and more reliable Flat cable design over the thin generic cable we’ve seen on the original JIB Wireless headset. This flat design of the cables makes it stronger and more resistant to damage while also making it tangle-free.
The earbuds come with an in-line control with basic features, this is present on the left side of the headset. The in-line control is very basic and doesn’t aim to compete with more expensive options from Skullcandy or other brands. The in-line controller has three buttons, the middle button is a multipurpose key for Play/Pause, Taking and rejecting calls and for Powering the device. There are two other buttons on either side of the multipurpose button to control the volume levels on the headset. The in-line control has again seen a major upgrade over the predecessor, the new in-line control offers much better tactile feedback on the buttons and feels more durable.
On the right of the headset, there is a small rectangle structure shaped similar to the in-line control, this is used to host the battery and the Bluetooth chip, this also helps maintain the weight balance and prevents the headset from inclining to one side while wearing it. This also contains a small glossy Skullcandy logo and the FCC information. Contrary to the original Skullcandy JIB Wireless, the JIB+ contains the LED indicator on the main in-line controller itself. The charging port on the JIB+ is also protected by a door prevent water splashes from damaging the headset.
The Skullcandy JIB+ Retail packaging comes with minimal accessories, the box contains two additional pair of ear tips to suit your sizing and a very small USB cable to quickly charge the headset.
Surprisingly, the audio quality on the Skullcandy JIB+ isn’t bad given the price, the headset offers a relatively balanced experience with a decent amount of bass. The earbuds include 9mm drivers in each earbud and are tuned well, even while listening to heavy metal songs at the maximum volume there was no noticeable distortion. We tested the Skullcandy JIB+ with a range of genres including Rock, Pop, EDM and Acoustic, the headset performed surprisingly well across the genres. The headset performs well on vocals, electronic music, and bass-heavy tracks as well, the result has rich bass with enough punch even at low volumes.
Given the improvement in the overall build quality, we were confident about the endurance for daily usage and the headset did survive well during our testing in which we did put it through some tough conditions. The one issue we had with the JIB+ was that it struggled to stay in the ears, after a lot of fiddling we could finally find the right position for the ear, despite the struggle heavy movement resulted in the earbuds falling out of the ears. This might be an issue for someone considering the buds for sports and fitness purposes. The plastic that houses the battery and the Bluetooth chip also rubs on the neck occasionally and isn’t very comfortable, however, with an endured usage you will get used to it and stop noticing.
Talking about the battery life, the earbuds claim and deliver about 6 hours of battery life, it is very acceptable given the price point it is being offered at. If you are planning to use it for endured listening sessions or throughout the day, then you might be disappointed with the battery life and might want to carry a portable battery and a charging cable. The biggest downside of the JIB+ is with the calls, we were hoping this would improve with the updated JIB+, however, during each of my calls on both the regular cellular network as well as WhatsApp, the audio performance was dismal. The volume was very low on both the sides and the listener on the other side often complained that the ambient sounds and noises were much louder than the user’s voice itself. While the connectivity wasn’t an issue, the sound quality over calls was so bad that I often found myself switching to the earpiece to take the calls.
Overall, the Skullcandy JIB+ doesn’t disappoint the user with the sound quality during music playback, the battery life is decent too. The build quality has received a major upgrade and now feels more durable, the overall package is a sweet deal for the price. While the headset itself isn’t perfect in all aspects, these are sacrifices you need to make for the drop in the price.
