Skullcandy Smokin' Buds 2 Review：Are they suitable for running?

Skullcandy is a brand which over the course of time has established itself as one of the giants in the music accessory industry. It is a name which is known for its reliability and high-quality sound.One of Skullcandy's Bluetooth in-ear headphones : Smokin’Buds 2,it is one of the cheapest around-the-neck Bluetooth headphones on the market. Their most notable characteristics are bassy sound, good comfort, and affordable price. This article will collect some real user reviews to see how the sound quality of Smoking' Buds 2 Wireless earbuds and whether it is suitable for running.

Parameters of Skullcandy Smokin' Buds 2：

Product Dimensions：5.12 x 1.26 x 7.17 inches

Item Weight：3.84 ounces

Manufacturer：Skullcandy

ASIN：B013UFYCDC

Item model number：S2PGHW-521

Batteries：1 Lithium Metal batteries required.

Battery Life：6 Hours

Charging Time：5 Hours

Item Weight：0.24 Pounds

Units：1.0 Count

Number Of Items：1

Fit Type：In-Ear

Skullcandy Smokin' Buds 2 review from users：

Product name: Smokin’ Buds2  Price: $27.64

Rating: 4.2   Where to buy: Amazon or official website

User review 1：

User:Tucker Robb Nation:United States

“Headphones are nice and have good sound. I wasn't overly impressed or blown away with the quality of sound but it sounds just as good or better than standard headphones from Apple or similar. The ear bud rubber pieces come in a small or smaller size so a person with a larger ear cavity may have problems with them falling out. The neck piece is nice to keep the weight on your neck but if you use these running it will move around and can fall off your neck onto your back. Overall I would still recommend them to anyone for the price.”

User review 2：

User:Blake haga Nation:United States

“Love these for the gym. Most Bluetooth have the a clip ( witch is magnatized) to attach to your shirt. I hate those! They come undone always at the worst moment and ruins your set. With these it's around your neck you can still throw a bar on your back to do squats and these do not get in the way. Also when your running these stay in place. I really love them. The only thing is when your doing sit ups they will fall off but that's the only movement”

User review 3：

User:Robert Frost Nation:United States

“Replaced a set of older ink'd BT buds. Figured I would upgrade a bit. Got them and noticed right away the "balance" is way off. My old set the battery was in the end of the collar towards your chest. This set the battery is on the back. Well guess what.. If you move, look up, do anything at all the heavy battery pack drags the whole thing off you neck onto your back. I can't imagine running or working out with these. Sounds great.. noise cancelling is good. Battery is great.. But repeatedly having to pull them back up on my neck all day long gets old quick. I would put my old set on at 8am at work and never take them off or have to mess with them. In 2 hours this morning these fell down my back 4 times and completely fell off hanging by 1 ear bud when I bent over. I drive a forklift most of the day so it isn't like I am jumping around or anything to make them fall off. Just my 2 cents.”

User review 4：

User:AntoMilae Nation:Italy

“Ooooohhhh finally a pair of worthy earphones!

Product delivered to me as usual on schedule, has a nice look and from a first test the sound that comes out seems clean and with good bass... it even sounds quite loud!!!! Once put on, they don't seem to slip out of the ears. In the gym or while running they will be perfect! Comfortable and light, you hardly feel like you have them on you!

I must admit, five-star quality/price, advice!!!”

User review 5：

User:ezar Nation:United States

“I have went through many many headphones for running. I hate tiny ones without the wires, sooner or later I will lose them, plus once you sweat a lot and run fast for miles, they will just slip out. Other ones with battery in the front will jump around your neck with every step. these have the battery in the back! What a simple yet brilliant feature!! They are balanced so well that you can run for miles without realizing that you have something around your neck. Done listening? Pull them out of your ears and stick under your shirt. No need to find a safe spot for your truly wireless earbuds. Had one pair for 3 years, they went through so much sweat and eventually died. Today I bought the second pair.”

User review 6：

User:Julie Ozanne Nation:United Kingdom

“These headphones are some of the best wireless headphones I've found for this price. After my last pair broke I wanted to find a cheap pair that still sounded great. These were defiently that.

The sound quality is great, although a little quiet, but more than enough for most people. It handles heavy bass and high notes well. They are very comfotable and when I exercise by running or hiking, they stay comfortably around my neck. The 7 hours of battery life are amazing for how small these headphones are and I have not run out of charge once since using them.

One issue I had is the cover for the battery got turned around and i couldn't fix it. This made it scratch the back of my neck and made it quite uncomfortable. However, with some brute force, I managed to solve this issue quickly.

Overall, these are great headphones for anyone who enjoys exercise or just wants a pair of amazing bluetooth headphones.”

User review 7：

User:Harriet S Nation:United States

“I love these as the bulky ear buds of most bluetooth headphones hurt my ears. I use these to workout - run, row, cycle, weights, cross trainer etc and have found the most comfotable way to wear is to remove the flexible neck bit as I found this can bounce when running or working out hard and pop the red bluetooth hub down my sports bra. I also actually do this when just them in day to day life - on tube etc.”

User review 8：

User: Alexei Nation:United States

“Although Skullcandy isn’t the best as far as headphones go, these buds specifically are ones I go back to. I’m going to go over their construction, battery life, usage, and price.

Construction:

Pros: These little guys are tough. I’ve put these things through the ringer of incidents. I’ve stepped on them; slept on them; pulled them; thrown them; sweated in them; and even had one bud fall into a cup of coffee (that one scared me the most). These things can endure which is why I use them for my workouts like bouldering and running. The ear bud runner is nice and texture with the company logo that even when I sweat these stay inside my ear. Lastly the cords connecting the battery pack to buds is awesome. It doesn’t feel flimsy like a round cable cover. The cord is flat and relatively thick. These are one of the very few buds that I have to worry about one of the sides going out.

Cons: The plastic clasp that keeps the headphones from falling off the back of your neck when in use get worn done within a week or so. I usually end up tying them anyway so this is a minor inconvenience to me.

Battery life: I’ve been able to use these puppies for about 7-8 hours on close to full volume when I first got them. After the second or third month I start to notice the battery life degrade to somewhere around the 6-7 hour range.

Usage: Fairly simple to use with any device that has Bluetooth capabilities. The only time I notice the sound phase in and out is when I’m right by things like light posts at the crosswalk. Simple solution to this: a few steps away from the light post.

These are now 40 (but I got these on sale for 30 not including tax or warranty). When they first came out they were 50 and that was a bit on the steep side, but the 30-40 range I think is pretty solid for what you are getting in this purchase— some kind of low profile, simple, tough wireless headphones with decent battery life.”

User review 9：

User:Smitty Nation:United States

“I’m not an “Audio Snob” so I don’t care if the $250 set from Bose has “better modulation of sub-audible frequencies to massage the higher register through reverse osmosis”. Whether it’s AC/DC, Yanni, or a soul-sucking business conference call - These sound great. The in-ear fit is excellent and the neck band conforms perfectly. I can wear them all day and forget that they are there. Not sure why anyone would pay more for one of those bulky ones that look like some sort of neck massager from The Sharper Image when you can get these. I haven’t used them for long periods of time, so I can’t tell you they’ll last through your run in the Boston Marathon (let’s face it, if I’m running it’s because I’m in imminent danger), but they got me through that previously mentioned time-sucking conference call with plenty of juice to spare. So I guess I’ll let you decide if that’s good or bad.”

User review 10：

User: Barrett Nation:United States

“If you need a headset that you are going to wear sitting or walking, these will probably do fine. I had a few major issues that killed my opinion.

Falling off. As I was mowing my lawn, they had a tendency to slide back off my neck, probably due to most of the weight being in the back area where all the electronics and batteries are located. The earbuds in my ears were the only thing keeping them from falling off of me completely.

Interference. I need to do some more testing but it seems like these things are heavily impeded by unshielded electromagnetic interference. Again, while mowing my lawn with my phone in my pocket, the audio cut out so much that they were unusable. Turn the mower off only had occasional blimps that could be explained. This could be an issue with my phone however I have had other Bluetooth devices work fine.

Audio Feedback. I have used previous Skullcandy headsets that had better audio feedback on the state of the headphones. For example, when connecting to Bluetooth, these just beep while other pairs I have own use an ascending tone or series of tones or one pair I had actually said 'Connected'. A single beep is not always useful.”

As can be seen from the user reviews above, Skullcandy Smokin' Buds 2 is a well-received running earbuds. But it also has some shortcomings. Its in-ear design is easy to cause ear pain and discomfort, and it is not stable enough to wear when running. In addition, some users said that headphones are easy to slide off the back of the neck. If you want to find a running headphone to replace Smokin' Buds 2, it is a good recommendation for Wissonly Hi Runner, which is more comfortable and stable to wear,and has excellent waterproof performance.

If you want to have a functional running headphone, Hi Runner will be your best choice. It makes sound through the vibration of the bones, and the bones transmit the vibration of the sound source directly to the inner ear, so that the sound can be heard, so you only need to hang the headphones on the ears when wearing them, there is no need to plug them into the ears.

Because Hi Runner is worn by hanging on ears, it is not blocked ears and has good comfort, and it is also especially suitable for daily life, you can easily hear the sound of cars and traffic lights in outdoor running, walking and other sports scenes, which makes you safer when using. It is also especially recommended for those who like to listen to music at work while paying attention to the voices of their bosses and colleagues.

The overall frame of the Wissonly Hi Runner is made of adjustable aviation-grade titanium steel, which can adapt to different sizes of head circumference and ensure stability when wearing, so that you don't have to worry about the headphones falling off when exercising. The surface of the headphone is made of high-tech hypoallergenic silicone material, which does not contain chemical components to avoid allergies, and the overall touch of the earphone is as silky as baby's skin, avoiding uncomfortable feelings caused by long-term wear. It is very lightweight, less than 30g, so it will not feel heavy when worn. You can hang it around your neck when you're not using it, you don't have to worry about the headphones falling to the ground and damaging or losing them.

If you're worried about sweating too much while exercising or suddenly raining and breaking your headphones while using them outdoors, then the Wissonly Hi Runner can remove your concerns. It has an IPX8 waterproof rating higher than the industry standard, which allows it to work normally when swimming and diving, so you don't have to worry about its waterproof and sweat proof ability, which is a big advantage of it.

The Wissonly Hi Runner uses the latest Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which makes the Bluetooth connection more stable and less prone to choppy sound. It is also equipped with 32G body memory, which can store 5000 songs, and supports Bluetooth and MP3 working modes. When exercising underwater or in scenarios without a mobile phone, you can use it as a Bluetooth MP3 player. Its battery life is also very strong, it can listen to songs for 10 hours continuously, and it supports magnetic fast charging, which makes up for the disadvantages of wireless headphones.

Due to the particularity of the technical principle, bone conduction headphones are more difficult to improve sound quality, while Wissonly Hi Runner subverts the traditional sound quality scheme by using a large wireframe vibration unit, improving the effective vibration area through structural optimization, so that the sound has a good performance in both treble and bass.