Skybuds – The Truly Wireless Earbuds Review

Dozens of totally wireless earphones have arrived in the market, and Skybuds from Alpha Audiotronics, are one of the better models available, sleek and stylish alternative to Apple's AirPods, though they distinguish themselves more from a performance standpoint than a design standpoint.

The water-resistant Skybuds are a set of totally wireless earphones that sound pretty decent, are easy to operate and set up and maintained a reliable wireless connection with mostly hiccup-free Bluetooth audio streaming. The included case delivers five charges, and their "awareness" mode that lets ambient sound in when needed.

Skybuds retail for around $220 in the US ($214 on Amazon), (Official UK and Australia availability is unknown, but the US price translates to about £170 or AU$294)

Available in three colors (black, silver and white), the Skybuds have been on the market for almost a year and they've had a few software updates via their free companion Skybuds app (for iOS and Android) that add extra features, including a pass-through sound mode that lets ambient noise in and a "Find My Skybuds" feature that helps you locate your Skybuds should you lose them.

What’s so likable about them is pretty simple: They actually work and sound pretty decent for this type of headphone. By saying that "they work" what it mean is that you’ll have no trouble setting them up and pairing them to each other and your phone. They also maintained a reliable wireless connection. There could be a few Bluetooth hiccups, but no worse than with most wireless headphones, even the ones that have cords.

Are they comfortable? Relatively speaking, yes, but they're not as comfortable as Apple's AirPods. They will manage to stay in your ears securely, and you can wear them during several work commutes in the streets of New York and the subway (since you jam them in your ears, they offer a good amount of passive noise isolation). You can also wear them at the gym -- yes, they're sweatproof -- and even take them on short runs with them (they stayed in your ears just fine).

You charge and store the buds in a battery case. They're rated at 4 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels and similarly to the AirPods, the case gives you an extra five charges.

Compared to Bragi's pricier The Dash Pro, this headphone doesn't feature all that model's extra bells and whistles, such as a built-in heart-rate monitor and touch controls. The Skybuds keep things simpler (you click a button on the bud to pause and advance tracks), which is a plus.

Their sound quality might not blow you away -- the pricier Doppler Labs' Here One sounds a little better -- but it was definitely a step up from what you get from cheaper totally wireless buds that cost less than $100. The sound is well balanced, with bass that's not boomy and treble that isn't harsh. What's missing is a bit of openness and clarity. That's par for the course for Bluetooth, but for $220 product, your expectations are raised. They worked decently as a headset.

The awareness mode was added only recently and works well. It basically opens the microphone in each bud up to the outside world (you can adjust the openness or set it to "adaptive"). This allows you to have a conversation with someone while you have the buds in your ears. You can hear your voice in the headphones as you speak and the voices of other people are augmented. In ideal world, there'd be two microphones -- one out for the outside world while another lets you hear yourself talk while having cell phone conversations. As it stands, that mode doesn't exist.

The Skybuds are challenged by having to compete with the AirPods, which cost less and are more comfortable to wear (for the majority of people). The AirPods sound slightly better, too -- at least in quieter environments. With their noise-isolating design, the Skybuds do have an advantage in noisier environments. It's also worth mentioning that they stayed in ears while running (during the tests), while the AirPods didn't. (The AirPods fit some people's ears better than others and many people can run with them without a problem).

The bottom line is that while one can't make a super compelling argument to buy the Skybuds over the AirPods, they are arguably, one of the better totally wireless earphones out there right now.