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Skullcandy unveils new $100 noise-cancelling earbuds and an even cheaper battery life champ

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Jun 13, 2023, 8:04 AM

Skullcandy unveils new $100 noise-cancelling earbuds and an even cheaper battery life champ

Are you delighted by the latest Sony LinkBuds S deal but want to spend even less than $130 for a nice pair of noise-cancelling earbuds with a little more pizazz than Apple's hugely popular AirPods and AirPods Pro?

Skullcandy has you covered right now with the hot new Rail ANC, which can be purchased from the company's official US website for the low price of $99.99 in a single "True Black" colorway. Despite the lack of chromatic diversity, these surprisingly affordable AirPods Pro 2 alternatives are definitely capable of turning heads at the gym with that unmistakable logo, semi-transparent design, and what the manufacturers are excitingly advertising as a "universally ergonomic fit."

The Rail ANC only come in black

The Rail ANC are accompanied to the super-crowded, hyper-competitive, and stagnating market by a non-ANC Rail model priced at an even lower $79.99 with a virtually identical design and a second eye-catching "Bone" paint job.

The two new products share a number of other great (-sounding) features as well, including a proprietary Skull-IQ technology enabling various hands-free voice commands, multipoint pairing, IP55 water and dust resistance, and "Personal Sound" functionality.

The "standard" Skullcandy Rail, of course, offer no active noise cancellation capabilities, which actually helps the cheaper version deliver better overall battery life with the charging case factored in. We're talking a mind-blowing and pretty hard-to-beat grand total of 42 hours of endurance, compared to "just" 38 hours as far as the Rail ANC are concerned.

The non-ANC Skullcandy Rail are also available in a Bone color

Then again, the costlier model promises to last longer between charges, at up to 10 hours (with ANC switched off) versus 8 hours for the more affordable new member of Skullcandy's family of true wireless earbuds, and the Rail ANC also supports wireless charging, which its non-ANC sibling seems to lack.

All in all, if you're not bothered by the slightly lesser-known name in the wireless audio industry slapped on these bad boys, both of them can represent very smart purchases at the time of this writing.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.

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