Skullcandy is breaking into the outdoor speaker market with a line of affordable and high-quality outdoor speakers. I tested out the Terrain XL, Terrain, and Terrain Mini XT speakers and thought they offered a great range of audio. They are versatile speakers designed to accompany you anywhere you go, and they have a water-resistant, durable design so you don’t have to worry about drops or splashes while listening to music.
Throughout this review, I’ll be going over all the best features of the Terrain series and I’ll help you decide which one is right for you.
Features of the Skullcandy Terrain speaker line
- USB-C provides a quick charge to give you 4 hours of use with every 15 minutes of charge
- Wirelessly connect multiple Skullcandy speakers for a party or more immersive sound
- Exceptional sound quality and powerful bass in a small package
- Submersible waterproof design for listening by the pool or beach
- Nylon wrist strap and compact design for convenient portability
- Up to 14 hours of battery life (18 hours for the XL edition)
- Rubber design helps prevent damage from falls or tumbles
Unboxing Skullcandy’s Terrain speakers
As part of their straightforward design, the Skullcandy speakers came with the basics to get each wireless device charged and ready. Each speaker was nestled inside the box while the cable, instructions, and free sticker were in a smaller cardboard box underneath.
At first I was a bit confused about what kind of port the end of the USB-C cable went into, but it turns out it’s just a normal USB port without the metal shell. Despite the varied prices between each of the Terrain speakers, there wasn’t any noticeable change in build quality between each model. They all had a consistent design across the board and looked ready to survive the outdoors.
Design of Skullcandy Terrain speakers
My favourite feature of these speakers is the lightweight design. The Terrain XL only weighs a couple of pounds so it’s easy to carry when the lace is looped around your arm. This lace also provides tons of options when it comes to securely setting it up anywhere you are—be it in your backyard or the middle of the woods. The lace itself is attached to a metal frame inside the speaker so it has a reliable foundation.
Another great feature of all three speakers is the submersible waterproof design. It gives you more options as to where you’d like to take the speaker and protects you against sudden rain and any accidental falls into water by the poolside or lake. The rubber padding on the top and bottom also minimizes any damage that would be caused by a sudden drop. All three of the Skullcandy Terrain speakers have an IPX7 waterproof rating so they can be submerged in water for up to 30 minutes.
Sound quality of Skullcandy Terrain speakers
The XL, Terrain, and XT Mini all provide audio that is good enough for outdoor camping or indoor gatherings. I did notice they had slightly muddied bass and trouble with overall clarity of sound, but for a lightweight, mobile speaker they do provide great audio. At their price point, it is not surprising for Skullcandy to sacrifice some of the audio range in favour of having more features and reliable build quality. The main purpose of these speakers is to be portable and durable for you to take them on outdoor adventures without worrying about damaging them. So it’s nice you can take them anywhere and they won’t weigh you down, and even better that you won’t have to worry about getting them wet.
Skullcandy Terrain’s multi-device pairing
One of the main draws of Skullcandy’s Terrain speakers is the connectivity options provided by the Bluetooth multi-device pairing. I think being able to connect to more than one device at a time gives you a seamless audio experience. The first kind of multi-pairing option is the ‘dual pairing’ mode. It allows you to connect two speakers together as a pair, so you get a full stereo experience using left and right channels. While they may not sound as good as a traditional pair of home theatre speakers, they do a good job when streaming playlists. Mobile versatility is a big selling point with these as well, and it’s nice you can turn your mobile party speakers into a quality pair of stereo speakers wherever you may be.
For me, the most impressive part of these speakers is definitely the multi-device syncing feature. It allows you to connect up to 99 (!) speakers together with a fully synchronized soundstage between them. While I obviously couldn’t test a hundred speakers at once, I enjoyed experiencing all three speakers synchronized together. I placed the speakers in different rooms and let them play music that followed me around the house. As far as I could tell, there were no audio latency issues between them. I can easily see how the Terrain speakers would keep a party lively. It would be even better if your friends bring theirs too so you can connect to multiple devices for an immersive listening experience.
Which Terrain speaker should you choose?
Overall, I really liked each of the Skullcandy Terrain speakers. But since they share such similar features, the best way to choose one out of the three is to narrow down you choices based on budget and size.
If you’re looking for a compact device that is both durable and provides good audio, you’ll want to go with the Terrain Mini XT. It offers an impressive 12 hours of battery life for its size. If you’re looking for a more dedicated speaker for longer hikes and bike rides, you may want to upgrade to the larger Terrain XL model. It offers a total of 18 hours of battery life, and, in my opinion, would be the best for long trips without power. The standard Terrain speaker is a great middle-ground option between the two. It’s best for those that want better audio quality than the Mini XT but don’t want to fully commit to the large size and higher price point of the XL.
Personally, I love the Skullcandy Terrain outdoor speaker series. With a variety of sizes, you can choose the best speaker for you, and that’s better than the standard ‘one size fits all’ style of some portable speakers. You can find Skullcandy Terrain speakers for your next outdoor party, lake day, or hike now at Best Buy.
