Love your iPhone, but don’t feel quite as amorous towards the stock earbuds / microphone that ships with it? Then you will be interested in learning more about the Full Metal Jacket iPhone earbuds from Skullcandy.
Packaged in a convenient EVA zippered carrying case, the SC-FMJI’s are available in Black, Chrome or Silver.
I was sent the Chrome version of these earbuds. The body of the earbuds, the plug and the microphone switch are made of metal. Not plastic, which makes them feel substantial and expensive.
Hardware Specifications
11mm speaker
Frequency range: 16 Hz 20K Hz
Impedance: 16 ohms
Max input power: 500mW
Cable type: Aluminum foil
Cable length: 1.1 M
Plug type: 3.5mm gold plated
Unlike the stock iPhone earbuds, the FMJI’s are in-ear style. That means the silicon tips fit down in your ear canal.
Check out the skulls carved into the ends of the buds. This style might be better suited for the younger, casual crowd, instead of a corporate Joe.
These earbuds come with soft silicon ear tips installed on them.
Also included are two additional sets of COMPLY grey foam tips. If you’ve never worn earplugs, these are made of the same squishy moldable material. What I found a bit odd is the fact all three sets of included ear tips are all the same size. Typically, if earbuds come with ear tips, a selection of sizes are included instead of several of the same size. The COMPLY tips fit more securely in my ears than the silicon tips. With the silicon tips, the Right earbud never wanted to stay seated in my ear canal. It kept wanting to slip out. Personally, I’ve never really liked in-ear style buds. They just aren’t comfortable to my ears. But that’s me…
Like the stock iPhone buds, this set of buds includes an in-line microphone / pause button. It’s also important to note that these buds are compatible with the Blackberry Curve. However, I was not able to test them with that device.
I really like the in-line pause switch, but the button is so small, that it’s not always easy to find it to quickly pause your music.
How do the FMJI’s sound? Well, for making and receiving calls, they were fantastic. For music, I found that I did not require the volume to be set nearly as high as when using the stock buds. The first thing I really noticed was how thumpy bass lines were. With some songs, this was great, but with other songs, the bass was muddy and overpowering. I listened to various styles of music with these earbuds and noticed mixed results. Overall I really wasn’t all that happy with them as far as listening to music.
The Skullcandy FMJI’s look cool, there’s no denying that. However, while they excel for telephony tasks, they are disappointing for music tasks. I actually prefer the stock buds over these for both sound and comfort.
Product Information
| Price: | 79.95 |
| Manufacturer: | Skullcandy |
| Retailer: | Skullcandy |
| Requirements: |
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skullcandy make some amazing headphones for the price they sell – very dynamic audio range in an in ear monitor setup – they feel very comfortable in your ears – its a shame the jacks are brittle though
I ust bought a pair of the FMJ’s thinking that they would be an improvement to my other ear buds…I was wrong. I’ve been using sennheiser CX300 and CX500. I’ve been very happy with both. They were about 1/3 the price of the FMJ’s and fit more comfortably and had stronger, cleaner bass and a better overall sound. I only use them for music and I listen to all kinds, I would strongly recommend sennheiser CX500 over the FMJ’s. If you like the outter ear phones, the skullcandy skullcrushers are great!
Man… I couldn’t disagree with you more, about these FMJ’s. I had a pair from 2008 or ’09, originally…and L O V E D them. Then, inevitably, in 2012 or ’13…I can’t remember which now, they died. The wire at the connector jack bent too much and I guess that was the cause of the demise.
I went out to BestBuy, and bought one pair of ear buds after another, after returning home and not finding anything to stand up to my original FMJ’s. This included, Beats, Monster, Bose, and several other decent and well-known names. I was so deflated, thinking I’ll never again hear music sound as good as it did when I had my FMJ’s.
So I did some research and figured that mine were discontinued in 2009, or were made in 2009. I can’t remember now. Either way, I went on Amazon.com and found the specific pair (even in the same color) that I owned previously. The only thing I couldn’t be too sure of, was I indeed purchasing the FMJ’s from the right year. I knew what my FMJ’s came with….and I couldn’t find any on Amazon.com that came with this original case, like you show here (only mine was white). The new pair I was ordering, looked the same, but the case was now just a bag. Thumbs down there. From what I determined, the different FMJ’s from year-to-year, they did indeed have some changes…. and I believe acoustic specs were some of them. I do believe I picked the right ones..but that maybe they just no longer ship with the more expensive/better protective case. I took my chances and ordered.
Once I put those puppies in and listened……… AAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Acoustical blisssssssssss. Musical fabulosity. I freaking LOVE these damned earbuds…and now I wish I bought several pairs. I think I’m going to go through my order history just to find them and see if I can still order…. Now that I’ve found these, I just don’t want to listen to music any other way. Why do that if nothing sounds as good, right?
Anyway, that’s my experience. I am a huge fan of the bass, I should state right up front… and I have a pretty ecclectic taste in music with groups like The Beatles, Franz Ferdinand, Rufus Wainwright, of Montreal, Lorde, just about anyone in classic rock n’ roll (ie., The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, I could go on and on and on, I’m sure), Kishi Bashi, Cake, E.L.O., A.B.B.A., K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Billy Swan, Outkast, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, and again, I could go on and on, and on. The point I’m trying to make there, is that I don’t really fit into any one category or listen to any one certain kind of sound. Everything I listen to, including the old rock n’ roll like The Chiffons’ “He’s So FIne”, and The Zombies’ “Tell Her No” to The Travelling WIllburys, and Del Shannon, and Tone Loc…….. ALL sound great in these bad boys. I freaking LOVE them. For me, these are the standard to which all other earbuds will be measured. If it doesn’t sound like these, I don’t want it.
So……. as you can probably imagine, I’m gonna highly recommend these. Highly. BUT. As I mentioned, earlier…. There have been changes, in these over the years. I suggest you look to buy an older pair (new), like I did, to get the good stuff. Don’t buy newbies. They probably won’t sound the same. Unfortunately, since I did all that research so long ago, I can’t remember what year they changed the audio specs. So do yourself a favor…do a little research, and get the range and impedence you’re lookin’ for. Then, when you go home and listen and fall in love with them…. do me a favor and reach up in the air for a silent “High Five” with me. 😉 Thanks for listenin’ to ma ramble, yo. Peace.