Design and features:This model has customizable touch controls with play/pause, next track, call connect/disconnect, Spotify Tap, and ambient sound monitoring on/off default settings. The controls can be customized to provide volume up/down, previous track, disable Spotify Tap, and activate the paired mobile device's digital assistant. Either earpiece can be used alone for one ear monitoring of Bluetooth streamed audio and telephone communications. It supports unspecified digital voice assistants when used with Bluetooth devices that have those capabilities and that, if needed, have the appropriate apps installed. It also supports Skullcandy iQ voice control commands when the Skull-iQ app is installed and running on a Bluetooth paired mobile device. The charging/carrying case has a built-in rechargeable battery that the manufacturer claims can be used to recharge the earphone batteries for an additional 28 hrs. of listening time for a total of 38 hrs. with noise cancelling off and an additional 20 hrs. of listening for a total of 27 hrs. with noise canceling on. It can be recharged via USB cable or with optional wireless charging accessories. The free Skull-iQ app download for Android and iOS mobile devices adds additional features and software updates.
Sound quality:We found the Rail ANC delivers excellent active noise reduction and sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can best be summarized as somewhat bassy, a bit hazy and grainy and a bit sizzly. With the Skull-IQ app equalizer set to Music (as the received state of the headphone) and the noise canceling feature engaged the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is somewhat prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even but is a bit hazy, grainy and congested (think sonic traffic jam). The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended but is a bit sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying) and smeared. While the sound has a good sense of liveliness and does a decent job of recovering the room ambience of recordings, it is somewhat closed (sound-wise it's fairly obvious you have something plugging your ears). The tone settings of the app do have a noticeable effect on the sound of these earphones. These earphones provide excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. A very faint rushing sound can be heard in quiet environments when there is no audio program to drown it out.
Comfort and Fit:As typical of in-ear models they produce a sense of pressure in the ear canal opening that might be uncomfortable for some.
Small
Users with small ear bowls might find that the earphone body feels a bit bulky in their ear bowl and that they stick out too far and feel like they may lever out of place, but that they will stay in place during casual use and are stable during fairly vigorous head movement.
Medium/Large
Users with medium and large sized ear bowls will probably find that this model stays in place with no problems for casual use and that they are stable during vigorous head movement.
Incidental contact with the touch controls can cause unintentional playing and pausing, and hitting the stem that hangs out of the ear can knock an earphone loose and cause it to fall out of the ear.
