Skullcandy Jacked Link

If you're like me, you’ve not quite migrated to a single portable multimedia device. This means that you still carry both a mobile phone and an iPod, or similar, player. Unfortunately, this also means that you have not quite reached the nirvana whereby you can be listening to your music while you waltz along the street but still be able to take calls on your mobile via the same pair of headphones.

By Ted Gibbons / Tuesday, May 27 2008

Yes, I know that many phones offer this functionality by having built-in multimedia players but I already have an iPod full of multiple gigs of music that I want to listen to.

Anyway, Skullcandy has a solution that will work for some of us. The Jacked Link device sports twin jacks – a 2.5mm one for your mobile phone and a 3.5mm one for your MP3 player – that run to a single central control unit that features a microphone, call/end button and a volume control. You can plug any set of headphones with a 3.5mm jack into this unit.

With everything hooked up you are then able to enjoy your music but still receive incoming calls and make outgoing calls. Interestingly, this unit does not automatically mute your music when calls come in, Skullcandy say they would not be so presumptuous as to mess with your tunes. Instead, you can just wind down the volume a little and have a musical soundtrack to your conversation.

Depending on what functions your phone supports, you may also be able to use the Jacked Link for voice activated dialling or last number redialling.

I found sound quality through the unit to be excellent for both music and calls and callers reported good clarity from their end.

The only drawback is that the 2.5mm phone plug is only going to work with similarly-equipped phones and that is by no means guaranteed with the plethora of different headset ports employed on phones.