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When it comes to noise-cancelling earbuds, you can easily find a pairs anywhere in the $50 to $300 range. If you're looking for a pick somewhere in the middle of that price point, you've likely looked at Sony, Beats, and maybe even Bose.
Skullcandy, however, is looking to break into the mid-range space with the release of its new Method 360 ANC earbuds. The earbuds, made in partnership with Bose, feature sound technology from the premium brand. At full price, the Method 360 ANC earbuds are the most expensive earbuds in Skullcandy's lineup, but still firmly situated in the budget range for earbuds overall.
With that in mind and as someone who's personally tried the entire line of available Bose earbuds, I knew I needed to put these Skullcandy earbuds to the test.
What makes the Skullcandy Method 360 ANC earbuds different
Skullcandy isn't exactly the brand known for drawing in audio fidelity enthusiasts. What it is known for is affordable prices: Excluding the Method 360s, its entire earbud lineup goes for $100 or less, with several pairs available under $50, and their absolute cheapest wireless earbuds going for just $25 at full price.
A lower price point typically means you won't get top-of-the-line sound, active noise cancellation, or extra features like a custom equalizer. While Skullcandy does already include ANC in its lineup, they've never had Bose-quality sound before. In the press release for the earbuds, Justin Regan, Skullcandy's vice president of marketing, says, "This product sets a new standard. We're launching at $99.99 because we want more people to hear what's next. But make no mistake — Method 360 ANC belongs in the premium tier."
Considering premium-tier earbuds can easily cost twice the price of the Skullcandy earbuds, that's a bold claim worth testing out. It is also worth keeping in mind that the $99.99 is just an introductory price that will eventually be raised to $129.99 (the Skullcandy team was unable to provide a date as to when that price rise will go into effect).
Is Skullcandy's Bose-powered sound good?
Simply put, I was impressed by how these earbuds sounded. Granted, they didn't sound exactly like the Bose earbuds I've tried, but they came close enough to earn them some serious points.
When listening to Japanese Breakfast's "Savage Good Boy," the Method 360s showed off their power to balance a song, blending the nuances of the guitar, bass, and high-pitched vocals with dexterity. During the 8-Bit Big Band's rendition of "Lonely Rolling Star" from the video game Katamari Damacy, it would have been easy for a lesser pair of earbuds to make the horn line sound blown out, and the singer get lost in a wall of sound produced by the instrumentals. But the Skullcandy earbuds held up. At times, their volume could feel a little muffled, but only when I was really pushing the upper limit for testing (and comparing them side by side) — I can't imagine a casual listener would notice this off the bat.
When compared to my favorite pair of budget earbuds, the slightly cheaper EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds, the Skullcandy buds didn't sound leaps and bounds better. While they may not set a new standard entirely, they do perform at the top of their category.
Skullcandy vs. Bose earbuds
Speaking of comparisons, I had to test the Skullcandy earbuds against two Bose options: the Bose QuietComfort earbuds (which retail for $179) and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds (which retail for $299). I'll be writing up a more in-depth comparison soon, so I'm going to keep it relatively brief here, but I wanted to touch on the main points.
Overall, I find both options from Bose to still be better than the Skullcandy buds, which wasn't too surprising, considering their price points. However, the Skullcandy earbuds definitely held their own more than I expected. Here's how they stacked up:
Sound: The hierarchy is as you would expect here, but there's way less of a discrepancy
Comfort: Though all the earbuds came with three sizes of ear tips and stability bands, I found both Bose models to have a slightly better seal, but fit can vary from person to person.
Touch controls: The Skullcandy earbuds' touch controls felt surprisingly sophisticated, never leaning more sensitive (as budget earbuds tend to). They felt like a near one-to-one experience with the QC Ultras.
Smart features: The voice assistant sounds exactly the same, but the Skullcandy earbuds play it so loud, no matter what volume you set them at.
Noise cancelling: The noise cancellation on the QuietComfort and especially QuietComfort Ultra earbuds blocked out more, but for being $100 earbuds, I was impressed at how the Skullcandy buds performed.
Companion app: The Skullcandy app looks (and works) incredibly similar to the Bose QuietComfort earbuds app.
Battery life: The Skullcandy earbuds had really impressive battery life that seemed to match up, if not straight up outperform, the Bose earbuds.
Multipoint connection: With all three earbuds, I've experienced some issues with switching between two connected devices or having a consistent connection without any audio skipping when more than one device is connected. However, you can help the issue by turning off multipoint connection for all three devices.
Obviously, the starkest difference between the three earbuds is the price. Though the Skullcandy earbuds are by far the cheapest, it is worth noting that while I was writing this review, the Bose QuietComfort earbuds were on sale for $149. During the holiday season, they dropped down to $129.
The noise cancelling works better than expected
I've tried noise-cancelling earbuds that have caused my partner to accidentally jump-scare me throughout the day, and I've tried noise-cancelling earbuds that do little more than vaguely muffle sounds while playing an obvious hissing tone.
Usually, budget earbuds are more likely to fall into the latter category, and understandably so. I especially didn't expect these earbuds to come with adjustable ANC, a feature that's been harder to find since Bose discontinued its noise-cancelling 700 headphones. Yet, the Method 360 earbuds provided a noise cancellation that had only the most minimal of hiss on the highest levels of noise cancellation. They didn't quite cancel out my partner on work calls or my neighbors' kids playing outside as well as the Bose earbuds did (that also could've been a result of the fit not being as snug), but for $100, they stood out as one of the better pairs I've tested.
The case needs a redesign
It may sound silly, but the case is by far the biggest issue with these earbuds. Beyond being way too clunky and not very user-friendly (more on that in a second), they don't feel consistent with the audience these earbuds seem to want to chase after. If you're adding Bose-powered sound to compete with premium earbuds, the earbuds you're making should have a premium feel. While the earbuds themselves do, the case feels cheap and gimmicky.
I reached out to a Skullcandy rep via email to ask why the case is the way it is, and they replied that it came down to style and functionality. On the point of style, I guess this look could be someone's jam — it's not exactly mine. To Skullcandy's credit, it does offer five different colorways of the earbuds, including the black ones I received, as well as earbuds in an off-white shade called bone, a red shade called plasma, a tan shade called primer, and a leopard print called — you guessed it — leopard.
Then, there's the point of functionality. "The functional part is the case can be clipped outside of a bag, to a belt loop, or inside the key-ring of a bag/purse, so they’re easier to get to when the need is there," the Skullcandy rep wrote to me in an email.
Technically, you can use the earbuds that way, but the O-ring isn't the most adaptive size. For my thicker-strapped bags that didn't have another ring or keychain, it took some maneuvering to get the ring clipped on and off — not exactly the "Clip It and Rip It" experience Skullcandy advertises in its marketing copy.
The other issue I have with this idea is picturing the scenario where someone would want to clip their $100 to $130 earbuds outside the relative safety of their bag or pocket. Maybe for the Dime Evo earbuds, the $50 Skullcandy earbuds that originated this design, it makes more sense, but for a more premium-oriented earbud, this doesn't feel like the right vessel.
"So just don't clip the case on your bag," you might be saying. And trust me, beyond testing, I don't think I would. However, Skullcandy designed the case more tailored to the experience of using the clip. For one, the case is huge, and it looks huge on a desktop or in a smaller bag. Ironically, this makes the earbuds feel less portable. And two, the earbuds are placed on the opposite sides. For instance, if you're looking at the front of the case, and slide it up that way, the right earbud sits on the left side, and the left on the right.
Maybe if you're solely using these earbuds, this is something you get used to, but I could not during the testing period. I kept trying to put the wrong earbud on the wrong side or upside down. It may feel like a small gripe, but design choices like these are where I notice the difference between budget and more premium headphones.
Are the Skullcandy Method 360 ANC earbuds worth it?
At $99, the Skullcandy Method 360 ANCs are an impressive pair of earbuds that punch above their brand's weight. While the case is glaringly bad, of all the features to be less than stellar on a pair of budget earbuds, Skullcandy could've done way worse. On that note, their sound, comfort, and noise cancellation make them feel more luxe than their current $100 price tag would imply.
While they don't completely stand out as singularly the best in the budget category, they are definitely one of the best options at this price point, especially if you can look past the case. Once they jump up to their $129.99 full price, I'd probably wait for them to go on sale before I grab them. But, if you're not in a rush for new earbuds, I might recommend just waiting instead for the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds to drop back down to their record-low price instead.
