I was 12 when I tried my first pair of Skullcandy earbuds. It was on the bus, and I’d been handed the left bud so that a friend and I could both listen to System of a Down. It was a short experience, but one that left me with a pair of profound realizations — first, that Prison Song is sick. Second, that Skullcandy wasn’t very good.
So imagine my shock when it was announced that Skullcandy was working with Bose, of all companies, to launch a new pair of earbuds. Imagine further my continued shock and sudden elation when I discovered that the Method 360 ANC are actually really, really good.
Like, best cheap wireless earbuds good.
Skullcandy but enhanced
When I first pulled the Method 360 from their enormous charging case, I was immediately taken. They look like an edgier version of Bose’s QuietComfort line of earbuds, all the way down to the silicone wings that help keep them firmly in your ears.
Slipping them into my earholes, I found a particularly comfortable fit, as I often have with the similarly shaped Bose options. The fitting options are plenty, and the shape is ergonomic. Lovely. A far cry from the traditional cheap, slightly uncomfortable Skullcandy fare that I’ve sampled before.
Bose’s fingerprints are all over the buds and the software experience. The touch controls mirror the QuietComfort line, and even the new “Skull IQ” app looks an awful lot like the Bose app that controls its headphones and speakers. This is Skullcandy, the funky little logo on the side of the case makes sure we’re aware — but not as we know it.
About that app…
I am resigned to the fact that headphone and earbud apps are now a necessity in our modern, smart device culture. I ask only three things: That these apps be powerful, easy to use, and not a big waste of megabytes on my phone's storage.
The Skull-iQ app is pretty much all these things. It’s very simply laid out, with all the options available on the front page. There are no silly names for things like the EQ or multipoint pairing, although I do wish that ‘Hearing Modes’ was called noise canceling.
There are plenty of features in the app, too, although some might lament a lack of spatial audio. I do not — they’re $129 ($99 on sale), and when given the choice between ANC and spatial audio, I’ll always choose the former.
The EQ is one of the best features inside the app. Some cheaper buds don’t have the same feature in their own apps, and it’s nice to be able to dial in the sound beyond “would you like some more bass, ma’am?”
The best noise canceling under $150
Sony’s WF-C710N buds have noise canceling, and they’re very good at it. They cost $120. 1More buds have good noise canceling, and they cost around $80. My Final ZE3000 SV have good noise canceling, and they cost just $69. None of them can hold a candle to the Bose-tuned ANC of the Method 360.
I can’t tell you it’s as good as the QuietComfort Ultra, or the WF-1000XM5. It’s not. But, for $129, you aren’t going to find any better. It blocks out any environmental noise with relative ease, silencing bus and train journeys so that you can enjoy your music without being interrupted by the soccer fans that you’re sharing a coach with.
Transparency mode is similarly solid, letting everything in that you want to hear without making it sound like the auditory version of the uncanny valley. Despite their annoying “Hearing mode” moniker, the ANC and transparency modes are best in class.
What does “tuned by Bose” mean?
For the rest of the package, it means a Bose-like shape and app — for the sound things get more involved. Apparently, the Method 360 ANC use Bose’s drivers for the sound, which are then molded by both Skullcandy and Bose for a heavier, jaw-shaking Skullcandy signature tone.
The result is loads and loads of fun. There’s plenty of the low stuff, as you’d imagine. But Skullcandy hasn’t just taken the Bose drivers, worked out how much bass they can produce, made them do it, and then called it a day. There’s more control than I was expecting, and even some restraint when it comes to bass that is uncharacteristic of the brand.
Look, they’re still bassy. The kick drums of Bloodbath’s Zombie Inferno hit like a rotting freight train, and the sub-bass of K Motionz’ Silver Bullet shakes the back of your skull. This is still Skullcandy, and the buds make sure you know it.
But there’s more detail than most offerings at this price, producing a fairly well-balanced sound signature that even more expensive buds might glance at and realize they’re not as safe as they thought they were. Hi-hats and cymbals have plenty of crash, with lots of resolution to be found.
Are they HiFi? No, very few things that are wireless at this price are. But they very quickly made me forget that they were under $150, and they even managed to make me forget that they were a Skullcandy product.
Any problems?
The charging case is too big. I think it’s supposed to be attached to your bag with the lanyard keychain strap thing, but then someone is just going to steal them while you walk around. It’s too big for most pockets thanks to its weird design, and the opening mechanism doesn’t feel like it’s going to last all that long.
Thankfully, Skullcandy fixed the deafening announcement voice, who damn near made me drop my phone the first time I connected them. All in all, though? That’s pretty much it, which is remarkable for a pair of buds that cost as little as the Method 360 ANC.
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