Skullcandy partners with Bose for its new $99 ANC earbuds
Skullcandy has made a name for itself in recent years with well-featured budget earbuds that don’t sound awful. Although its new Method 360 ANC earbuds are launching with a “special $99.99 introductory price” (that will eventually go up to $129.99) making them one of the brand’s most expensive offerings, the company has partnered with Bose to help ensure they’re Skullcandy’s most comfortable and best-sounding earbuds.
Like the Motorola Moto Buds Plus that debuted a year ago, the Method 360 ANC feature licensed technology and audio tuning by Bose to deliver “Skullcandy’s most advanced audio experience to date,” the company said in a press release. That includes three different sizes of ear gels and fit fins designed to comfortably keep the earbuds in place while effectively blocking out unwanted sounds.
Don’t expect audio and ANC performance on par with Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra earbuds, but you’ll be potentially saving yourself close to $200 by instead opting for Skullcandy’s latest.
While most wireless earbuds include a charging case with a clamshell design, the Method 360 ANC’s charging case has a sliding design – similar to the company’s Dime Evo earbuds – with an O-ring clip on one end that functions similar to a carabiner. The case isn’t tiny by any stretch of the imagination, but boosts the earbuds’ battery life from 11 hours to 40 hours, or from nine hours to 32 hours with ANC turned on.
Available in five color options including black, bone, primer, plasma, and leopard, the Method 360 ANC also feature a four-microphone hybrid ANC system with a Stay-Aware mode for boosting ambient sounds plus a low latency mode that helps ensure audio stays in sync when gaming or watching videos.
Wear detection automatically connects the earbuds to a device and pauses playback when you remove them from your ears, while multipoint pairing streamlines switching between devices. The Method 360 ANC also have an IPX4 rating against sweat and water (you won’t want to dunk them), support Spotify Tap and Google Fast Pair, and connect to Skullcandy’s Skull-iQ mobile app allowing the function of the earbuds’ shortcut buttons to be customized as well as EQ adjustments.