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This is the Skullcandy Method ANC, with its sound tuned by Bose. It’s a collaboration that I didn’t see coming because they usually cater for different demographics. Skullcandy exudes energy and youth, whereas Bose has a more mature reputation.

The earbuds do echo the design of the Bose QC Ultra, even the eartips and silicone wings, but what this collab is more about is the sound of the earbuds more than anything because nothing else about it resembles any Bose product with that canister case and the carabiner strap. It’s obviously not meant to be pocket sized, they really do want you to hang it somewhere, like on your everyday carry.

Another difference is the earbuds’ controls which don’t have swipe controls like the QC Ultra, only tap gestures for music playback, calls and ambient control. Or you can assign volume controls to the earbuds using the Skull-IQ app.

Speaking of the app, it’s vibrant, responsive, and you can adjust noise canceling and transparency levels. There are some sound presets you can try, or you can also customize it in a more granular way with this Bose-inspired custom EQ.

The feature that lets you use the buds as a remote trigger, while interesting because you don’t have to rely so much on a 10-second timer anymore, is more of a nice to have. What it MUST have is great sound, noise canceling, transparency and mic pickup which we’re going to benchmark against the Bose QC Ultra in detail.

Microphone Quality

In terms of microphone pickup, the Skullcandy is better, not just in quiet conditions, but also in noisy windy conditions because it amplifies my voice louder and cuts background noise down to almost nothing, something that the Bose struggles to do. This was tested in both quiet and noisy conditions using really loud cafe noise, and wind noise from this fan.

👉 Have a listen to the michrophone quality samples

Active Noise Cancelling

In terms of active noise canceling, it is canceling ambient noise at a decent level, and in noisy outdoors situations I could get a good measure of silence for listening to music, watching videos. Compared to base noise level, the Method ANC does cut noise to a decent level from the mid bass to the upper mids, even in the treble. Between 900hz to 1.4khz there seems to be little to no noise canceling so it may not deal with human voices so effectively, but for general quietness, it’s decent.

If we include the Bose QC Ultra, which are the best noise canceling earbuds right now, and a lifesaver when your neighbor’s home is being renovated like mine is, the Bose cuts deeper from 40Hz to 1.5kHz so it’s much quieter in general. On the other hand, the Method ANC attenuates noise better above 3.5 kHz so there’s more of a passive muffling effect against higher pitched noise. Here’s the noise canceling sample I’ve recorded comparing them to the Bose.

👉 Have a listen to the ANC samples

Transparency Mode

In terms of transparency mode, the Method is a little weird. It’s less transparent than the QC Ultra from 90hz all the way to 20khz, and is still canceling noise to a lesser degree till 1khz, so what is actually being amplified is the upper mids. What’s also strange is that it seems to be canceling the 900hz to 1.4khz region more than its actual noise canceling mode. All this means is, it’s usable for quick awareness, but having verbal exchanges with people with transparency is hard because your own voice is going to sound more muffled.

Sound Quality

Now we get to its sound which is tuned by Bose. If we measure them, they should measure somewhat similar to the flagship Bose, and they do. Look at how close they are. And listening to them A-B, it’s very hard to tell them apart if you don’t know what to look for, but I could tell that the Skullcandy’s bass sounds a little heavier, a little tighter in the bass drops. Apart from that, there’s not much difference. The other difference is the volume. The Skullcandy is an out 10% louder than the Bose, which is great for people that do need that extra power behind the drivers.

👉 Have a listen to the sound quality samples

Verdict

The Method ANC has none of those things, instead it is a very different product for a different crowd. Now before I get to the reasons to buy it, there are two things which I don’t like about it, one can be fixed with software updates, the other can’t. First, the audio prompts are too loud. They’re like having my music at 80% volume. That’s too much.

I hope Skullcandy can lower the volume of the prompts by 50%, or let us have the option to do it. Second, putting the buds back into the case can be quite tricky at first. They sit on opposite sides, and the wing tips can slip out, and prevent the contacts from touching. And if they’re not touching, they’re not charging.

So you’ve got to be more careful about that. Overall, the much lower price is a compelling reason to get the Method ANC, but also buy it for the extra power in the volume, the sound quality that is comparable to the flagship Bose, VASTLY superior mic pickup for calls, and if you think having a carabiner for your earbuds is super useful.

Check latest price:
Skullcandy Method 360 ANC - https://amzn.to/42wkpSJ
Bose QC Ultra Earbuds - https://amzn.to/49TSg9K

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