Subj : After a year of searching, Ive finally found a rival for my favor To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Sat Sep 20 2025 22:45:11 After a year of searching, Ive finally found a rival for my favorite earbuds Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2025 21:30:00 +0000 Description: Boses helping hand pays off in the Skullcandy Method 360, great-sounding mid-range earbuds. FULL STORY ======================================================================Skullcan dy Method 360: One minute review As my editor at TechRadar well knows, Ive spent the last year enamored with the Nothing Ear (a) as the best earbuds you can buy for a relatively affordable price, and nothing has come close to toppling these svelte and low-cost buds. Thats all changed now though, because the Skullcandy Method 360 give their year-and-change older rivals a run for their money. And I see them being the new big buds that, going forward, I shall compare all contemporaries too. These buds from American audio company Skullcandy are dead ringers for the brands cheap Dime Evo buds, coming in the same novel carry case, but Ive already got to correct myself: these arent just from Skullcandy, but from another key player too. In a big partnership, top audio dog Bose contributed to the sound of the Method 360, and it shows. These have the energy of Skullcandy buds but the audio precision of Bose ones, and the fantastic audio quality shows that the Method 360 benefits from the best of both worlds. While Skullcandy boasts that the Method 360 have Sound by Bose, the design of the new buds also bears more than a passing resemblance to recent Bose earpieces too, especially with a gel fin around the buds to help them stick in your ear. Whether this was another case of the Bose helping hand or just a total coincidence, its welcome, with the Method 360 staying in the ear reliably even during workouts. Theyre comfortable too, letting you listen for long bouts without your ears getting achy. Design of the buds may be great, but the carry case itself provides problems: namely, that its absolutely huge . Its a massive long tube which hides an inner shell that you slide out to retrieve the earbuds, and its far too big to easily fit in trouser pockets. According to promotional images Skullcandy sees you using the O-ring to strap the case to your bag, or perhaps your trousers, but the sheer size would make that about as unwieldy as walking about with a scabbard. A few rough edges show their face in the feature set too: the app often failed to connect to the earbuds, even when they readily connected to my phone without issues, which was irritating when I wanted to change ANC mode. Plus, the voice announcer on the buds is both terrifyingly loud and surprisingly low-res, making me wonder if Id accidentally been sent a pair of Method 360 which had been cursed by the Babadook. Are these flaws enough to ruin the Skullcandy? Not by any means, theyre just minor gripes, and ones that give me something to write about to seem even-handed too. But they do little to counteract the real strengths of the Method 360: its reliable fit, its fantastic sound and its affordable nature. Skullcandy Method 360 review: Specifications Component Value Water resistant IPX4 Battery life (quoted) 11 hours (earbuds), 29 hours (total) Bluetooth type Bluetooth 5.3 Weight 11g / Charging case: 77g Driver 12mm Skullcandy Method 360 review: Price and availability (Image credit: Future) Announced in April '25 RRP $119 / 99 / AU$189 Priced against mid-range rivals Skullcandy announced the Method 360 in April 2025 and put them on sale straight away afterwards. The official price of the buds is $119 / 99 / AU$189, although they were cheaper for their first few weeks of existence thanks to introductory pricing. When considering their value, though, well consider this official price. At that price these can be considered mid-range buds, with the aforementioned Nothing Ear (a) costing more or less (depending on region) at $99 / 99 / AU$192. Their other big rival at that price is the WF-C710N which has an RRP exactly the same as the Skullcandy and well get more into the differences in our comparison section below. Skullcandy Method 360 review: Design (Image credit: Future) Huge case that's fiddly to insert buds into Buds are comfortable and fit reliably Range of color options The worst part of the Skullcandy Method 360 is its case. Its absolutely huge youve got no chance of fitting this thing in your trouser pocket and it was even a squeeze fitting it into the folds of my jacket. Its significantly bigger than the case of any other earbud Ive tested recently, making it a pain for portability. Thats a shame because its a bit more interesting-looking than your generic clamshell earbud case. It uses what Skullcandy calls Clip It and Rip It; this means that theres an internal column holding the earbuds which you reveal by sliding it out of a protective tube. Theres an O-ring which lets you clip the case to a bag or, according to Skullcandy, trouser belt loop, which also makes it easy to do this sliding action. Its an interesting design which Skullcandy has used before, but two extra things beyond the size damn the case. Firstly, the charging port is on the bottom of the internal column so if you slide this column up, the charging port is hidden by the external case its quite a procedure to keep charging while you remove the buds. Secondly, the buds only fit in their respective slots if you insert them at just the right angle, and its hard enough to tell which bud goes in which slot, let alone which angle to put them in at (there are a faint L and R to solve the first problem but it could be made more clear). These are the single most frustrating earbuds Ive ever tested in terms of returning them to the case after use, and I constantly wasted time trying to rotate the buds to work out how to get them into their gap. Its not just me on this latter point: Skullcandys listing for the Method ANC has an FAQ question and one query is How do I put my Method 360 ANC earbuds back in the case? complete with a surprisingly in-depth 5-point answer. Skullcandy: if earbud users need to go through five steps to put an earbud in the case, perhaps theres a better way of doing things. I also presented my much-smarter girlfriend with the buds and the case and she too found it akin to solving a Rubix cube. Evidence of how easily-bendable the hook is. (Image credit: Future) At least Skullcandy has done something I love in earbuds: offered multiple color options. As well as the standards of black and white theres bright red, a sandy hue which Skullcandy calls Primer and your grandmas favorite option: leopard print. Now onto the buds themselves: they seem to work as a medley of the two core types of in-ear buds with large bodies which stay in your ears with a silicon ridge, but they also have a slight, dumpy stem. Whatever color of case you fit, affects the buds too, though in the case of leopard print its just on one surface. The buds weigh 11g so theyre among the heaviest earbuds Ive tested, but in the grand scheme of things a couple of grams doesnt make much difference on the ears. And that tells not once in my testing did the buds fall out of my ears, even though I went on runs with them and took them to the gym. Im going to point towards their fin as the reason for this, with the material of the tip also making them stay in my ear snug. In the box you get an array of sizes for both too. Both buds have touch controls, activated if you tap the right spot on the body of the bud (if you look at the picture, its just below the slight ridge, around where the LED light is). This worked fine in picking up fingertips but I found it quite hard to reliably tap the correct spot when I wanted to pause music. The buds both have an IPX4 rating making them protected against splashes of water, which essentially means theyre safe against sweat or a light drizzle of rain but nothing stronger (or wetter). Design score: 3.5/5 Skullcandy Method 360 review: Features (Image credit: Future) Good on-bud battery life ANC is strong, but not competition-beating Skull-IQ app for extra features With a case of its size, youd expect the Skullcandy Method 360 to have a battery life longer than creation. And its definitely good, though set your expectations a little lower than forever. According to Skullcandy, the bud battery life reaches 11 hours with ANC off or 9 hours with it turned on, with the case providing an extra 23 or 29 respectively. From my testing Id say Skullcandys figures are, if anything, a touch conservative either way those are respectable figures Youre offered the two standard noise cancellation modes we often see: standard ANC and Stay-Aware, both with a slider letting you change intensity mode (before you ask the same question I did: higher intensity affects the strength of ANC, not of background noise allowed through). Regardless of which option you pick, the ANC is strong and capable, and youll struggle to find better at this price point. Its so effective, however, that Stay-Aware often failed to let through the kinds of loud nearby sounds that these ambient modes are designed to do. In fact I didnt notice a huge difference between ANC and Stay-Aware most of the time. You can download the Skull-IQ app on your phone or tablet to get extra features for the earbuds. Some of these are ability to toggle ANC and change what tapping the buds does, but there are a few more. (Image credit: Future) One of these is nigh-on mandatory at this point: an equalizer. You get several presets here but theres also a five-band custom option. While thats not as complex as we normally see in equalizers, I honestly dont mind, as its a lot more simple for the average earbud user to get their head around. Beyond that weve got features for low latency audio (useful for gaming), multipoint pairing to connect to multiple devices at once, the ability to use your earbud as a remote trigger for your smartphone camera and Spotify Tap, which lets you press and hold an earbud to instantly play from a certain Spotify playlist. A few features I like to see are absent like Find My Earbuds, listening tests or earbud fit tests, but the features you do get work well unlike the way you control them. One thing that Id love to see Skullcandy fix with the app is its reliability. A fair few times Id boot it up while listening to music only to be told that the earbuds werent in use one time this incorrect message was ironically covered up by my phone systems own notification telling me the buds battery life. Id have to either refresh the app, or give up on plans to change the EQ or noise cancellation. On the topic of annoying features: the voice announcer, which tells you when the buds are connected when you put them in as well as when you change ANC modes, is both incredibly low-res and incredibly loud. Calm down please, announcer! Features score: 4/5 Skullcandy Method 360 review: Sound performance (Image credit: Future) 12mm drivers Bose tuning pays off Energetic sound with meaty bass As I said in the introduction, Bose helped with the tuning of the Skullcandy Method 360 (though possibly not in lending the 12mm drivers, which are actually bigger than the ones we normally see Bose use in its earbuds). This helping hand shows because the Method 360 are some of the best-sounding earbuds Ive ever tested for their price. And, more obviously, they faintly resemble the tone of the Bose QuietComfort Buds from last year, in that music sounds rich, meaty and full (which I doubled down on by activating the bass booster EQ repeatedly through testing, though its far from necessary). Thats not to say that the buds are just for bass-heads, as mids were just as energetic and electric as lower-frequency sounds. I found the audio profile perfect for punchy and fast-paced rock music which fits well with the Skullcandy branding. Treble could have been a little more glistening though and, while not audibly falling behind in the mix, it did lack a little zest when other parts of a song were going full-force. If you like listening to high-velocity music, youll be glad to know that the Method 360 gets very loud, and I didnt even test it at its top volume. The Skullcandy also has a fairly pronounced sound stage, perhaps not as dramatic as the aforementioned Bose buds, but still great compared to many same-priced rivals. Instruments arent just panned left or right but to varying degrees around you, and audio was clear enough that I could hear the sound of fingers on guitar glissando or the type of drumstick a drummer would use. Heres where Id discuss audio codecs or connection types but neither Skullcandys website nor the Skull-IQ app make any mention of them, so Ive got to presume that high-res music isnt supported. Sound performance score: 4/5 Skullcandy Method 360 review: Value (Image credit: Future) The Skullcandy Method 360 are great value for money because in two big ways, they rival alternatives which you'd be spending twice the price on. Both the sound quality and precision-designed fit feel like features you'd normally have to pay way more for. Yet here you go, finding them at a mid-range price. Good job! Value score: 4/5 Skullcandy Method 360 review: scorecard Category Comment Score Value They hold a candle to some pricier rivals with aplomb. 4/5 Design Some of the best-designed earbuds you can find, marred by one of the most annoying charging cases out there. 3.5/5 Features The Method 360 has a range of features, and most of them work pretty well. 4/5 Sound An energetic sound which stands apart from other similar-priced rivals. 4/5 Skullcandy Method 360: Should I buy? (Image credit: Future) Buy them if... Ear fit is important The Skullcandy fit the bill if you find that other earbuds keep falling out, or you need something reliable for running. You like fast-paced rocking music The Method 360's audio balance lends itself well to energetic music that gets the blood pumping (although it's great for other genres too). You need to listen for long periods of time It's not a headline feature but the Method 360 battery life is quite a step above average, for the buds at least, making them solid options for long-term listening. Don't buy them if... You need a svelte carry case If you want a carry case you can easily slip in a trouser pocket, the Skullcandy will disappoint. You want a detailed equalizer If you like tinkering with the minutiae of your audio, the Skull-IQ 5-band equalizer might not give you enough control over how music sounds. Also consider Component Skullcandy Method 360 Nothing Ear (a) WF-C710N Water resistant IPX4 IP54 IP54 Battery life (ANC off) 11 hours (earbuds), 29 hours (total) 9.5 hours (earbuds), 42.5 hours (total) 12 hours (buds); 30 hours (case) Bluetooth type Bluetooth 5.3 Bluetooth 5.3 Bluetooth 5.3 Weight 11g (buds) 77g (case) 4.8g (buds) 39.6g (case) 5.2g (buds) 38g (case) Driver 12mm 11mm 5mm Nothing Ear (a) These ever-so-slightly-cheaper alternatives to the Skullcandy have equally powerful bass and a lovely slender carry case. The fit isn't as solid as the Method 360's though, nor is the battery life as good. Read our full Nothing Ear (a) review Sony WF-C710N These newer mid-rangers from Sony cost the exact same as the Skullcandy with a similar feature set too. The design is the main difference. Read our full Sony WF-C710N review How I tested I used the Skullcandy Method 360 for about two weeks before writing this review. For the most part of the review, the headphones were paired with my Android phone for Spotify streaming as well as the occasional gaming and Netflix. I listened to music at home and in quiet environments, but also took the buds for a spin at the gym and on runs. I've been reviewing products for TechRadar since the beginning of 2019 and have tested countless headphones amongst other gadgets. I've also used past Skullcandy options not for review purposes, but simply through having bought them myself. Read more about how we test First reviewed: September 2025 ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/earbuds-airpods/after-a-year-of-searching-ive- finally-found-a-rival-for-my-favorite-earbuds --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .