So I haven’t used these earbuds. I don’t need to. Because the moment I read “Skullcandy partners with Bose,” I had to double-check the calendar and make sure it wasn’t April Fool’s Day.
Let’s be clear: Skullcandy is the headphone brand you bought in high school because they came in neon green and cost $24.95. Bose is the brand your uncle wears on business class flights while sipping a neat scotch and blocking out crying babies with that sweet, sweet noise cancellation. These two brands should not be in the same room, let alone on the same product.
And yet here we are.
What Happened: Skullcandy’s “Premium” Earbuds, Now Bose-ified
The new Method 360 ANC earbuds are Skullcandy’s latest “premium” offering, priced at $99 to start. They’ve got:
- Hybrid ANC
- Audio tuning licensed from Bose
- Custom EQ via Skullcandy’s Skull-iQ app
- Wear detection, multipoint pairing, Spotify Tap, and a sliding battery case
- Even a leopard print color option, because subtlety is overrated
The pitch is that Skullcandy gets to claim its “most advanced audio experience to date,” and Bose gets… well, that’s what I’m still trying to figure out.
Trevor Score: 0/10 — No Shot I’m Letting This Slide
This isn’t a formal review — it’s just how I felt reading about this thing. A gut-check from someone who actually cares about brand identity.
Trevor Score: 0/10 — Not because the product is necessarily bad (again, I haven’t used it), but because this partnership cheapens the Bose name in a way that feels like a branding betrayal. I’m not mad at the tech. I’m mad at the vibe.
Final Verdict
Skullcandy licensing Bose tech is like putting Michelin tires on a tricycle. It technically works, but you’ve completely missed the point. Bose has spent decades building up an image of polished, understated audio quality — and now they’re lending that to a brand best known for making headphones in hot pink camo?
It just doesn’t sit right. Not for Bose fans. Not for audio nerds. Not for anyone who’s ever said “I care how my music sounds.”
I didn’t expect my week to be derailed by a budget earbud partnership, but here we are.