Skullcandy Technique 360 evaluate: great-sounding mid-range earbuds with a serving to hand from Bose

Skullcandy Technique 360: One minute evaluate

As my editor at TechRadar properly is aware of, I’ve spent the final yr enamored with the Nothing Ear (a) as the very best earbuds you should buy for a comparatively reasonably priced worth, and nothing has come near toppling these svelte and low-cost buds.

That’s all modified now although, as a result of the Skullcandy Technique 360 give their year-and-change older rivals a run for his or her cash. And I see them being the brand new huge buds that, going ahead, I shall evaluate all contemporaries too.

These buds from American audio firm Skullcandy are useless ringers for the model’s low-cost Dime Evo buds, coming in the identical novel carry case, however I’ve already acquired to right myself: these aren’t simply from Skullcandy, however from one other key participant too.

In an enormous partnership, high audio canine Bose contributed to the sound of the Technique 360, and it reveals. These have the vitality of Skullcandy buds however the audio precision of Bose ones, and the incredible audio high quality reveals that the Technique 360 advantages from the very best of each worlds.

Whereas Skullcandy boasts that the Technique 360 have ‘Sound by Bose’, the design of the brand new buds additionally bears greater than a passing resemblance to current Bose earpieces too, particularly with a gel fin across the buds to assist them stick in your ear. Whether or not this was one other case of the Bose serving to hand or only a complete coincidence, it’s welcome, with the Technique 360 staying within the ear reliably even throughout exercises. They’re comfy too, letting you pay attention for lengthy bouts with out your ears getting achy.

Design of the buds could also be nice, however the carry case itself gives issues: particularly, that it’s completely big. It’s a large lengthy tube which hides an interior shell that you simply slide out to retrieve the earbuds, and it’s far too huge to simply slot in trouser pockets. In keeping with promotional pictures Skullcandy sees you utilizing the O-ring to strap the case to your bag, or maybe your trousers, however the sheer measurement would make that about as unwieldy as strolling about with a scabbard.

A number of tough edges present their face within the characteristic set too: the app usually failed to hook up with the earbuds, even once they readily linked to my cellphone with out points, which was irritating after I wished to vary ANC mode. Plus, the voice announcer on the buds is each terrifyingly loud and surprisingly low-res, making me surprise if I’d by chance been despatched a pair of Technique 360 which had been cursed by the Babadook.

Are these flaws sufficient to smash the Skullcandy? Not by any means, they’re simply minor gripes, and ones that give me one thing to put in writing about to appear even-handed too. However they do little to counteract the actual strengths of the Technique 360: its dependable match, its incredible sound and its reasonably priced nature.

Skullcandy Technique 360 evaluate: Specs

Skullcandy Technique 360 evaluate: Value and availability

Introduced in April ’25RRP $119 / £99 / AU$189Priced towards mid-range rivals

Skullcandy introduced the Technique 360 in April 2025 and put them on sale immediately afterwards.

The official worth of the buds is $119 / £99 / AU$189, though they had been cheaper for his or her first few weeks of existence because of introductory pricing. When contemplating their worth, although, we’ll contemplate this official worth.

At that worth these may be thought-about mid-range buds, with the aforementioned Nothing Ear (a) costing roughly (relying on area) at $99 / £99 / AU$192. Their different huge rival at that worth is the WF-C710N which has an RRP precisely the identical because the Skullcandy and we’ll get extra into the variations in our comparability part under.

Skullcandy Technique 360 evaluate: Design

Big case that is fiddly to insert buds intoBuds are comfy and match reliablyRange of shade choices

The worst a part of the Skullcandy Technique 360 is its case. It’s completely big – you’ve acquired no probability of becoming this factor in your trouser pocket and it was even a squeeze becoming it into the folds of my jacket. It’s considerably larger than the case of some other earbud I’ve examined lately, making it a ache for portability.

That’s a disgrace as a result of it’s a bit extra interesting-looking than your generic clamshell earbud case. It makes use of what Skullcandy calls ‘Clip It and Rip It’; because of this there’s an inside column holding the earbuds which you reveal by sliding it out of a protecting tube. There’s an O-ring which helps you to clip the case to a bag or, in line with Skullcandy, trouser belt loop, which additionally makes it simple to do that sliding motion.

It’s an fascinating design which Skullcandy has used earlier than, however two additional issues past the scale rattling the case. Firstly, the charging port is on the underside of the inner column so if you happen to slide this column up, the charging port is hidden by the exterior case – it’s fairly a process to maintain charging whilst you take away the buds. Secondly, the buds solely match of their respective slots if you happen to insert them at simply the precise angle, and it’s laborious sufficient to inform which bud goes through which slot, not to mention which angle to place them in at (there are a faint ‘L’ and ‘R’ to unravel the primary downside but it surely might be made extra clear). These are the one most irritating earbuds I’ve ever examined when it comes to returning them to the case after use, and I continually wasted time attempting to rotate the buds to work out how you can get them into their hole.

It’s not simply me on this latter level: Skullcandy’s itemizing for the Technique ANC has an FAQ query and one question is “How do I put my Technique 360 ANC earbuds again within the case?” full with a surprisingly in-depth 5-point reply. Skullcandy: if earbud customers must undergo 5 steps to place an earbud within the case, maybe there’s a greater method of doing issues. I additionally introduced my much-smarter girlfriend with the buds and the case and she or he too discovered it akin to fixing a Rubix dice.

No less than Skullcandy has executed one thing I like in earbuds: provided a number of shade choices. In addition to the requirements of black and white there’s brilliant pink, a sandy hue which Skullcandy calls ‘Primer’ and your grandma’s favourite choice: leopard print.

Now onto the buds themselves: they appear to work as a medley of the 2 core forms of in-ear buds with giant our bodies which keep in your ears with a silicon ridge, however in addition they have a slight, dumpy stem. No matter shade of case you match, impacts the buds too, although within the case of leopard print it’s simply on one floor.

The buds weigh 11g so that they’re among the many heaviest earbuds I’ve examined, however within the grand scheme of issues a few grams doesn’t make a lot distinction on the ears. And that tells – not as soon as in my testing did the buds fall out of my ears, despite the fact that I went on runs with them and took them to the gymnasium. I’m going to level in the direction of their fin as the rationale for this, with the fabric of the tip additionally making them keep in my ear cosy. Within the field you get an array of sizes for each too.

Each buds have contact controls, activated if you happen to faucet the precise spot on the physique of the bud (if you happen to have a look at the image, it’s just under the slight ridge, round the place the LED gentle is). This labored wonderful in selecting up fingertips however I discovered it fairly laborious to reliably faucet the right spot after I wished to pause music.

The buds each have an IPX4 score making them protected towards splashes of water, which primarily means they’re secure towards sweat or a lightweight drizzle of rain however nothing stronger (or wetter).

Skullcandy Technique 360 evaluate: Options

Good on-bud battery lifeANC is robust, however not competition-beatingSkull-IQ app for additional options

With a case of its measurement, you’d anticipate the Skullcandy Technique 360 to have a battery life longer than creation. And it’s positively good, although set your expectations just a little decrease than ‘without end’.

In keeping with Skullcandy, the bud battery life reaches 11 hours with ANC off or 9 hours with it turned on, with the case offering an additional 23 or 29 respectively. From my testing I’d say Skullcandy’s figures are, if something, a contact conservative – both method these are respectable figures

You’re provided the 2 commonplace noise cancellation modes we frequently see: commonplace ANC and ‘Keep-Conscious’, each with a slider letting you alter depth mode (earlier than you ask the identical query I did: larger depth impacts the energy of ANC, not of background noise allowed by means of).

No matter which choice you decide, the ANC is robust and succesful, and also you’ll wrestle to search out higher at this worth level. It’s so efficient, nevertheless, that Keep-Conscious usually didn’t let by means of the sorts of loud close by sounds that these ambient modes are designed to do. In actual fact I didn’t discover an enormous distinction between ANC and Keep-Conscious more often than not.

You possibly can obtain the Cranium-IQ app in your cellphone or pill to get additional options for the earbuds. A few of these are potential to toggle ANC and alter what tapping the buds does, however there are just a few extra.

One in all these is nigh-on necessary at this level: an equalizer. You get a number of presets right here however there’s additionally a five-band customized choice. Whereas that’s not as complicated as we usually see in equalizers, I truthfully don’t thoughts, because it’s much more easy for the common earbud person to get their head round.

Past that we’ve acquired options for low latency audio (helpful for gaming), multipoint pairing to hook up with a number of units directly, the power to make use of your earbud as a distant set off on your smartphone digital camera and Spotify Faucet, which helps you to press and maintain an earbud to immediately play from a sure Spotify playlist.

A number of options I wish to see are absent like Discover My Earbuds, listening assessments or earbud match assessments, however the options you do get work properly… not like the best way you management them.

One factor that I’d like to see Skullcandy repair with the app is its reliability. A good few occasions I’d boot it up whereas listening to music solely to be informed that the earbuds weren’t in use – one time this incorrect message was sarcastically lined up by my cellphone system’s personal notification telling me the buds’ battery life. I’d should both refresh the app, or surrender on plans to vary the EQ or noise cancellation.

On the subject of annoying options: the voice announcer, which tells you when the buds are linked while you put them in in addition to while you change ANC modes, is each extremely low-res and extremely loud. Relax please, announcer!

Skullcandy Technique 360 evaluate: Sound efficiency

12mm driversBose tuning pays offEnergetic sound with meaty bass

As I stated within the introduction, Bose helped with the tuning of the Skullcandy Technique 360 (although probably not in lending the 12mm drivers, which are literally larger than those we usually see Bose use in its earbuds).

This serving to hand reveals as a result of the Technique 360 are a few of the best-sounding earbuds I’ve ever examined for his or her worth. And, extra clearly, they faintly resemble the tone of the Bose QuietComfort Buds from final yr, in that music sounds wealthy, meaty and full (which I doubled down on by activating the bass booster EQ repeatedly by means of testing, although it’s removed from needed).

That’s to not say that the buds are only for bass-heads, as mids had been simply as energetic and electrical as lower-frequency sounds. I discovered the audio profile excellent for punchy and fast-paced rock music which inserts properly with the Skullcandy branding. Treble might have been just a little extra glistening although and, whereas not audibly falling behind within the combine, it did lack just a little zest when different elements of a tune had been going full-force.

When you like listening to high-velocity music, you’ll be glad to know that the Technique 360 will get very loud, and I didn’t even take a look at it at its high quantity.

The Skullcandy additionally has a reasonably pronounced sound stage, maybe not as dramatic because the aforementioned Bose buds, however nonetheless nice in comparison with many same-priced rivals. Devices aren’t simply panned left or proper however to various levels round you, and audio was clear sufficient that I might hear the sound of fingers on guitar glissando or the kind of drumstick a drummer would use.

Right here’s the place I’d talk about audio codecs or connection varieties however neither Skullcandy’s web site nor the Cranium-IQ app make any point out of them, so I’ve acquired to presume that high-res music isn’t supported.

Sound efficiency rating: 4/5

Skullcandy Technique 360 evaluate: Worth

The Skullcandy Technique 360 are nice worth for cash as a result of in two huge methods, they rival options which you would be spending twice the value on.