Skullcandy’s ANC earbuds are Bose in disguise with a very low price

If you like the sound of Bose's QuietComfort Earbuds 2 but are on a tighter budget, you should check out the new Skullcandy Method 360 ANC buds.

They're a collaboration between Skullcandy and Bose, combining the former's distinctive design with Bose's audio excellence.

The earbuds look rather like Bose's QuietComforts, but they come with a more funky design and a much lower price – they're £99 / $99/ AU$189.99 for an introductory period.

This could be a match made in headphone heaven, because while Skullcandy designs are usually fun, the sound tends to be good rather than great. In our review of the Skullcandy Dime budget earbuds, we said they just sounded "fine".

Bose's own alternatives are generally much better received and often feature among the best earbuds each year. That means these new collab in-ears could be the best-sounding to bear the Skullcandy skull.

Skullcandy Method 360 ANC earbuds: key features

Rather than a flip-top, the charging case here is more of a cylinder and uses a sliding sleeve. That makes it a little bulky, but there's a karabiner so you can clip it to a backpack or bag. There are four striking colours and a leopard-print option, too.

The software here is Skullcandy's QCE app, which looks very like Bose's phone app – a good thing – and while there's no spatial audio (which makes the "360" product name seem an odd choice) you do get ANC with a transparency mode and four mics.

There's Bluetooth 5.3 with LE audio for compatible smartphones, and the buds have multipoint and Google Fast Pair. Battery life is nine hours plus 23 from the charging case with ANC on, and 11/29 with it off.

The key differences between these buds and Bose's QC range are in high-end features. Bose QC buyers get aptX adaptive and lossless CODECs, plus Immersive spatial audio and custom tuning.

However, early reviews suggest that when it comes to sound, the Method 360 buds sound like they come straight from the Bose factory.

The Method 360 ANC earbuds are available now from Skullcandy and the usual retailers.