If you like your bass THUMPING then the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones will naturally appeal… but there’s more to them than just the heavy DOOF DOOF DOOF.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to access buttons and controls | Slightly cheap feel, despite not being cheap |
| THUMPING bass (if you like that kind of thing) | Higher level of bass distorts some music styles. Who knew? |
| ANC works well | Heavy for long-term wearing |
Score: 3.5/5
In this review
Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones Design
Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones Performance
Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones Verdict
Ethical disclaimer:
The Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones used in this review were sent to me by Skullcandy for the purpose of review, and I don’t believe they’re asking for them back.
That makes no difference to my review – though I’d rather not send headphones back specifically, but that’s more for health and safety reasons than anything else, because they’re worn and sweated on, and who wants a second-hand reviewer’s sweat secretions?
(Hmm… is there an OnlyFans idea here? No. No there is not).
In any case, I put the ethical disclaimer at the top of my reviews for a reason. Way too many “reviews” are hugely compromised, either via straight up deals or hidden deals, and I don’t play that way.
For more on ART’s Ethics position, see here.
Design
Skullcandy as a brand has long traded on being both youth-focused and affordable.
That first point has typically meant that they’ve delved into more ostentatious styles designed to grab attention, while the second has long left them in the position of playing in the ‘value’ market, where you’re not left expecting premium built or audio quality much of the time.
At least, that used to be the way that Skullcandy played. In recent years it’s somewhat repositioned itself via a tie-up with Bose that’s led to headphones with improved audio quality, though the in-your-face design styles have remained.
Also read
Skullcandy Method 360 ANC Headphones Review
Enter the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones. At $399 Skullcandy is rather definitively not playing in the cheap end of the pool any more.
For the set that Skullcandy sent my way, you wouldn’t immediately spot this, but that’s largely a function of them being the black pair. Black headphones do indeed go with any outfit, but that also leaves them looking rather plain.
If black isn’t your style, the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones also sell in pink, brown or grey finishes – or if you prefer your marketing terms, “Candy”, “Primer” or “Cement” finishes, while the model I’m testing is apparently “True Black”.
Good, that. I wouldn’t want to review a set of “False Black” headphones.
One of the issues I often have with over-the-ear headphones is in accessing the controls and remembering what button performs each function. Here Skullcandy has done some careful design, albeit design that does leave it with very large controls on each earpiece.
The controls on the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones are.. not subtle.
The left side houses the bass control as a dial, plus a clickable selector for ANC controls, while the right houses a volume rocker and the on/off switch, which also handles Bluetooth pairing in the classic style.
The Skullcandy App does allow for a level of customisation of these controls, but it’s not a required app per se; you could just take the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones out of the packaging and pair them quickly to get to using them.
The right cup also houses USB-C for charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack if you do want a little old-school wired connectivity, though I suspect nearly all of the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones’ target market will instead be using its Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity instead.
For a set of headphones that costs $399, the accompanying carry case is a tad on the disappointing side, mostly because it’s not a carry case at all.
It’s a bag.
Yes, it will protect the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones to a degree, but at this price I’d really rather get an actual hard carry case, especially if I’m going to consider using these on longer trips. It’s not as bad as the bra-style case that Apple has for the AirPods Max… but it’s not great either.
I have a larger skull, and I do sometimes struggle with some over-ear headphones if they grip too tightly – Apple’s AirPod Max headphones being a good example of a set I don’t like for that precise reason.
The Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones have a moderately tight grip, but they’re also just a little bit heavy on my head if I’m wearing them for more than a couple of hours.
Performance
Skullcandy’s audio was, for the longest time entirely fine for the lower-cost price brackets it played in without being particularly noteworthy, but that did change when the company set up a partnership with Bose for audio tuning and active noise cancelling features.
Or, to quote Skullcandy directly from their marketing materials:
“Crusher 1080 ANC is a headphone like no other. It combines Skullcandy’s patented adjustable Crusher® bass you can feel with premium Sound by Bose audio technologies for a listening experience that hits harder, sounds clearer, and goes deeper than ever before.”
Steady on there, Skullcandy. Maybe buy me a drink first?
On the straight audio front, the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones certainly does get punchy, and it’s pleasing that the adjustment dial does have actual perceptible levels of bass to it. A number of headphones that I’ve tested that claim adjustable bass lack properly graduated steps to the bass, which can be unpleasant when it kicks in all at once.
But does it, as per Skullcandy, “hit harder”?
Yeah, I’ll give them that, though rather predictably you do want to match up the right music genres to get the best results.
A track like N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton” works quite well with the full skull-rattling effect, whereas something a little more… subdued like “What A Wonderful World” doesn’t sound its best with full level bass, because you do lose some higher tones to distortion.
The bass on these really does go all the way up to 11.
If you’ve ever wanted to hear what Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Loved You” would sound like if his microphone had been dipped in mud before recording started, then crank up the bass on the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones… just don’t say I didn’t warn you.
That does invite switching around a little depending on the music that you’re listening to at a particular moment; if I’ve got a passion to listen to a little Prince, “Purple Rain” works quite well with heavy bass to give the drums some solid thump, but I seriously want to dial it down for something like “Thieves in The Temple” or “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World”.
It’s not quite a setting you can just set and forget about, or at least for my music choices it isn’t.
On the ANC front, the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones naturally benefit from noise isolation because both cups cover your ears, but that’s just basic physics at play.
The integrated ANC effect is quite good; I’ve been testing it for a couple of weeks on Sydney’s very busy public transport, and it’s saved my sanity more than once thanks to inconsiderate jerk passengers.
This is me on a train. I’m not entirely happy. You can tell that, right?
We will now pause for a short rant.
Dear Sydney Commuters. Want to listen to some music or watch some video content?
Great. It’s lovely that we can enjoy these modern technological marvels instead of having to glumly stare at the suspiciously sticky floors of the trains, isn’t it?
You know what’s not so lovely?
YOU BEING AN INCONSIDERATE DICKHEAD BY INFLICTING YOUR MUSIC OR VIDEO CHOICES ON EVERYONE ELSE IN THE CARRIAGE.
BUY SOME DAMNED HEADPHONES YOU MORONS, YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO SPEND ALL THAT MUCH MONEY FOR A SET.
Herein ends the rant. Ahem… now, where was I?
Oh, yes, ANC.
The ANC effect on the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones is decent, though I can’t help but feel that Bose is leaving the best it’s got to its own headphones; this is good but it’s still sitting a step below the very best in class here. Then again, those headphones do cost a degree more than the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones do, so there’s still a decent value argument here.
In terms of battery life, Skullcandy claims that the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones can manage up to 60 hours of battery life between charges. Predictably that’s with ANC off, and where’s the fun in that? Rather nicely, however, the claim drops to up to 50 hours with ANC enabled, which is quite decent in theory.
I can’t quite handle wearing the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones for a full 50 hours straight, mind you – they do get heavy and a little sweaty after even just five or six hours – but my own shorter term testing does suggest that at least 40 or so should be feasible. Recharging is via USB-C, which fits nicely in with modern standards.
Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones: Alex’s Verdict
I think it’s fair to suspect that nobody buys a set of headphones called “Crusher” if they’re not interested in a set with a strong level of bass.
The Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones do offer that strong level of bass, and for the most part they do so without absolutely destroying audio quality, which isn’t always an easy step to manage.
For those tracks where they struggle it’s nice and easy to dial the bass back too. ANC is good for a set at this price point, and the battery life is impressive.
The flipside of that is that the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphone controls do feel a little bit less than premium in-use, the carrying case is just a bag, and if you’re not after that kind of soul-altering bass level in your music or audio, they’re not going to suit you massively.
I still mean what I said about people not using headphones on trains though.
No regrets.
Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones: Pricing and availability
The Skullcandy Crusher 1080 Headphones retails in Australia for $399.
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