Skullcandy Crusher Review
Pros: Very powerful bass
Cons: Uncomfortable for larger heads, mediocre noise isolation, average clarity
Manufacturer: Skullcandy
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Skullcandy Crusher | |||||
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| Awards |  | ||||
| Price | $150 List $99.95 at Amazon | $60 List $59.99 at Amazon | $200 List $114.95 at Amazon | $40 List | $90 List |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Very powerful bass | Inexpensive, powerful bass, effective active noise cancellation, comfortable | Good sound quality, good active noise cancellation, less expensive than competitors | In inexpensive, reasonably good sound quality, portable | Fairly portable |
| Cons | Uncomfortable for larger heads, mediocre noise isolation, average clarity | Lacks some brightness in mid and vocal ranges, headband may be to large for smaller heads | Not comfortable for those with larger ears/heads | Poor noise isolation, not comfortable for large ears/heads | Mediocre sound quality, not very comfortable, poor noise isolation |
| Bottom Line | Great if you have a small to medium head and love bass over all else, but otherwise not worth the money | Impressively inexpensive given the sound quality, active noise-canceling performance, and comfort | An impressive combination of good quality at a reasonable price that makes for a good value | Offers a decent listening experience for a relatively low price, but certainly doesn't stand out in any aspect | Sound quality and user experience doesn't live up to those of other, comparably priced models |
| Rating Categories | Skullcandy Crusher | Soundcore Life Q20 | JBL Live 650BTNC | Tribit XFree Tune | Cowin E7 Pro |
| Sound Quality (30%) | |||||
| Noise Isolation (25%) | |||||
| Comfort (25%) | |||||
| User Friendliness (10%) | |||||
| Portability (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Skullcandy Crusher | Soundcore Life Q20 | JBL Live 650BTNC | Tribit XFree Tune | Cowin E7 Pro |
| Type | Over-ear | Over-ear | Over-ear | Over-ear | Over-ear |
| Noise cancelling | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Manufacturer reported battery life (hours) | 40 | 40 | 30 | 40 | 30 |
| Measured weight (ounces) | 10.1 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 10.3 | 10.6 |
| Included case | Lined drawstring pouch | Lined drawstring pouch | Lined drawstring pouch | Semi-hard case | Semi-hard case |
| App | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Earcup padding cover material | Leatherette | Leatherette | PU Leather | Leatherette | Synthetic protein leather |
| Charging cable length (inches) | N/A | 40" | 47" | N/A | N/A |
| Microphone for voice? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth version | N/A | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| Onboard buttons | Volume, play/pause, forward/back, bass | Volume, multifunction, power, NC | Volume, play/pause, forward/back, noise cancelling, voice assistant, power/bluetooth, answer/decline/mute calls | Volume, play/pause, forward/back, noise cancelling | Volume, play/pause, forward/back |
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Skullcandy Crusher has a lot of character with its over-the-top bass driver and imposing skull logo, but unfortunately, it doesn't back that character up with much performance.
Performance Comparison
Sound Quality
The Skullcandy Crusher produces an average clarity. Most music sounds good and crisp, but complicated melodies and very high or very low notes can sound a bit muddled. Think of the cheap earbuds you bought at Best Buy on a whim, and that's the level of clarity we're talking about here.
However, the Crusher isn't focused on clarity; it's focused on bass. It has exceptionally powerful bass, maybe even too powerful. If you turn the bass all the way up the headphones literally shake on your head. If that's the kind of experience you're looking for, then these are the headphones for you.
Noise Isolation
The Crusher suffers a bit here. These headphones do not offer active noise cancellation, which handicaps them in terms of providing good noise isolation. However, they are able to muffle most sounds to an ignorable lever, but you will hear most everything going on around you, at least to some extent, when wearing these headphones.
Comfort
The Crusher received a fairly average score in this metric, but its score doesn't tell the whole story. If you have a medium to small head with correspondingly medium to small ears, you'll likely find these headphones to be quite comfy. However, the minute we put them on people with larger heads we got comments like, "Dang are my ears itchy," and, "These things really are skull crushers!"
User Friendliness
The Crusher was again around average in this metric. It has standard play/pause and volume up/down buttons. To skip tracks forward and back you must hold down the volume buttons for 3 seconds. This felt more cumbersome than pressing buttons multiple times.
Portability
These headphones fold down relatively small and weigh 10.1 ounces, which is just around the average. However, they come with only a drawstring pouch as a carrying case, which isn't very protective.
Value
Here again, unless you just love the Crusher's over-the-top bass, it is a poor value.
Conclusion
The Skullcandy Crusher offers very powerful bass, but not too much else. If you're bass obsessed you may love these headphones; otherwise, there are much better options available.
— Max Mutter and Steven Tata