Skullcandy is a company whose reputation has changed greatly in recent years. In the past, they were mostly known for their cheap earbuds. More recently they’ve become a fan favorite for their Crusher Line. All the headphones in the Crusher liner are known for booming haptic bass you can feel. The latest entry is the Skullcandy Crusher Evo. It retails for $200 and looks to take the Crusher line to the next level.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo Wireless Headphones
Table of Contents
Design and Build
The Crusher Evos are available in True Black or Chill Grey. The unit we’re interviewing is the grey version. The design is made up of various shades of grey except for the green power button. I find the design more appealing than your average bland headphone look. The headphones also feel extremely sturdy. The headband has enough flex to conform to larger heads. It also doesn’t have too much clamping power that it causes comfort issues. I was able to wear the Crusher Evos for hours without discomfort. The earcups did seem to have slightly less room than other headphones.
A soft-shell carrying bag is included with the headphones. It’s better than nothing, but I wouldn’t use it over my own hard carry case during travel. The ear cups rotate 180 degrees. This allows them to sit flat on a desk or hard cases. On the left earcup, you’ll find a power button along with the bass slider. There are three vertical buttons on the right earcup. Pressing the top button will increase volume. Holding 3 seconds will skip to the next track. Pressing the bottom button will decrease the volume. Holding it for 3 seconds will go to the previous track. The middle button has a different texture and is used to play and pause. It can also be used to answer and end phone calls.
Specifications
There is no aptX or LDAC support on the Skullcandy Crusher Evo. AAC and SBC are the only codecs supported. They have Bluetooth 5.0, but do not support multipoint connections. There is also a USB-C port for charging. The headphones weigh 312g. This is slightly heavier than similar options, but not enough to be a negative in my opinion. Tile support is also included on the Crusher Evo also. Adding them through the Tile app will allow convenient tracking.
Sound Quality
This is really the most important section for a pair of headphones like the Crusher Evos. I wouldn’t go as far as to call them niche headphones. On the other hand, a large number of buyers will pick these expecting abnormal levels of haptic bass. Bass that is impactful in a way other headphones won’t even attempt. For those people, I can say the Crusher Evos deliver.
The Crusher Evos have a bass slider that is pretty important to its setup. When the slider is all the way down, bass is at a minimum and the EQ isn’t very exciting at all. At about 25%, the EQ really opens up. The insane sensory bass on the Crusher Evo’s comes alive as the slider approaches the halfway mark. It’s a full and deep bass. More importantly, it’s a haptic bass you can feel akin to a subwoofer. I found going too far past the halfway mark was really dependent on mood and genre of music. It should be noted that using the slider is much more convenient than opening an app and fiddling with EQ. For that reason, it’s hard to see the slider as anything other than a positive.
I found the EQ extremely pleasing overall, but I did notice one issue early on. There were times when I felt like the vocals were struggling to be heard over other frequencies. That’s not a huge surprise. Mids can often take the backseat with bass-heavy EQs. I did find an easy tweak that helped things for me. There’s more on that in the next section on the app support. I think Skullcandy did a great job with the sound quality overall. The booming bass is the star of the show here. It’s the most impactful, haptic bass I’ve experienced in headphones and it doesn’t sacrifice sound quality. The slider allows the sensory bass to have a mind of its own. This allows the Skullcandy Crusher Evos the be much more than a niche product for bass heads.
App Support
The Skullcandy app is available on Android and iPhone. Once installed, installed you can connect the app with the headphones. You can register the headphones there and view numerous helpful user guides. More importantly, there are a few options to customize the EQ. There are 3 preset EQ modes for Music, Podcast, and Movie. I found the Movie mode most enjoyable and it solved what small qualms I had about weak vocals.
There is also the option for a “Personal Sound” mode. After taking an easy hearing test through the app, it enables your own sound profile. That sound profile is supposed to be optimized for your hearing. I’ve most recently used this type of feature in the Anker Soundcore app. I typically test it and disable it after finding it doesn’t add much. Surprisingly, I preferred the personal sound profile and left it enabled along with the Movie mode EQ. The Skullcandy app isn’t very robust, but what’s included is useful.
Battery Life
Battery Life on the Skullcandy Crusher Evo headphones is incredible. Skullcandy claims the Evo can achieve 40 hours of playback. In practice, I achieved much more than that. Battery life will always vary based on usage. In this case, higher volumes and more use of the bass slider will deplete your battery quicker. I didn’t exactly take it easy on these headphones. After 3 days of utilizing the Evos as my main headphones, the battery life in the app still said 100%. After 2 weeks, the battery life sat at 67%. The Skullcandy Crusher Evo battery life is nothing short of legendary. Their quick charge feature can also provide 4 hours of playback after just a 10-minute charge.
Conclusion and Alternatives
For bass lovers looking for pair of headphones, I don’t think you have to look much further. The bass experience in itself is worth it. Not all bass heads are created equal. Some will want an EQ with a wider soundstage or a slightly more balanced EQ. For those, I would suggest the Sony WH-XB900N. In our review, we detailed how the WH-XB900N can produce a bass-heavy EQ without overpowering other frequencies. The app has extensive options to tweak the EQ. They are also solid active noise-cancelling headphones. The Skullcandy Crusher is a cheaper option. They also have a bass slider, but the design and overall sound quality can’t match the Skullcandy Crusher Evos. Check out our best bass headphones guide for even more options.
Keith Collins has been writing for over 15 years for various publications. He’s a lover of music, home theater, and excellent sound quality. His fondness for technology in addition to his non-stop curiosity fuels his writing ventures.