Skullcandy Crusher Evo Bluetooth Headphones

Skullcandy’s Crusher Evo are something of a detachment from my usual roster of very serious grown up headphones for grown up. They are entirely unserious, both visually – the pair I was sent for this review came in “Washed Denim” navy camo – and functionally.

And they’re not subtle about it either. When I first opened up the box I saw a huge slider on the left earcup and exclaimed: good grief, a real volume control!

It was not a volume control.

No, dear reader, the slider on the left cup activates a feature known as “Crusher Bass” which ramps the bass of the headphones all the way up from “meh, I’ve heard better” to “OH GOD THEY ARE GOING TO JUMP RIGHT OFF MY EARS.”

And, you know what, despite the absolute absurdity of what seems to be a haptic bass boost – that is, the headphones shake much more than they have any business doing – it’s rather compelling. They shake by means of a separate, heavy duty haptic driver which pulls absolutely no punches. I was tempted to pry these headphones open and show you in detail what’s what, but a quick Google search yielded this fantastic video from New Stuff TV which does a much better job than I’m likely to do. Go watch it… but, come back will ya?

Despite, or perhaps because of, their ridiculous booming haptic bass feature the Crusher Evo are actually quite good headphones. The boomy bass is excellent if you like to feel your music. It’s certainly not audiophile quality, and probably likely to do some lasting damage if it’s overused, but it’s hilariously good fun for certain genres of music and I will absolutely crank it… just a little.

Boomy bass is not accurate bass, though, and these struggle with the wobbly low frequencies of Karsh Kale’s Distance – honestly I need to find some new songs… help me DankPods. Okay sure Justice Genesis will do… sheesh is that something rattling or part of the music. OH GOD THE BASS KICKED IN HOLY SHIIIIIIII.

Excuse me for a moment.

I think what I’m trying to convey here in the form of realtime feedback while listening to Justice on a silly camouflage navy (ostensibly “Washed Denim”) pair of headphones cranked to absolute maximum volume is that Skullcandy’s Crusher Evo are fun. Absurd, ridiculous, possibly slightly dangerous, outrageously good fun. Normally I have to invoke the ire of the neighbours to jam out to bassy music this hard.

Aside from the silly features they are, pretty much, your bog standard pair of over-ear cans. They have an excellent little contrasting red power button so you don’t have to hunt for it. They’re a little sweaty, but I’m so used to earbuds at this point that I’m not sure I can judge them fairly.

Hold on my ear(s) are ringing, I might have overdone it…

They also stay on my head, which is something of a rarity for headphones in general and why I’ve always preferred larger over-ear cans. I think it helps that they’re big, but not super heavy. They fold down into a little bundle, always appreciated, though I’m a little wary of the hinges which taper down to something a little insubstantial.

These are, I think, headphones for a younger generation who might rough them up a touch more than me. Nonetheless the rest of the build seems pretty solid and the denim headband with rubber padding underneath – and a little detent presumably for a desk hook or otherwise – feels premium. Colours are also well matched across the board. The foam earcups pull off pretty easily, though they are tricky to get back on. There are a variety of aftermarket pads for when yours inevitably disintegrate, but none to match the navy blue or – indeed – anything much but black.

As a sort-of value-add the Crusher Evo also come with “Tile” support. This sounds great in theory, but most headphones already have “been so I can find them” built into the manufacturer software without any extra hassle. Tile, if you don’t already use it, requires you to sign up, activate your devices, and pesters you to enable always-on location and notifications- presumably making your phone another node in the Tile network. No thanks. I think I’ll find my headphones the old fashioned way.

Overall the Skullcandy Crusher Evo are great headphones with a silly low-pass vibrate-your-whole-head-with-haptic bass feature that will no doubt appeal to a particular demographic. It’s a shame they’re not backed up by particularly good bass performance, but they are pretty good fun.

The white, black and grey are currently on sale for £99, which is pretty reasonable. The “Washed Denim” (as tested) are a little pricier at £179.99, a touch spendy, in my opinion.

Monday, December 2nd, 2024, Personal Audio.