The Skullcandy Crusher Headphones took me by surprise. Here’s a quick review.
Awhile back I was working in the electronics department of a retail store when a Skullcandy headphone display was put in. I always like trying out new hardware–especially when it’s free to try–but these things really surprised me. The Skullcandy Crusher headphones come with a built in amp that vibrates the cups. As the box and tagline says: bass you can feel!
First let’s talk about the design. The Skullcandy Crusher headphones are built like the average, wired over-the-ear headphones. They’re completely plastic and fold-able for portability. There is some hollow plastic padding along the top of the headband, which is better than nothing but hardly ideal for comfort. The cushions around the ear cups are a lot better than the headband, but they still feel almost hollow instead of soft and padded.
The aux is completely detachable from the headphones. I believe this should be standard for all wired headphones because the majority of headphones break at the cable. A replacement aux cable can be purchased, but unfortunately it has to be slim enough to fit within the port of the Skullcandy Crushers. It’s a normal 3.5mm aux, but the plastic design around the port prevents all cables from fitting. The included cable isn’t anything special either, as it’s just a normal plastic auxiliary cable with mic.
The bass of the Skullcandy Crusher headphones is controlled by a small slider on the side of the right ear cup. The bass depends on the song file itself for the most part. Some songs have more bass than others, which will activate the amp in the headphones easier. Other songs require you to turn up the volume for the bass to start kicking in. Honestly, it’s nowhere near as good as the bass in a surround sound set up, but once you experience the bass in the Skullcandy Crushers, it’s hard to go back to the normal over-the-ear headphones. Give the headphones a listen in my video review below.
This amp is powered by a single AA battery inside one of the ear cups. It seems to last about two full days at full power, so I suggest using rechargeable batteries or using the bass sparingly.
All in all, I highly recommend these headphones if you want a decent pair of wired, over-the-ear headphones with some cool bass feature. However, I don’t think they’re worth over $100 at retail. Once you go beyond the $100 price point, it would be better to get into bluetooth headphones.