The Skullcandy Crusher Evo has been available in the Netherlands since the beginning of September for a suggested retail price of 169.99 euros. They are headphones that last up to 40 hours on a full battery and have a decent bass sound, but have to do without active noise canceling.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo
Price: 169.99 euros
Battery life: 35 to 40 hours
Frequency range: 20Hz – 20kHz
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Functions: Sensory Bass, Personal Sound, Tile
Connections: Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD, USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack
Weight: 312 grams
Included: 3.5mm stereo cable, USB-C cable, instruction booklet, storage case
7.5 Score 75 
- Pros
- Battery life
- Sensory Bass
- Personal Sound
- Cool design
- Wide, pleasant sound field
- Negatives
- Not suitable for every genre
- Very similar to Crusher ANC
- No active noise canceling
Compared to the previously launched Skullcandy Crusher ANC, the Skullcandy Crusher Evo is a budget-friendly headphone. 170 euros is still a considerable amount, but that is almost half cheaper than the introductory price of the ANC. Meanwhile, the Crusher ANC has dropped significantly in price and is dangerously close to the Crusher Evo. Then the question arises: which of the two headphones is the best to buy? And more importantly, why?
Skullcandy Crusher Evo
Basically the Skullcandy Crusher Evo is almost identical to the Crusher ANC. Both headphones are quite light and flexible and fit the head perfectly. The soft ear cushions, made of memory foam, also fit well around the ears and stay in place (although we have to add that we do not have above-average large ears).
In addition, both models have buttons on the ear cups. On the right are three buttons that allow you to pause the music, take phone calls and speak to a voice assistant (such as Siri or Google Assistant), as well as buttons for the volume and the next or previous song. All functions are spread over three buttons. The first time it takes some getting used to which button does what exactly, but, just as we already concluded in the review of the Crusher ANC, it works much better than touch control. The feedback is important if you don’t see what you are doing.
On the other ear cup is an audio jack (for when your headphones are empty and you still want to use them), a USB-C port (for charging), the on / off button (with which you also make the connection via Bluetooth) and the slider for the bass sound. That slider was already impressive on the Crusher ANC and it is no less impressive on the Skullcandy Crusher Evo.
The all-important Sensory Bass
With the slider you adjust the range of the bass reproduction. With many songs this can have added value, which makes us still very happy today. Music sounds incredibly warm where it should and comes in really hard at other times. Fortunately, with the slider you have complete control over the extent to which that punch comes in. We recommend that you do not open it completely, because that really hurts your ears. Despite this, it remains astonishing technology, which gives the Skullcandy headphones an edge over the competition.
In general, we are also really pleased with the sound quality of the Crusher Evo. The sound field sounds quite wide. Nowhere do we have the idea that certain tones or layers are measured, so that many music styles come into their own. Sometimes it happens that the bass layer does its best, so that sounds can sometimes disappear. But then you slide the slider further down and the problem will solve itself. It is striking that Skullcandy mainly seems to focus on music with a lot of bass. Think of (old-fashioned and modern) r & b, dance and rock and to a lesser extent genres such as soft rock and country.
Personal sound
What has a lot of influence on the sound of the music is the personal sound. That personal sound is called Personal Sound from Audiodo. Skullcandy has developed this in collaboration with the Swedish Audiodo. Via the free app, which can be downloaded for Android and iOS, the headphones can compose a personal sound profile, so that the music is adjusted to your ear.
This is done by means of a number of beeps. You put on the headphones, indicate within the app that you want to adjust the personal sound and then you hear a series of tones of which you have to indicate whether you hear them or not. It is recommended to do this in a quiet environment. Because the Skullcandy Crusher Evo does not have active noise canceling, we could not always hear the beeps properly because the upstairs neighbors here were currently producing a lot of noise. That’s a personal situation, but we do know that ANC could solve that problem. Nevertheless, we still have the idea that the personal sound is well adjusted.
In our case, it results in sound that is already provided with a bass layer by default and sounds much more compact. When we switch off Personal Sound, the music sounds a bit wider, further away, more clear and less heavy, which is also very good in principle. Without the personal sound we make much more use of the Sensory Bass slider. So we don’t make much use of the slider when our personal sound profile is enabled, but we are at peace with that. After all, the sound sounds good in this mode. And that is the most important. Moreover, you can still use one of the coolest functions of these headphones; the personal sound.
Lasts an awful long time
Another aspect that we are very pleased with is the fact that the built-in battery can last up to 40 hours. That depends on the use of the slider. But if you handle it in a calm way, then you don’t have to worry about the battery running out for the time being. Moreover: if you put it on the charger for ten minutes, it can last for another ten hours. Unfortunately, you cannot check the battery level on the headphones, but the remaining percentage is clearly indicated in the app.
It is also useful to know that the Skullcandy Crusher Evo Tile technology is also on board. This allows you to quickly find the headphones if you have lost them. The manufacturer also supplies an audio cable as standard (but when you use it you will lose access to the extra bass and the personal sound) and a handy bag. Admittedly, that storage cover is not as luxurious as that of the ANC, but the introductory price is also a lot lower.
Things to keep in mind
Apart from the disadvantages that we have mentioned here and there, we still find it worth mentioning that the headphones can be quite tight. Yes, it is flexible and light, but if you have a full bass of hair on top it can pull the hair. And that produces some uncomfortable situations if you do not take this into account. Also, phone calls don’t sound ideal for the person on the other end, we’ve been told. As if we were in some kind of traffic cone, it sounded.
Then there is the problem with the app. In principle, there is nothing wrong with the app when everything is set correctly at once. But if you do not agree with the sound profile, and you do not want to constantly look at that wrong profile in the app, then you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get things reset. You need to return the headset to factory settings, reinstall the app and remove the Crusher Evo from your Bluetooth device list. Then you have to run the test again, in the hope that it will go well now. That could have been a bit easier.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo – conclusion
Overall, we are very pleased with the Skullcandy Crusher Evo. Despite its relatively low price tag, you still get a premium headphone. The sound sounds really good and can even be adjusted to your own hearing via the app. In addition, the headphones also look great, we like the buttons and the slider is a unique function.
But the Evo isn’t really any better than the previously released Crusher ANC. Since those headphones have dropped in price and are now almost as expensive as the Crusher Evo, you may wonder aloud whether you should not go for those headphones. After all, that’s what active noise canceling is all about. Compared to the Crusher ANC, the Crusher Evo may sound a bit better, allowing you to play a little more genres on it, but in general the ANC is really the better of the two because of the active noise canceling and the premium storage case. .
Compared to other popular headphones, such as the Sony WH-1000MX3 (or M4), Bowers & Wilkins PX5 and Philips PH805, the Skullcandy Crusher Evo wins in terms of bass response and a hip look. After all, the brand is much tougher than the three brands mentioned above. And since you put on headphones and everyone sees what you’re wearing, it’s important that the style suits you. The headset is more comfortable than that of Philips, is collapsible and therefore easier to take with you than, for example, the PX5, but unfortunately does not win in the field of general audio reproduction when you place it next to the Sony headphones.
Skullcandy competes here, among other things, by itself. If the Crusher Evo quickly falls in price and the Crusher ANC gets stuck at this new price point (we have seen online for less than 190 euros), and you do not think active noise canceling is the most important, there are few reasons to choose the Skullcandy Crusher Not to put Evo on your head.
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