One thing about music is when it hits. You feel no pain. And these headphones are designed to Crush its rivals in the ANC marketplace, not just in the listening experience but also with Ai and a unique patented feature.

I've been reviewing headphones for nearly a decade & There are features here that I've never seen, heard of, or felt before.

Do the Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 have what it takes to crush the competition? Well, you, let me know what you think in the comments section.

Launch Day Price

At launch, the Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 retails for 229 dollars. That's considerably more affordable than the latest ANC flagship ANC headphones from Bose, Sennheiser, Sony, and Bower Wilkins. And they can compete in this tier of headphones.

These headphones could be a win-win if you want the best sound for your pounds. Because the price point proposition is good…but what about the rest

Design

The Crusher XT2 has a stealth Matt black finish, with the only bit of colour saturation being the power button. And it's orange with a little led backlight.

The Skull candy logo is embossed on both sides, but it is very subtle, and the gloss finish on the logos can catch the light. But it's not too in your face. And I am a fan of this low-key branding.

Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 headband texture.jpg

The hand band is made of steel because this is the way, and there's an interesting very tight, weaved fabric across the top of the headband, which contrasts nicely against the plastics used on the lower parts. The padding at the top is deep and more than adequate, and it's wrapped in dark denim fabric.

The Yoke is asymmetric, meaning they are uniquely designed for each side and slightly angled outwards to align better with the angle of your ears.

There are markings on the inside of the headband for left and right. I wish these were easier to see, but you won't need to look once you get a feel for the Crusher ANC 2.

The ear cups are large and can fit my massive ears, so that's saying something. This, of course assists with comfort. There's nothing worse than hard plastic pressing against your ears during longer listening sessions.

Also, this large ear cup design assists with passive noise cancelling.

The padding around the ear cups is a leatherette, sometimes known as vegan leather, so no cows were killed in the making. And the padding is soft and plush as you would expect.

And an excellent addition for travelling is the nicely designed hard shell travel case with a denim finish. The charger cable and an analogue audio jack Velcroed into its cutout compartment are inside.

And something I like about the design is how the XT2s can fold flat when around the neck and also collapse down into the case. This keeps the carry case’s profile is slim so it can slide nicely into a bag, backpack or suitcase.

Controls

Now let's talk about the physical controls. And at a glance, these may look like a simple approach, but Skullcandy has put a lot of effort into the positioning and unique feel of each button and switch.

The orange power key stands alone on the left earcup beside the Skullcandy crusher dial. This dial has distinct notches, so you can feel each step as you turn up the head-crushing bass. I'll return to this feature in a moment because something is exciting about this.

On the right cup are Three buttons and a switch. Volume Up has a raised circle emblem. Volume down a hollowed circle, and the play pause multifunction button is a concave dip. The switch is spring-loaded and is a toggle for ANC and awareness modes.

Noise cancelling

And take me nicely onto Noise cancelling. So you might not know this but Skullcandy has been making headphones for a decade, and this is the 7th generation of their noise-cancelling algorithms and hardware.

4 mics assist with this 2 in 2 out. And you're about to hear the noise cancelling in action. But first I want to show you something. It's the Skull IQ app. This is a killer feature.

Without this app, the Crusher ANC 2 are excellent. With this app, these headphones are brilliant. Although they won't adapt the level of noise cancelling automatically, you can adjust the amount of ANC manually and the level of passthrough sound for the ambient mode in the app whenever you like.

For demo purposes, what you're about to hear is ANC off. So that's just passive noise cancelling created by the seal of the earcups. Then you'll listen to Ambient Aware. This mode intentionally lets sound through and then the maxed-out noise cancelling.

Sound Quality

You probably already know this, but good noise cancelling can improve the music. And good drivers, audio codecs & sound design, and good ANC are winning formulas.

The Crusher ANC2s have this. Skullcandy has equipped them with 40mm drivers, and the BT 5.2 supports AAC & SBC codecs. Now before I tell you about the sound quality. The bass is powerful, but with the addition of a crusher feature, the bass is the most powerful I've ever felt.

And I've chosen those words carefully because Skullcandy does something very clever with their crusher feature. There are haptic motors built into ear cups that vibrate in time with the Bass, this replicates the feeling you get when standing next to a giant subwoofer.

This might sound uncomfortable, but it isn't. It adds a layer to the music you find for any other brand, and this feature for bass lovers is phenomenal. I test as many genres as possible for writing about what I think of the sound signature.

The sound is unapologetically bass-heavy, and I'm a fan of that. But what's impressive is that Skullcandy has achieved this without diluting the mid-range and high frequencies too much.

What's brilliant about these headphones is that they can cater to any audio playback type. The Skull IQ app has 3 preset EQs ready to go. Music, podcasts and movies. And there is a basic custom EQ to play with too.

But here's something special. It's the personal sound calibration feature. Once you run through the hearing test, the software focuses on enhancing the mid to high frequencies according to your ear's abilities.

If you dial back the bass, you've got a well balanced sound signature. So there's a lot of versatility to the sound signature.

Call Quality

Now something that needs to be addressed is voice mic pick-up. Skullcandy has clearly thought about this. The voice mic is located ok the left earcup, and behind the scenes is Skullcandy's clear voice Ai designed to isolate your voice. Let's see how good it is watch the video for the Mic Test

Battery Life

Ok, so this all sounds good so far. But only a little can be achieved with speed and power. And the Crusher XT2 has both. Up to 50 Hrs of playback is incredible, and when empty with just 10 mins charge, you can get up to 4hrs. Power and speed

So far, it's safe to say these headphones have some standout features. But there's more. And some of these, like I said in the intro, I've not seen before on any other headphones.

Stand out features

So yes, Ai assistants can be mapped to a button. But Skullcandy has their own assistant dedicated to controlling all the functionality of the headphones with your voice. For example, the bass crusher feature. The ANC modes the EQs and the volume skipping tracks. Everything the headphones can do.

And you can even use it to take photos from a distance.

You can also use it in tandem with your device's default Ai. Now if that doesn't impress you. What about this.

Other headphones allow customisation, but the Crusher ANC2 take it to the next level. Each of the buttons can have 2 or 3 additional functions. And even a click inward on the crusher wheel can be mapped to a function.

On top of that, you've got multipoint pairing, so the computer and laptop can be connected simultaneously. And there's even Tile tracker technology built in. This is like an Apple Air Tag or Samsung Tag feature.

So if you lose your headphones or someone steals them, you can track them down with your phone. And let's forget the insane patented Crusher sensory bass feature.

Outro

Some people listen, but they're not really hearing. Some people hear the music, but they are not really feeling.

So, If you decide to get Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2. Your bank account won't be crushed too severely. And you'll hear that sweet music in your ears with bass and clarity and feel it in your skull.

So for me. These headphones genuinely live up to their name because, especially regarding bass, they crush the competition.

And what's great about the Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 is that when it's time to dial it back a little and listen to the Lew Later or Rogan podcast or you want to watch a movie, the EQs can deliver that more balanced sound too….

So you can tame the bass beast that is the Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 when you need to…but they sound and feel so good you never want to.

And here's a final thought. Always remember you are the music while the music lasts.