Audio masters Skullcandy deliver the Skullcandy Crusher ANC XT2 Headphones in a stunning black colourway – we take a look at it, so you don’t have to!
First Impressions
The Skullcandy Crusher ANC XT2 straight out of the box looked very stylish, draped in a fully blacked-out colourway that looked sensational. The earmuffs have matte black for colour, which adds to the premium and stealthiness that these headphones emit.
The headphones came in a fancy mesh zip-up case which also gives off very premium vibes, with a hard casing that merges nicely with a soft-looking mesh style on the outside. The premium vibes are nice but also expected as the whole headset is £199.99, which definitely isn’t a bargain.
Design
The design of the Skullcandy Crusher ANC XT2 is built with solid and high-end feeling materials, which is expected at £199.99. The headband is comprised of a metal band, along with a mesh-like cushion, which is very comfortable.
A main element of the design that impresses me is the earmuffs. They are built with extremely soft padding that has a slight memory foam feel to them. Wearing these earmuffs was very pleasant, with the cushioning being ideal for if you use the earmuffs for a long time period.
One slight downside to the Skullcandy Crusher ANC XT2’s design is the odd creakiness that I noticed when putting the headphones on, or simply just spinning the cool 360-degree earmuffs. It sounded like it needed oil or something, which confused me as the materials seemed high-end.
There are quite a few buttons on the back side of the earmuffs, which would look ugly if they weren’t cleverly put in a black colourway and pushed to the back of the earmuffs.
These buttons consist of the ANC mode status button with a slider function that lets you cycle through 3 levels of noise cancellation, a wheel for adjusting the intense Crusher bass booster, volume change and play/pause buttons, with all these buttons having customizable functions depending on how many times you click them.
There is even voice control on the Skullcandy Crusher ANC XT2, allowing users to simply talk into their phone with commands to adjust settings on the fly. This is handy for certain situations like at the gym or on a bike, as you don’t have to fiddle around on your phone or the headset to adjust a setting.
An LED indicator located next to the orange power button switches from white to purple when the Crusher bass boost amount is changed, flashing red if you try to change it when the Crusher bass boost is turned off.
Performance and Sound Quality
The main element which almost overpowers the other sound elements is definitely the intense and powerful bass that the Skullcandy Crusher ANC XT2 delivers. This is even more boosted by the bass boost feature, which really makes the bass a bit too much when at a high volume.
A very good thing about the bass is that you can change the intensity via the Skull-iQ app (available for Android and iOS) to suit your preferences, meaning you can personalize your listening experience.
The intense bass does sometimes mean that the sub-bass is drowned out, which is rather annoying although it only really happens if you are listening at a high volume. The bass also interferes slightly with the mids and highs, creating a rather unbalanced feel to bass-heavy tracks.
Nonetheless, the highs are crisp and clean when the bass isn’t hugely present in a song, and the mids are decent. If you want to get the most balanced version when using the Skullcandy Crusher ANC XT2, making the bass intensity lower definitely makes for a less intense experience.
I did experience slight disconnects and tinny sounds despite my phone being near the headset, which was a bit of a bummer at times, although this only happened once or twice. For £199.99, I was expecting a bit more smoothness on this end, as this is more of a problem that exists for the cheaper wireless Bluetooth headphones.
The noise cancellation is solid, with engulfing earmuffs that do a relatively good job of shutting out outside noise. The noise cancellation won’t win any awards, but it will do a good enough job for when you’re in the more crowded public places, although you will hear some outside noise here and there.
Skull-iQ App
The Skullcandy Skull-iQ app is an interesting app that lets you customize and control your listening experience with your product easily and extensively. The app also shows you voice commands that you can say into the headset, along with a button which allows you to turn it off if you’d rather not use voice control.
You can edit the functions of the buttons on the headphones in the app too, for example, you can make the wheel being pressed 2 times mean that the song is skipped or so it takes a photo, making the whole experience feel very personalized.
There is an equalizer section that allows users to switch between different presets depending on what they are listening to, along with being able to make their own custom presets. This means you can edit the lows, mids and highs to your liking seamlessly.
The personal sound feature is very interesting, with its function being to optimize the audio depending on your personal setup. You test your ears in this section to help the app find an optimal sound setting tailored to you, again showing the Crusher ANC’s high level of personalization.
These personal sound creations can be saved too, so let’s say you are sharing the headset with your sibling and want different setups, you can simply save the setups on the app and swap between them when using the headset.
Overall, the Skull-iQ app is very handy for creating a perfect listening experience entirely based on your preferences, making sure that you receive the optimal sound tailored for your very own ears.
| Product Rating |
Design: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Sound Quality: 3.5 out of 5.0 stars
Skull iQ App: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars
Performance: 3.5 out of 5.0 stars
Value for Money: 3.5 out of 5.0 stars
Overall ranking: 3.5 out of 5.0 stars – 3.5-star rating
Conclusion
The Skullcandy Crusher ANC XT2 is a decent pair of headphones, especially for those who love bass-filled music. There are definitely better options out there if what you want is a more balanced experience, for example, if you tend to watch YouTube a lot or listen to podcasts, this probably isn’t the best option for you.
These headphones are priced at £199.99, which is quite a large bill for a pair of headphones that has a premium fit and feel, but for sound quality and performance, it doesn’t quite justify the big price.
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