Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC

If you like your music with a little bass, the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC would like a word. If you like your bass strong enough to make your head vibrate, well, these might be your new best friends.

We will skip right to the fun bit that is Skullcandy’s adjustable Crusher Bass, this a controlled by a physical wheel on the earcup. Turn it up and you don’t just hear the bass, you physically feel it. It is gloriously excessive with the right music, although thankfully you can dial it right back when podcasts and phone calls don’t need to sound like they’re being broadcast from the centre of the Earth.

What makes this generation more interesting is the addition of Sound by Bose technology. Bose QuietControl adaptive ANC helps shut out surrounding noise, while Bose TrueSpatial adds a more spacious, immersive soundstage. The WaveForm audio engine is designed to keep things balanced, so there is considerably more going on here than just an excuse to shake your skull about.

Battery life is powerful, with up to 60 hours with ANC switched off and 50 hours with it on. A 10 minute charge can add more than four hours of listening, which is handy when you’ve inevitably forgotten to charge them. Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint connectivity and USB C make them suitably modern, while wear detection can automatically pause your music when you take them off.

The Skullcandy app adds preset EQ modes and a custom five band EQ, giving you plenty of control over the sound. There is also microphone processing for clearer calls and support for spatial audio with head tracking.

They are chunky and, at around 374g, noticeably heavier than some rivals, so long listening sessions can leave you aware they’re on your head. There are four colours to chose from but nothing too out of the ordinary black, pink, grey and a light brown.

Still, the Crusher 1080 ANC feels like a much more grown-up pair of Crushers. They’re fun (not visually), feature packed and surprisingly capable, while retaining the wonderfully bonkers bass that made the range famous. RRP £219.99

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