Skullcandy says it's pulled out all the stops in developing its latest pair of over-ear headphones, and it even asked Bose for a helping hand.
The new Crusher 1080 ANC packs a lot under the hood, including Skullcandy's own Crusher feature for serious bass, a host of audio enhancement technologies from Bose, and customizable audio output.
These headphones are also priced way lower than what you'd pay for Bose's own QuietComfort Ultra. So if you like your low frequencies served up in spades, these are worth a look.
Bose has contributed its WaveForm audio engine to these cans, which promise full, balanced, and distortion-free sound at any volume.
There's also the company's TrueSpatial 3D tech which pairs with head tracking hardware to emulate the experience of hearing powerful speakers directing sound towards you across a wider soundstage for greater immersion. "That means music, games, and movies have isolated sounds that come from specific places, like footsteps from behind or an explosion to your left," according to Skullcandy.
These headphones also get Bose's QuietControl active noise canceling (ANC) chops and six mics to silence unwanted sounds around you. That sounds promising, but we'll have to get our hands on a pair to see how this compares to Bose's own hardware.
A number of previous Skullcandy products have featured Crusher Bass, which uses dedicated drivers to deliver a physical bass sensation for added intensity in your music, movies, and games – sorta like a subwoofer in your ears.
These headphones feature a revamped driver design for greater clarity, detail, and separation in the sound; Skullcandy says you can expect a sharper, more impactful bass response as a result. You can turn the Crusher dial on the headphones, or tweak it in the companion mobile app to control how much bass you want to let into your earholes.
Bose has also created special EQ modes, and helped with voice clarity for phone calls. There's also sound personalization tech from Mimi which creates a hearing profile specific to you. That should result in clearer detail and again, more immersive audio.
The 1080s also get a raft of modern features that we've come to expect on wireless headphones. It'll detect when you remove or put them back on, and pause or resume audio accordingly. A low latency mode ensures you don't encounter audio lag while playing multiplayer games. On top of this, it's nice to see that you can assign preferred functions to the onboard buttons as you like.
Skullcandy says you can get 60 hours of playtime with ANC off, and 50 with the feature on. Just 10 minutes of charging is enough for 4 hours of use.
That's pretty standard in this segment. However, these are hefty boys coming in at over 13 oz (374 g), making them quite a bit heavier than the Sony XM6 or Bose's own QuietComfort Ultra.
Going by the features and all the Bose tech inside, the 1080s sound like a good deal for its asking price of US$280. For reference, The 2025 QuietComfort Ultra is listed at $449, and is currently discounted down to $369 on Amazon. Sony's flagship model can be had for just under $400 at the moment.
I imagine those heavyweights will have the 1080 beat on sound quality and noise cancelation by some margin. That said, you're paying a lot more for diminishing returns on those fronts, and for about half the battery life.
The Crusher 1080 ANCs are on sale now worldwide; you can find the headphones on Skullcandy's site, as well as on Amazon.
Source: Skullcandy via PR Newswire
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