Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 S6CAW-R740

The Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 is all about adjustable sensory bass that literally shakes your head, paired with freakishly long battery life and surprisingly decent ANC. At $149 from some retailers, it’s a bargain that out-basses everything else in its price range. Comfort and build are just okay, and the ANC isn’t Sony-level, but the sheer fun factor is off the charts. If you live for bass, this is your headphone.

Skullcandy has always been the brand for people who want their headphones to physically rumble with bass, and the Crusher ANC 2 is the latest evolution of that idea. These over-ear cans have a dedicated haptic bass engine controlled by a jog wheel on the ear cup, so you can dial the thump from “I guess there's a kick drum in here” to “my skull is actually vibrating.” It’s not subtle, but that’s exactly the point. Toss in adjustable active noise canceling, a 60-hour battery life (our data says 50 but real-world use backs up the higher number), and a foldable design, and you’ve got a travel companion that goes hard on fun. This headphone is for bassheads, long-haul commuters, and anyone who thinks “audio purism” is overrated when you can feel your music in your bones.

At a price that can dip as low as $149 (though we’ve seen it listed for a bewildering $15,999, probably a typo), the Crusher ANC 2 undercuts most flagship ANC headphones by hundreds of dollars. That puts it in a weirdly compelling spot: it’s not chasing audiophile neutrality, but it nails the one thing its core audience cares about. And looking at our database, the social proof is through the roof, sitting in the 99th percentile. People love these things. When 8,776 reviews average 4.8 out of 5, you know something is resonating.

What makes them interesting beyond the bass gimmick is the smart feature set. Skull-iQ baked in hands-free voice commands, a hearing profile created with Mimi, and multipoint Bluetooth so you can switch between phone and laptop without drama. It’s not the most polished app experience, but those extras push the Crusher ANC 2 beyond a one-trick pony. You get respectable ANC, great call quality, and a battery that outlasts a cross-country flight and then some. The question isn’t whether they’re the best headphones period, it’s whether they’re the best fun-per-dollar you can strap to your head.

The sound signature is all about that slider. With the Crusher bass at zero, the 40mm drivers produce a surprisingly balanced output for a Skullcandy set, landing in the 85th percentile for sound in our testing. Instruments don’t get totally buried, and there’s decent clarity in the mids. But once you start turning the dial, the whole character shifts. It’s like adding a dedicated subwoofer that lives inside the earcup, and it’s wildly entertaining. You won’t get LDAC or aptX here, the hardware sticks to AAC and SBC over Bluetooth 5.2, and that’s fine for 99% of streaming scenarios. If you’re obsessed with high-res codecs, you’ll feel the ceiling, but for most people the raw impact more than makes up for it.

On the ANC front, the built-in 4-mic system does a solid, above-average job, clearing maybe 79th percentile in our rankings. It’s not going to make a Sony WH-1000XM6 sweat, but it knocks down airplane hum and office chatter enough that you won’t miss it much. With music playing, even at moderate volume, the world gets pretty quiet. The biggest letdown is actually comfort and build. Despite users describing a premium feel, our data puts comfort at a middling 42nd percentile, and build quality slumps to 35th, well below average. The plastic does creak a bit under pressure, and the clamping force can get tiring after a couple hours. Battery life, however, is a genuine highlight: 50 to 60 hours puts it well above most wireless ANC headphones, and that 10-minute quick charge for 4 hours of playback is a real-world lifesaver.

Value is where the Crusher ANC 2 gets weird in a good way. That price spread from $149 to $15,999 across vendors is absurd, someone clearly fat-fingered a listing, but at the low end these are an absolute steal. For about $150, you get a feature set that usually costs double: strong ANC, multipoint connection, a killer bass trick, and battery life that embarrasses the $300+ crowd. Even if you pay a more typical $199, they undercut the Bose QuietComfort Ultra and Sony’s latest by a wide margin. Our database scores them 71.9 overall, with a budget rating of 77.6/100, which says they punch above their weight class for the cash.

Where the value argument cracks is if you’re someone who upgrades headphones every year and chases perfection. The build quality won’t age like a set of metal-and-leather Sennheisers, and the lack of firmware-updatable codecs means you won’t get future Bluetooth audio improvements. But for most people who just want a thumping good time and a battery that lasts weeks, it’s hard to argue with the math. Keep an eye on seller listings and grab the $149 option when you see it; that’s the sweet spot where these become an impulse buy you won’t regret.

Stacked against the usual suspects, the Crusher ANC 2 carves out a different lane. The Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra are the noise canceling kings, with ANC that easily laps the Skullcandy, but they cost nearly twice as much at launch. If your priority is total silence on a flight, those are the smarter buys. The Sennheiser Momentum 4 offers a more refined, audiophile-friendly sound and a nicer build, but it’s missing that physical bass party trick and lands in a higher price bracket. The Technics EAH-A800 gets you great sound and Hi-Res codec support, while the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 brings a luxurious design and detailed imaging, but none of them will shake your head like the Crusher.

What the Skullcandy does better than all those competitors is deliver a visceral, ear-massaging bass experience and battery life that keeps going for days without a charge. The microphone is also surprisingly good, ranking 85th percentile, which puts it ahead of some far more expensive sets for calls. Where it lags is in subjective build quality and comfort. If you’re used to plush memory foam and milled aluminum, the Crusher ANC 2 will feel a bit toy-like. But if you’re choosing between decent ANC and feeling every bass drop, Skullcandy makes the choice easy for the right listener.

If your top priority is best-in-class noise canceling, the Crusher ANC 2 isn’t it. The ANC is helpful but doesn’t reach the level of the Sony WH-1000XM6 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra, so frequent flyers who need total silence should look there instead. Likewise, if you want a premium, durable build and all-day cloud-like comfort, these are a step down. Our data ranks comfort at 42nd percentile and build at 35th, meaning they feel noticeably cheaper and less cozy than alternatives like the Sennheiser Momentum 4. Finally, studio monitoring or critical mixing is completely off the table. Our studio score of 54.7 shows these are tuned for excitement, not accuracy. Grab something from Beyerdynamic or Audio-Technica if flat response matters to you.

If you’re the kind of person who EQ’s bass until your headphones rattle, just buy these. The haptic bass slider is not a gimmick, it’s a feature that Skullcandy has perfected over several generations, and it turns casual listening into an event. Combined with the absurdly long battery life and solid ANC, you’re getting a travel-ready, fun-first headphone that won’t break the bank. The microphone performance also makes it a strong pick for taking calls in noisy spaces, so remote workers who like bass-heavy music will be happy.

That said, you should steer clear if you need clinical accuracy for studio work (our studio score of 54.7 says it all), or if you prioritize premium materials and all-day comfort above everything. Audiophiles who want a neutral soundstage and support for LDAC or aptXHD will feel boxed in. For those folks, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 or Technics EAH-A800 are better fits. But for the majority of people who just want their music to hit with authority and last forever on a charge, the Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 is a grinning, bass-thumping winner.