Skullcandy’s new Crusher 1080 ANC packs Bose tech you can’t get anywhere else

Skullcandy teased something you could feel earlier this week, and now we know what it is. The Crusher 1080 ANC launched today for $279.99, and Skullcandy is calling it the best-sounding headphone it has ever made — a claim built on a redesigned version of its signature Crusher bass and a suite of Bose technologies that, until now, you could only get on Bose’s own more expensive headphones.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Crusher line is built around a unique dual-driver system: full-range drivers handle the music, while dedicated bass drivers create a rumble, subwoofer-like effect you physically feel, adjustable from subtle to skeleton-rattling via a large wheel on the earcup or the Skullcandy app. The trade-off has always been that cranking the bass costs you audio quality. Skullcandy says the redesigned drivers address this with a stiffer “live edge” diaphragm that moves more uniformly to reduce distortion, while a newly enclosed rear acoustic cavity improves passive isolation and clarity.

The bigger news is on the Bose side. This is Skullcandy’s second Sound by Bose product after last year’s Method 360 ANC earbuds, but where brands like Motorola and Noise beat Skullcandy to that program, the Crusher 1080 ANC claims three firsts. It’s the first non-Bose headphone with Bose QuietControl, an adaptive noise canceling system that uses six microphones to continuously monitor your fit and adjust its performance in real time. It’s also the first with Bose TrueSpatial, a head-tracked spatial audio mode that anchors music in front of you like a set of speakers, and the first with the Bose WaveForm audio engine, which aims to keep sound balanced at any volume. Bose’s SpeechClarity voice pickup rounds out the package for calls, though other partner brands have offered that one before.

The rest of the spec sheet is pretty competitive for the price: up to 60 hours of battery life (50 with ANC on), a 10-minute rapid charge that adds four hours of playtime, Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio and Auracast support, multipoint pairing, wear detection, and Google Fast Pair. The Skullcandy app handles the Bose features, including Crusher bass level, a customizable 5-band EQ (more than Bose’s own 3-band), and remappable controls for the joystick on the right earcup. The design feels very industrial, with harder edges, exposed powder-painted metal, and a visible driver plate, and the headphones fold flat into a lined rolltop bag that clips to a backpack, which Skullcandy says better accommodates customer complaints about bulky hard cases.

At $279.99, the Crusher 1080 ANC undercuts flagship noise canceling headphones like Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Headphones by a wide margin while borrowing several of their best party tricks. Whether it actually delivers is something we’ll put to the test.