Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST experience with the Skullcandy Crusher Evo vs ANC 2 and tell you which is better, after personally owning both products. I have thoroughly tested each of these headphones for hundreds of hours, and aim to offer a critical opinion from the perspective of an audiophile and professional music producer.
I’ll be comparing these two head to head on categories like price, comfort, features, battery life, noise cancelling performance, and sound quality.
Then at the end, I’ll share which is the best overall value for the money, and my overall recommendation on which you should buy.
I’ve also conducted a separate in-depth Skullcandy Crusher Evo Review and Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Review, for those who are interested in reading more detailed thoughts about each headphone after. (Links open in a new tab.)
Key Takeaways
- Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 is newer and has more modern features, like active noise cancelling, transparency mode, and multi-point connection.
- Both headphones have “Crusher Sensory Bass” technology that offers a unique feel of “subwoofers on your head”.
- The Crusher ANC 2 is about $30 to $50 more expensive than the older Crusher Evo, based on current market prices.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo vs ANC 2 Price Compared
Overall, the Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 is about $30 to $50 more expensive than the Crusher Evo at current market prices for brand new. They can be much closer in price depending on current sales, and whether you’re buying new, renewed, or used.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo Prices
- Retail: $199.99
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Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Prices
- Retail: $229.99
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Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
Comfort
On my scale, the Skullcandy Crusher Evo is 19.5 grams lighter than the Crusher ANC 2:
- Skullcandy Crusher Evo weight: 312.8 grams
- Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 weight: 332.3 grams
Despite the Evo being a bit lighter, I actually find the Crusher ANC 2 to be slightly more comfortable due to being more plush around the headband and earpad cushions.
The Crusher ANC 2 simply feels a bit more premium, as the price increase over the Evo suggests.
Regardless, both of these headphones feel a fair bit heavy for the class, and my weighing scale supports that claim.
I don’t find either headphone to be in that elite tier of comfort, but they’re both comfy enough to wear for a couple hours without much issue.
What I like about both of them is the earcup space allowing my ears to be pretty free inside, and not pressing against the fabric.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo Comfort: 4.0 out of 5
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Comfort: 4.0 out of 5
Winner: Tie
Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling
Features
The main draw to both of these headphones is a patented “Crusher” bass technology, which we’ll dive into more in the Sound Quality section below.
Aside from sharing “Crusher” bass, features is one area where the much newer Crusher ANC 2 has a huge advantage over the Evo, notably with the following:
- Active Noise Cancelling
- Transparency Mode
- Multi-point Connection
- Newer Bluetooth 5.1 (vs 5.0 on the Evo)
- Customizable EQ
- Sturdier, heavy-duty bag case
The Crusher Evo does not have ANY of the above features, which is a big drawback to going with the older Evo, in my opinion.
Both headphones fold and collapse, but the Crusher ANC 2 has a more premium and sturdy bag case.
The Evo’s case feels just like some soft fabric, whereas the ANC 2 feels like backpack material.
Build Quality
Both Skullcandy’s impressed me equally with their build quality.
They both utilize a metal headband, along with a mixture of materials like plastic and fabric strewn throughout.
I guess that partially explains the hefty weight of each headphone (I’m guessing the other part is the “Crusher” bass technology).
Looks
I actually find both headphones to look rather stylish.
When worn on the head, they don’t look goofy or obnoxious, but have a decent silhouette and form.
There are some questionable color and material combinations and contrast, but overall, there are many colorways to please people looking for either understated or loud.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo vs ANC 2 Battery Life Compared
The Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 has up to 20 hours more battery life than the Evo on a single charge and with ANC on.
- Skullcandy Crusher Evo Battery Life: Up to 40 hours
- Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Battery Life: Up to 60 hours (ANC off) or 50 hours (ANC on)
In my testing, I found both of these manufacturer’s battery ratings to be accurate.
Both of these battery life figures are above average for the class, with the Crusher ANC 2 being quite a bit more impressive than the older Evo.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo vs ANC 2 Noise Cancelling Performance: Which is better?
Just to repeat, the Crusher Evo does NOT have Active Noise Cancelling features like the Crusher ANC 2, hence the name.
So without a doubt, the Crusher ANC 2 wins here, even if the noise cancelling performance isn’t the most impressive (it’s not, but certainly better than none at all).
While I wasn’t blown away by the ANC 2 for its noise cancelling compared to the premium class like Sony and Bose, it still does some job of blocking out external noise.
Along with Active Noise Cancelling, the ANC 2 also has a Transparency Mode which can be quite useful in real world scenarios.
Now there’s one saving grace to the Crusher Evo, in that it has decent passive noise isolation from being a closed-back headphone, especially with the emphasized bass drowning out low frequencies.
That said, if noise cancelling is a priority, you must get the Crusher ANC 2 over the Evo.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo Features / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling: 3.5 out of 5
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Features / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling: 4.0 out of 5
Winner: Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
Skullcandy Crusher Evo vs ANC 2 Sound Quality Comparison
On the Stock Sound…
So the first thing we need to discuss is the “Crusher Sensory Bass” technology, patented by Skullcandy, and featured on both of these headphones.
In short, it’s a feature that adds vibration and shaking to bass frequencies to help you truly FEEL the music.
I’ve written a bit more in-depth about “Crusher” in my individual reviews of the ANC 2 and Evo, but in short, it’s a fun little gimmick that I actually prefer leaving ON for the Evo, but OFF for the ANC 2 for some reason.
If you’re a basshead, you should definitely give it a try at least once. You may love it.
“Subwoofers attached to your ears” is the best way to describe the sensation.
Anyways, aside from “Crusher”, neither of these headphones’ consumer-friendly sound profile offends me out of the box.
They’re fine, and I may slightly lean towards the Evo out of the box.
That said, the ANC 2 has a fairly effective 5-band EQ that can level the playing field, and then some.
Unfortunately, the Evo does NOT have a customizable EQ in the app.
The rest of this comparison will be using the EQ settings linked below.
Links to Latest Equalizer Settings
Links open in a new tab. Scroll down to the “Sound Quality” portion to see the settings.
Comparing Sound Quality After EQ…
I’m quite happy with how the ANC 2 sounds after EQ.
Both headphones are clearly going for a consumer-friendly sound, pushing that bass and treble forward instead of the mids, and it works.
When it comes to balance and clarity, the ANC 2 is the higher-fidelity headphone.
But the Evo with Crusher bass turned to 20-25% might just edge out the ANC 2 when it comes to pure FUN listening.
Again, I don’t really love the Crusher bass on the ANC 2 for some reason, it has more of an “ON/OFF” switch going on, whereas it is a bit more consistent and smooth on the Evo.
Go figure.
Anyways, both headphones are some of the most FUN headphones I’ve tested to date, especially for the bassheads who listen primarily to modern music.
Or who are looking for subwoofers to attach to their ears.
Neither headphone will “wow” you when it comes to clarity, resolution, layering, separation, or soundstage width.
They have a bit of a narrow and compressed sound, but just enough detail to cut through the mix and still have the vocals be present alongside that voluminous bass response.
I’m a fan.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo Sound Quality: 7.9 out of 10
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Sound Quality: 8.0 out of 10 (after EQ)
Winner: Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
Value
At the time of this writing, the Crusher ANC 2 is about $30 to $50 more expensive than the Evo.
You are getting a lot of advantages with the newer ANC 2’s features, but it does come at a small premium.
Honestly, I actually find both headphones to be fairly priced, because I think the Evo offers a better Crusher bass experience, which you could argue is the point of these headphones.
Not to mention, the noise cancelling performance on that ANC 2 isn’t that impressive.
So, it’s a bit of a draw for me.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo Value: 4.0 out of 5
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Value: 4.0 out of 5
Winner: Tie
Skullcandy Crusher Evo Overall Rating
- Fun to listen to
- “Crusher” Bass feature
- Solid build quality
- 40-hour battery life
- No Active Noise Cancelling
- No Multi-Device Connection
- Heavy
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Overall Rating
- Good sound quality (after EQ)
- “Crusher” Bass feature
- Solid build quality
- Comfy
- Average noise cancelling performance
- Not a great value at full retail
- Heavy
Overall Winner: Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
Overall, the newer and slightly more expensive Crusher ANC 2 wins out over the older Evo, primarily due to having more modern features like active noise cancelling and multi-point connection.
However, the cheaper Evo is still charming in its own way, as I prefer the Crusher Bass implementation over the more expensive ANC 2 (for whatever odd reason).
That said, if you’re a basshead, these two offer a unique experience that other headphones in this class simply don’t offer.
As for alternatives, there are some solid bass-heavy headphones like the Sony ULT Wear, Sennheiser Momentum 4, and Bose QuietComfort.
The newer Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 also pack a punch in the bass department as well, if you’re willing to spend a little more.
Check those out next if you’re still undecided.
Some very Strong Alternatives in this class of noise cancelling headphones are:
- Skullcandy Hesh ANC
- Skullcandy Hesh Evo
- Sony ULT Wear
- Sennheiser Momentum 4
- Bose QuietComfort (2023 model)
- Sony WH-1000XM6
- JBL Tune 770NC
- Beats Studio Pro
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra
- Bowers and Wilkins Px7 S3
- Apple AirPods Max
- Sony WH-1000XM5
- Bowers and Wilkins Px8
- Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e
- Sonos Ace
Some Relevant Comparisons in this class of noise cancelling headphones are:
- Sony WH-1000XM6 vs WH-1000XM5
- Sony WH-1000XM4 vs WH-1000XM5
- Sony WH-1000XM6 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra
- Sony WH-1000XM6 vs AirPods Max
- Sony WH-1000XM6 vs Bowers and Wilkins Px7 S3
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra vs Sony WH-1000XM5
I highly recommend you check those out next!
Lastly, if you’d like to save some money and keep supporting RecordingNOW.com’s 100% independent, unbiased reviews, do consider using some of our affiliate links below to shop and even just compare prices. We purchase all products we review with our own money to maintain the highest level of integrity, and your support goes into that plus a continuously improving site experience.
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Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase all of the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment. Noise cancelling performance is tested in the real-world, primarily on airplane flights, coffee shops, and walking around large metropolitan city environments.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, audio engineer, musician, tech journalist, and audiophile.
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