“Bose offers a non-Bose price for the first time”: Skullcandy launches its most premium headset ever, with help from its friend

Skullcandy launches Crusher 1080 ANC, new premium over-ears
They mark the debut of three Bose-designed features in a non-Bose product
Just launched and available now, for $280 / AU$399.99 (around £210)

It’s just as I predicted: after seeing Skullcandy mock its new headphones, the brand revealed exactly the pair of cans I predicted. Meet the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC; That’s the pair that skateboarding legend (and brand ambassador) Tony Hawk is pointing at in the photo above – yes, that’s him.

These are, according to the brand, its “best sounding product” (although, oddly enough, they’re not the most expensive as Skullcandy’s Aviator 900 cans are a bit more expensive) and in case you didn’t know, a 1080 in skateboarding involves three full skateboard and body rotations performed either forward or backward.

As a new member of its Crusher line, part of the draw will be the adjustable bass (see the large dial on the earcup), but there’s much more to celebrate besides that.

What we call Bose by another name would smell just as good

Four different colored models of Skullcandy Crusher 1080, hanging from a bar in a subway.

(Image credit: Skullcandy)

We’ve seen Skullcandy headphones with Bose features before, but the Crusher 1080 ANC are the first pair of cans not made by the brand that have three specific features. And these three characteristics are a big selling point of the product.

The biggest will be Bose QuietControl ANC, which is a massive draw among Bose’s own products (including the 2nd generation QuietComfort Ultra headphones). The company’s noise cancellation is best in class, and now this exclusive technology from Bose is also integrated into Skullcandy headphones. For many, this might be a reason to buy the Crusher alone.

Bose’s TrueSpatial audio with head tracking (for surround sound profiles regardless of source material) and WaveForm audio engine (for fast digital signal processing) are also coming out of the Bose Good Ship for the first time with the 1080. These will be great little extras to refine and refine what Skullcandy already offers.

And that’s before we even mention the Sound by Bose setting and SpeechClarity voice pickup, to improve the music you listen to and the quality of your calls. The latter is new to Skullcandy, but we’ve seen the former on some headphones like my beloved Method 360.

And what about the headphones themselves, beyond the Bose stuff? Skullcandy hasn’t confirmed the drivers, but I’m guessing they’ll be 40mm and joined by woofers.

Battery life is 60 hours with ANC off and 50 hours with ANC on, which is pretty impressive; there’s a 5-band EQ and other features through the Skullcandy app (not Skull-IQ, which some of the company’s headphones use). Images show a dial on the side of the headset, among other physical controls; I’d wager it’s a redesigned bass slider, and given how easy it is to miss on my Crusher 540 Active, I appreciate this redesign.

Reading between the lines, and after testing the 540 Method earlier this year (a 540 is a 1.5 year old skateboard and the body rotation is either front or rear, which I can’t do), I feel like Skullcandy is undergoing a push to really take it to the next level.

The company doesn’t seem to be abandoning the commitment to bass that has defined its products in the past (or its love of athletes as brand ambassadors), but appears to want to integrate that into a more comprehensive audio package with a higher-fidelity music offering. And if the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC is the culmination of this process, I’m Really intrigued to know how they sound.

Tony Hawk with laser eyes, reading a newspaper and wearing Skullcandy headphones