I wanted to love Skullcandy's workout headphones, but one big issue makes
them a poor fit

Date:
Sun, 19 Oct 2025 10:30:00 +0000

Description:
The Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active are designed especially for working out and have some neat features, but they are hampered by a poor fit.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Skullcan dy Crusher 540 Active: Two-minute review

Gym-goers or athletes who also care about their music quality surely know how few over-ear headphones are designed specifically for fitness; our list of
the best workout headphones doesnt have a single pair and my own fondness for them is tempered by just how rare they are. Most buyers instead have to buy workout earbuds, or repurpose normal over-ear headphones for their workout needs (and get very warm ears).

The Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active are a welcome addition to the anemic market segment, coming with a few features and design considerations which make them a step above rivals though there are some curious deficiencies too.

Youd think US-based audio company Skullcandy would be a prime fit for workout headphones, due to its emphasis on bassy products and funky designs, and it
is its website has an entire section dedicated to Gym & Workout Headphones. But those are, like most companies offerings, just headphones that can be
used to exercise. The Crusher 540 Active is different, as its designed intently for that purpose.

The Crusher in the name points to one of the cans best features and the selling point for every member of this line. The 540 Active has a bass slider which can increase the bass from normal to quite bassy to my head is shaking, boosting the low end in an ill-tuned but energetic way. If youre a gym user who loves bass-heavy thumping audio to help you push yourself to the max,
this is a fantastic addition.

Dedicated Skullcandy fans might scroll down and notice that the Crusher 540 Active sounds startlingly similar to another pair of cans from the company called the Crusher Evo, and they cost exactly the same in most regions. I too was baffled by how similar these cans are and apparently fans were too, prompting Skullcandy to write a Reddit post detailing the differences.

The differences lie in a few design considerations: the soft pads can be removed and easily washed, perfect for people who get sweaty at the gym, and the band was designed to have a tighter clamp fit. This latter point, unfortunately, doesnt have a noticeable effect, and the 540 Active frequently fell off my head at the gym when I was lying down. This could be a deal-breaker for some people, depending on your workout routine.

Audio-wise, youre getting what you pay for; these headphones sound good but not quite great. However, the app offers perhaps the best personal audio test Ive used in headphones so far, and the ability to crank the bass to 11 would make a nuanced audio design moot anyway.

Ive mentioned a few features that I like so far, and theyre definitely the highlights of the Skullcandy, but beyond the bass and personal audio modes theres a noticeable lack of extra features. I was surprised when first
looking at the app to see how few tools were offered but perhaps its best that you dont use the app much, given the connection problems I had (more on these later).

Youre probably still wondering if I recommend the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active as workout headphones, and after testing them for several weeks, Im
not too sure either. They were great for running, great for workouts where I stayed upright, and good for general listening. But I found myself pre-emptively removing them during my gym sessions when I had to do a prone exercise, due to the fit so youll have to ask yourself what your fitness
life looks like and whether you need to do such workouts, before buying them. Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Price and release date (Image credit: Future) Released in summer 2025 Costs $209.99 / 169.99 / AU$349.99 Few
similar rivals

The Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active were released in summer 2025, and you can pick them up for $209.99 / 169.99 / AU$349.99.

At that price they match the Crusher Evo and arent too far off other
over-ears from the brand, slightly cheaper than the Crusher ANC 2 and more than the Hesh 540 ANC, so theyre a mid-range pick within Skullcandy's oeuvre.

Heres where Id normally compare the headphones to other options on the market going for the same thing, but the over-ear workout headphone market is so
slim that there arent really any bespoke options to speak of. Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Specs

Drivers

40mm

Active noise cancellation

No

Battery life (ANC off)

40 hours

Weight

312g

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.0

Waterproofing

NA Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Features (Image credit: Future) Bass slider for extra... bass 40 hours of battery Useful sound personalization

It might offend some that Im going to discuss the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Actives titular feature in this section rather than the sound quality one,
but at the end of the day the crushing bass is more of a novelty and a boost mode than it is a genuine way of refining your music.

Im talking about the slider on the Actives left cup, my allusion to which in the design section may have raised eyebrows (if you didnt read the introduction and havent seen any of Skullcandys Crusher headphones before).

This slider lets you control how bassy your music is, with the lowest setting matching other workout headphones and the highest one literally making the cans shake on your head. I was blown away by just how bassy music can get if you pick the right track and turn the mode to full; it felt like walking into a sticky nightclub from one of Londons late-night streets.

Audiophiles wont like this mode, as this boosted bass is somewhat formless
and unreliable in what it augments, but I found it infectiously fun to play around with nonetheless. Theres an inescapable novelty to having your head literally shake as you listen to ridiculously-amplified house or hip-hop.
Some music just isnt affected by the boost though, especially acoustic and classical tracks, but it was great fun to see just how the Crusher 540 would affect a song. (Image credit: Future)

Theres no ANC here to cut out the chaos of a gym, but I found the earcup cushions were pretty good at blocking out a lot of noise passively anyway.

The battery life clocks in at 40 hours according to Skullcandy, which is, roughly speaking, an average figure for over-ear headphones, but given the lack of active noise cancellation it might come off a bit low.

On your phone or tablet, the Skullcandy app gets you some extra tools (not
the Skull-IQ app which Ive used for the brands earbuds, as that wont work judging by Play Store reviews, lots of people have made the same mistake as I). I had a few connection problems wherein the app wouldnt pick up the
paired headphones, but usually hard-closing and reopening it fixed the issue.

The app offers you a Personal Sound listening test to apply an automatic EQ
to your music, and its one of the simplest and easiest examples of this test that Ive ever used, as youre simply prompted to select Yes or No on whether you can hear a series of beeping tones played. Its analysis of my hearing
also matched what other tests have told me, so it seems fairly accurate.

You can also use the app to switch between three standard EQ presets: music, podcast (which boosts treble but strips bass) and movie which reduced treble slightly. Theres no custom EQ for you to make your own mix, so audiophiles will have to rely on SkullCandys judgements.

Various EQ modes are the only features you get from the app, so if you were hoping for a smorgasbord of extra tools, youll be disappointed. Features score: 3.5/5 Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Design (Image credit: Future) Plenty of buttons on cups Doesn't clamp onto head strong enough Cups are removable for cleaning

On the surface, the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active might just look like your standard over-ear headphones, but the devils in the detail.

Just look at the cups, for one example of that theyre loaded with far more buttons and dials than youd usually see. The left cup has the USB-C charging port, a 3.5mm jack, the aforementioned bass slider and a surprisingly-small power button while the right cup has volume up, play/pause and volume down. Neat touches like slightly-different-feeling buttons ensure its easy to work out via touch what youre reaching for.

The design changes continue to the material, with intentional picks for the gym-going intended buyer. According to Skullcandy, the foam cups have a coating to protect them against sweat, and can be easily removed and cleaned if you do get them mucky I found them really simple to remove although reattaching them was a lot more fiddly. The band is designed to avoid grime
as much as possible. (Image credit: Future)

Thanks to the breathable material, and the cans light body, I found the headphones comfortable to use, even if I was exercising and sweating. The brand deems the cups Sweat & Water Resistant although I couldnt find an official IP rating anywhere.

Skullcandys also using a tech here which it calls Clamp Force Secure Fit, designed to give the cans a rigid fit so theyll stay on your head when youre working out, but while thats great in theory it didnt work in practice. The headphones would regularly slip off my head when I was prone, which is quite frequent depending on my workout routine, and I found myself taking them off every time I needed to lie forward or backward. Thats not exactly ideal for gym use, although I didnt face the problem when staying upright or running.

A neat (though small) design trait is that you can fold the cups in on the body to make the headphones more portable I wish more brands would let you
do this.

You can buy the Crusher 540 Active in black, white or pink, which is a much more slender list of offerings than Skullcandys other Crushers (the ANC 2 has 10 options listed on the brands site, while the Evo has six). Design score: 3.5/5 Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Sound quality 40mm drivers per
cup Scooping bass, especially with slider Vocals lack some sparkle (Image credit: Future)

Ive already mentioned that the bass slider lets you turn the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active into a head-worn sub-woofer, but for the purposes of this section lets imagine Ive got the slider set to its lowest setting.

Even when bass is stripped out like this, its still a prominent part of the sound mix these are workout headphones after all, and ones made by
Skullcandy no less, so scooping bass is part and parcel of what youre paying for. The mids benefit from this to an extent too, though there were a few times in my testing when I found vocals lacking the power and sparkle that some other headphones lend to treble.

As you can probably expect from the price, youre not getting the most crystal-clear audio quality or nuanced sound stage, and I did hear some distortion on certain songs. But those all reflect the changed priority
values that gym-going or jogging users will want, and I wasnt disappointed at all when listing.

Skullcandy says that both cans have 40mm drivers in them, which is the same
as the Crusher Evo. Having heard the 540 Active and understanding how they tick all the workout-headphone boxes, the companys confirmation that these
are the Evos but tweaked for exercise users, makes total sense. Sound
quality: 3.5/5 Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Value (Image credit: Future) Paying for novel features... ... which won't be for everyone

At $209.99 / 169.99 / AU$349.99, the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active arent the cheapest over-ear headphones in the world (although theyre certainly not premium models). That price isnt going to the workout features the Evo costs the same amount and as Ive already discussed, these didnt always tick the boxes as workout headphones anyway.

What youre actually paying for is the novel bass feature, which is what separates the Crusher 540 Active from other headphones you might be considering. And if this feature sounds great, then the price is certainly justified.

However if you dont think youll make good use of the bass slider, or think
the novelty will wear off quickly, there are other over-ears to pick up which are cheaper and may perform just as well, or better, for a workout. Value: 3.5/5 Should I buy the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active? Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

The bass slider and listening test are great, though more features would have been appreciated.

3.5/5

Design

The loose grip hurts the suitability for workouts, but otherwise the design
is fine.

3.5/5

Sound quality

While the sound quality is just decent, it's exactly what exercise-minded buyers will want.

3.5/5

Value

If you're buying the Skullcandy for the extra features, it's decent value,
but other buyers will be paying unnecessarily more.

3.5/5 Buy them if

Youre a huge bass-head
Some people stopped reading this review when I mentioned a bass slider which gets your head literally shaking. I probably dont need to tell you to buy Crushers if that sounds like a fantastic selling point to you.

You sweat a lot
The easily-removable and cleanable ear pads will be great news to people who sweat a lot, as youll be able to easily freshen up your cans.

Youre not great at tweaking EQ settings
No equalizer here, but the personal audio mode will help you find your
perfect audio mix without you faffing over buttons and sliders. View Deal
Dont buy them if

Youll need to lie down with them
Wearing these rules out sit-ups, press-ups, bridges, skull crushers, and more
if your workout routine relies on these, then maybe earbuds are best.

Youre not interested in fitness
Well done for reading a whole fitness headphone review without wanting headphones for this purpose, but some of the unique features here will only benefit people doing a workout.

You want funky-looking cans
Skullcandy specializes in funkily-colored or -designed headphones, but the
540 Active are some of its few options that dont come in all sorts of
patterns and hues. Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Also consider

Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active

SkullCandy Crusher Evo

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2

Earfun Wave Pro

Drivers

40mm

40mm

6mm

40mm

Active noise cancellation

No

No

Yes

Yes

Battery life

40 hours

40 hours

14 hours (buds) 56 hours (case)

80 hours

Weight

312g

312g

5g (buds); 47.5g (case)

268g

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.0

Bluetooth 5.0

Bluetooth 5.3

Bluetooth 5.3

Waterproofing

NA

NA

IP68

NA

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2
The Jabra Elite 8 Gen 2 cost more than the Skullcandys and are in-ears
instead of over-ears, but sound great and offer top noise cancellation. I include them here as we rank them as our best workout earbuds.

See our full Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 review

Earfun Wave Pro
When I tested these older earbuds, I took them to the gym a few times and
they worked fine. They have memory foam cups which wont be damaged as much by sweat, have a fantastic battery life so you can forget charging them much,
and sound really good for the price. Most importantly, theyre quite cheap.

See our full Earfun Wave Pro review How I tested the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active Tested for at least three weeks Tested at home, on runs and at the gym

I spent at least three weeks testing the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active before writing this review. They were paired to my Android phone for the entirety of it, using Spotify, Netflix and a few other apps.

I did a lot of the testing at my local gym and on runs around my local area, as I've mentioned. I also listened at home, on public transport and on walks too.

This isn't my first Skullcandy review for TechRadar although I didn't test
the original Evo. I've been reviewing devices for the brand for six years now including in-ear, open-ear and on-ear headphones. First reviewed in October 2025 Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/earbuds-airpods/skullcandy-crusher-540-active- review


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