Crystals seem like a pain to have to deal with, so I’m wondering if they’re worth it?
Yes, they add a massive amount to your mining yield, especially if you have boosts.
Type A II crystals have 44% more yield than T1 equipment.
Type B II crystals have 80% more yield than T1 equipment.
Yes, they add a lot to your yield.
Crystals also add a little residue compared to T1, type B even more so than type A, which means the asteroids you mine deplete more quickly and not only because of your increased yield. While this is not an issue if the ore you mine is plentiful it may be a problem on more valuable rare moon ore as you would be wasting potential earnings by mining it faster.
You could also use ORE strip miners to boost yield without residue. With 33% more yield than T1 equipment they still are a bit worse in yield than type A and significantly slower than type B crystals, but they have no residue. You’ll be paying over 400M ISK for a pair of those though.
ORE Strip Miners have exactly the same yield/s as Modulated Strip Miner II with Type B I loaded, no residue and 19km range.
Which like I said is a bit worse in yield than type A II and significantly slower than type B II crystals.
Sorry, I ignored t1 crystals, I don’t see why one would use those.
Fair enough, T2 crystals are 3-7 days of training each so it happens.
Yea, but if you’re bothering to use crystals anyway I don’t see why you’d be using T1 crystals, except in those few days training T2.
Type B II crystals have 35% more yield than ORE, which still is a big boost to be used when you don’t care about residue. And they’re not 400M ISK. 
Because T1 crystals are still an improvement over Strip Miner I or Miner II and if a border anom pops up then I’ll use T1 crystals because Complex Ore Processing IV isn’t a priority.
We agree, T2 crystals are better than ORE Strip Miners, T1 crystals are equivalent regarding yield but much cheaper. What ORE Strip Miners have going for them is that they can be used in mining missions while crystals can not.