Skullcandy PLYR headset review: Some missing links
(Pocket-lint) – Skullcandy might be more typically associated with teenage kicks and affordable, funky headphones, but it’s branched into the world of gaming headsets this year. We’ve been using its top-range PLYR headset for a few weeks, and have found it an interesting mixed bag, with one big elephant in the room. Read on to find out our thoughts in full.
Our quick take
We’re pretty disappointed in the PLYR headset – solid early impressions relating to its stated battery life and interesting design pretty swiftly gave way to real frustrations.
The missing wireless dongle is a massive omission of the type we really rarely encounter, and the sound quality would have to be pretty stellar to make it a non-issue, which it isn’t. This is therefore, in practice, a wired headset that didn’t blow us away at all, and is pretty hard to recommend unless a major price cut comes its way.
Skullcandy PLYR headset
For
- Fun looks
- Nice and lightweight
- Decent sound
Against
- Missing wireless dongle
- Inflexible mic
- Feels a little cheap
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Design
- Available in black only
- Adjustable headband
- Detachable mic
Skullcandy has remained pretty restrained when it comes to the looks of the PLYR headset – it’s only available in what’s officially labelled “Black DigiHype”.
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The second part of that name is down to the occasional splashes of pixellated colour on the headset, but it’s quite well done and results in a design that’s spunky but still fairly restrained.
A bit like a Steelseries headset, you get an adjustable elasticated headband that sits inside of a metal brace, taking some of the weight of the PLYR and making for an impressively comfortable fit. This can be pegged to different lengths for different heads, but we found we could wear it for a good few hours without any discomfort.
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The microphone is removable when not in use, although it’s a weirdly inflexible bit of construction. Getting it really near your mouth feels basically impossible, which is a bit of a shame for pickup quality.
There are a few buttons and dials on the earcups to let you adjust your volume, as well as a power toggle, all of which work fine. It’s a pretty solid bit of design work, all in all, albeit nothing to set the world alight. The PLYR headset is just inconspicuous enough that we can imagine some people using it outside the house for casual listening without looking too obvious, either.
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One note, though, is that the downside to the headset’s light weight is that it does feel pretty flimsy and doesn’t shout “premium” when you hold it.
Fragility is a factor in any purchase, and we’re not sure these will last years and years.
Sound performance
- 50mm drivers
- Tunable via app
Slipping the PLYR headset on for some lengthy gaming sessions, we’ve come away with the impression that it’s a dead-solid offering on the sound side of things. The 50mm drivers have solid balancing out of the box, and the PLYR worked pretty well as a headset in our Warzone 2.0 playtesting, as well as while we played through Pokemon Scarlet on our Switch.
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The sound was pretty crisp but had a decent amount of oomph when called for. However, this is leagues below our favourite headsets such as the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, which elevates every game we play with it.
There’s a big price difference in that comparison, but Skullcandy’s offering also isn’t really up to scratch compared to comparable headsets either, and that’s a bit of a disappointment. Microphone pickup is decent enough, although as mentioned it can be a struggle to adjust the microphone’s actual positioning, which doesn’t help in getting a clearer readout.
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We also tested the PLYR with some light music use, since it’s got Bluetooth as its default connection, and found it solid but unremarkable. In short, if you want a set of headphones to tackle both music and gaming, we’re not sure these are the answer.
Features
- 24-hour battery life
- Bluetooth or wired connectivity
- Wireless dongle launches separately in 2023
If the sound quality and design notes we have for Skullcandy are pretty minimal in many ways, it’s when we turn to features that things take a bit of a nose-dive.
The elephant in the room here is that for a headset advertised as aimed at gamers with wireless play, the PLYR only actually supports Bluetooth connections out of the box.
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This means you’ll be playing wired unless you’re happy to accept latency that will immediately turn off a lot of gamers. Worst of all, Skullcandy is marketing a dongle that will allow for low-latency wireless play on PC or PlayStation, but it’s not coming out until a vague “Spring 2023” and will cost an extra GBP25 or £25. This isn’t really good enough – it should be in the box or be a free extra for those who’ve already bought the headset, in our opinion.
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It also hamstrings the PLYR’s gaming aspirations and makes it a really odd pick at £125 or GBP125.
Since, in reality, it’s going to be a wired headset for most users who need low latency, there are countless alternatives for lower prices that offer better sound, from the likes of Logitech, Astro and SteelSeries. While you’re using Bluetooth you do get an impressive 24 hours of battery life, but unless you’re primarily a mobile gamer we’re not sure what market this is serving at present. To be clear – mobile gaming could be the single explanation for what Skullcandy is aiming for here, but its marketing isn’t focussed in that direction at all.
Effectively, this missing transmitter turns the PLYR from a middling wireless headset option for those who like its looks, into a baffling wired-Bluetooth hybrid headset masquerading as something more. squirrel_widget_12863038
To recap
Skullcandy has slipped up by skipping on including a wireless dongle for the PLYR – it makes an otherwise fairly solid headset very hard to recommend to any serious gamer.
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills.
Editing by Verity Burns.
