Skullcandy's PLYR 2 is my new gaming headset of choice

 
Happy holidays, it is time for another product review and this time around we have a wireless gaming headset. This headset comes courtesy of Skullcandy and the model is the PLYR 2. Skullcandy had attempted to move from a dominant spot in the headphone market to the gaming headset market once before a few years back, and let’s just say that they didn’t stick around long. However in 2012 Skullcandy acquired gaming headset heavyweight, Astro Gaming. The PLYR 2 is part of their newest lineup which takes cues from Astro, and it is time to see if they if they can play with the big boys.

The PLYR 2 was incredibly easy to connect and start using, you just need to have the audio adapter that comes with your console handy. It was simply plug and play even though the instructions tried to overcomplicate things. The battery life is great, I have been using the headset for a week now and have only had to recharge once after the initial charge. Now for the best part, the sound quality. I felt that it was louder and more clear than that of Turtle Beach’s comparable model and the build quality feels much more durable. The other important item to me is the microphone quality in which my party is able to pick up what I am saying. The PLYR 2 picked up the sound clearly, never once did I have to repeat myself or was I told input was choppy, it is also easy to mute, just raise the mic boom.
 
Most Xbox and PS3 users running sound through the HDMI don’t remember where they placed their A/V adapter, luckily PC gamers won’t have this issue.  At first I had an issue with how loud they got but it was mainly due to how the volume works. It was a bit confusing as a 4 way joystick is used to control master volume and voice to game ratio. I would have prefered a leather wrapped ear cup, as the padding was fabric wrapped foam which felt like velcro against a five o’clock shadow.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with the PLYR 2’s. They were incredibly easy to set up and start using, the quality provided a great experience those times you can’t crank it, and the build quality was solid in a lightweight plastic shell. Skullcandy surprised me with this headset in comparison to their previous attempt as I did not expect Astro quality sound at the lower Skullcandy pricing level. Next to be released in March are the PLYR 1’s and those will be priced at 180 as opposed to the PLYR 2’s 130 dollar price tag, the difference will be Bluetooth connectivity, and Dolby 7.1 surround.