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The Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 will melt your face off
17 hours ago
Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 Wireless Gaming Headset
Have you ever wanted to feel head-crushing bass while wearing an open-back gaming headset? No? Well, I don’t know who asked for this either, but Skullcandy has combined its signature dual Crusher drivers with an open-back design to give us the Crusher PLYR 720, a headset the company claims delivers a multi-sensory experience that ” isn’t just immersive—it’s 4D gaming.” Did the mad scientists at Skullcandy cook up something special, or were they too preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should?
This article was published on July 18, 2025, and this is the first version of the article. Updates will follow as the market changes.
If you’re someone who games in a quiet environment and craves an absurd amount of bass or likes the idea of in-game sound effects rumbling your skull, this headset delivers an experience you won’t find elsewhere. If that doesn’t sound pleasant or you primarily game in environments where the open-back design becomes a liability, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
What’s it like to use the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720?
The Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720’s headline feature is its patented Crusher drivers, which deliver an experience that, while impressive, can be intense. If I were to describe the bass sensation, it’s something like having a massage gun positioned around your ears with pulsating tactile feedback. It was fun to see my co-workers’ reactions when they tried on the headset for the first time with Crusher mode at full blast, watching their smiles scrunch and eyes squint like they just ate a super sour candy. And for an open-back headset with this much rumble and bass, there is surprisingly little sound leakage.
For gaming, the Crusher drivers are almost like having haptic feedback in your headphones. This can enhance the immersion for FPS shooters like Call of Duty, where you feel the explosion of a grenade going off right beside you. But for general music listening, the novelty can wear off quicker. I could only take about an hour of Crusher mode before needing to give my cheekbones a break from the constant vibrations. To the headset’s credit, there isn’t any internal rattling, which was a complaint we had with previous Crusher headphones. Still, the sheer power of the effect means you’ll likely find yourself taking breaks or dialing down the intensity for longer sessions.
As a headset, the Crusher PLYR 720 is comfortable and lightweight to wear for hours on end. One benefit of being an open-back design is that there is minimal heat buildup, minimizing sweaty ears for long gaming sessions. I found the memory foam ear cushions breathable and appreciate that they are removable, since that makes cleaning straightforward and will extend the headset’s lifespan. However, the silicone suspension band, while effective at distributing weight, does have me concerned about its durability. I suspect this gummy material is prone to tearing or degrading over time, especially with excessive stretching.
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Given that this is an open-back headset, not very well. An open-back design is intended to create a wider soundstage and let your ears breathe, not block out the world. In other words, if you are in a room with 20 people or are looking for a gaming headset for stadium or tournament play, these aren’t for you.
How do you control the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720?
The Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 has four physical buttons to control the main features. On the back of the left earcup, you’ll find the power button, which also handles Bluetooth pairing and switching between connection modes. There’s also a nifty little joystick positioned below the power button, which you can toggle up and down for volume adjustment, push left and right to manage sidetone or chat mix levels, and press inward to cycle through EQ presets. Personally, I found this to be one too many functions packed into a single control, easily activating the wrong thing by moving it in the wrong direction.
The right earcup houses the headset’s signature feature: a large, tactile rubber wheel that controls the Crusher bass intensity. Crank it clockwise, and you’ll literally feel your skull rumble. Above the bass wheel sits a customizable button which, by default, toggles between THX Spatial Audio and Head Tracking modes, though you can reassign its function through the companion app.
Should you use the Skullcandy app for the Crusher PLYR 720?
Yes, the Skullcandy Skull-HQ desktop app (and mobile companion) offers some useful customization and is required for firmware updates, which took me about 10-15 minutes to download.
You can choose from gaming-specific EQ presets like First Person Shooter (FPS) mode, which cuts a lot of bass emphasis, or Role Playing Game (RPG) mode, which is more balanced. You can also use the custom 5-band equalizer to adjust the tuning. The Enhanced Sound Perception (ESP) test is also worth taking as it analyzes your unique hearing profile through a series of beeps and tunes the headset accordingly.
I would also recommend playing with the THX spatial audio settings for gaming, as it can enhance the immersion of exploring a 3D virtual environment. There’s a separate THX equalizer section with additional presets and full custom tuning capabilities, and you can adjust the speaker distance of in-game characters. I was also impressed with the accuracy of head tracking and found sounds adapted in real time to how my head was angled in relation to the monitor.
Beyond audio tuning, the app handles practical features like game/chat mix balance, sidetone adjustment, and microphone gain control. You can also manage multipoint Bluetooth pairing, customize the LED lighting color and brightness, and reassign the custom button functions to match your preferences.
How do you connect the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720?
The Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 headset offers both wireless and wired connectivity options. For wireless connections, you have two paths: Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio support or the included USB-A low-latency transmitter that delivers a snappy 25ms wireless audio transmission for PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC gaming, as well as for Xbox if you get that model.
The dual wireless approach is more useful than merely being able to switch between Bluetooth and the 2.4GHz connection, as many other gaming headsets do. Here, it’s not just one or the other; you can stream audio from your game while keeping Bluetooth available for music streaming or taking calls, each with independent volume controls.
When you need a wired connection, the included 3.5mm AUX cable lets you plug directly into PCs, handheld gaming consoles, or controllers. The Crusher PLYR also supports USB audio using the included USB-C to A cable for direct digital connection. Overall, it’s a nice spread of connection methods that can accommodate all gaming scenarios.
For Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile wireless Bluetooth connection, press and hold the power button on the left earcup for 4 seconds. You will hear the headphones say “ready to pair.”
How long does the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720’s battery last?
The Crusher PLYR 720 delivers excellent battery life that should easily handle extended gaming marathons. In our testing using Bluetooth connectivity with the Crusher mode completely dialed down, the headset lasted approximately 50 hours.
Real-world battery life will vary depending on your usage patterns. The Crusher bass drivers are power-hungry, so cranking up that tactile rumble will drain the battery faster. Similarly, using dual wireless mode (2.4GHz + Bluetooth simultaneously) will reduce runtime compared to single-connection use.
For most users, you’re looking at days or even weeks of typical gaming sessions before needing to reach for the charging cable.
How do the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 sound?
The Crusher PLYR 720 sounds good for gaming, with impressive localization and spatial width. The sub-bass effect of Crusher mode can be fun for in-game sound effects, but is fatiguing for music listening.
Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS)
The chart below shows how the sound of the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 was assessed by the Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score (MDAQS) algorithm from HEAD acoustics.
The headset’s strongest performance comes in Timbre, with a score of 4.1, indicating a good reproduction of the frequency spectrum and timing accuracy. Immersiveness scores 3.7, reflecting the headset’s solid spatial audio capabilities. The open-back design, combined with THX Spatial Audio processing, creates a wide soundscape, particularly for positional audio cues. The Distortion score of 2.9 represents the weakest area, as the excessive bass emphasis can introduce unwanted artifacts.
- Timbre (MOS-T) represents how faithfully the headset reproduces the frequency spectrum and temporal resolution (timing information).
- Distortion (MOS-D) represents non-linearities and added noise: higher scores mean cleaner reSkullcandy Crusher PLYR 720ion.
- Immersiveness (MOS-I) represents perceived source width and positioning: how well virtual sound sources are defined in three-dimensional space.
See here for an explanation of MDAQS, how it works, and how it was developed.
Reviewer’s notes
Editor’s note: this review uses a hover-enabled glossary to describe sound quality based on a consensus vocabulary. You can read about it here.
Objective Measurements
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The Crusher PLYR 720’s frequency response reveals a tuning optimized for gaming rather than critical listening. Compared to our house curve, the headset shows several notable deviations.
For starters, you might be wondering where all the sub-bass has gone? Well, because this is an open-back design, it is extremely hard for the drivers to reproduce a high level all the way down. Given that Skullcandy doesn’t exactly have the same engineering expertise as, say, Sony or Sennheiser, it ‘s not surprising to see a sub-bass rolloff below 100Hz.
The rest of the frequency range follows our house curve very closely, aside from the presence boost around 9kHz, which adds extra brilliance and detail retrieval that helps with positional audio cues in competitive gaming. You can dial that down using the custom EQ to avoid shrillness in music.
How good is the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720’s microphone?
The Crusher PLYR 720 features a unidirectional removable boom mic that captured my voice clearly while providing excellent noise rejection in loud environments. As you can hear from the office conditions sample below, keyboard clatter and phone ringing are effectively filtered out, ensuring your voice comes through without distracting background noise.
Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 microphone demo (Ideal conditions):
Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 microphone demo (Office conditions):
Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 microphone demo (Reverberant space):
How does the microphone sound to you?
Should you buy the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720?
The Crusher PLYR 720 is an admittedly niche product that succeeds at being exactly what Skullcandy set out to create: a gaming headset that delivers a truly unique sensory experience. The combination of open-back acoustics and vibrating bass brings something different to the gaming audio space, and when it works, it can be a lot of fun.
However, $260 is a lot for a gaming headset, and the Crusher effect can become fatiguing if you plan to use it for hours on end. Thankfully, you can turn it off when needed, and there is more to this headset than all the bass it has. The head tracking and spatial audio are excellent for gaming, and the sound quality isn’t bad for music, especially when you take advantage of the app’s EQ presets and custom 5-band equalizer.
Ultimately, the Crusher PLYR 720 comes down to a simple question: does having haptic feedback in your headphones or strapping a subwoofer to your head sound fun to you? If so, and you don’t game somewhere you need to block out background noise, this open-back gaming headset delivers on that promise. If not, more traditional options may serve you better and save you some cash.
Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 review: FAQs
Yes, the Crusher PLYR 720 works with both Xbox and PS5. Two models are available: a multi-platform version and one specifically designed for Xbox. Both support PlayStation, PC, Switch, and mobile devices.
Yes, it supports both Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio and a low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connection via the included USB-A transmitter.
No, the Crusher PLYR 720 does not have active noise canceling. As an open-back headset, it's designed to let sound in and out rather than block external noise.
Yes, you can use the headset while charging via the included USB-C to A cable.
Yes, the unidirectional boom microphone is removable.
Yes, it features THX Spatial Audio for immersive 360° surround sound, with head tracking available.