Astro A50 Wireless Review

In terms of wireless gaming, the Astro A50 is top-notch. They may be worn for long periods without discomfort, and the audio transmitted from their wireless base station has a minimal delay. Their boom mic effectively reduces unwanted noise and records clear audio. The headphones have physical buttons for adjusting the volume, switching between channels, cycling through EQ settings, and activating the virtual surround effect. Companion software is also available; however, problems have been observed.

Astro A50 Wireless Specs

Pros

• Quite Easy and Comfortable To Wear
• Good Sound Quality
• Long Battery Life
• Excellent MIC Recording Ability

Cons

• Quite Expensive
• Poor Build Quality

Review

There’s not much use in sugarcoating it: I find using the Astro Gaming A50 Wireless an ordeal. The earcups are cushiony velour, the headset is highly customizable, the battery lasts for hours, and there are a ton of extras. In a nutshell, it ought to be good, and in theory, it is. In actuality, not really. There’s no mistaking that the Astro Gaming A50 Wireless is a gaming headset.

Large headphones, a band composed of hollow plastic, and a bendable microphone all contribute to its plastic construction. Metal bars that modify the headset’s height and rotate the ear cups are utilized to secure the headphones to the band. The included velour pads are comfortable and ideal for use when wearing gaming glasses. While leatherette is great at blocking out noise in general, a pair of glasses needs a material that is a little softer and more flexible in order to create a good seal.

Style

The Astro A50 and the Astro A40 TR Headset with MixAmp Pro 2019 look almost the same. In contrast to the headphones’ muted color scheme, the ear cups have a small model name sticker. But their awkward design and fixed microphone make them easy to spot almost everywhere. You can change the look of your Astro headphones by buying a mod kit and swapping out the plates on the back of the ear cups.

Control

The Astro A50 has a good control system, but because it doesn’t have separate buttons for playing media and making phone calls, its main audience is gamers, not regular users. With the flip of a switch, you can turn off the microphone, change the volume, go through the audio settings, and turn on and off Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The right ear cup also has two more controls for adjusting the mix between the game’s sound and sounds from outside the game. Unlike the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017, these headphones don’t have a switch for moving through EQ settings. Instead, they have a button, and the base now has an LCD screen so you can see what setting you’re on. All of the controls are easy to use and give useful input through sound and touch.

Connection

The base station and headset are connected by 2.4 GHz RF transmission, which has no delay and is perfect for competitive play. Even on the other side of my apartment, behind a few closed doors, I still have a strong connection to the base station. This proves that Astro’s claim that the A50 Wireless can keep a link up to 30 feet away is true.

Battery

Astro says that the battery life of the A50 Wireless is over 15 hours on a single charge, which is possible but not proven. The headset goes to sleep automatically after 30 minutes of not being used. This “feature” cannot be turned off. We can’t do our normal battery test because of this unless we want to leave the battery testing setup on top of a spinning washing machine for 16 hours.

But based on what we found after randomly poking the headset and checking the battery level, we think it will last around 16 hours of nonstop playing. You won’t lose much power if you forget to turn off your headset before bed and it goes into sleep mode. However, this can be a problem if you fall asleep while using it, like when you lie down to play a game or watch a movie. You shouldn’t have any problems if you get up and move around every few minutes or so.

Microphone

The Astro Gaming A50 Wireless Microphone is typical of a video game headset. As with many related products on the market, the bass range is not given nearly enough attention. So, people with lower sounds will sound messed up. But the rare peaks in the high range will make it easier to hear F, S, and SH sounds.

Conclusion

The microphone isn’t very good and distorts lower sounds, and the base station is more of a bother than a help. It doesn’t always connect to whatever it’s plugged into, the headset can be hard to put on correctly, and it often needs to be reset. It has good sound quality, and all in all, it is a comfortable headset. But it’s not good enough to charge $300 for it. The Astro A50 Wireless has been one of the most reliable premium choices since it came out in the summer of 2019. In reality, you can get a lot more for your money somewhere else.