ASTRO Gaming A50 Wireless Gaming Headset + Charging Base
ASTRO Gaming A50 Wireless Gaming Headset + Charging Base Station, Game/Voice Balance Control, 2.4 GHz Wireless, 15 m Range, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Mac – Black/Gold
Supreme Freedom
Experience absolute audio immersion. The a50 wireless + base station for xbox one/pc delivers the premium acoustics, ergonomics, comfort and durability that gamers demand.
Tuned with ASTRO Audio V2
ASTRO works with developers and pro gamers to deliver premium audio tuned for gaming. Our precise frequency spectrum produces detailed in-game dialogue music and sounds for immersive audio.
Dolby Audio
Never miss another audio cue. Dolby Audio lets you hear everything in the game for an incredibly clear cinematic audio experience.
Free Dolby Atmos
Includes a free 2-year activation code for Dolby Atmos spatial audio. Allows sounds to move freely without channel restrictions for a true 3D soundscape, including sounds above and below you.
Game:Voice Balance
A feature that ASTRO pioneered, Game:Voice Balance allows total control over your game and chat audio mix. Easily adjust both with controls on the headset.
ASTRO Command Center Software
Update your firmware before using your headset to get new control over your voice communication and audio settings with free customization software.
Battery power that lasts
Don’t let a sudden power loss shut down your audio. A50 Wireless outlasts marathon gaming sessions with a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that holds 15+ hours of unstoppable power.
USB sound card support
Access Game:Voice Balance and game + voice streaming on your PC—no optical cables needed.
Mod Kit Ready
Add the kit (sold separately) for even more noise isolation. The swappable synthetic leather headband and ear cushions are compatible only with A50 Wireless Headset Gen 4 version.
| Weight: | 380 g |
| Dimensions: | 2.9 x 10.8 x 21.6 cm; 380 Grams |
| Brand: | ASTRO Gaming |
| Model: | 939-001682 |
| Colour: | BLACK GOLD |
| Batteries Included: | Yes |
| Manufacture: | Astro Gaming |
| Dimensions: | 2.9 x 10.8 x 21.6 cm; 380 Grams |
I purchased these as I had enough of setting up my a40s every time I wanted to play and having cables across the front room (not to mention an snogging buzzing noise ) out of the box the sound was a bit muddy , to much bass and not enough treble . I had a quick search online for some eq settings and managed to find one that completely changed my experience . Footsteps are now clear from a good distance . They are comfortable as I expected , can’t comment on the battery life yet as I charged them once and used them maybe 3 nights on the trot for 3-4 hours each time . Still no low battery warning . Mic is clear , I turn my side tone up so I can hear my own voice to limit the shouting I do when I open a door and see someone standing in front me causing my insides to fall out my back side I have an optical connected to my tv and the usb to my Xbox . I guess if you have a monitor youd need a dac adaptor as I find when using usb only the sound is not the best . Guess we can thank Microsoft for ditching the optical .
Amazing headset, definitely worth the money! I no longer hear my wife and children moan about how much xbox I am playing as it has great noise cancellation!
Had issues right out of the box would not want to connect to the wireless station had do some digging online and found out it wasn’t provitioned from the factory so had to factory reset it and redownload it software. After that it woeks great.
Was using these for about 3 years but spilt water on the base station so had to buy them again after trialing other sets only to realise that these are still untouched when it comes to wireless gaming headsets. Has amazing signal strength integrity even in other rooms. [Comfort 10/10] [sound/volume/bass 10/10] [noise cancelling 8/10] (you can play music in the background and your friends won’t hear it on the microphone) [battery 9/10] (+15 hours)… overall these are amazing and meet the upper thresholds in performance and will not disappoint you unlike 80% of other “gaming headsets”
For gaming it’s very good and the sound is crisp however it doesn’t come with an adaptor and you have you buy that separately which is 30 and the base stations doesn’t come with a charger either. If it came with a charger it would of been 5 stars.
Having upgraded from my Kraken Razer tournaments, I expected these to be a massive step up but really they’re just incredibly loud. I spent ages tuning the EQ with the help of tutorials on google and YouTube for playing Warzone 2.0 but you still couldn’t hear a lot. Yeah that could be down to the game audio not being great but even then I still wasn’t hearing anything until the last second.
All in all, a good headset but definitely not worth the money at all.
I spent ages comparing wireless headsets and what finally persuaded me was an Amazon sale. I was a bit sceptical but I’m more than happy. They are more compact that I was expecting. The chargeable base station works great as a place to recharge the head set after use as well showing useful indicators. In the package is an optical cable to connect the base station to your sound card if it supports it. The Astro A50 software has a nice interface, and has all the functionality I would need. It includes equaliser presets or you can find some online as well. The sound is crisp but everyones perception will vary, and I’m older. I haven’t used the microphone but the voice playback through the headsets sounds found. There is also game/voice volume controls on the side of the headset. Other switches includes volume control, equaliser preset change control, dolby on/off & power on/off button. The headset includes magnetic detachable foam ear pieces and a foam head rest. They worked fine for me but I did buy the mod kit which has leather style material on the ear pieces and the top head rest which is easier to clean. There is no active noise cancellation but I gave that two stars because the close fitting ear pieces block a little noise. Overall I’m a happy customer particularly at the sale price.
These headphones were the 3rd brand I’ve tried, and they are the ones I’ve stuck with.
These are the only set that I’ve found can produce sound from any source that’s sent through my TV although this isn’t documented anywhere on how to do it.
Pros:
Can produce sound via any source
Very comfortable over long periods
On board volume and effect control
Mic mutes when in inverted position
Cons:
Expensive
No interace for PlayStation
All parameters have to be set via a PC
No real Dolby-ATMOS integration on PS
Would I recommend this product? Yes
I AM IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE MANUFACTURER OR DEVELOPER OF ANY PRODUCT OR GAME I REVIEW AND ALL MY REVIEWS ARE UNBIASED AND TRUE
It seems very unstable for when it will charge, some audio artifacts can occur.
These are usually fixed if you hard reset it a couple of times, but that’s quite annoying to continuously do.
First off, the sound quality is very good and so is the mic as well as features. However it’s labelled as being a PS5 headset, features such as surround sound and presets are only available once you buy the digital adapter for the PS5. Astro sell this for about 30-40 although it’s better to buy a non branded one as it’s cheaper. Found this a little annoying and misleading but even without, it still works fine. If anything I don’t really use the surround sound feature anyways as on rainbow six siege for example it can make footsteps sound like they’re coming from the wrong direction. But sound is very clear and the headset is very comfortable especially with the mod kit which adds leather ear cushions for better noise cancellation (this costs another 35 which is quite extortionate in my opinion).
All in all, if you have the money go for it as it’s the best headset I’ve personally owned although if you have a lower budget go for some HyperX Cloud 2s, these lasted me 3 years. Guess we’ll see how long these Astros last.
This headset is outstanding I’ve had a Astro before and the quality in the build is always good, the charging base is new to me and knowing when your headset is going to run out of charge at a glance is a great feature, at times the base gets annoying to place the headset onto charge because the pins on the base don’t always line up with the headset so you maybe wiggling the headset to put it on charge. Other then that the software you get on the computer is very good to customise the type of sound quality you would like to hear, bass is medium not too heavy, you will definitely hear a energy coming from any direction on a game. I don’t often use the sound switching on the right side of the headset to switch between game and voice sound no idea how it works can’t set individual sound outputs to each side of it. Overall it’s not a bad headset after 1 month of use. Thanks Astro & Amazon!
I have been through absolutely loads of Headsets as I game on PC, Xbox and PlayStation so I have a lot of experience.
I returned a Turtle Beach 600 Headset for the Xbox as the connection was unstable (interference I presume).
It’s a shame as the surround sound (especially) was awesome on those. When you enabled Atmos you could actually hear things above you.
I then went to a Hyper X Cloud Flight Wireless headset for the Xbox and this has great bass and sound in general and Wireless signal was excellent…but…I wear glasses and they clamped a bit hard and the Surround Sound just wasn’t as good. I mean it worked but not as good.
So; I was looking for something more comfortable and so I tried these.
They are SUPERB. Very comfortable and do not clamp my head but the surround sound is incredible!
Nuketown in COD…i’m upstairs and I can hear an enemy walking up the stairs..not just walking up the stairs but I could tell that they were half way up so I could time my shooting perfectly (“camper!”).
Not only this but the bass is great and sound quality is pretty decent as well. Highly recommended for competitive gaming.
They are a lot smaller than they appear in the photo’s as well and very neat being able to site them on the charger when not in use.
I suppose the only thing I would change are perhaps a smaller boom mic.
Pros:
1. Sound is fantastic even without the optical it’s rich and lovely and I like it better than my high end Steelseries Pro’s (which I wasn’t sure I would find). 360 sound in game…if you’re looking to hear every footstep, these do the trick.
2. Comfort is the best in class. I was worried as I can wear my Steelseries all day without any pressure headache. Razers I can only get away with about an hour. These I could fall asleep in and not notice. They are just squishy but still stay on my head. They are lighter than my Steelseries Pros as well. If you have a larger head these are a good choice.
3. Microphone is crystal clear, and everyone says I sound better on this vs my Steelseries or my Razers. One of the things I love about this mic is that it has the ability to play your own voice back to you. This doesn’t seem like a huge bonus, but it is for me. Circa 1am when I am playing COD and my kids are sleeping, before these headphones, I would get louder with callouts…which woke up my teenage daughters (and got me put on the naughty step). These allow me to hear how loud I am, and I haven’t woken them up once since.
Cons:
1. The software doesn’t work well all the time, and sometimes doesn’t want to start (and no it’s not a driver update).
2. The charging base sometimes feels like it needs to be aligned with the sun to be able to work. You can’t just plop them in and boom they charge…they need fiddling with to get set in correctly every time.
3. Length of charge could be better. My Steelseries seem to last forever. These on a daily basis I get down to the single digits, and they have died on me twice, and I had to hook them up to a cord. I wish it had a longer battery life.
The verdict…these are still the best wireless gaming headphones I have ever owned. The pros far outweigh the cons. I am hoping they tweak the software so that it’s less buggy, when it does work, it’s great. If you are looking for a great sounding, epic set of gaming headphones, give these a chance, I have been very happy with mine.
Note that I got these for 167 from Amazon Warehouse, which I got an amazing deal on these. The headphones didn’t have anything wrong with them, just the outer box was a mess, but the inner one was pristine.
OK so just accept that the Astro A50s are a great headset with some annoying flaws. Every time I use my headset sidetone turns on. It means I have to open the software and fiddle with the slider. It will already be in the off position but it doesn’t take affect until I maneuver the slider. Charging the headset on the dock can be tricky. After using the headset for over a month I’ve developed the skill to get it to sit right in the dock first time but it is still annoying and unsatisfying. There are no media controls and i hate the game volume slider feature. I keep accidentally pressing it and wondering why I can’t hear my game sound. The headset won’t fit on a big head. My head is medium and it barely fits. Can be comfy but sometimes it builds pressure on the top of my head which hurts.
Now that you know I have a 1-year of experience with these I hope to some extent you can trust my words.
I’ve owned a few pairs of headphones in my life, I’ve had Razer, Logitech, Corsair, Steelseries & Turtlebeach.
I liked all of them until I finally came to Astro.
The Astro headphones are in one word “Excellent”.
But just because they are excellent that doesn’t mean they are perfect.
After having them for as long as I have I can say that the sound these headphones produce is very natural, real & warm.
Unlike others that provide Robotic, Unnatural, and Cold sounds.
When I first got them and I tested them I was like “Wow… these sound bad!” BUT after tweaking with the settings I was honestly saying “Wow, these sound great”. Out of the box they are not calibrated to sound good, you need to do that on your own, so if you are planning on getting the Astro A50’s just know that you will NEED to tweak the sound settings to your sound preferences.
I’m going to try and keep this short for you.
Everything about these headphones is great except the following.
– The Astro Hub which you download from the Astro website or Microsoft store (for free) is not really good. If you have no idea about sound volumes and ‘Hz’ then you will be scratching your head when you open the Astro Hub. The good news is that people have made videos and guides on how to fix your headphones through the ‘Hub’ so you will need to do a bit of research.
Astro did a really bad job here, and they threw this advanced yet minimum tool to people assuming they are sound experts without providing any help or tips on how to adjust sound to normal levels.
– The Astro A50 Gen 4 has this really bad habit of not working from time to time for (min) 30 minutes (max) 1 hour. This problem is known to Astro because there are many complaints about this on the internet and they have done NOTHING to fix this, they won’t try to fix it and don’t EVER plan to fix it, so just know if you do buy them and one day all of a sudden they just stop working, just let them rest for about 30 (min) to 1 (Hour). There is literally nothing you can do to try and fix it.
– Astro Gaming customer support is run by monkeys, I kid you not.
I contacted them 2-3 times I believe, and I told them exactly this
“The headphones stopped working, there is no sound coming out of them, they won’t respond to anything I do” they said, “Have you tried muting and un-muting the microphone?”. What does the microphone have anything to do with the headset not working? That’s like calling an I.T department and saying “Hello, my computer has a virus” and they say to you “Have you tried restarting it?” …how did I not think of that, how did that skip my mind, I wonder…
That’s all the negatives the Astro A50 has and I believe it’s enough, because these headphones cost 250 Pounds, yet the company Astro is a joke. They have bad Customer Service and they don’t fix known issues because they don’t know how to.
Now this headset is great but it’s the little things that brings it down a peg.
For example, if you do not know how to correct the highs and lows in audio and the presets ain’t good for you personally then you’ll either have to learn how to correct it with the command centre (which is a pretty neat application) or just sell the headset.
The durability of said headset ain’t the strongest. It has been dropped once (my cat knocked it off my desk) it landed on carpet and the part where soft bit is at the top snapped loose from the frame of the headset and wouldn’t go back in securely. I had to super glue it lol.
The surround sound feature is cool but isn’t the best. It’s recommended to use Dolby Atmos, the app on PC however that requires a subscription. You’d thing after paying the high price for this headset you’d get maybe a free trial or something like that for Dolby Atmos but you don’t.
If you are looking for sound cancelling, this ain’t the one for you. Go somewhere else. I heard Alienware have a great headset for sound cancelling.
The range on this headset isn’t the best, but it’s decent enough if you do stay in the same room.
The worst problem I had with this was a weird one. When I upgraded my network to 5ghz Wi-Fi, the frequency interfered with my headset causing it to cut out at times and often have this blipping noise in the speakers. I had to turn of the 5ghz setting on my hub for this to go away. I am hoping they’ve since fixed this issue. I am yet to test it.
However, this headset still remains in the spot of one of my best all time headsets. The price is bit too high though. I would recommend going for a cheaper headset if you can’t comfortably afford this headset.
I generally ascribe to the philosophy of buying something good once instead of something cheap multiple times.
First off I should mention how comfortable these things are, it feels like they fall into place into the most comfortable position on your head like it was tailor made for your skull. Padding is both comfortable and durable. And the overall weight is quite low. I could wear these for hours without any discomfort.
The sound quality is high, and adjustable. An app that pairs with the headset (on pc I don’t know about consoles) can be used to quickly switch a bunch of sound frequencies to make them sound louder or quieter so you can customise and save pre-sets for different games if you’re that kind of person . This paired with the 3d sound makes video games quiet immersive.
The microphone high quality but very sensitive. If you’re using a fan its best to use push to talk, although my friends did say that the background noise wasn’t annoying. Speaking of annoying some people might find it so but the microphone does have voice feedback so you can monitor how loud you’re speaking. Its actually very good feedback in my opinion without any noticeable lag between my speech and after a few minuets I didn’t find it distracting and noticed I wasn’t raising my voice as much.
If I had one complaint it would be that the noise cancelling isn’t as strong as I would like but I suppose that’s a trade-off for comfort which I value more. If I had two it would be that I feel such an expensive headset is somewhat wasted on me, It really feels like to use this headset to its full potential you need to be the kind of person that likes to fine tune their sound for every experience. I’m not that kind of person so I feel underserving (for lack of a better word) of such a amazing headset.
Like I said above the headset has a lot of cool features, but the average consumer probably won’t want them all and you might be able to save yourself some money by buying a cheaper headset. If you do buy it though you won’t be disappointed with any aspect of this headset.
The only drawback of this headset is the headband. Which I understand I designed to be “upgraded”. Although from what I’ve seen it doesn’t look like this upgrade will fix the problem that is seen here. The way the headband is kept in allows for it to be popped out, handy for upgrading, not handy when it pops out while gaming, especially with my use case in sim racing games. Simply driving over a kerb will detach the headband and this makes the headset wobble around a bit on your head – not ideal. I tried removing the cushioning headband piece altogether, but found myself getting headaches after no more than 5 minutes of use. My solution was to sellotape the headband, which works but makes the headset look crappy and cheap, otherwise – 5* headset.
New Review 2021:
Got these again after the price drop to 219. Even though I hardly got to use them last time I still felt that the audio quality was second to none. Decided I’d take the plunge again and bought them for the second and third time (I’ll explain later why third). The first game I played, my jaw literally dropped (no joke). I came from the Logitech G Pro X, and they were decent, but not on the level of these in terms of sound quality (don’t get me started on the stupid charging station or the problematic Astro Command Centre).
I just played Apex Legends and could hear foot steps that my team mates couldn’t, I’ve uploaded the video, which should demonstrate this. Overall the sound quality, bass and overall surround sound are simply better than the competition. They need to do away with the charging base station and stop updating the damn firmware every few minutes. Bricked my headset in the past.
*Third Purchase: I had to return the PS4 model because it doesn’t come with a Dolby Atmos license. Only the Xbox Model does. Never owned a PS console before, had a few Xbox consoles, so thought it makes sense if I ever decide to buy an Xbox in future too.
Old Review 2020:
I was absolutely blown away by the sound quality of this headset. Comfortable, breathable, precise bass and treble, incredible surround sound. I had finally, after a thorough test of half a dozen top end wireless gaming headsets, swallowed the price tag and was ready to settle with this beast. Just under a week of owning them, the Astro Command Centre informed me that a firmware update is available and required. I went ahead with the update. A few minutes later, the firmware update failed. From here on, the headset would not work. Completely bricked. The software would endlessly inform me that the headset firmware is out of date and attempt to update it. Every single time it would fail. I tried multiple USB ports and machines, same issue. I researched online to find others whom have experienced the same issue, and there are plenty of people. Astro’s website is total garbage. No access to the firmware, nor any section for community help or KB articles.
The headset is rendered completely unusable now. I’ve tried everything. A hard reset of the headset and countless hours testing manual and automatic firmware updates. Just a few moments ago a firmware update completed successfully, and the headset seemed to show a firmware version on both the base and headset, however the moment I remove it, it says no headset detected. Nothing will bring these back to life. Such a huge disappointment. This issue is common. These are going back to Amazon.
My first pair of gaming headphones and the other half (and probably the dogs) are loving life in mostly silence with the calm communication shouted whilst playing Warfare or Rainbow Six.
After almost three decades of gaming, 1000s of pounds of audio visual equipment I’ve come to realise that headset gaming is a game changer!
Pound for pound these are NEVER going to match the sound of an equivalent headphone for music, and I have many from Beyerdynamic T1s, Sony WH1000XM4, Bose 700, all in and above 300. So let’s not compare them to those kinds of headphones. For gaming these will do, just don’t expect to watch movies, listen to music or do anything else with them. Why would you, with giant microphone attached anyway. Balanced sound, and quite a wide soundstage, although not particularly bass forward. I want to hear footsteps and opponent movement more than anything anyway and it does a good job of that.
I couldn’t help myself and ordered some other brands too so this review will probably be updated when I have more of a reference point.
(initial review 18th February 2021)
EDIT 1 (25th February 2021): I added the mod kit, feel much more comfortable and, well they feel more premium. Also point out that i bought these as Amazon Warehouse, listed with minor imperfections… whilst the box had been opened, they are brand new with zero imperfection.
The headphones themselves, I also bought as good – used amazon warehouse, they arrived in unopened box with seals. No marks, imperfections, or issues.
Also old reviews that come up say you need to pay for Dolby Atmos… Xbox instantly recognises these headphones and you don’t even need to use the free 2 year dolby access code in the box.
EDIT 2 (30th June 2021):
I switched a few months ago to using MIcrosoft’s own xbox headset with my xbox series x, which was ease of use more than anything and I’m more than happy with the results. What I did do this week was to start using this with my PS5. Now I’m not sure why it says the Xbox / PC version isn’t compatible with the Playstation… aside from having to buy the HDMI splitter to get an optical feed out of the HDMI, everything works fine. You do need to switch it to PC mode, and also adjust default Stream cast settings through the app so your party doesn’t get an endless echo but everything works! Of course once I get a 4k 120fps capable TV (only running 4k 60fps), I’ll have to find a new solution…
In my mini quest to find the best headphones for my Xbox Series X I’ve tried the Turtle Beach Stealth 700s, Arctis 9x, Razer Nari Ultimate and now these, and honestly these are head and shoulders above the rest.
The reason for that, is that all the others connect directly to the Xbox like a controller, which I’ll admit is more convenient, but even when using the Atmos app on the Xbox, the sound is still underwhelming. Honestly, the difference between them all is marginal especially when directional positioning is important such as in a FPS or battle royale such as Warzone. I just think the Xbox heavily processes the sound it sends, so by and large the headset you connect via this method is largely irrelevant.
The reason these win is that assuming you have a TV with an optical output (or you buy some sort of audio extractor I guess) you can connect these via optical, and tell the Xbox to send the uncompressed stereo feed out to the base and then let the Astros process the sound. The difference is night and day for Warzone. I can finally determine footsteps in adjacent buildings, determine the height someone is above me an so on.
Of course I wish the Xbox Series X had come with an optical port, but is is good to know that there are ways around this shortcoming and I think that’s the reason for a lot of negative reviews of this product – those guys are connecting these via USB and getting the sound that way, processed by the Xbox, which is how I initially had these set up, and I agree that gives so-so performance
ORIGINAL 2020
Does what it promises. Comfortable, not had any issues with battery life, I move mine between my laptop and my xbox often and it just works. Premium price tag with actual premium quality, unlike some its competitors.
UPDATE 2022
There are a couple issues a few years in. I have the base unit permanently plugged into my Xbox Series X these days. There’s an intermittent “chirping” issue, where the headset seems to randomly make little noises every 30 minutes or so. You can resolve it by replugging the base unit to the console. Given my xbox is under the desk at the back somewhere, it’s kinda annoying.
I have my xbox set to power down completely when I turn it off, and I’ve noticed that when I turn it back on, I pretty much always need to switch the base unit mode over to PC and back to Xbox before my headset will actually pair with it.
The headband has a smoothing plastic coating that does degrade and peel off after a while, but it’s not something I really care about beyond mentioning. The way that the cup adjustment sliders are designed means that if you have long hair, your hair can and will get caught in them in a way that cannot be resolved except for snapping your hair off or pulling it out of your head. I wear a cap or tie my hair up when I use the headset pretty much always as this has happened a lot.
Functionally, everything’s still working great – no build quality issues, which is something virtually every other headset I’ve owned suffers from after a year or so.
This headset is just the job for long gaming sessions on my Xbox one s. Over the years I had several headsets (usually turtle beach ones like the xp510 and x43), the Astro A50 Gen 4 is the best fitting and the comfiest one I’ve had up to now, The sound is very good once you have maxed out the two highest frequency adjustments in the the software that you have to download to your PC, this Astro Command centre is what you use to adjust the frequency bands to shape the way you want the headset to sound. The two highest ones need setting the highest in my opinion as the treble is muffled otherwise, then adjust the bass to your liking, once done you save the setting and update them to the headset then your done. You can save three and adjust them for different sound for other games styles eg one for more bass or more treble or how you want it. The Astro A50 Gen 4 is now suitable for the new Xbox series X through the use of just the USB connection as they have done away with the optical connection. The build quality is really good and I bought these as other headsets have snapped at the place the speakers connect to the headband on my last three headsets (my razer nari ultimate (xbox) snapped at the earcups). The Astro A50 has strong tubes on which the earcups turn so no worries about these breaking there, Overall I’m extremely happy with them and they would no doubt last for a long time, I was fed up of buying headsets for them to snap near the earcups over the last four headset I had for my Xbox. The battery lasts for a very long time when in use and depletes slowly and can game for extended gaming session, when finished place them down on the charger by the earcups and they magnetically fit down on the charging base.
I take real care of my stuff so If you value build quality and excellent sound get these Astros. I have had these for a month now and have really got used to them. Love them to bits.
Quite alot if you ask me. I’ve always had Astro headsets especially for my Xbox.
I started off with he first gen Astro A40s, I couldn’t fault them but I accidentally broke them. While looking up new headsets, I gave astro a fair share of looks. From Corsair, Razer and SteelSeries. They all had interesting features, But all the same as The Astro A50s.
– 7.1 surround sound.
– Dolby Atmos
– Great Noise Cancelling
– Crisp Audio
– Deep Bass and Great Mids
I decided on the Astro A50s (Gen4) because…. Well been with astro for years. Might as well stay loyal, But since Astro has been bought over from Logitech their quality has slightly declined a bit. But that’s not a bad thing!
When I got the headset, The box and packaging was the same, Not changed much in terms of style. As soon as I opened it all up the smell of ‘new’ hit my nose and I floated towards it like I’ve just smelt a good cherry pie!
Everything was in the box, Manual, Dolby Atmos 2 year subscription, Headset.
Took me 5 minutes to plug everything in and connect it all to my Xbox.
Now before you read this part I got to tell you that this was my problem, Very few have this problem but it does sort itself out.
So All the lights came on and I left it to charge for 24 hours, After that I connected it to my PC and updated the firmware, But the headset wouldn’t connect to the base station, This took about a week to fix, Back n fourth looking at fixes, Reddit posts, I even went on their discord and asked in there. Nothing they said worked, So on the mean time, My 300 wireless headset could only work if I had the mini USB cable attached to the side giving it power. So don’t know what happened.
After about a week, One night I went to play warzone with my friends and it just worked, Worked without the wire! I was so excited. So moral of that story is just wait a week, If it doesn’t fix itself then contact Astro.
After playing about with the PC Software I find tuned the headset to my liking.
It has 3 programmable profiles, I have mine set to FPS Games, Cinematic Games/Movies and Music. The Volume rotate wheel is tactile and can precisely set the audio. And there’s 2 buttons on the side too Game and chat volume level, So game up or chat up. And one button I don’t use much is the switch between stereo and dolby.
My personal review is anyone looking for a brilliant Headset that will last through being thrown and roughed up, Choose astro. Used it for months now and I couldn’t be happier!
The headset itself is a little heavier due to the integrated battery, so it does take some getting used to. Once you are past that the headset itself is really comfortable (I game with glasses on and I’ve never had a problem). The headset holds charge very well and I’ve never had to recharge even during extensive hours of playing (battery is true to the advertised amount). The ear cups are magnetic so easily removed and can be swapped out for leather ones if desired. Both sound and voice sound great and they are my go-to headset for FPS games like CoD WarZone / Apex Legends as you are able to pickup on footsteps/direction that people are in comparison to you which is paramount in this type of competitive game. The headset is easily setup on a PS4 Pro and works with minimal amount of settings needing to be changed, there is also a great Reddit support page ran by Astro if you have any issues or general questions. The charge dock is great and the headset just pops into place when dropped onto it (feels magnetic). All the controls are on the headset so it’s easy to adjust volume and other settings on the go.
I have added a pop-filter to the microphone but that’s just personal preference, these can be purchased on Amazon for just a few ‘s.
It’s a great headset and was on sale at the time of purchase which was even better.
I read the reviews below and finally took a chance on this headset despite the negative feedback. I am very glad I did.
Out the box this product works right away with some default settings installed to rotate through 3 x EQ settings. You just plug into your Xbox and you’re away. In all honesty though if you paid this much for a headset, you’re going to want to customise it.
For a higher level of configuration you do need to plug it into a pc to install updates it seems, and a windows 10 PC at that. I mention this because not everyone would have a windows 10 PC or access to it. Top tip, even if you have a spare, you should use the micro usb cable that comes with the product to install the update on PC, otherwise it may fail. I wasted a little time in the setup process as I did have to contact customer support to help me through this, so hopefully this helps someone.
Once this is done then connect back to your xbox one and claim the free 2 x years Dolby Atmos that comes in the box, and install the EQ Command Centre App from Xbox store.
It’s worth noting why I mention the above however in a review, as the product could do with this spelling out a little clearer in a simpler instruction booklet -however it’s far from complex.
From this point you can configure settings direct on the Xbox and save profiles etc. This process is a little more complex as it involves saving sound profiles underneath file names. I would say the user interface here could be improved to make the process of what your doing a little easier. Some sort of example on screen or in the box to show you steps would be great as an improvement, and make it easier to use for novices.
Another useful feature would be that the updates install direct through Xbox rather than requiring the PC update system.
I bought this product because other brand names had let me down for performance. I may have gotten “bad units” out the box I suppose, and if that is the case then I am very unlucky. I was also interested in both Dolby Atmos and being able to customise the sound stage to a high degree. I have not been let down here as when configured the sound is amazing and does a superb job at surround sound recreation.
All in all I gave this product 4 stars for sounding great, having lots of customisation options, and the customer support I have received to help me through setup has been quick and effecient. I gave a bonus star for lack of interference on the wireless connection. I read loads of reviews before this and I think that they cast an unfair picture for this headset. I would buy again right away without hesitation if I needed another set.
The improvements I would like to see to get it to 5 stars without the bonus star, would be updates through xbox directly, a better user interface for the xbox app with a working example how to adjust and save profiles.