The Astro A50 headset has been the premiere of the premiere for gamers dating back to 2019. Astro has offered a wide variety of headsets over the years to cater to specific players, including competitive ones. Once upon a time, Astro headsets were known for including a mix-amp that was ahead of the competition. The competition has caught up, however, and Logitech acquired Astro back in 2017, although only within the last few years has Logitech’s audio technology started to be implemented into these Astro headsets. Logitech still offers headsets of its own, but Astro had the console market to offer.With its latestA50 Wireless Headsetand Base Station bundle, players can now have one headset as a solution with just a push of a button.
Don’t Fix What Isn’t Broke
When a gamer sees an Astro headset, they know it’s an Astro headset. This line is what has typically been seen for consoles in retail locations across the board for years. For better or worse, the Astro A50 Wireless Gaming Headset stays true to design and aesthetics, but this setup that was reviewed comes in white and will potentially match the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and maybe even a PC depending on the build. With red accents, black ear cups and the silver aluminum stabilizing bars, the latest headset still offers that futuristic shooter design appeal. This headset does look fantastic especially with having a cradle that features magnets to recharge it. The flip-down omnidirectional microphone remains and is not detachable and the headband flexes to contour with various heads to make sure a secure feel is maintained.
With red accents, black ear cups and the silver aluminum stablizing bars, the latest headset still offers that futuristic shooter design appeal.
Where as other manufacturers have innovated in their designs over the course of five years, the Astro A50 has just kept with it without any innovation in aesthetic terms. Buttons and the volume dial are on the rear of the ear cup and the cups, themselves, along with the head cushion remaining as cloth. Most modern day headsets have gone with leatherette for extended comfort as ear fatigue becomes an issue with the A50 during testing. There have been a few versions of the A50 released with the design of the headset mostly maintaining across the board. The base station includes battery level for the headset and indicators for what system is being utilized for audio, which is what makes this headset different than the rest.
Innovations Thanks to Logitech
The A50 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Headset includes LIGHTSPEED in its description for a reason, and that is Logitech. LIGHTSPEED is the wireless technology that is patented by Logitech and whether it be a headset, keyboard or mouse, this connection is perfect with no delays and instant transmission. The big selling point of this headset is the PLAYSYNC AUDIO addition, which allows multiple systems to seamless use one headset for audio and communications. This works flawlessly and while the initial setup for allowing this to sync to the device could have been explained better, once a device is synced, switching between consoles is instant. The box does only come with one USB-C cable, so if using multiple devices, the user will have to supply that USB-C cable.
The big selling point of this headset is the PLAYSYNC AUDIO addition, which allows multiple systems to seamless use one headset for audio and communications.
PLAYSYNC works with a button that cycles connection on the headset itself. This is perfect for content creators using multiple systems or for anyone that uses a workstation setup with multiple systems in front of them. The headset also includes Bluetooth for mobile connections, but this works with PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch with identified ports on the rear of the base station. It minimizes the headaches of cable management and switching back in forth with multiple headsets, meaning the Logitech Astro A50 LIGHTSPEED is the one-stop shop for headset communications. That convenience is a big plus, but is it worth jumping over to this headset, especially since the A50 X exists?
Review: Astro A50 Wireless Headset and Base Station
The A50 is a wonderful headset to use and would provide a competitive advantage on consoles, but charging as much as the console itself is a problem.
Technical Details
The Astro A50 LIGHTSPEED Wireless is advertised as being designed for Xbox and this is partly due to the inclusion of Dolby Atmos.The box includes a code for Dolby Atmos that will work on both Xbox and Windows 10/11. Logitech has instilled other technologies into this headset including Pro-G Graphene Audio drivers that really drive home the audio experience. 3D audio will work with PlayStation 5 and Windows Sonic is also compatible. The sound emitted from the headset on consoles offers a theater-like experience,andNHL 25really sounded like being in an arena with the crowd noise.Silent Hill 2really impressived thanks to the game’s audio designed combined with these drivers to help really drive specific directional audio.
The battery lasts for long play sessions, but again ear fatigue can come into play. Leaving the headset still on and off the dock and returning didn’t hamper battery life, though. It’s very dependable for usage. Game audio can be customized with either the Logitech G Hub or the App for android and iOS for on-the-fly tuning. It’s also worth noting that audio to the pc will use 24-bit audio while the console ports will use 16-bit. The LIGHTSPEED wireless also allows for full non-compressed audio, so the quality will not drop. There’s a USB-C cable on the headset to charge it directly. It’s available in both black and white and both offer the red accents on the headset. The microphone quality remains clear, and with dual Bluetooth connectivity, this means mobile and discord can work in tandem. So there are certainly technical improvements housed within the A50 LIGHTSPEED that will provide a boost in the experience.
Closing Comments:
The Logitech Astro A50 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Headset maintains the legacy that Astro has built as being a great and durable headset. It’s still priced as an extremely premier headset at $299.99, which is a hard pill to swallow when both seeing and wearing the headset feels to similar to one of these worn in the past. The cloth earcups will help keep the ears warm, but the longevity of comfort is an issue.The big selling point of this specific headset is to simplify headset usage with multiple systems and while it does that well, does that justify the purchase price of $299.99?
The Logitech technical implementations do modernize the Astro A50 LIGHTSPEED, but there are plenty of other headsets on the market that have something similar. The design remains familiar from the past, and while it still looks good, the headset feels dated especially for the asking price. If someone is sold on Astro and doesn’t want a massive change to design and hasn’t upgraded this generation and also wants to seamlessly switch between systems and have one headset for all usage without having to swap cables every time, this might be the one.
