A Solid Performer for Your Gaming Experience

The Astro Gaming A50 wireless gaming headset is a solid performer that will boost your gaming experience through its comfortable fit, many features, and impressive sound.

However, while the A50 has been a mainstay of the premium wireless gaming headphones scene for some time, many of its competitors have caught up or overtaken this headset in terms of value for money.

Distinctive Design

The Astro Gaming A50 comes in two models – one for PC/Xbox and another for PC/PS4. (You will need an HDMI adapter to use it with the PS5).

Both wireless gaming headsets have the same overall design but feature different color schemes – black with gold trim for the PC/XBox version and black with gray trim for the PC/PS4. Both can be used on your PC.

This is a fairly bulky headset, with a plastic exterior and thick, fabric-covered memory foam ear cups.

If you wear glasses, the fabric is a bonus as it has more ‘give’ than the leatherette used in many other headsets and so will better accommodate the arms of your glasses.

The headband features detachable padding and you can also change up the headband and ear cup padding leatherette if you wish.

The headband is joined to the ear cups by a metal rod on each side through which you can incrementally adjust the height of the headset. This design gives the Astro Gaming A50 quite a distinctive look.

Controls and Microphone

Most of the controls for the Astro Gaming A50 are on the right earcup. The power switch, the volume dial and the EQ mode selector all sit here. The left earcup is home to the USB charging port, the XBox Live cable port and the microphone.

The noise-cancelling boom mic doesn’t retract but it can be flipped up to the vertical position on the left earcup. Flipping the mic up turns it off. Keep in mind the mic tends to make your voice sound low so you may want to adjust the levels.

Connectivity

Unlike many other wireless gaming headsets which connect via a USB dongle on the headset itself, the Astro Gaming A50 connects through a cradle which you link to your PC or console through a micro USB cord and an optical cable.

You can link this headset to your phone, but you have to attach your phone to the cradle through the 3.5mm audio jack, which means you are effectively tethered to the cradle if you want to play games on your phone.

The cradle emits a lag-free 2.4GHz RF signal to the headset, with a range of 10m, so you should have no issue moving about your room while playing if you want to.
The cradle also acts as a charger for the headset.

You can also charge the headset directly through the charging port on the right cup.

Dolby Sound

The Astro Gaming A50 is tuned with Astro Audio V2 for crisp sound and on top of that has Dolby Audio 7.1 simulated surround sound so you can enjoy an immersive gaming experience. It also has three EQ modes so you can customise your listening experience, depending on if you are gaming or listening to music/watching movies/TV.

The free Command Center software lets you further customise your sound experience, giving you control over audio settings and voice communication, while this wireless gaming headset also has a built-in MixAmp to optimize chat levels and game sounds.

The Astro Gaming A50 is also 3D Audio-ready so you can enjoy Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos on Xbox and PC.

Battery Life

You’ll be able to get about 15 hours gaming time from a single charge of the Astro Gaming A50 wireless headset battery and you can also charge it while gaming, if you tether it to the USB port on the left earcup.

The A50 wireless gaming headset takes about two hours to charge through the USB charging port and four hours if you leave it in its charging cradle.